Today, we’re writing our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review to share all the essential details about the product with you.
The Deva Pro headphones are the successor to the company’s original Deva. It underwent significant updates and now has the new BlueMini Bluetooth DAAC/AMP module. Not only that, it features HIFIMAN’s self-developed Himalaya DAC with the R2R architecture.
The architecture gives you low-power consumption at high sound sampling rates. Its next major update is the new Planar driver with a Stealth Magnet design.
There’s more when you go for the HIFIMAN Deva Pro headphones over others. So if you’re curious about it, continue reading our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review. Learn about its features, design, functions, specifications, performance, etc.
HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones Packaging
These headphones arrived in a relatively big black cardboard box. The front of this package displays an illustration of the product and the BlueMini R2R module with other related brandings. These include the new Stealth Magnet design at the top.
We checked inside the box for this HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review, and the product came along with other items. These include the BlueMini R2R Bluetooth DAC/AMP module and a USB-C cable.
HIFIMAN even added a 3.5mm to 3.5mm headphone cable and a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter inside the package. And lastly, you’ll also find one user manual, an ad for the Stealth Magnets technology, and a warranty card.
HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones Review – Design and Functionality
Design-wise, the Deva Pro looks like its predecessor, which we noticed while unboxing for our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones Review. The only diversity is the ear pads and the headband’s colour. Instead of brown, these are black for a more premium look and feel.
When you look at the product, you’ll see how aesthetic these full-sized, open-back headphones look. And the combination of black and silver makes it look like a premium product.
The build quality of these headphones is good since it combines pleather and fabric-like materials with lightweight elements. The latter includes aluminium and plastic.
The top of its headband has a soft padding for added comfort even when using the headphones for hours. Additionally, the relatively low clamping force also adds to the comfort. We love how HIFIMAN designed the headband’s adjusting mechanism with indentations to display its size.
Both ends have plastic parts in a matte silver colour plus ”Left” and ”Right” marks on the inner surface. The left outer surface displays HIFIMAN’s logo, while the right-outer section shows the Deva Pro logo in black.
Both its ear cups feature the classic HIFIMAN logo near the base, giving it an aesthetic look. The aluminium ear cups’ grid and shell have the same matte grey colour.
These full-sized headphones weigh around 360g without its BlueMini R2R BT module, and the latter weighs 25g. When it comes to the headband surface and ear pads, these use black pleather.
Its left ear cup has a 3.5mm TRRS input which works with a balanced cable.
You can slightly rotate the Deva Pro’s ear cup holders, but you can’t fold these for a more compact form. However, the black ear pads are replaceable, and we love that HIFIMAN designed them to be more comfortable. So even during hot temperatures, wearing the headphones for hours won’t be an issue.
Its sweat rate is acceptable, so you won’t bother with sweaty ears and damp ear pads when using the product.
BlueMini R2R Bluetooth DAC/AMP Module
Deva Pro uses the updated version of the classic BlueMini, and this is the BlueMini R2R. The original version is a Bluetooth DAC/AMP solution for the Deva headphones.
The current version sports the same design and body material (black plastic). The main difference is the R2R branding on the current version’s surface.
Its base houses an integrated mic, an LED status indicator, a multifunctional USB-C port, and a button. It works as a power on/off, play/pause, and pairing button for the module.
Deva Pro has a 3.5mm TRRS balanced headphone jack, and near its plug is a guide with spring mechanisms.
Functions and Uses of the HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones
You can use the BlueMini R2R as a USB DAC/AMP. When utilising the computer as an audio input device, you won’t need to install drivers with a MacOS or Windows10. For older operating systems like Windows 8, you’ll have to download a compatible driver to make it work.
If you link to portable gadgets like mobile phones, the lack of power supplies can result in faster battery drain. Also, you should remember that you can’t connect all devices via USB mode. An Apple-certified converter is a must to link the BlueMini R2R to your iPhone via USB cable.
You also need to remember that an iPhone doesn’t supply adequate power to support charging.
Key Features of the HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones
We’ve mentioned that the Deva Pro is an upgraded version of the original Deva headphones. But what makes this newer model better? To find out, let’s discuss its key features in our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review.
Stealth Magnet Design
The Deva Pro uses HIFIMAN’s unique design to allow waves to pass through the magnet while preventing interference.
This Stealth Magnet design is acoustically transparent and significantly reduces distortion. As a result, it delivers a pure sonic output with full range and accuracy.
HIFIMAN Heritage – NEO Supernano” Diaphragm
The NEO “supernano” Diaphragm or NsD is 80% thinner than previous designs, allowing the headphones to deliver quick responses. This unique diaphragm also provides detailed images with full-range sonics.
The Small but Powerful Bluemini R2R
The Deva Pro comes with HIFIMAN’s custom-created HIMALAYA R2R DAC, a companion Bluetooth & USB module. It offers low-energy consumption, high sampling rates, and a non-oversampling concept.
Quick Switching Between Wireless and Wired Connectivity
The Deva Pro’s socket can accommodate dual-sided unbalanced and single-sided balanced 3.5mm cables. BlueMini R2R is easy to use, and all you have to do is connect it to the left socket.
Specifications
This part of our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review has two different sections. We did this to provide you with quick and brief information about the product.
HIFIMAN DEVA Pro Headphones Specifications
We’ll begin with the headphones, and the Deva Pro uses a Planar Magnetic Driver with a Stealth Magnet design. It has a 20 to 20kHz frequency response, 18Ω impedance, and sensitivity of 93.5dB.
It’s considered lightweight at around 360g and has a TRRS 3.5mm balanced socket.
BlueMini R2R Module Specifications
The module has a HIFIMAN Himalaya DAC and an R2R DAC architecture. It has a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz, 0.022% TDH, and an SNR of -114dB.
This module has eight hours of battery life with a Bluetooth/USB-C transmission. It works with LDAC, aptX, aptX-HD, AAC, and SBC Bluetooth codecs.
Lastly, it’s also pretty lightweight at just 25g.
Hands-on with the HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones
We need to share how the product performed in our HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones review. So, we’re sharing our hands-on experience when we tested it for over a week.
Using these headphones the traditional way was simple. We only had to link the supplied 3.5mm cable, and we were good to go. It was as simple as that, and we didn’t have anything else to do afterwards.
To use it wirelessly, you’ll need to open the BlueMini module, and it was a straightforward task. We first pushed and then held the power button before hearing an opening beep on the product.
For pairing, push the button twice to see the small LED light flashing green and blue. It means you can start pairing with your device.
Once done, the LED will continue flashing blue at intervals. It informs the Deva Pro is working adequately.
When charging the module, simply plug its charging cable to charge automatically. But if you link it to your smartphone or laptop via USB cable, the module will draw power from these.
To avoid power drain, you need to press and hold the charge button for two seconds. After doing so, plug the USB cable into your power source.
This process will prevent the module from charging while playing your music.
Performance of the HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones
The Deva Pro has good detail and resolution for its warmer-than-usual HIFIMAN neutral tuning and price segment. The headphones mostly have a neutral signature that follows the company’s house tuning. However, we noticed it leans towards how the HD600 series from SENNHEISER is tuned.
Even if the signature is tonally accurate and neutral, it has some honk. It’s because of the bump in its 600 to 1.5kHz region.
What makes it better is the BlueMini. It’s a Bluetooth module that doesn’t only sound good but is powerful too.
Here, we’ll talk more about the Deva Pro’s performance and give you more details on its audio quality.
Bass
In terms of its bass, the Deva Pro’s tuning was similar to that of the original Deva. These weren’t bass-heavy, but they delivered enough bass to make different songs sound filled and solid. With this, we can see that HIFIMAN focused on improving the quality of the bass rather than increasing it.
The Deva Pro’s bass also improved the speed and texture, making audio fun and enjoyable. It had a consistently steady and flat tone across the spectrum but had a notable boost from the sub-bass. Although it didn’t sound punchy, the response was still full of impact and resonance.
The timbre of these headphones was sharp and clean, plus they had consistent accuracy and clarity. For the mid-bass, it only started smoothening out in specific ranges. But despite that, it always sounded lively and engaging.
The Deva Pro headphones weren’t ideal for all genres. We wouldn’t recommend it for punchy metal mixes, electronic, and pop music. But for slower soundscapes and ambient drones, it would sound excellent with these headphones’ lows.
For us, the bass quantity was enough for most genres, especially jazz. More bass would be better for electronic and pop music. But that’s not a concern if you’re good with a flat response.
Mids
This area was where the Deva Pro differed from the original. Unlike the original, which had a mid-forward signature, the Deva Pro had better sharpness and imaging.
These headphones’ midrange was as smooth and textured as the low-end, with adequate balance on the response. The timbre was spacious, and the mids had a lot of layers that focused on clean separation and transparency.
The tone was neutral but didn’t lack energy in the vocals. The low and upper-mids were quite underemphasised but didn’t have much recession.
Although inconsistent, the instruments were still clear and lightly textured. Acoustic guitars sounded colourful and bright, while lower strings were flatter.
The Deva Pro’s mids had good detail, separation, and resolution. Given the price, these headphones delivered excellent performance in this area.
Treble
The Deva Pro’s treble had a bright, crisp, and dynamic tuning with a good resolution. We found this impressive for a pair of headphones at its price.
These headphones delivered optimised lower treble and a sparkly mid-treble, while the upper treble was good, neutral, and airy. It offered a warmer sound, unlike the HIFIMAN HE400SE. However, it had enough sparkle, producing well-balanced sounds.
The lower treble’s presence was excellent, and it had above-average definition and clarity when listening to string instruments and pianos. When it came to the upper treble, this was the highlight of the Deva Pro. In terms of airiness and sparkle, the headphones offered solid performance.
We also heard a better overall resolution for the treble when we used the headphones with the BlueMini R2R module.
There was no emphasis on the treble, but it was easy to listen to since it was gentle. The headphones also offered a good amount of detail with clarity.
The Soundstage of the HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones
One of the issues of the original Deva was the soundstage. But HIFIMAN made improvements and solved these problems for the Deva Pro. It shows that the company listened to their customers’ feedback and made the necessary changes.
We observed the Deva Pro’s soundstage by testing its performance with its wireless and Stealth Magnet features. When it came to Bluetooth, we were surprised with how well the audio imaging translated over wireless CODECs.
It offered great width and spaciousness, and the audio sounded like how it was when using wired connectivity. We also noticed the slight reduction of a few elements like distance and reverb tails when using Bluetooth. But despite that, it was still one of the best soundstages we’ve heard for wireless headphones.
The soundstage was the Deva Pro’s best improvement. The previous model had a narrow soundstage which was also good, but the Pro version performed better in this part. Aside from width, there was more space and air, which made the overall audio sound more relaxed and effortless.
The Deva Pro’s layering was also impressive since it was immersive and gave a three-dimensional feel. But note that this also depends on the recording quality of your music.
These headphones’ sound was also separated well, allowing us to hear clear vocals, instruments, and other elements. The excellent separation helped the Deva Pro deliver impressive imaging performance.
Also, the positioning of the Deva Pro was strong and allowed us to spot any song’s elements with ease.
Audio Quality with the BlueMini R2R Module
The wireless range of the BlueMini R2R module was impressive during our tests. It didn’t only sound great, but it also had a lot of power and gain. The headphones and the BlueMini R2R module combined were even better than most Bluetooth headphones and TWS earbuds.
With this module, the Deva Pro was one of the best sounding wireless headphones we’ve used previously. Its open-back design also contributed to its superior audio quality.
In terms of connectivity, this module was impressive. We went to different rooms and left our connected device to test its capacity.
Surprisingly, the Deva Pro and BlueMini R2R still had a seamless and stable connection despite having walls blocking the source.
But of course, we lost connection when we were too far from the source.
Overall, the BlueMini R2R module offered low latency and an impressive wireless listening experience. This flawless connectivity makes it the ideal open-back audiophile headphones for home use.
HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones Review Summary
At its price, the Deva Pro isn’t a cheap pair of headphones, especially if you’re used to conventional Bluetooth headphones. But with this product, you’re paying for better space, detail, and soundstage compared with what average BT headphones can deliver. It also has all the features of the original Deva’s combined with impressive upgrades.
Aside from great audio, it has a better design, improved comfort, two connectivity options, and durable construction. These elements make the Deva Pro a top-notch pair of headphones. And what makes it best is you get all these for an affordable price.
Visit HIFIMAN’s official product page for more information about the Deva Pro Headphones.
