[BeefyRook]

Any particular reason why you mention the non-stealth ones? I only know there are two versions of the Arya that have been released to the market (i think) but what makes the non-stealth one better than the stealth one? Or is it a price thing and both are good

It is a mixture of both. The reviews of the stealth are mixed and the non stealth are cheaper as well. It is the sound stage that got changed for the worst if I remembered correctly but it has slight improvement elsewhere. Both are still very good but the stealth is not worth the premium.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

My two favorite headphones under $1000 are a new Focal Clear OG and used Hifiman Arya v2. Buy both if you can because they compliment each other nicely.

 

[Jaabaas]

under 1000 my favorites were the focal Clear (original, not a fan of MG) and the ZMF aeolus (thicker and more bass, but incredibly fun headphones) if you can find arya's under 1000 they are amazing for that money. mind you though, most of these headphones need amps to sound great, and that will add an extra couple hundred to the pricetag. if you want to keep everything under 1000, some of the cheaper focals (elear and elegia, I think) are probably a great buy.

 

[catom]

Can definitely say that the Focal Elegia is a terrific buy at $400. If you want more bass, also get the Dekoni Limited Edition Stellia Pads for it (or likely also Celestee pads or Dekoni sheepskin). Also pick up some better cables than the stock cables.

I recently did this and have been blown away. The only other thing I'd do with $1000 is possibly look at a set of planars like DCA Aeon or Audeze LCD2C. I'm still curious about those...but saving money is also a good thing. It's probably near impossible to find a better value than the Elegia to be completely honest. With the Elegia upgraded, you're getting $1,000+ worth of sound for under $600.

 

[takuta]

under 1000 my favorites were the focal Clear (original, not a fan of MG) and the ZMF aeolus (thicker and more bass, but incredibly fun headphones) if you can find arya's under 1000 they are amazing for that money. mind you though, most of these headphones need amps to sound great, and that will add an extra couple hundred to the pricetag. if you want to keep everything under 1000, some of the cheaper focals (elear and elegia, I think) are probably a great buy.

Interesting you bring up ZMF headphones, I was just about to ask about them as a brand! I've only heard of ZMF, and they're sort of a mystical anomaly to me. How would you describe their sound? I've heard good things about them, but most of what I hear is "they sound good lul" For people with ZMF headphones, how would you more quantitatively/concretely describe their sound? What makes them "good"?

 

[Jaabaas]

Interesting you bring up ZMF headphones, I was just about to ask about them as a brand! I've only heard of ZMF, and they're sort of a mystical anomaly to me. How would you describe their sound? I've heard good things about them, but most of what I hear is "they sound good lul" For people with ZMF headphones, how would you more quantitatively/concretely describe their sound? What makes them "good"?

to me they are warm, lush and thick. as for aeolus, they are in all honesty, quite narrow sounding, but they are great at what they do. Which is make you enjoy the music and slap you in the face with some bass. they are very musical and fun, and just make you bounce and sing along. this bass is not super bloated in a beats kind of way by the way, its just that it is definitely their most discerning feature.

As for the verite open, they are also warm, but a little less than the aeolus, they have great bass, but also more details en a little less of a forward mid. on details and soundstage and technicalities they are far beyond the aeolus. When I went to test the verites, I compared them to empyrean (not for me), the focal utopia (amazing headphone, albeit maybe a slight bit clinical, but the problem there was comfort to me), hifiman arya and susvara (great headphones, sus too expensive, arya a tad bit too bright or not warm enough). the zmf brought great detail even compared to these, while being more enjoyable and warm. since I wanted a single headphone to use most of the time, that won for me!

 

[Zerviscos]

I have a pretty solid understanding about the IEM world, but am pretty clueless when it comes to headphones. As I feel like 1000 dollars is the threshold for stepping into "higher-end" IEMs/headphones, what would you guys say are the best headphones at/around that 1000 dollar price point?

Borealis, OG Clear/Pro(usually now sub $1000 on headphones.com), used HD800, used LCD-X, used Arya(sometimes sub $1000) are the ones on the top of my head.
For me it's Borealis > OG Clear/Arya > HD800 > LCD-X
with EQ, HD800 > LCD-X > Arya > OG Clear/Borealis

Tubes also work wonders with the HD800 and Clear.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

Borealis, OG Clear/Pro(usually now sub $1000 on headphones.com), used HD800, used LCD-X, used Arya(sometimes sub $1000) are the ones on the top of my head.
For me it's Borealis > OG Clear/Arya > HD800 > LCD-X
with EQ, HD800 > LCD-X > Arya > OG Clear/Borealis

Tubes also work wonders with the HD800 and Clear.

I have not heard Borealis, nor LCDX, but I either own or have owned HD800S, Arya, OG Clear and I completely agree with your take on those headphones including the tube amplifier impressions.

It's worth creating a tube amp upgrade path into your system. The sound is just so great with both dynamic driver and magnetic planar headphones

 

[takuta]

I have not heard Borealis, nor LCDX, but I either own or have owned HD800S, Arya, OG Clear and I completely agree with your take on those headphones including the tube amplifier impressions.

It's worth creating a tube amp upgrade path into your system. The sound is just so great with both dynamic driver and magnetic planar headphones

Tubes are one of the many facets of this hobby that i know absolutely nothing about (except that dark voice is decent thanks to DMS), what tubes would you recommend, say, for the 100, 250, and 500 price ranges? (if these are too low/too high price points, sorry I don't even know what they go for/how much tubes and tube amps cost LOL)

 

[Deolum]

I think all things considered the Clear og is the best one. There might be some headphones that perform better with specific setups or for specific music but the Clear is the safest choice that fits on every setup for every music and it's worth the price.

 

[frictiongg]

For me, no question the best headphones you can get with a $1k budget is a second-hand pair of Sennheiser HD 800, and occasionally 800s if you find a good sale. I think I'm going to try Focal Clears next though and they have potential to be a contender too.

If you're talking MSRP, I unfortunately can't help with that since I don't buy headphones at MSRP much anymore. Maybe one of the ZMFs in this price range but I can't even remember if they are actually around $1k or slightly higher. Atticus for instance.

For what it's worth I think you hit summit-fi sooner in IEMs than headphones. At $730, the Thieaudio Monarch is I'd say summit-fi tier, now granted not the top of summit-fi but still in that ballpark. At $700 in headphone world, you have the Ananda which, don't get me wrong I love the Ananda and it is amazing, but I think you are still a ways off from summit-fi.

I'm not sure if I'd even say the HD 800/s is summit-fi at this point, I love them a lot but especially after having heard the Stax 009 a few times, there is still a ways to go from the 800 in many key areas. Let alone stuff like the HE1000se which is just godly on like every level, and then Susvara beyond that.

EDIT: To be clear the 800 is still remarkably good though. Probably my favorite headphones all things considered, even including TOTLers I've either heard or owned like the ones mentioned above. EQ helps a lot to address some of its biggest issues tonally and I'd say it is actually summit-fi on the technical side of things.

hey what makes susvara so much better than he1000se?

I owned the 800 before the 800s so unfortunately I never directly A-B'd them. But on a technical level, I believe there is only one major difference in the 800s - the 800 has an aftermarket mod called a SuperDupont Resonator that can be applied to lower one of its worst treble peaks a few db, if I remember correctly it is the 6k peak. The 800s essentially has that mod built into it and most people prefer it.

I would say the 800s maybe, maybe has a little less soundstage but other than that and the cut on that treble peak, there is really not much of a difference. And if you put an SDR mod on an 800 then blind test A-B'd me between them, I can tell you 100% I would not be able to tell the difference.

Side note, if you EQ headphones you can also EQ that peak down without even doing the mod - and I'd say EQ is a good thing to have in your arsenal for the 800 series because they have some real tonality quirks when they're stock.

So in terms of actionable advice, I would say go ahead and buy an 800 since it's cheaper. It is very easy to make it sound like an 800s, in fact the only reason I even bought an 800s is because I prefer the color on it haha.

Also I heard similarly re: the Clears so they've been on my radar a lot recently. Right now I'm researching the differences between the types of Clears before/if I commit to buying one.

Oh - the 8XX was mentioned above, that could be a good option too but I can't comment on those directly as I haven't heard them. I would say the biggest concern with them on paper would be not shipping with a balanced cable though. Balanced is not really necessary for headphones in terms of its "direct" benefits, however many times amps will put out a lot more juice on the balanced output and the 800 series really loves that juice. They scale very well with amps, I think perhaps more than any other dynamic I've owned.

I think if you like 800s and use eq there isn't really much point to get clear especially considering the cost for another headphone

only thing I can think of is if you prefer more bass slam but utopia would be a better contender than clear imo

 

[bagwell359]

Any particular reason why you mention the non-stealth ones? I only know there are two versions of the Arya that have been released to the market (i think) but what makes the non-stealth one better than the stealth one? Or is it a price thing and both are good

I think they are up to 3 versions.

What you are doing here is dangerous to your decision making. For instance I dislike closed backs and like HFM cans. I throw a bunch of what I think, and maybe it leads you to a choice that's not right. Go find a shop that has offerings in your price range - or better yet join a local club. Patience wins the day.

 

[alterndog]

I'm keeping my eye on the clear.

I'm keeping my eye on the Clear now that it's discontinued. If it goes on mega clearance like the Elegia, I'll probably snag it. That would give me a closed back with the Elegia and an open back with the Clear.

So open/closed dynamic. Open planar with the Hifiman (which I should probably upgrade). Then closed bass focused with the Nightowl.

I'd only be missing a closed back planar then in that collection.

To me, that's better than one or two super expensive headphones... because they all have different sound signatures and use cases. Some you take to an office or on vacation and others you don't. Some you listen to for certain music or certain moods. Sometimes you plain get bored of a certain sound.

I don't really believe in any one "best" any more. Though again, I also haven't tried the most expensive headphones out there. Does expensive even have to equal good here?

All existing Clear OG stock was bought out by headphone.com as I understand it. The owner basically admitted it so.

It is actually under $1,000 now and through December comes with a $100 headphone.com gift card.

 

[LenAlex]

I've had a bunch of different ones $300-$1200 over the years and tend to fall back to the same type of headphone group:

(Hifiman) HE-560 v1, v2, v3, v4, ..., (or anything newer from Hifiman of the same range) - is detailed enough and aggressive enough to get realistic strings for concertos, symphonies, and great for metal.

They are not quite the best for pop music - several in the price range are better - but still really great. (Steve Jobs Voice)

Good enough to produce music with.

1. Plus: they benefit from loud listening but sound really great at low volume as well and are not fatiguing, which is important I think.

2. Minus: they benefit from gentle equalization - if you know what things should sound like but equalization is optional. Good enough without it. Equalization can get even more detail. Not really a minus, but ideally, of course, you shouldn't feel a need to do EQ. On the other hand, I've had to EQ anything in $300-$1200.

3. Plus: closing them with a cup mod still sounds good. Not much is lost. Makes these studio useful.

Edit. I agree with the posts above that (Sennheiser) HD800 is also excellent. Exactly the same arguments made for the HE-560 can go for it. Detail, detail, detail.

 

[dougq]

Any particular reason why you mention the non-stealth ones? I only know there are two versions of the Arya that have been released to the market (i think) but what makes the non-stealth one better than the stealth one? Or is it a price thing and both are good

You could probably get an Arya V2 for a really good price, but the Arya V3 (Stealth) are also really good.