Hi Andy, Thank you for the response. But I think you know a little bit about me and you know that isn't the answer I expected :ksc75smile: So let me preface my question. In Indian Audiophile community we like to experiment a lot with mods. For eg: Topping D50's tonality was fixed by just...

When you say IC based, what do you mean? IC as in opamps or something else...

I have never had ADA4610 actually. I want to try that one soon

The PCB 2.3 has noticeably lower noise floor, darker background, cleaner transients and sounds a little faster perhaps due to cleaner power. I use OPA209 in my gain stage, I also added the AudioNote Kaisei 220uF/100V Non-Polar caps on OPA209 rails. I believe PSU bypass on the gain stage will...

You're absolutely right. HD800 doesn't bother me for at least 30 minutes, after which it starts to Pierce my eardrums. Utopia is not that aggressive in it's brightness. Arya just has transients in highs that aren't overshot which gives resolution clarity and a sense of brightness without any...

HD800 I totally agree. Utopia isn't as bad in brightness as HD800 or DT 1990. So for me, Arya is perfect sweet spot

Arya is a non fatiguing bright. MX4, you can't even think about brightness at all. They're like 2 complementary headphones. He560 didn't have the treble aggression Arya has. Probably it is related to the resolution of the driver's in that spectrum. I don't personally find a huge difference in...

Haven't heard Ether C. I've tried ZMF Eikon, easily the best closed back I've tried yet. That was the first headphone that made me smile. The texture of Eikon's sound is so good it's worth all the money. But comparing to Arya, I'd say Arya is more towards unforgiving neutral/boring side and...

With a slightly different perception, I find Arya all the more transparent than MX4. MX4 was euphonic, treble was laid back and way too smooth to be realistic. Arya, unforgiving and natural, controlled and precise. Different perception, but Arya still wins :D

I just did some calculations that for Burson Play (8 ohms output impedance), consider the loading of the output impedance, I would need 86% more volume for Arya than I would need for DT 1990 to get similar loudness levels. And this is true, I normally use 20 ish for 1990 but I had to use 36 ish...

Are the opamps SOIC or VSSOP? There are DIP-8 adapter boards which can do SOIC-8 on one side and VSSOP-8 on the other side. If the opamps are VSSOP, the adapter boards you linked will still be bigger. Also, soldering VSSOP is a little tricky but still doable, just make sure you use right...

Which earpads are you referring to? I use Analytical pads on the DT 1990, almost exclusively. OnArya the imaging indeed is amazingly precise and separation is quite good, lot of air. I am referring to the distance/size of the soundstage. It is less on Arya compared to HEXV2 especially. I...

Super clean & clear, very well textured over the entire range. Treble is very well extended. Of all the extended treble I have heard, this is the most non-fatiguing to me. Bass is quite linear and unemphasized but still maintains have impact when desired. Typical fast and short lived planar...

For holography I would go for OPA2209, adding a Nichicon VZ goes a step further in soundstage, increases low end and reduces the treble. With OPA1652 I go for Nichicon PW which is neutral, fast and opens up the top end a little bit. For absolute best holography, I would go discrete. V5i...

OPA1652