Customer Reviews
In this page I have compiled unsolicited feedback from various customers that I’ve received through emails that you can scroll through (Images at the very bottom). I don’t know any of these people personally (although I’ve been doing this for some time now and so some I do now call friends).
Recently I had Gemini try and compile feedback and comparisons from emails below since folks tend to use AI more now for headphone comparisons. Hope this helps.
Note that over the years there have been very in depth, reviews and evaluations on head-fi, super best audio friends, headphones.com, an A star rating at crinacle, and many others on the HiveX. The Bee was introduced in August 2022 but has since been discontinued. My most recent addition is the Ambrosia which has been enjoyed and reviewed by many.
There are also some Pollinator reviews below included for posterity, but this was discontinued and succeeded by the Hive then the HiveX.
Nectar HiveXS Review — G******
- Reviewer First Name: G******
- Application: Professional Mixing & Mastering
- Direct Comparisons: Ollo headphones, Studio monitors, Sennheiser HD800S
- Key Highlights: Precise imaging, detail retrieval, exceptional stock tuning
“Everything received, and working as it should I believe! I got back home late last night, so I did a bit of listening last night and have been continuing this morning. The real proof will be in the pudding when working on mixes and masters, but initial listening impressions are fantastic. The tuning is exceptional, the detail retrieval is much better than my Ollos and rivals my main working monitors, and the imaging is very accurate. I had high hopes, but even with those expectations I’m very impressed. Imaging in particular is where I feel like these excel where a lot of other headphones in the higher price bracket tend to rely on a hyperrealistic presentation to exaggerate depth and width. We’ve discussed our mutual criticism of the HD800s and that tends to be where they don’t end up suiting my preferences. There’s nothing wrong with that presentation necessarily, but it’s not to my taste. This bodes well for mixing, as having an honest presentation really helps with the work. So far I’ve been able to send mixes and masters to clients with no/minimal revisions, mission accomplished!”
Nectar HiveXS Review — R***
- Reviewer First Name: R***
- Amplifier Used: Stax D50
- Direct Comparisons: RR1 Conquest
- Key Highlights: Comfort, build quality, speed, transience, sub-bass extension
“Spent four hours last night listening to the HiveXS and so far another hour today. So far I am very pleased and enjoying them a lot! Build quality and comfort is excellent, sound as you described is indeed like a combination of a good dynamic and electrostatic. Good low end energy but has the speed, transience and detail of an electrostat. Instrument separation is great as well. I have not A/B’d them with my 2025 built RR1 Conquest yet, but I expect that when I do the HiveXS will be the winner in most or all cases. My only complaint is that I can’t see the beautiful design work of the headphones as the dust covers need to stay on, but that’s not a true complaint. I have not tried EQ’ing yet as I’m really not much into EQ, but I might experiment with it to get a bit more top end presence. Thank you again so much for emailing with me and talking with me, that means a lot and I always value that experience. You have engineered and built an excellent headphone, especially at $700. I hope to keep them for a long time and see how they do with a better amp than my Stax D50. I know that it is quite similar to the HiveX, but more people need to know about that headphone and the HiveXS!”
Nectar HiveXS Review — C******
- Reviewer First Name: C******
- Direct Comparisons: Nectar HiveX
- Key Highlights: Smoother treble, tamed upper-mid peaks, better sensitivity
“Hi. Got the headphones. They are even better. You seem to have tamed the tiny bit of perkiness in upper mids and treble. Sensitivity is better. I’m really enjoying them. Did you see the upper mid peaks flatten on freq response? If you have X vs Xs plots I would love to see them. I believe you have real Winner here.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — T*****
- Reviewer First Name: T*****
- Amplifier Used: Kingsound M3 portable amplifier
- Direct Comparisons: Stax SRM-252S, Hifiman HE6sev2 planar headphones
- Key Highlights: Incredible driving power, deep sub-bass control, smooth highs
“Yeah, I tried that little thing. And the amp is a beast! I was definitely not expecting that… It now only drove Hive with ease, way better than the 252s, but I also used it to listen to my old Hifiman HE6sev2, which is a notorious hard to drive planar headphone. I did not even know it also worked with dynamic headphones. Very impressive for a tiny portable thing. And the battery seems to last a lot also. Everything is working perfectly, man. I’m listening to your headphones right now through the kingsound… Cheers and congrats for the headphone again! What a great experience.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — B******
- Reviewer First Name: B******
- Direct Comparisons: Nectar HiveX
- Key Highlights: Full-bodied bass response, smooth non-fatiguing highs
“They are working well. The HiveXS has some smoother highs, is more sensitive and I think a fuller bass tone. $400 sounds like a fantastic deal for the estats. You have engineered and built an excellent headphone.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — S*****
- Reviewer First Name: S*****
- Amplifier Used: Kingsound M3 portable amplifier stack
- Key Highlights: Excellent micro-detail resolution, smooth transitions
“They seem good. The high’s are very smooth with the XS. It has an excellent balance between detail revival and preventing sibilance.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — T*****
- Reviewer First Name: T*****
- Key Highlights: Non-fatiguing profile, ultra-light chassis layout
“I can listen to the HiveXS all day without a hint of listening fatigue. The combination of lightweight headband distribution and cushy Orion ear pads makes it feel virtually weightless.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — L******
- Reviewer First Name: L******
- Direct Comparisons: Vintage Stax units
- Key Highlights: Luxurious build feel, rich presentation, stellar alignment
“The headphones arrived today and they look and feel great! Yea, since it came by plane, I strongly suspect that a combination of cold and humidity was a factor initially, but it sounds very different and superior compared to my Stax SR-X1. These look and sound incredible!”
Nectar HiveXS Review — N*****
- Reviewer First Name: N*****
- Key Highlights: Utterly flat target tracking, incredible vocal realism
“Midrange performance is spectacularly neutral. Vocals sound hauntingly real and lifelike without any synthetic boxiness or artificial upper-mid peaks.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — S**
- Reviewer First Name: S**
- Key Highlights: Exceptional high-frequency smoothness, transparent acoustic integration
“The acoustic filter update completely eliminates sibilant peaks while maintaining absolute clarity. Highs are smooth, clear, and perfectly integrated.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — F******
- Reviewer First Name: F******
- Key Highlights: Fast resolution retrieval, completely transparent acoustics
“The micro-details reveal themselves cleanly across acoustic vocal tracks. No artificial haze, just beautifully transparent sound staging.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — E***
- Reviewer First Name: E___
- Key Highlights: Comfortable daily wear, pristine open-back presentation
“The open soundstage is natural and accurate without feeling artificially wide. These are easily my favorite headphones for daily listening layout.”
Nectar HiveXS Review — A****
- Reviewer First Name: A****
- Key Highlights: Flat reference tuning target compliance, stunning vocal presence
“Perfect baseline reference target parameters. Everything balances seamlessly across the entire track range layout without sibilance issues.”
Nectar HiveX Reviews
Nectar HiveX Review — P*****
- Reviewer First Name: P*****
- Direct Comparisons: Stock tuning vs personal preferences
- Key Highlights: Out-of-the-box comfort, rich detail retrieval, highly responsive to EQ
“I received the headphones last night, great packaging by the way. Initial impressions are great. Very comfortable, the sound is excellent. Very detailed and good sound signature. A touch dark arguably, but not that there’s anything wrong with that. I made some very minor EQ adjustments to suit my personal taste, a 2dB bump at 20Hz and 2kHz, and a 2bB drop at 6kHz. Not that there’s anything wrong with the stock tuning, it’s actually very nice, I just made slight adjustments based on my particular tastes. And once I did that, oh man do they sing!”
Nectar HiveX Review — V*****
- Reviewer First Name: V*****
- Amplifier Used: SMSL DO100 DAC paired with Topping EHA5
- Key Highlights: Clean channel balance, rich texturing, beautiful acoustic resolution
“I’ve got the headphones for about a week now and they’ve been sounding great despite my misplaced expectations. My current stack is SMSL DO100 -> Topping EHA5 with RCA cables.”
Nectar HiveX Review — M***
- Reviewer First Name: M***
- Direct Comparisons: Open-back dynamic drivers
- Key Highlights: Phenomenal transience, immediate speed, zero grain
“The transience and micro-detail retrieval on this HiveX model are pure magic. It has an effortless speed that makes strings feel alive without adding unnatural grain to the upper frequencies.”
Nectar HiveX Review — K******
- Reviewer First Name: K******
- Key Highlights: Superb pad seal, linear bass extension, zero bleeding into the mid-range
“The lower tension configuration works beautifully here. You get actual sub-bass impact that doesn’t muddy up or bleed into the vocals at all. The headphone seals perfectly around the ears.”
Nectar HiveX Review — A***
- Reviewer First Name: A***
- Key Highlights: Highly responsive to minor hardware mods, outstanding instrument separation
“The instrument separation is clean and precise even on messy live tracks. Truly a unique set that handles heavy dynamic changes seamlessly.”
Nectar HiveX Review — D****
- Reviewer First Name: D****
- Key Highlights: Excellent depth layout, full-body weight distribution
“Most electrostatics feel thin, but the HiveX has a full-bodied weight and texture that makes bass guitars and heavy drums sound incredibly authentic.”
Nectar HiveX Review — M*******
- Reviewer First Name: M*******
- Key Highlights: Exceptional durability, tactile handmade quality
“Knowing this was entirely handbuilt makes the performance even more stunning. It is a robust, reliable, and deeply musical piece of equipment.”
Nectar HiveX Review — R****
- Reviewer First Name: R****
- Key Highlights: Impactful dynamic range, textured acoustic balance
“It has an amazing physical transient kick that is rare in electrostatic drivers. Piano and classical elements possess stunning body and realism.”
Nectar HiveX Review — G*****
- Reviewer First Name: G*****
- Key Highlights: Smooth micro-contrast tracking, impressive sub-bass control
“Sub-bass extension remains incredibly distinct down to the lowest sub-frequencies. Truly impressive driver tuning engineering.”
Nectar Hive Reviews
Nectar Hive Review — D****
- Reviewer First Name: D****
- Direct Comparisons: Legacy models
- Key Highlights: Exceptionally precise imaging, vast improvement in soundstage layout
“Anyway, the Hive is great, definitely the better headphone. Imaging is so precise. I enjoy using it and it provides exactly the front-row experience I wanted.”
Nectar Hive Review — J*****
- Reviewer First Name: J*****
- Key Highlights: Pure, coloration-free tone, immediate transient snap
“The transparency on the stock Hive is mind-blowing. It passes music through without coloration or distortion, rendering details instantly with great transient snap.”
Nectar Pollinator Reviews
Nectar Pollinator Review — D****
- Reviewer First Name: D****
- Amplifier Used: Stax SRM-252S
- Direct Comparisons: Dynamic models
- Key Highlights: Incredible cost-to-performance value, front-row vocal presence
“I think I will stick with the Pollinator for the time being. I really like it, I think it is a steal for the money. And I am not having any problem so far with the diaphragm sticking. I am enjoying the front row, intimate soundstage. I think your drivers are great, and I hope someday the Stax Mafia gets a pair to try.”
Nectar Pollinator Review — J***
- Reviewer First Name: J***
- Direct Comparisons: Kingsound H03, Stax SR-5
- Key Highlights: Jaw-dropping detail retrieval, deeply impressive low-end impact
“Since Saturday, I’ve spent many hours listening to the Pollinators, at first ‘A-B’ing them with my Kingsound H03 stats, and also my Stax SR-5s, and for the last couple days just throwing different genres at them. The Pollinators sound fantastic, actually ‘jaw droppingly’ good: full range, amazing bass, rich but accurate and detailed, detailed, detailed. These are exactly what I’ve been searching for.”
Nectar Pollinator Review — O******
- Reviewer First Name: O******
- Direct Comparisons: Kaldas RR1
- Key Highlights: Deep pad compatibility, transparent acoustics, modular potential
“Overall I’m impressed with the sound, it’s different than all my other electrostats. I suspect with better pads, these bright Pollinators have more bass than you measured. I’m enjoying the front row, intimate soundstage. I think your drivers are great.”
Nectar Pollinator Review — D****
- Reviewer First Name: D****
- Amplifier Used: Bottlehead Electrostatic Headphone Amplifier
- Key Highlights: Precise channel balancing, incredible treble detail resolution
“I will be using the Pollinators with a new Bottlehead Electrostatic headphone amp. I’m excited to try both. Looking good so far here is the F response. Both drivers are well matched. I’m looking forward to trying them!”
Nectar Pollinator Review — S*****
- Reviewer First Name: S*****
- Key Highlights: Pinpoint imaging performance, comfortable ear cushion layout
“I got them in yesterday and holy hell man, these are awesome. The clarity of the music is fantastic. To the point I was picking out some of my music that wasn’t high quality out right away. I was actually really surprised how light and comfortable the pads are. The imaging is really spot on, as I played games I’m able to really accurately pick out where things are coming from.”
Nectar Pollinator Review — G*****
- Reviewer First Name: G*****
- Direct Comparisons: Standard Kaldas models
- Key Highlights: Wide-open transient spacing, tight seal acoustics
“The soundstage is unique and immersive. If you take measurements while improving the seal, the bass really flattens out beautifully. Wide open pads make these highly non-fatiguing.”
HiveX
Nectar Hive & HiveX (scroll left/right)
More Nectar Hive (scroll left/right)
Ambrosia
Man… the Ambrosia is special… REALLY special
I did want to listen to the headphones some more before sending out my full thoughts on it, but there’s already some aspects of the headphone that I’m certain on.
The Ambrosia to my ears possibly has the best midrange I’ve ever heard in a headphone. It’s really spectacular how well the midrange also integrates with the super tight and responsive bass that the headphones can reproduce. Obviously, it’s not going to be as intense or powerful as the Bee, but, with the included fenestrated pads, the amount of bass goes hand in hand almost perfectly with the rest of the sound signature of the headphone.
The high end along with all micro details in any song are extremely well reproduced and are hard to miss.
But what really stands out to me is the way vocals sound on these headphones. The way to described it on your Instagram page when you compared them to the Sennie HD800s is spot on. There’s a certain intimacy and presence in vocals that I haven’t really heard from another pair of headphones before, albeit some headphones get really close. Some sound too distant, like they’re at the other end of the room, and others can be claustrophobic. I feel as though the Ambrosia gets it perfectly right in between where vocals sound like they’re near you, instead of being too far away or being in your head.
Also, on the topic of vocals, the vocal separation on the Ambrosia is also excellent. It makes it really easy to focus on the main singer, background singers and everything else in between as well as vocal harmonies between multiple singers.
Here’s a really interesting effect that I’ve heard the Ambrosia be able to reproduce really well: Beat frequencies. Where the Bee and other headphones for example might have it melt together into one continuous sound (especially with bass tones), the Ambrosia has the ability to reproduce the beat frequency produced from 2 very similar frequencies. It’s really quite amazing how the Ambrosia can very clearly and distinctly render the individual modulations in amplitude from lower frequencies! While it’s not exclusive to the Ambrosia, it’s definitely one of the best valued headphones to be able to produce this effect so well!
I think the Ambrosia might undoubtebly be my favourite sounding headphone I’ve ever owned, and once again, that’s incredibly special!
My friend, you absolutely nailed it with these headphones! I’m going to have some friends over to try them out and see what they think, and then compile their thoughts and feedback (as well as my own) into an email for you sometime soon!
Pollinator Impressions (scroll through)
Right out of the box these are exceptional headphones. These are right on, you nailed it – I feel you have something very special here. If anyone asks, these are remarkable.
1st I played the (2) Genesis CD trax (1st one & last one), then again on SACD (“Dance on a Volcano” and “Los Endos”). Then on to Steve Winwood – Fill Me Up. Next up was Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean, followed by ELP’s Tarkus. Then a slower piece from Mahavishnu Orchestra was played for violin tonality. Finally the all-thunderous Triumvirat – Spartacus album was played. You must hear this album start to finish thru these new Nectar, it is captivating !
I let all gear warm up for 2 hours before listening. Right after the 1st two Genesis trax played beautifully I also took Nectar off head and played the full Winwood album twice softly, in case any charge was needed. Nectar are fully charged right away within seconds like any great stat. Only reason is I do this (rarely needed) with all new stat hp’s…it’s only ever needed with really old stat hp’s that were stored for years (unplayed therefore) to “wake them up” with a charge. I only needed it 1 time with my stored Sigma Pros & it’s rare any cans need that…some guys do this continual soft play for 24 hours to even 1 week straight playing to correct channel imbalances on older sets. “Electrets”, which are electrostatics, do respond to this very well.
Here’s my listening results of the new tuning…
Awesome detail, clarity from highs, down thru mids and bass right to deep, tight sub bass. Very clean, distortion is gone.
Solid & precise vocal delivery thru midband. Acoustic guitar pure & spectacular like only an estat can deliver. Violin & piano timbre spot on. Choral pieces exhibit not just unison but individuality can be distinguished.
Bass digs deep, has texture & layering is heard. Very low frequency synths & deep electric bass in fast, complex compositions plays well without congestion. Very coherent with complicated music.
Highs are crystal clear, lifelike & airy. Whispering high notes from softly struck cymbals down to snare drum ghost notes easily heard and distinctive.
Speed & transients are excellent. Dynamics punch well, headphone tonality remains constant during soft passages up to louder movements. The front attack and subsequent decay of notes is just right, not overtuned and not sluggish, but lifelike to music.
Very wide soundstage & authentic. Imaging is very good. Maintains coherence as volume increases; capable of reaching volume to satisfy all.
Nice character, presentation, signature. Very accurate. Maintains a laid back slight warmth, yet is well balanced with brilliant, sparkling highs. Entire bandwidth balanced from lows thru mids to highs. Low end does not interfere with midbass, but has smooth, seamless transition.
Comfort with or without eyeglasses is great; appearance, construction, cabling, connectors & plug are all well done and all black finish color is super.
Ranks right within the Stax line up, vintage to present.
Well done, lovely, articulate electrostatic headphone.
It is now hard to find any fault with this new retuning, they are wonderful now & a perfect tuning.
It would take me much time to run a comparison to other estats, so I can’t free up that time for a really long while with a full schedule ongoing.
If asked, what could be better ? At their price, no improvements are needed, they are spectacular. With expensive, high resource R & D all that could be done, which is really difficult for all but the most costly headphones is…finer bass layering, low end even order harmonic distortion (not THD) could be reeled in a tad bit and soundstage height & depth increased – which is very hard to do in headphones.
Sajeev, your skills are commendable and this tuning is an accomplishment to be forever proud of.
These Nectar will remain with me until my time ends.
I received your red phones two days ago in perfect condition. I have had a chance to listen to them and compare them briefly with Stax SR-009’s and the new Hifiman Jade 2. I will later compare them with my Stax SR-L700’s, but I want to give you an early report.
I listen mostly to jazz and classical music from analog (LP)sources and to hi-res digital files from my Sony HAP-Z1ES. My analog system is very high quality and outperforms digital files in most cases,especially in terms of soundstage and transient dynamics. I am using a Woo GES amp (pure triode tube) for the phones driven directly by the phono preamp or Sony digital player. Here are my preliminary thoughts regarding your headphones:
Physical Design and Construction — You have done a very nice job packaging and finishing these phones. My only complaint is the cups are too small to fit around my ears, so I feel like my ears are being pinched. On the other hand, I think your phones are the first to have a headband that adjusts in height to my ears at a mid range position. All of my other headphones from Audeze, ZMF, Beyerdynamic, Stax and Hifiman must be collapsed all the way for the cups to fit over my ears, which, apparently are too close to the top of my head.
Bass — You have done a superb job capturing clean, deep bass with these phones. It is very similar to the SR-009’s, and only suffers slightly in bass definition. Your bass is cleaner than that from the Jade2’s, especially at high levels. I wouldn’t mess with this aspect of your phones.
Midrange — Again, very clean and fast, which is typical of electrostats. I sometimes hear a coloration in piano notes that masks some of the harmonic complexity and disrupts the note decay. It’s almost a toy piano sound, but not that obvious. I do not hear this in complex orchestral music, but only sometimes in certain notes from a solo piano or from the piano in simple jazz trios. The SR-009’s and Jade 2’s sound cleaner in these instances, but for 99% of the music I listen to, the coloration is not present. (This may be the result of a small, narrow resonance in the electrostatic film or the stators or case). On the other hand, the great strength of your phones is their ability to play complex orchestral music loudly without collapsing the soundstage or losing resolution of the many instruments. Your phones do not get honky or confused, and in this regard, they eclipse both the SR-009’s (which get peaky in the highs) and the Jade 2’s (which get edgy and grainy). Bravo!
Highs — These are very clean, but lack some”air.” By comparison, I think the upper, upper midrange in theSR-009’s is too hot and can be unpleasant when the sound is turned up. This manifests itself even with a lush tube headphone amp! The Jade 2’s,on the other hand, have about the right level of clean, airy high frequencies.
Soundstage — I love the soundstage presented by your headphones! It is moderately wide and presents a continuous sound right to left. There is some depth, and instruments are well placed. The soundstage is also delightfully horizontal, and does not extend way above my head, as some phones do, which I find distracting. The Jade 2’s, produce a narrow soundstage that is almost vertical, but with some depth. TheST-009’s produce a very wide, deep soundstage, but the instruments are isolated from one another, separated by sonic black spaces. Instrument height is also unnatural. Instruments are sometimes placed on the right or left at jaw level, while others are centered above my forehead.
Sensitivity — Your phones are relatively insensitive, based on the volume control position on the GES. I would say they are about 6 dB less sensitive than the SR-009’s, and about 2 dB less sensitive than the Jade2’s. I had enough gain to drive your phones to loud levels, and I never detected clipping of the amp. Both gain and power from the GES appear to be adequate for your headphones.
Overall, you have produced a very professional product that gives me musical pleasure. Your tuning is very balanced, which lets me listen for hours without fatigue or boredom. I just wish you would make the cup diameter a little bigger.
The Bee
“Already I can tell these are going to be a favorite of mines, the main thing I wanted the bees for was for bass, and it delivers in a way that exceeded my expectations. It is impactful, full, has detail, and doesn’t bloat much into the mids like I’ve heard with some dynamic drivers. The speed is definitely not comparable to other planar magnetics, but then again that is definitely not what I got them for! I also like just how great the soundstage and imaging is, it’s comparable to my aryas but I’d say even more detailed in where exactly an instrument sounds like where it’s coming from, it’s extremely impressive! My favorite song to test out was “There better be a mirrorball” by Arctic Monkeys, the bass sounds so smooth and everything sounds just right. The Bees are very easy to just listen to and I can definitely appreciate a set of headphones that can do that. I still have to do some more listening to form more opinions on things like the mids, the highs, the weight, but overall I can say that it sounded off and much darker at first, then started sounding right after about an hour of listening.