Sendy Audio Egret review: these wired hi-fi headphones hit harder than I expected for the money

Introduction

Sendy Audio is essentially the Lexus to Sivga’s Toyota; the sub-brand’s wired headphones are aimed at a more upmarket audience, with designs and materials that match the primo driver tech inside. The Egret embodies that, with hand-crafted wooden enclosures that house the firm’s largest ever planar magnetic drivers.

At $799 the wired, fully open-back cans are by no means a pocket money purchase, but land at the more reasonable end of the planar spectrum – a sensible move, seeing how the firm isn’t as well known outside of China as rivals Audeze, HiFiMan and Meze Audio. Given its strong sonic showing here, however, I think it absolutely deserves to be.

Design & build: classical lines

One glance at the Egret instantly marks them out as a luxe listen. Sendy has used a mix of metal, real wood and lambskin leather, with an intricate design on the earcup grilles that’s meant to evoke the bird it takes its name from. It’s honestly a little busy for my taste, but the walnut enclosures are beautiful and everything is put together with zero weak links.

I like that the Egret only uses leather on the headband and outer parts of the ear cushions; the parts that actually make contact with your ears use a more breathable fabric that never got overly warm during my testing. The cups themselves have a generous amount of rotation and tilt, with large openings that fully envelop your ears. They’re deep enough that my ears never made contact with the inner lining, which is angled to better direct audio straight down your ear canals.

The suspension-style headband helps distribute weight evenly across your head. Adjusting it could be a little stiff, but that also meant I never knocked it accidentally so didn’t have to readjust the fit on the regular. A sensible amount of clamping force keeps the headphones firmly in place, without pressing hard enough to make long listening sessions uncomfortable.

Depending on your frame of reference you’ll either find the 443g weight rather high (if you’re coming from dynamic driver cans) or about right (if you’ve already got a planar pair).

Features: wired wonder

The Egret arrives in a felt-lined, hard shell carry case wrapped in leather; it apparently sees regular use across Sendy’s lineup, and I agree with online commenters that it looks a bit like a baby’s bum. Construction is as high quality as the headphones themselves, though, with enough reinforcement to keep the cans safe from harm. There’s no separate compartment for stashing the bundled cable and adapters, just a hemp-textile drawstring pouch.

I was really impressed by the included 1.8m cable, which connect to the headphones with balanced 3.5mm connectors and terminate in a 4.4mm balanced jack. It’s blissfully over-engineered, being made of 30 strands of Furukawa Oxygen-Free Copper (OFC), 10 strands of silver-plated OFC, and 10 strands of gold-enamelled OFC. These are wrapped in copper and silver-plated mesh, sleeved in a graphene-reinforced PVC outer jacket for maximum durability, and hand-braided.

It’s not at all stiff, yet doesn’t like to coil or tangle, making it easy to put away and unwrap again between listening sessions. The combo also keeps cable microphonics to an absolute minimum. I wish rivals put as much care into their cables, even if the 2-pole connection to the headphones might limit your options when it comes to third-party upgrades. 4.4mm-to-3.5mm and 6.3mm adapters are included for good compatibility with a range of audio kit.

Sound quality: wonderfully precise

At 98 × 84mm, the planar magnetic drivers are the largest Sendy has ever squeezed inside a set of its cans. On paper that should make them an even more precise listen, with lower distortion to boot. Those are coincidentally the two major benefits in picking planar over dynamic driver headphones, so the difference should be immediately clear.

Jumping right in with Ghost’s Absolution, I was immediately impressed with the clean and detailed top end that accentuated the hi-hats without a hint of sharpness. That stayed true for the discordant vocals on Black Dresses’ noise pop manifesto FEEL SOMETHING, which can reveal unwanted sibilance in lesser headphones. There’s a smoothness and control here you’ll struggle to find in most dynamic headphones. Meanwhile, the dissonant mix of guitars on Godflesh’s Land Lord avoid any sense of unplanned harshness – all the sonic aggression present here is very much intended.

This is a largely neutral listen, with warm tone that’s ever-so-slightly V-shaped, balancing a very respectable amount of bass and lower mids with excellent clarity in the upper mid-range and treble. The Egret really stretches its legs as the drums arrive beneath the swelling strings in the latter parts of Hans Zimmer’s Planet Earth II Suite: dynamic range is fantastic, with a great separation between the instruments and the sort of airy, wide presentation I’d expect for open-back cans. Of course they also leak as much as I’d expect, meaning they’re not for listening to in a shared environment.

Bass cannons these headphones are not; the sub-bass on my current bass-bringing tune of choice, Beama’s Go Down, blurs a bit into the bass frequencies and doesn’t get super deep. There’s still enough oomph here for most, though, and outside of heavy electronic tracks the tonal balance feels very well judged. No one part of the frequency range dominates, bringing a maturity you won’t find in headphones with a tune aimed at mainstream appeal.

24 ohms impedance and a 95 dB/mW sensitivity don’t make these especially difficult headphones to drive. The wonderfully capable yet affordable FiiO JM21 had no issues with any of my test tracks and provided more than enough volume. Dynamics do improve with stronger amplification, so you’re still rewarded for hooking these up to a more capable system.

Sendy Audio Egret verdict

They’re not the most affordable planar magnetic headphones around, but the Sendy Audio Egret are relatively inexpensive compared to the rivals they compete closest with. Audiophiles will love their blend of classic looks, high quality materials and precise sound. Comfort is excellent and the bundled accessories are of equal standing.

Anyone wanting extreme bass levels should probably look elsewhere, though, as will those wanting the extremes of analytical presentation. These are an immersive, well-defined listen that demonstrate Sendy’s ability to hang with bigger brands.

Sendy Audio Egret technical specifications