Focal Clear vs Hifiman Arya Stealth

[Ole_S]

Hi Guys,

My good friend has just offered me his beloved Focal Clear.
It just needs new pads.
Price: 562 EUR.

What is your honest opinion of these headphones?
Compared with Hifiman Arya Stealth.

Thank you, guys.

 

[staticV3]

OEM pads for the Focal cost like $200 per pair, which is rough.

Frequency response measurements by oratory1990 show quite different midrange+treble response between the two:


Since you'd have to replace the pads anyway, you have the option of fitting the Clear MG pads, which would make the Clear sound like a Clear MG (even less treble):

 

[Jimbob54]

Hang on, did you buy the Arya Stealth or not? You have never really answered that.

Edit. I meant did you listen to them. If we knew your thoughts on the Arya might help inform which you might like better between the Clear and Arya.

 

[Rayman30]

Hi Guys,

My good friend has just offered me his beloved Focal Clear.
It just needs new pads.
Price: 562 EUR.

What is your honest opinion of these headphones?
Compared with Hifiman Arya Stealth.

Thank you, guys.

If using EQ, I would take the Arya Stealth, but stock tuning I prefer the Clear. They are so remarkably different, Focal Clear does midrange so well imo, for singer/songwriter tunes Its in its own class. The Arya has a larger soundstage, without EQ is a little hot for me, and the bass can be a little to diffuse. I think for most people the Arya would be the better choice overall, I owned one for a little while, but I thought the sound was a little to thin and brittle compared to my LCD-X 2021 so I returned them.

My opinion here.

Arya:
Treble: 8
(Well articulated)
Midrange 5
(Thin, hurts vocals)
Bass 4
(Thin and diffuse, sounds far away and lacks authority)
Soundstage 8
(Very large vertical stage)
Imaging 6
(Good, but center is affected by vertical stage, image is stretched to sides a bit, but a large soundscape and decent ability to discern instruments in the environment)

Clear:
Treble 5
(A touch metallic at times, especially in the low treble, thinks like cymbals)
Midrange 9
(Warm, pronounced and detailed, old pop and singer/songwriter tunes are amazing)
Bass 6
(Punchy and fun, however to much volume can cause noticeable distortion in the form of pops as the driver hits the back of its enclosure, affects drivers ability to produce a large quantity of bass, this was even more present when EQd)
Soundstage: 3
(There is some, above a HD6XX, but falls way short, less than Sundara)
Imaging 5
(Cohesive across L and R channels, decent in presentation of locational information but ultimately small)

 

[Ole_S]

If using EQ, I would take the Arya Stealth, but stock tuning I prefer the Clear. They are so remarkably different, Focal Clear does midrange so well imo, for singer/songwriter tunes Its in its own class. The Arya has a larger soundstage, without EQ is a little hot for me, and the bass can be a little to diffuse. I think for most people the Arya would be the better choice overall, I owned one for a little while, but I thought the sound was a little to thin and brittle compared to my LCD-X 2021 so I returned them.

My opinion here.

Arya:
Treble: 8
(Well articulated)
Midrange 5
(Thin, hurts vocals)
Bass 4
(Thin and diffuse, sounds far away and lacks authority)
Soundstage 8
(Very large vertical stage)
Imaging 6
(Good, but center is affected by vertical stage, image is stretched to sides a bit, but a large soundscape and decent ability to discern instruments in the environment)

Clear:
Treble 5
(A touch metallic at times, especially in the low treble, thinks like cymbals)
Midrange 9
(Warm, pronounced and detailed, old pop and singer/songwriter tunes are amazing)
Bass 6
(Punchy and fun, however to much volume can cause noticeable distortion in the form of pops as the driver hits the back of its enclosure, affects drivers ability to produce a large quantity of bass, this was even more present when EQd)
Soundstage: 3
(There is some, above a HD6XX, but falls way short, less than Sundara)
Imaging 5
(Cohesive across L and R channels, decent in presentation of locational information but ultimately small)

Very useful.
Thank you.

I am gonna receive my Hifiman Arya Stealth tomorrow.
I just got Focal Clear offered today and was curious to hear your opinion about it.

 

[Jimbob54]

I am gonna receive my Hifiman Arya Stealth tomorrow

What did you think of the regular Arya back in February? Not sure the tuning changed that much to the Stealth version.

 

[Rayman30]

Very useful.
Thank you.

I am gonna receive my Hifiman Arya Stealth tomorrow.
I just got Focal Clear offered today and was curious to hear your opinion about it.

The price you pay for slightly thin tonality on the Arya is that it sounds like a concert hall at times, instruments in the stage are staggeringly spread out, it can be startling. How much that kind of thing is important to you will dictate how much you like them imo.

 

[Ole_S]

The price you pay for slightly thin tonality on the Arya is that it sounds like a concert hall at times, instruments in the stage are staggeringly spread out, it can be startling. How much that kind of thing is important to you will dictate how much you like them imo.

Soundstage is important to me.

 

[Jimbob54]

It looks like you bought a pair of arya back in February. What did you think to them then? What will the arya stealth give you that the regular ones didnt? You never said what your thoughts were back then. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/amp-for-hifiman-arya.52165/

 

[Dunring]

The Arya Stealth are my favorite headphones, and I've had almost the entire line. Check the seal around your ears since the foam can take wearing them a few days before it seals really well. The stealth fixed the original versions semi-shouty female vocals. Focals I've had usually have a treble rolloff, and the pads are worth checking aftermarket at those prices.

 

[Ole_S]

The Arya Stealth are my favorite headphones, and I've had almost the entire line. Check the seal around your ears since the foam can take wearing them a few days before it seals really well. The stealth fixed the original versions semi-shouty female vocals. Focals I've had usually have a treble rolloff, and the pads are worth checking aftermarket at those prices.

Good info, thank you.

 

[Ole_S]

It looks like you bought a pair of arya back in February. What did you think to them then? What will the arya stealth give you that the regular ones didnt? You never said what your thoughts were back then. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/amp-for-hifiman-arya.52165/

Nope

 

[Jimbob54]

Nope

What does that mean? You didnt say it , you didnt own it, you dont want to engage with my question?

 

[BZ22]

The Arya Stealth are my favorite headphones, and I've had almost the entire line. Check the seal around your ears since the foam can take wearing them a few days before it seals really well. The stealth fixed the original versions semi-shouty female vocals. Focals I've had usually have a treble rolloff, and the pads are worth checking aftermarket at those prices.

How do the Arya Stealth and the Edition XS sound to you in comparison?
Would you say there are vast differences between them, and how does the low-end and mids compare?

 

[Mr Swing King]

Hifiman’s eggshaped headphones all sound very very close to one another.
The Edition XS though is the most wellbehaved. The Arya is the brightest of the lot with a peak in the low treble that doesn’t jive with my ears.
I personally much prefer Hifiman’s round cup models.

 

[Curupira]

The Edition XS though is the most wellbehaved.

I haven't heard the other ones, but I find that the XS graph is deceiving as it has a very noticeable ringing on the upper treble at around 12khz which makes the whole tonality shift to be a lot brighter. From what I've gathered, most of the oval hifimans have this (they lean big on the sparkly treble wow factor), but on the XS it's something I've seen a lot (more) of people complaining about.

I believe @Ken Tajalli has modified his a bit to circumvent this problem.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

Hifiman’s eggshaped headphones all sound very very close to one another.
The Edition XS though is the most wellbehaved. The Arya is the brightest of the lot with a peak in the low treble that doesn’t jive with my ears.
I personally much prefer Hifiman’s round cup models.
View attachment 383867

If you look closely, the EDXS and the Arya (both similar headshell, back metal grills) have a resonance at just over 6kHz and another at just over 12kHz.
I believe, in some degree, the back metal grill bars are responsible. The first node is quite audible, the second adds a bit of hardness to the sound.
Now, since these are resonances (distortions) no amount of EQing is going to cure the issue. Sure, you can EQ them out and get a nice FR curve, but the audible issue gets worse! as now, you have a suck out to deal with too.
Yes, I did modify mine (look for it somewhere on ASR or Headfi), and it did help a fair bit, but couldn't eradicate it.
Again, considering the cost of a pair of EDXS, it is one hell of a bargain.
For the record, my Focal Clear, lasted only a month, before I flogged them.
That bad!

 

[Mr Swing King]

I gather it’s down to personal preference/hearing and indeed whether or not one equalises. I’ve a/b’ed the various eggshaped models on several occasions and always found the Arya to be uncomfortably bright vs the Edition XS. I did hear some ‘shimmer’ up top like most other Hifimen, but it was the hole in the mids that ended up irritating me. I sold off my Edition XS because I vastly prefer both my Sundara and HE500, but if I were to pick which eggy I like the most it’d be the Edition XS.

 

[BZ22]

I feel that many people rely too much on frequency graphs.
I would not describe the XS as harsh in the treble.
As an example, a headphone that sounds too harsh would be the DT 1990 Pro.

I've read several times here on the forum that the XS supposedly has unpleasantly piercing treble and distorted sub-bass.
Maybe this is a case of unit variation.
Or it could be due to the audio interface/headphone amp being used?

On my RME Babyface Pro FS, the sub-bass sounds really great even when I add a 4-5dB low-end boost below 100Hz.
For me personally, the tuning is ideal. I find that the XS has a good ability to determine whether a mix has too much treble or not.

A really good mix does not sound harsh on the XS.
Listen to songs by John Mayer that were mixed by great sound engineers.
For orchestral/film music, check out the tracks mixed by Alan Meyerson.
Or the album 'Heroes' by The Midnight

 

[BZ22]

I've been listening to the Arya Stealth for 30 minutes now.
What can I say, friends... I think my search for the headphone I've been looking for ends here.
The XS has really helped guide me in the right direction after trying countless headphones.
I'd say it's a nice and fair upgrade path from Hifiman. Chapeau