Arya Unveiled impressions thread

[shanej66]

I like Hard Rock and Metal and it's easy to always want to keep raising the volume with those Music Genres for the Punch/Slam/IMPACT.
But we must RESIST!! Once our hearing gets damaged/hearing loss... it's GONE FOREVER!! Gotta be smart with HP volume... especially the older we get.

As a lover of Electric Callboy and Babymetal what surprised me with these headphones is I listen to them at lower levels than my previous and theoretically more sensitive Ananda Nano's. Basically the Arya U's seems to have this neat trick where they can still deliver slam and tight bass (love a good kick drum) at lower levels than you expect.

Still dial them up a few notches on occasion because well it just gets more visceral when you do. However its not a prerequisite to enjoy music with these headphones.

Apologies if I'm not explaining this properly.

 

[Loryh]

They have some kind of magic sauce. Today I was A/B-ing them and switching between them and the Arya Organic. I never had to turn up the volume when going from the Organic to the Unveiled. At moderate volume they have punch and tight bass while still holding those delicate highs with great separation and precision. These guys are special.

 

[pyalovega]

Well said. What I’ve been hearing lately is just how detailed they are. It’s easily overlooked because they do it so effortlessly. They don’t push anything, but it’s all there.

If you listen to another pair of headphones for 30 seconds and then put them back on and listen to the same track, you might be astonished at how much more they give you. I’ve been doing this with my Sennheiser hd600 and the brand new Audio Technica R70xa, which are really good by the way. But there is just no comparison. The way the Arya gives every detail and presents that clean planar bass, they are just in another league.

I wish I still had my Utopia 22 to compare with these, because those were some awesome top tier headphones.

I’m going to sell my 600’s and my 1 day old R70xa. There is just no scenario I ever choose them over these. These are becoming my favorite headphones of all time.

Hi! Very persuasive recommendation indeed! Have you had chance to compare Arya Unveiled with HE1000 Unveiled? Because at lease IMHO, previous Aryas (e.g. Stealth) were subpar to HE1000 (Stealth) in terms of almost everything and it was pretty obvious... Thank you!

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Hi! Very persuasive recommendation indeed! Have you had chance to compare Arya Unveiled with HE1000 Unveiled? Because at lease IMHO, previous Aryas (e.g. Stealth) were subpar to HE1000 (Stealth) in terms of almost everything and it was pretty obvious... Thank you!

I’ve owned almost all of the older he1000’s, including the original he1000, he1000 V2, and the he1000SE. I have never heard the he1000 stealth or the he1000 Unveiled.

So I do not know how they compare, but to be honest, I don’t have any desire to hear them based solely on their frequency response graph. They measure brighter in the treble, and I don’t need or want anything brighter than my Arya Unveiled. In fact, that is what I love the most about them. It’s that they’re the most forgiving Hifiman I’ve ever heard, while still being very detailed! I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, and I’m able to play them louder to bring out even more bass, without the highs murdering my ears.

With the older Hifiman offerings, I found myself only listening to certain tracks, because a lot of my music library was unlistenable due to the sharp treble. I don’t have that problem anymore, and I have no desire to ever have that again.

 

[pyalovega]

I’ve owned almost all of the older he1000’s, including the original he1000, he1000 V2, and the he1000SE. I have never heard the he1000 stealth or the he1000 Unveiled.

So I do not know how they compare, but to be honest, I don’t have any desire to hear them based solely on their frequency response graph. They measure brighter in the treble, and I don’t need or want anything brighter than my Arya Unveiled. In fact, that is what I love the most about them. It’s that they’re the most forgiving Hifiman I’ve ever heard, while still being very detailed! I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, and I’m able to play them louder to bring out even more bass, without the highs murdering my ears.

With the older Hifiman offerings, I found myself only listening to certain tracks, because a lot of my music library was unlistenable due to the sharp treble. I don’t have that problem anymore, and I have no desire to ever have that again.

Thank you! I can’t stand bright headphones too… if I won’t be able to audition both, then I will end up with Arya

 

[Reputator]

VERY positive review!

tl;dw summary:

Spoiler

They do both agree that the 5k region needs to be EQ'd down to really be a compelling headphone at its price. Without EQ they feel the Arya Stealth or the HE1000 Unveiled are better sounding (timbre wise), but with EQ the Arya Unveiled surpasses them both. Cameron says the Unveiled, while not an intimate sounding headphone, does not stage as big as the Stealth (he doesn't reference the Organic much because he just doesn't like it). Andrew says this is the most excited he has been for a headphone in a long time! He actually says if he could only pick one headphone to live with, this would be it, because of how great its upper treble is above 6k.

 

[shanej66]

VERY positive review!

tl;dw summary:

Spoiler

They do both agree that the 5k region needs to be EQ'd down to really be a compelling headphone at its price. Without EQ they feel the Arya Stealth or the HE1000 Unveiled are better sounding (timbre wise), but with EQ the Arya Unveiled surpasses them both. Cameron says the Unveiled, while not an intimate sounding headphone, does not stage as big as the Stealth (he doesn't reference the Organic much because he just doesn't like it). Andrew says this is the most excited he has been for a headphone in a long time! He actually says if he could only pick one headphone to live with, this would be it, because of how great its upper treble is above 6k.

I'm glad that was your takeaway. They spent so much time blathering on about a 5K spike and don't buy them unless you are prepared to EQ them I'm not too sure anybody will bother.

The whole thing was just weird and that's me speaking as a happy owner of an non EQ'ed pair of the Arya U's - Maybe I love a 5K spike.

These things don't sound crap out of the box !!!

I'm not adverse to EQ but due to my listening happening via multiples sources, PC EQ is not an option and my DAC/Amp only offers a limited number of EQ shelves and I'm not currently inclined to purchase a full PEQ enabled DAC/AMP

Oh and to top it all of that you would think they would include the EQ settings that in their humble opinions make this a god tier headphone.

 

[cfranchi]

« Without EQ they feel the Arya Stealth … are better sounding (timbre wise) «

So much contradictory with all other reviews !

 

[Reputator]

I'm glad that was your takeaway. They spent so much time blathering on about a 5K spike and don't buy them unless you are prepared to EQ them I'm not too sure anybody will bother.

They actually joked at the end of the video that that would probably be people's takeaways, ignoring everything else they said about just how enthused they are on the exceptional (and rare) response above 6k and how positive they are on it. I guess they called it!

Oh and to top it all of that you would think they would include the EQ settings that in their humble opinions make this a god tier headphone.

Following the link in the description to their forum post where their EQ profiles are usually shared, it has a note that it will be posted soon once the profile is finalized.

 

[Patlezinc]

« Without EQ they feel the Arya Stealth … are better sounding (timbre wise) «

So much contradictory with all other reviews !

Best thing is probably to hear them and compare with your ears . You nearly think the He1000U is worse than the Arya after this video.
I have tried multiples times to EQ the HeU to match the Arya FR (very easy to do) and I am never satisfied : you loose détails, depth, and some wow factor when you reduce trebles. The arya is a probably more allrounder than the HeU, dont know , but for music and good recorded songs the HeU is excellent. Would like to hear both side by side.

 

[Radissimo]

Should get mine next week and have high hopes. Had the OG Arya, HE6, HE1000Stealth and Susvara. All sold and kept the HEKse…!
Really like the look of the Arya UV with the beautiful black…
Big thanks to A2A in Auckland for giving me an irresistible price.

what was the price , if you don't mind to ask , A2A has fairly good price, but if I could get better, I might give them a try...

 

[silversurfer616]

what was the price , if you don't mind to ask , A2A has fairly good price, but if I could get better, I might give them a try...

 

[rsbrsvp]

can the Arya unv volume be jacked up very high without distortion? I found the HE1000SE could go much louder than the Susvara OG without distorting and was wondering if the Arya unv was able to do the same?

 

[smodtactical]

VERY positive review!

tl;dw summary:

Spoiler

They do both agree that the 5k region needs to be EQ'd down to really be a compelling headphone at its price. Without EQ they feel the Arya Stealth or the HE1000 Unveiled are better sounding (timbre wise), but with EQ the Arya Unveiled surpasses them both. Cameron says the Unveiled, while not an intimate sounding headphone, does not stage as big as the Stealth (he doesn't reference the Organic much because he just doesn't like it). Andrew says this is the most excited he has been for a headphone in a long time! He actually says if he could only pick one headphone to live with, this would be it, because of how great its upper treble is above 6k.

Andrew legit said he would take Arya unveiled over Sus Unveiled ! Jeez I was shocked! High praise indeed coming from a massive Sus fan in Andrew (Who I believe said he liked Sus unveiled more than OG)

 

[Reputator]

tl;dw summary:

Spoiler

Likes it a lot. Bass is not elevated but what's there can be felt, depending on the amp and song. Treble is "smooth as a baby's bottom", revealing shimmer and metallic edge in other headphones like the Organic he didn't notice before, and hiding sibilance in recordings. Midrange is less full-bodied but nuanced, textured, and lifelike, though upper midrange is on the verge of being too shouty for him. Staging is immense and immersive. He has hang ups about the exposed drivers, and the rapid pace of HiFiMAN releases which makes him hesitant to put his full-throated support behind it, knowing something new (and possibly improved) might be around the corner soon.