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Hifiman Arya Review (headphone)

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 12 3.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 57 18.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 139 44.8%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 102 32.9%

  • Total voters
    310
I have both the Arya and the senn hd800. The spatial effect of the hd800 is hard to ignore, I also love the sound of the Arya. Of my dozen headphones those two are my favorites but a slight nod to the hd800 for overall sound enjoyment. If I had to just have the Arya though I would be a very happy, it’s a very comfortable and engaging can.
 
This is the good stuff! Do you prefer this or the HD800S, @amirm?
I wish I had kept the 800s as it has been a long time. Just guessing, I would say spatial qualities are the same or similar. And tonality of this one is closer to target than 800s.
 
One thing Arya really shines at is gaming. It blows my other headphones out of the water for 3D space, maybe with the Koss electrostats somewhat trading blows.

Funny you posted this review when I have been taking a long break from my Arya after getting them summer 2020.
 
I wish I had kept the 800s as it has been a long time. Just guessing, I would say spatial qualities are the same or similar. And tonality of this one is closer to target than 800s.
Btw. if someone want a higher endish planar, then this or the Audeze LCD-X? Both of them need EQ, but the latter seems more solid for the price.
 
Btw. if someone want a higher endish planar, then this or the Audeze LCD-X? Both of them need EQ, but the latter seems more solid for the price.
I have the Arya (although not the recent revision - hate these multiple revisions without a name change - they could just call them V1, V2 etc.
If you think about it, they both take to EQ very well, but Arya to me is way more comfortable than anything Audieze ever made, it's also completely open - I mean, take them off your head and use them as speakers kind of open :D
I can wear them all day long and be completely comfortable (and I in fact do that very often).
Audezes are built like tanks though - but I'm happy with the BQ of my Aryas - and I don't abuse my stuff so don't see any issues coming up in the future.

So overall, I would say the experience is better with the Aryas - but I am biased as hell, they are my go-to phones.
 
I voted "Not Terrible" for this one, it's expensive and distortion and frequency response are not awesome. The subjective assessment of good soundstage is a positive though, but a little harder to hang your hat on that. (What's with photographing the earcup upsidedown, a bit unnecessary!)
 
It produced an interesting effect, I sometimes look at these things as small IQ tests :D
With people barking at Amir that the measurements are all wrong because of the image being the ones who failed :D
Bah! It's not like there's not enough distractions in a thread! :D
 
Would the Arya be worth it if someone already has the Ananda? I was getting the itch for something new.
Hifiman allowed me to trade up to an open box Arya from Ananda for about $600. I was getting bored of the Ananda but I don't get bored of the Arya (far better resolution). I switch, sometimes daily, between Focal Clear and the Arya. For punch and vocals its the Clear. For spaciousness, think classical, the Arya is the winner. Moving between the two keeps both fresh. They are very different from each other.
 
Hifiman allowed me to trade up to an open box Arya from Ananda for about $600. I was getting bored of the Ananda but I don't get bored of the Arya (far better resolution). I switch, sometimes daily, between Focal Clear and the Arya. For punch and vocals its the Clear. For spaciousness, think classical, the Arya is the winner. Moving between the two keeps both fresh. They are very different from each other.

How did you initiate this trade with them? Did you just ring them up and ask to trade? do they have an official program for trade ins?

Thanks!
 
How did you initiate this trade with them? Did you just ring them up and ask to trade? do they have an official program for trade ins?

Thanks!
They did and perhaps still do have an official program (traded mine in February 2021). I called them up to see if I could trade it in for an open box item and they were good with that. The trade in was $600 for the Ananda, what I payed for it 6 months earlier. With open box the Arya cost me $800 (I made a mistake above quoting $600).
 
The performance of the big planar driver itself is actually quite disappointing but this headphone has one of the best spatial quality (according to rtings PRTF model and many subjective reviews), so overall acceptable.
This HP is great sounding despite the measurements. Especially on a class A amp that has a little extra power on tap, IMO.
 
Would the Arya be worth it if someone already has the Ananda? I was getting the itch for something new.
Yep. I own both the Ananda and the Arya Stealth Edition (SE). I traded my v2's for the Arya SE. The Arya v2's and SE's just have more....everything. Bigger sounding and more refined. Deeper and more detailed bass, greater vocal realism, better layering and trailing edges, and more refined treble detail. The v2's have a farther away, just slightly larger soundstage and sense of space, and need a decently powerful amp. They can have a slightly plasticky timbre sometimes (though less bright class A amps mitigate that). The Stealth Magnet Edition (SE) has all the Arya v2's traits but has punchier bass and a more natural timbre out of the box and is more forward. It has just slightly closer sound-staging but as a result it's stage is more coherent/natural/detailed. The SE's also are substantially easier to drive than the v2's and won't need as much juice. Happy listening.
 
This HP is great sounding despite the measurements. Especially on a class A amp that has a little extra power on tap, IMO.
How much power and/or what model do you have in mind?
 
@amirm

Did the Ananda have similar spatial qualities? Oratory believes the HD800’s “spaciousness” is because you don’t feel anything on your ears, or at least it’s contributing to the illusion (you can almost forget you're wearing them!). And there seems to be a trend here…
 
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Maybe I switch it up and opt for an LCD-X 2021 revision ;)
 
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