[ezduzit2500]

Yeah it is between those two but I am also very curious about the Bottlehead S.E.X. and the Feliks Echo MKII. Although I may have to sell my Aryas to make it work. Although I am looking in to trading my Dianas for an LCD-5 so I am still waiting to determine where I am going to land with headphones before I decide which amp to go with. Plus if I go LCD-5 the amp pairing isn't near as important.

Sell your Aryas? You're speaking heresy, LOL!!! I've read that OTL tube amps aren't the bestpairing with planars due to their limited current output and output impedances. Indeed, I've only used tube/buffer preamps drving SS amps with them.....

 

[Tachyon88]

Big difference between the way our brain deals with short peaks as opposed to consistently listening that high and having peaks even higher.

Right, sustained vs peak is the difference. That distinction is never made when people are trying to dunk on "others". Not everyone listens to modern compressed loudly recorded music at a sustained 94db level. Especially those who actively think about preserving their hearing. But even turning it up manually to something like that for a little bit is fine within short time frames. Sometimes those sick riffs and bass notes must be more than heard !!! ;p

I went from Diana v2 to Arya and IMO the arya slays the Diana in everything. I bet the LCD-5 will sound better than Diana because it's far better enigneered, but I would like to put the LCD-5 driver into the Diana, because I love the Diana build.

 

[IXOYE]

I wonder if anyone who owns Arya can measure the width of the leather headband for me?

 

[Rogue Architect]

Right, sustained vs peak is the difference. That distinction is never made when people are trying to dunk on "others". Not everyone listens to modern compressed loudly recorded music at a sustained 94db level. Especially those who actively think about preserving their hearing. But even turning it up manually to something like that for a little bit is fine within short time frames. Sometimes those sick riffs and bass notes must be more than heard !!! ;p

I went from Diana v2 to Arya and IMO the arya slays the Diana in everything. I bet the LCD-5 will sound better than Diana because it's far better enigneered, but I would like to put the LCD-5 driver into the Diana, because I love the Diana build.

I hear what you are saying, I just can’t take Amir seriously after seeing the way he reacts to potential mistakes on his part. Everyone makes mistakes and that includes someone that is supposed to be taking objective measurements (to be clear he does not.). What matters is how you react. Amir likes to double down when he is wrong and try to explain it away with big words his followers don’t understand.

Interesting you say that about the Aryas because I disagree completely. I EQ my headphones so take that into account but IME the only area that the Arya is better than the Diana is soundstage and depending on your preference, you could add comfort and stock tonality. It loses in detail retrieval, bass impact, naturalness and imaging.

 

[Tachyon88]

I hear what you are saying, I just can’t take Amir seriously after seeing the way he reacts to potential mistakes on his part. Everyone makes mistakes and that includes someone that is supposed to be taking objective measurements (to be clear he does not.). What matters is how you react. Amir likes to double down when he is wrong and try to explain it away with big words his followers don’t understand.

Interesting you say that about the Aryas because I disagree completely. I EQ my headphones so take that into account but IME the only area that the Arya is better than the Diana is soundstage and depending on your preference, you could add comfort and stock tonality. It loses in detail retrieval, bass impact, naturalness and imaging.

What doesn't add up is that out of all the headphones he's measured, its just that one he can't ? Its abyss.....they make the worse measuring headphones. I would blame product variation before I would discount the measurement. They don't market to people who care about measurements anyways. Obviously you can still like something that doesn't measure well. That isn't my point though.

I really wanted to like them because they're American and really cool in person. I EQ my headphones too. Yes soundstage for sure, but I also think all those attributes are better on the Arya as well. In fact when I got the arya I had to try the susvara, then I sold the susvara because the arya was close enough for me. To me diana sounded like a typical headphone, nothing really stood out and that is why I always compared it to the HD6xx. When I got the arya I was like "dayuuum".

 

[Rogue Architect]

What doesn't add up is that out of all the headphones he's measured, its just that one he can't ? Its abyss.....they make the worse measuring headphones. I would blame product variation before I would discount the measurement. They don't market to people who care about measurements anyways. Obviously you can still like something that doesn't measure well. That isn't my point though.

I really wanted to like them because they're American and really cool in person. I EQ my headphones too. Yes soundstage for sure, but I also think all those attributes are better on the Arya as well. In fact when I got the arya I had to try the susvara, then I sold the susvara because the arya was close enough for me. To me diana sounded like a typical headphone, nothing really stood out and that is why I always compared it to the HD6xx. When I got the arya I was like "dayuuum".

I would contend that every single one of his measurements are inherently flawed based on his non scientific methodology. He just happened to get called out on this one and then under further scrutiny revealed he does not have a scientific approach. This changes all of his measurements from objective to subjective. At this point, why call someone out that isn’t objective? Opinion pieces are fine.

That is interesting to me that you view it that way, in regards to the 6XX. I have volume match A/B compared the 2 and it’s not really even close. In fact, there isn’t even one category where I feel the 6XX is comparable much less pulls ahead. Crazy how different people here.

 

[Tachyon88]

I would contend that every single one of his measurements are inherently flawed based on his non scientific methodology. He just happened to get called out on this one and then under further scrutiny revealed he does not have a scientific approach. This changes all of his measurements from objective to subjective. At this point, why call someone out that isn’t objective? Opinion pieces are fine.

That is interesting to me that you view it that way, in regards to the 6XX. I have volume match A/B compared the 2 and it’s not really even close. In fact, there isn’t even one category where I feel the 6XX is comparable much less pulls ahead. Crazy how different people here.

That has all been litigated over there. Anyways...

I make my judgments over months. I never compare directly as I don't have the ability to do such. I had the Diana for almost a year. I also have two listening stations and would listen to both daily. Its not that they aren't different, but I was just wondering what the heck all that money bought me. I even took into consideration the time of day I listen to each, but whenever I thought "ok, I think this is better?" I'd go back to HD6xx and was stumped ! haha. Without getting into all of the hair splitting between this and that I would really just sum it up this way....For me, HD800's, Arya, and DCA stealth bring something more to the overall experience than sounding like a "typical" headphone.

You're so right about our hearing. Forget comapring though, if 10 people heard the exact same setup without knowing what the equipment was you would probably get 2 - 10 opinions just from that alone !! lol.

 

[PlanarBunny]

Just wanted to join in with the Arya gang. I got a pre-owned pair of the v2 2020 version and I absolutely love the sound. Great soundstage and it's got a bit more of a relaxed yet articulate sound compared to my Elex. I love both my Arya v2 and Elex, they're my current favorite cans and I swap back and forth between them weekly or bi-weekly. But yeah, if I were to describe either can with one single word, I would call the Elex visceral and the Arya "lovely." I'm a bit new to this forum so if anyone has some opinions to say about the v2 I'd love to hear what you like or dislike about it. I've seen people online mention that they're neutral bright, but I don't think it's as bright as some people complained about. I think the bass presence is really nice and extends really deep. It's not punchy like my Elex but it feels like the overall bass presence is brought up a bit. So like, not punchy, but existing a bit more if that makes any sense while not bleeding into anything else. I loooove its bass extension. In terms of it being bright I think that's the quirk that makes me say "articulate" because it has lots of treble detail, but it never really felt sharp or piercing or uncomfortable unless I was listening to something that wasn't well mastered/mixed. Or jungle. I bust out the HD6XX for jungle for that treble roll-off lmao.

 

[LepakVT]

Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to try out the Edition XS and LCD-X (2021). I haven't had the LCD-X for very long but my early impressions are that I prefer the XS/HiFiMan sound. Unfortunately the XS headband created a hotspot on the top of my head within an hour even after adding an aftermarket pad, so it had to be returned. Would like to know if anyone has had any comfort issues with the Arya? Seems like the suspension strap will be a winner.

 

[yeboyi]

Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to try out the Edition XS and LCD-X (2021). I haven't had the LCD-X for very long but my early impressions are that I prefer the XS/HiFiMan sound. Unfortunately the XS headband created a hotspot on the top of my head within an hour even after adding an aftermarket pad, so it had to be returned. Would like to know if anyone has had any comfort issues with the Arya? Seems like the suspension strap will be a winner.

The comfort is amazing except clamping force can be a problem for some people.

 

[Rogue Architect]

Over the last couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to try out the Edition XS and LCD-X (2021). I haven't had the LCD-X for very long but my early impressions are that I prefer the XS/HiFiMan sound. Unfortunately the XS headband created a hotspot on the top of my head within an hour even after adding an aftermarket pad, so it had to be returned. Would like to know if anyone has had any comfort issues with the Arya? Seems like the suspension strap will be a winner.

It is worlds different. Like the Edition XS's comfort is a not great with the hot spot on the top and how loose it is. Whereas the Arya is the most comfortable headphone I have ever tried. The only thing that makes it better is to add the Dekoni Velour pads. It does have a slight effect on the sound but the comfort is freakin stupid. 8 hours without even a thought. If i was to put it on a scale out of 10 for me the Edition XS are like a 3.75 and the Arya are a 9.5 (9.75 with the Dekoni)

 

[ezduzit2500]

When I got the arya I was like "dayuuum".

This slays me, LOL. I still get that "dayuuum" response with the Aryas when a particularly well-liked and well-recorded song plays. IMO, that's when you know you have a winning combo for yourself - ocassional goosebumps and continuous enjoyment......

 

[misternoe]

Anyone picking up anything during ZMF November? The Caldera has me super intrigued.

 

[robo24]

Anyone picking up anything during ZMF November? The Caldera has me super intrigued.

I've been listening to the Caldera for the past week (review sample) and the Arya v2 is getting sold. The Caldera has such incredible clarity and body that it makes the Arya sound grainy and thin when I switch to it. I'm thinking of getting an Aeolus in the sale just because it's the only one I don't have yet.

 

[misternoe]

The Caldera has such incredible clarity and body

How's the body compared to the VC?