[cfranchi]

Hello all,

I’m debating between these 2 headphones (they will be powered by Chord Mojo 2).

Who have both and what do you think about them ?
Which one is the most natural ?
The most engaging ?

I have Hifiman XS (which is supposed to have same house sound than Arya Stealth) but find them a bit distant in the mids : when I switch to my Fidelio X2 the mids immediately stand out and the music become more engaging.

I listen primarily to classic rock, vocals and pop.

 

[tyk103]

I've listened to both and own the Clear OG, but I daily drive the Sundaras (not the exact same comparison but in terms of Planars, these are the closest that I own).

I prefer the Clear OG as it's more engaging while staying extremely neutral. I think for your genre of listening, you can't go wrong with the Clear OG but I preferred the Aryas for songs that I feel require stage and imaging (in which they're superior over the Focals) and I love them for live acoustics, jazz, classical or orchestral.

If you like clean and tidy bass that you can feel, I would go with Focals because that's one of their house signatures.

 

[cfranchi]

I've listened to both and own the Clear OG, but I daily drive the Sundaras (not the exact same comparison but in terms of Planars, these are the closest that I own).

I prefer the Clear OG as it's more engaging while staying extremely neutral. I think for your genre of listening, you can't go wrong with the Clear OG but I preferred the Aryas for songs that I feel require stage and imaging (in which they're superior over the Focals) and I love them for live acoustics, jazz, classical or orchestral.

If you like clean and tidy bass that you can feel, I would go with Focals because that's one of their house signatures.

Did you experienced some drivers clipping or metallic timbre ? This is what I read on some reviews, for example the one from Amir is awful:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-clear-review-headphone.18585/

Whereas Crinacle rank Clear very high, funny things.

 

[Kevintj604]

The Clear OG is priced considerably lower so they aren’t really fair comparisons.

The Arya’s are handidly a better headphone for resolution, detail retrieval and speed. They outperform the Clear in almost every category with exception of slam.

Both are tuned as a bright neutral but the Clear exhibit a slightly tinny metallic timbre. A lot of Focal’s lineup shows this effect in timbre but the Clear displays this more than most. If you’re looking for a natural listen my preference leans to Arya.

For your genre preferences though the Clear might be a better choice. Focals are known for their slam abilities and Clear shows this trait very well. They are a more dynamic listen compared to the Arya for Rock specifically in percussion instruments.

I primarily use my Arya’s for classical and movie scores but I bass boost them with the Gryphon to warm them up a bit. For rock, classic rock and acoustic I’d always reach for one of my ZMF’s. Nothing beats ZMF timbre for rock.

 

[Kevintj604]

Did you experienced some drivers clipping or metallic timbre ? This is what I read on some reviews, for example the one from Amir is awful:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-clear-review-headphone.18585/

Whereas Crinacle rank Clear very high, funny things.

My Clear clipped with only a slight bass boost (+4db sub bass) at a measured 63 spl which is lower than I normally listen to Rock. When I returned the Clear at my local dealer I demoed two other units that he had opened in store and all three clipped in the same way.

So if you’re adding a sub bass shelf I’d probably skip the Clear.

 

[Kevintj604]

@cfranchi Just by looking at your signature if you already own Hifiman HE6se v1, Hifiman Sundara, Hifiman HE1000 v2 & Hifiman Edition XS you have a tonne of redundancy. Arya Stealth is better than your XS but not necessarily better than the HEKV2 so there's no point in buying it unless you're looking at the exact same type of sound with marginal improvements up or down.

If I were you I'd sell a bunch of your lower end HiFiMan's, keep the HEKV2 and buy something with a totally different sound.

 

[tyk103]

Did you experienced some drivers clipping or metallic timbre ? This is what I read on some reviews, for example the one from Amir is awful:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-clear-review-headphone.18585/

Whereas Crinacle rank Clear very high, funny things.

None.

 

[Flognuts]

Audio science review is a trash site.

Arya for classical, jazz etc.
Clear for everything else.