HIFIMAN Deva Pro Active Headphone with Bluetooth Review

The headphone I’m talking about is the Deva Pro headphone which, at $329.00 packs an audio punch.

The HIFIMAN Deva Pro is the sort of headphone a casual listener might buy, and that buyer will certainly be attracted by the HIFIMAN name, which audiophiles have loudly praised since the company began in 2007. I did most of my listening in the wired mode to minimize the number of devices and compression schemes in the audio chain and found the Deva competitive at anything near its list price. Listening without comparisons, I found the Deva to be a fine listen, with good frequency response, a solid stereo image, and it was comfortable to wear. I found the deepest bass to be lacking in comparison to more expensive headphones, but I didn’t find the bass thin, just that it didn’t go as deep as other headphones I’ve heard.

I’ve been listening to HIFIMAN products for several years. They’ve long been a champion of planar designs, and all I’ve tested over the years have been excellent and a high value for the money. Over the last few years, HIFIMAN has been producing headphones with new materials, non-planar designs, and offering both open and closed designs. They have also continued to push the pricing envelope. While top-of-the-line HIFIMAN headphones cost thousands of dollars, we are now seeing some more high-quality, moderately priced headphones emerge.

The Deva Pro falls into this category, and clearly, it’s going to expand the customer base of this respected firm.

The Deva Pro has some innovative upgrades over previous HIFIMAN headphones. Those upgrades are mainly in the design of the drivers.

HIFIMAN says the Deva Pro uses what it calls Stealth Magnets. Their special shape enables sound waves to pass through the magnetic structure without generating any interference. The company claims its advanced magnet design reduces wave diffraction turbulence that degrades the integrity of the sound waves, giving lower distortion. The company also says its NEO “supernano” Diaphragm (NsD) is 80% thinner than previous designs, giving the listener fast response times and more detailed imaging.

The sockets on the Deva Pro can accommodate both a dual-sided unbalanced 3.5mm cable and a single-sided balanced cable that only plugs into the left socket. The included Bluetooth accessory, which HIFIMAN calls a Bluemini R2R, also plugs into the left socket.

The Bluemini R2R has a built-in DAC with very low energy consumption and high sampling rates. The Bluemini supports all the current Bluetooth protocols, including LDAC, aptX-HD, aptX, AAC, and SBC.

The headphones have a silver and black color scheme, with excellent build quality. The materials used are aluminum and faux leather. There is a minimum of plastic used, and what plastic there was seemed robust and rigid.

There’s not much to setting up headphones. The Deva Pro comes in a very nice package, typical of the quality I expect from HIFIMAN. The headphones are wrapped in a cloth-covered form-fitting case, with instructions and the Bluemini.

Before using the headphones, you will need to charge the Bluetooth module if you are using it. There’s a provided USB A to USB C cable, but no power supply. Any USB-equipped wall plug or computer should get them charged.

The first thing that struck me is that the Deva Pro is very lightweight which is an important comfort consideration. The pads fit around my ears with no pressure or overlap.

For normal use, connect the provided 3.5mm cable and you are on your way. The other end of the cable has a hybrid 1/4” phone jack, and inside is the now more standard 3.5mm plug.

For Bluetooth use, you plug the charged Bluemini into the proper jack on the headphones. Pairing to your sound source is handled by a pairing button, and when you are paired properly, the Bluemini will flash blue every so often to assure you that you are connected.

Listening to the Deva Pro headphones

I mainly auditioned these HIFIMAN headphones using a direct wire connection. While wireless Bluetooth can be very convenient, I wanted to hear these headphones without an extra DAC in the middle of the audio chain, and without any of the even slight compression, the Bluetooth codecs have. Playback is from a FiiO M15 digital audio player which has a first-class DAC. I also listened via Bluetooth provided by the M15 and the Deva Pro Bluemini module.

Overall, I liked the sound of the Deva Pro headphones. They sounded just a bit warmer than the other HIFIMAN headphones I’ve auditioned, which is not a bad thing. Compared to more expensive headphones, they are a bit thinner in the deepest bass, but I did not find them lacking in bass, it just wasn’t as prodigious as the best headphones can provide. Soundstaging was quite good, especially side to side. I felt the midrange was a bit forward, an advantage for vocals and acoustic instruments. For symphonic listening, I would have preferred a slightly less forward midrange. The treble response is very good. Clean and airy.

Here are some of the things I auditioned. All were FLAC files, rendered at CD quality or better.

As you’ve noted in my commentary, at just above $300 this is not the best headphones I have ever heard. But it is certainly the best, most musical headphones I’ve heard at or near this price. HIFIMAN is to be complimented on the Deva Pro. I think it will be sought after by audiophiles and people who want their music served up by wireless Bluetooth.

The HIFIMAN Deva Pro Headphones are a small triumph at this price. We know HIFIMAN knows how to create brilliant gear when cost is no object, and over the years they have reduced prices and still offered great sound. These Deva Pro headphones are a case in point. They are well built, offer wireless and wired connectivity, are comfortable on the head, and the open-back design doesn’t cut you off from the world. In 2018, I reviewed the HIFIMAN Ananda headphones. At just under $1000.00 they sounded good, and I did not feel they were overpriced. The Deva Pro headphones don’t quite match the frequency response of the Anandas, but they come close at a fraction of the cost. They don’t go as deep, the highs aren’t quite as smooth, the imaging is not quite as sharp, but they still offer excellent sound at a very attractive price.

A word about the Bluetooth module

The Bluemini R2R sounds very good. HIFIMAN says a lot of work went into the custom-designed DAC and listening to the same tracks I auditioned with the wired hookup, I was hard-pressed to hear a difference. I could detect a very slight difference when auditioning the highest quality tracks in my collection. I found a slightly compressed dynamic range and a very slight reduction in the highs. Having said that, it was the best Bluetooth sound I’ve heard.