SIVGA SV021 Pro V2 Review: How Does It Compare to the Kiwi Ears Altruva and Sennheiser HD 560S?
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The SIVGA SV021 Pro V2 is a strange headphone to review because the original version isn't even old, it came out this year. The first SV021 Pro arrived in February 2026, and only a few months later SIVGA revised it. This isn't a completely new headphone. The basic 50mm dynamic driver remains, the wooden enclosure is unchanged, and externally the V2 looks essentially identical to the original. Instead, SIVGA changed how the driver is damped and vented. That makes the V2 less of a second-generation headphone and more of a factory retune, maybe a refresh you could say. After spending time with it, I think the result works. The SV021 Pro V2 isn't a headphone that immediately grabs me with massive bass, extreme detail or some other obvious party trick. It's just extremely comfortable and surprisingly balanced.
That also puts it in an interesting position against two other headphones I've spent time with: the Kiwi Ears Altruva and Sennheiser HD 560S. All three can appeal to someone looking for a relatively balanced headphone, but the SIVGA takes a very different approach. Both the Altruva and HD 560S are open-back headphones. The SV021 Pro V2 is closed-back. And that difference alone may matter more than most of the numbers on their spec sheets.
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What Changed With the SIVGA SV021 Pro V2?
There are two important changes between the original SV021 Pro and the V2, and both happen around the driver. First, the V2 has a tightly woven nylon-type mesh directly in front of the driver. It's integrated into the driver assembly and isn't intended to be removed. This isn't just a dust cover. The mesh is part of the acoustic tuning, adding resistance in front of the driver and helping control its response. It's doing some of the same work that can be accomplished by placing acoustic foam in front of a headphone driver.
The second change is behind the driver. SIVGA revised the tuning paper and changed the venting holes. So the core driver hasn't suddenly become something completely different. SIVGA changed what happens on either side of it. That's an important distinction. The SV021 Pro V2 is fundamentally the same headphone with a revised acoustic environment around its driver.
The Rest of the SV021 Pro Is Basically Unchanged
The SV021 Pro V2 remains a compact closed-back over-ear headphone with a 50mm aluminum-composite dynamic driver. Impedance is 45 ohms, sensitivity is rated at 106dB, and the headphone weighs 289 grams. The detachable 1.6-meter OFC cable uses independent 3.5mm connections at the earcups and terminates in a standard 3.5mm plug. SIVGA also continues to use real wood for the earcups, with zebrawood and beech versions available, I love the beechwood personally. But the specification I care about most after actually using these is probably that 289-gram weight.
These Are Extremely Comfortable Headphones
I honestly love the comfort of the SV021 Pro V2. They're soft, they're not particularly heavy, and they fit my head almost perfectly. There's enough substance that they don't feel cheap or insubstantial, but they're light enough that I don't start thinking about the weight after wearing them for a while. That's something I value more and more with headphones. A headphone can sound incredible for ten minutes and still be something I don't actually want to wear for two hours. The SIVGA goes the other direction. The longer I wear it, the less I'm thinking about the fact that it's sitting on my head. That's a major strength.
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The Sound Is Almost Surprisingly Normal
If I had to describe the SV021 Pro V2 with one word, it would be balanced. There's no enormous bass emphasis immediately jumping out at me. The highs aren't constantly fighting for my attention either. Nothing sounds dramatically pushed forward or pulled backward. It just flows. That's actually made the SV021 Pro V2 harder to write about than headphones with more obvious personalities. I don't have one sonic characteristic I can point toward and say, this is the reason you need to hear these. But I also haven't found some irritating characteristic that makes me want to take them off. That's arguably the more important accomplishment.
SIVGA SV021 Pro V2 vs. Kiwi Ears Altruva
The Kiwi Ears Altruva is an obvious comparison because it also uses a 50mm dynamic driver and aims at the listener who wants something relatively balanced rather than an intentionally exaggerated headphone. But there's one enormous difference. The Altruva is open-back. The SV021 Pro V2 is closed-back. That changes how I'd actually use them. An open-back headphone makes a lot of sense when I'm sitting somewhere quiet and don't care about sound leaking in or out. That's exactly the environment where something like the Altruva fits. The SIVGA is considerably easier to work into everyday life. If someone else is in the room, I'm somewhere with background noise, or I simply don't want everyone around me hearing what I'm listening to, I'd rather have the closed-back SV021 Pro V2.The Altruva also has one huge advantage of its own: price. It's an inexpensive way into a full-size open-back dynamic headphone.
That makes this less about which headphone is universally better and more about what you're actually trying to buy. The Altruva makes sense as the affordable open-back option and its one of my favorites. The SV021 Pro V2 makes sense if you want isolation and a more versatile everyday headphone without moving toward an aggressive or heavily colored sound.
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SIVGA SV021 Pro V2 vs. Sennheiser HD 560S
The Sennheiser HD 560S is the more established comparison. It's been around long enough that it has become one of the obvious headphones people encounter when shopping for a serious open-back headphone. It uses a dynamic open-back design and weighs about 280 grams, putting it surprisingly close to the 289-gram SIVGA despite their completely different construction. But again, I'd start with the open-versus-closed question before worrying about anything else. The HD 560S is fundamentally a headphone for an environment where isolation doesn't matter. The open cups are part of the design, not a compromise.
The SIVGA gives you something different. It's the headphone I can more realistically use when I don't have a perfectly quiet room to myself. And that's where I think the SV021 Pro V2 starts making sense as an alternative rather than a direct competitor. If you're specifically shopping for an open-back headphone, the HD 560S belongs on the list. If you're looking at headphones like the HD 560S because you want a relatively balanced full-size headphone but then realize you actually need isolation, the SIVGA becomes much more interesting.
Three Headphones That Solve Different Problems
This is why I don't think comparing headphones purely by driver size, frequency response or impedance tells you enough. The Kiwi Ears Altruva, Sennheiser HD 560S and SIVGA SV021 Pro V2 overlap in the type of listener they can attract, but they aren't interchangeable. The Altruva gives you an inexpensive route into a full-size open-back headphone. The HD 560S gives you an established open-back design for someone specifically shopping in that category.
The SV021 Pro V2 takes the closed-back route. And for me, that's one of its biggest advantages. I don't need a silent room. I don't need everyone around me listening to whatever I'm playing. And I don't have to give up the balanced presentation I like just because I want a closed headphone.
Is the SV021 Pro V2 Better Than the Original?
This is where I'm not going to fake an A/B test I didn't perform. I know what's physically different between the two versions, and I've spent enough time with the V2 to tell you what I think of it. But without both versions sitting next to me for a controlled comparison, I'm not going to start inventing tiny differences in bass texture or treble response. The changes themselves are real. There's new acoustic resistance in front of the driver, along with revised damping and venting behind it. Those are meaningful tuning changes.
And the V2 I'm listening to sounds very well balanced. If I were buying one today and had the choice between otherwise comparable original and V2 inventory, I'd take the V2. If I already owned the original and liked it, however, I wouldn't automatically replace it just because a revised version exists.
Which One Would I Buy?
I think this comes down to a much simpler decision than people sometimes make headphone shopping. If you want an inexpensive open-back headphone, look at the Kiwi Ears Altruva. If you specifically want the Sennheiser open-back experience and the HD 560S fits what you're after, there's little reason to pretend the closed-back SIVGA is the same thing. But if you want a headphone that you can use in more places without giving up a balanced sound, that's where the SV021 Pro V2 makes its case.
That's ultimately what I like about it. It's not trying to blow me away with bass. It's not trying to impress me with exaggerated highs. And it doesn't require me to sit alone in a quiet room because everything I'm listening to is spilling through an open earcup. It's comfortable, closed-back, easy to listen to and works with almost everything I've played through it. The SV021 Pro V2 doesn't have one spectacular characteristic. It just doesn't do much wrong. And for a headphone I might actually wear for hours, I'll take that over a party trick.
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