Hifiman Arya Review (headphone)

[edahl]

Here's the difference between them:

View attachment 172154

Interesting, everyone seems to comment that the Arya Stealth is brighter, but perhaps that's just a subjectivist hangup due to HEKse being brighter than V2?

 

[Jabinho]

Changing DACs wont change much if anything.

Reduce your preamp to -6db and see if low gain on DAC and/ or amp will be enough. I doubt it will make much difference either, but just to get a handle on what power you actually need.

I agree. The change will be small. I would get one of those Topping DAC's to go with the amp. For example https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...topping-d10s-usb-dac-and-bridge-review.14859/

 

[Ezees]

Interesting, everyone seems to comment that the Arya Stealth is brighter, but perhaps that's just a subjectivist hangup due to HEKse being brighter than V2?

Nope, I had both at the same time. While the v2's extra brightness was tamed with the v2 revision's cloth dust cover, the v3's is just slightly brighter at the very top of the treble response by a couple decibels at some frequencies. I don't think it's effectually that much brighter - but it is more concise - meaning it's imaging has sharper attack than the v2's more laid back character.

 

[Snoopy]

Its the matrix i-mini pro 3 on 4.4mm output (2000mw) enought to move the aryas v2 nicely?

Did you find out?

I was wondering if I could use the mini I pro 3 for Dan Clark aeon 2 noire

 

[adamjohari]

Hey everyone, I have the Hifiman Arya with Topping D10s, Drop THX 789 and SMSL DA-9 for my Kef LS50. Would you recommend me getting the Chord Qutest or Chord Hugo TT2? Anyone here powering their Aryas with a TT2 care to comment? Or with Qutest?

 

[Jimbob54]

Hey everyone, I have the Hifiman Arya with Topping D10s, Drop THX 789 and SMSL DA-9 for my Kef LS50. Would you recommend me getting the Chord Qutest or Chord Hugo TT2? Anyone here powering their Aryas with a TT2 care to comment? Or with Qutest?

Only if you have a burning desire to lighten your wallet for no good reason. Anything wrong with your current set up? Have you tried applying EQ? Swapping for a Chord will make no audible difference. EQ in your cirrent set up will.

 

[adamjohari]

Only if you have a burning desire to lighten your wallet for no good reason. Anything wrong with your current set up? Have you tried applying EQ? Swapping for a Chord will make no audible difference. EQ in your cirrent set up will.

I have applied EQ and there is a difference. Thought I would be able to hear the difference if changed DACs. Seeing as the D10s seems like the weakest link.

 

[edahl]

I have applied EQ and there is a difference. Thought I would be able to hear the difference if changed DACs. Seeing as the D10s seems like the weakest link.

I think you'll find that DACs are solved and you just want to cover your functional needs. Get something not broken that has the inputs and outputs you need, or an RME ADI-2 DAC FS for EQ in the DAC.

 

[Jimbob54]

I have applied EQ and there is a difference. Thought I would be able to hear the difference if changed DACs. Seeing as the D10s seems like the weakest link.

Its the cheapest link- but dont change DACs (or even clean amps that are powerful enough) and expect improvements. Your D10 to THX789 should be audibly transparent , as would be swapping for a Chord DAC/amp.

 

[abhishek]

What are the arya's drivers possible signs of degradation after long period of normal usage?

Does EQing speed up the degradation process?

 

[edahl]

What are the arya's drivers possible signs of degradation after long period of normal usage?

Does EQing speed up the degradation process?

A headphone is a passive recipient of the audio signal. Changing the signal with EQ is equivalent to changing the music. I think you can assume the kind of music you play has little influence on driver longevity.

 

[Ntrax]

Please support,
For those who want to have a more natural tonality can consider custom pads.
For aesthetic you can opt for a custom grille too. Do drop me a msg anytime if you are interested.

View attachment 174311
View attachment 174315

 

[Ezees]

Hello I'm new to this forum
I recently upgraded from sennheiser hd598 to arya.
Using arya v2 with fiio k3 DAC on high gain, TOPPING A50S as Amp On high gain,using 4.4mm balanced output.

Using poweramp player, with 20 band eq with peak of +5.8 Db at 29hz and -8db preamp(to prevent digital clipping)
Volume knob set to 2 o'clock on Amp
Most songs are louder and punchy without any audible distortion.
I can even feel tight and powerfull bass below 10hz.
My question is,will i get any noticeable improvement in audio if I switch to high-end DAC?
And how much power does arya can handle before it starts clipping?
View attachment 173018

I think you'd definitely gain a jump in SQ by looking at a dedicated desktop DAC and amp. Many miniaturized pieces have had to compromize some SQ to be so small. A desktop system would be less noisy and have quieter backgrounds when music is playing and probably be quite a bit more revealing too.

 

[Ezees]

Hey everyone, I have the Hifiman Arya with Topping D10s, Drop THX 789 and SMSL DA-9 for my Kef LS50. Would you recommend me getting the Chord Qutest or Chord Hugo TT2? Anyone here powering their Aryas with a TT2 care to comment? Or with Qutest?

Search around the Net. I think I read about someone on another forum (Head-Fi) that has used the TT2 with good results. I don't think you'd have to go to that level to see improvements from the D10 with the Arya, unless you just want to jump.

 

[Phoney]

This is the only version he has measured. Pretty sure the stock FR between all three are extremely close. You can still use it, as its just an aproximation. Check out oratory1990 settings as well. My assumption is that he used a V1, but I use it with my V2.

I ended up with this for v2 after making slight adjustments from the Oratory one, it sounds really good to me now. Took down the low shelf filter by 2 db as I don't like the full bass boost. Boosted band 3 (lower mids) by 1,5 db and lowered band 5 down by 1 db. Most importanly I felt like the staging didn't sound as good to me after putting on the oratory eq. It got a lot better after changing band 9 to 0 instead of -3db, and to me that really fixed the issue. Now the soundstage feels untouched. Oh and I put preamp to -4 instead of -5.

 

[abhishek]

My arya v2 started sounding perfect now after using over 150 hours.now I can enjoy music with less bass content without feeling tiredness for longer period. High frequency sounds smooth and more detailed.
I was a common before listening to arya and now I started feeling as audiophile.

 

[solderdude]

It took 150 hours for you to adjust to the sound of the Arya ?
Most people need only a few days to adjust to the sound.

 

[NorthernSoul73]

I've had my Arya's for a week now ... Paired with the RME ADI 2 DAC fs I'm very pleased with the sound. Great thing with the RME is I can set the EQ system wide as I'm using a MacBook Pro. One of the many reasons that swayed me towards the ADI.

Headphone history has been chequered to say the least: Audeze LCD 2 (hated), Aeon 2 (OK), Ether CX (disappointed) TH909 (loved, apart from the treble), HD660 (wonderful with vocals), Denon D7200 (dull and lifeless), Eikon (Truly dreadful without EQ) and now with the Arya.

Biggest regret was probabl the Eikon ... Really muddy and veiled without EQ to the harmon curve. I was shocked they sounded so bad when I first head them. With EQ it became an exciting beast but seemed to have a hole in the mids that just couldn't be corrected. For a closed back the imaging and width was excellent with EQ.

Arya Stealth seems to be a more rounded experience and the soundstage and imaging are excellent. Sometimes it seems I get a little resonance with vocals but other than that a very pleasing experience. Just a shame that they ship it with a cable that has such crap ergonomics. Ended up paying close to £100 for a cable that looks the part and doesn't tangle itself. Sound quality remains the same!

HiFi history before family life consisted of ADM active speakers with the sub - excellent on every level and sometimes miss the single life being able to crank the volume and just melt into the sound; can't beat a proper integrated sub imo. Headphones are a compromise but that's life ha ha ..

First post anyway and love the site ...

 

[Phoney]

I've had my Arya's for a week now ... Paired with the RME ADI 2 DAC fs I'm very pleased with the sound. Great thing with the RME is I can set the EQ system wide as I'm using a MacBook Pro. One of the many reasons that swayed me towards the ADI.

Headphone history has been chequered to say the least: Audeze LCD 2 (hated), Aeon 2 (OK), Ether CX (disappointed) TH909 (loved, apart from the treble), HD660 (wonderful with vocals), Denon D7200 (dull and lifeless), Eikon (Truly dreadful without EQ) and now with the Arya.

Biggest regret was probabl the Eikon ... Really muddy and veiled without EQ to the harmon curve. I was shocked they sounded so bad when I first head them. With EQ it became an exciting beast but seemed to have a hole in the mids that just couldn't be corrected. For a closed back the imaging and width was excellent with EQ.

Arya Stealth seems to be a more rounded experience and the soundstage and imaging are excellent. Sometimes it seems I get a little resonance with vocals but other than that a very pleasing experience. Just a shame that they ship it with a cable that has such crap ergonomics. Ended up paying close to £100 for a cable that looks the part and doesn't tangle itself. Sound quality remains the same!

HiFi history before family life consisted of ADM active speakers with the sub - excellent on every level and sometimes miss the single life being able to crank the volume and just melt into the sound; can't beat a proper integrated sub imo. Headphones are a compromise but that's life ha ha ..

First post anyway and love the site ...

I have the Arya v2 which I really like, but I find it a bit fatigueing for me, even after EQ I can't really crank up the volume and let it stay up for a while. I can barely listen to it pre EQ. Sounds great but my ears can't handle the elevated highs. Still think it's an amazing headphone, even at comfortable listening levels. Having said that I like Jazz the most on my Arya, and the Jazz records that I enjoy can be a bit fatigueing by nature (like a bunch of cymbals and sax).

I also have the Denon AH-D7200. Now the thing about this one is that you kind of have to EQ it, otherwise the signature will be fairly warm. But if you EQ it to Harman curve it will sound metallic because you're boosting the highs too much. I've found that a middle ground between original sound signature and Harman will make it sound great to me. Still a bit in favour of the lows and mids, but in a way that I enjoy for a closed back headphone. It also complements my Arya well in terms of what kind of music I prefer with it. Arya for bright music, and the Denons for music that focus less on treble and for recordings that are not of that high of a quality (Arya hates those).

 

[NorthernSoul73]

I have the Arya v2 which I really like, but I find it a bit fatigueing for me, even after EQ I can't really crank up the volume and let it stay up for a while. I can barely listen to it pre EQ. Sounds great but my ears can't handle the elevated highs. Still think it's an amazing headphone, even at comfortable listening levels. Having said that I like Jazz the most on my Arya, and the Jazz records that I enjoy can be a bit fatigueing by nature (like a bunch of cymbals and sax).

I also have the Denon AH-D7200. Now the thing about this one is that you kind of have to EQ it, otherwise the signature will be fairly warm. But if you EQ it to Harman curve it will sound metallic because you're boosting the highs too much. I've found that a middle ground between original sound signature and Harman will make it sound great to me. Still a bit in favour of the lows and mids, but in a way that I enjoy for a closed back headphone. It also complements my Arya well in terms of what kind of music I prefer with it. Arya for bright music, and the Denons for music that focus less on treble and for recordings that are not of that high of a quality (Arya hates those).

I can listen to the stealth's with no EQ and its still very pleasing. With EQ they open up ever so slightly with just a little bit of extra room to breath and more presence with the bass. I only add +3db to the bass vs +5 for the Harman curve. The treble for me is prefect after living with the TH909's for so long.