The Hifiman Sundara are a great upgrade to the HE-400i in terms of build quality. They have a mostly metal design that feels durable and premium. The ear cup hinges/yokes especially have been redesigned, to better handle physical stress. They do not swivel anymore and are made from a single piece of metal that will not crack as easily as the plastic yokes on the HE-400i. The ear cups also feel better built and more high-end, since the grills on the open-back cups do not move around like on the previous model. The headband strap and the plastic pieces connecting the yokes to the headband look like the most susceptible points on these headphones, but overall they should be more durable than most of the other HiFiMan designs.

Update Unfortunately, poor quality control by HifiMan means some models have a few driver issues. We've updated the score accordingly.