[PaulBoy]

Its arrived! 3 days to UK from ordering - well done Jan!
Is it all that I hoped? Initial impressions hell yes! Build & looks are, as someone else here put it, "like something that looks like it cost over a $1,000"
Soundwise my journey into DAC / PC as Source has only just begun so for now my only experience of the Aria is a listen to "Aerial" by Kate Bush and "Damnation" by Opeth (their "acoustic" CD with Steven Wilson producing) both sound fantastic with lotsw more detail being revealed than I had heard before (this is with HD600's btw) - I look forward to listening to my old favourites again ... Paul

 

[Ervinos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulBoy Its arrived! 3 days to UK from ordering - well done Jan! Is it all that I hoped? Initial impressions hell yes! Build & looks are, as someone else here put it, "like something that looks like it cost over a $1,000" Soundwise my journey into DAC / PC as Source has only just begun so for now my only experience of the Aria is a listen to "Aerial" by Kate Bush and "Damnation" by Opeth (their "acoustic" CD with Steven Wilson producing) both sound fantastic with lotsw more detail being revealed than I had heard before (this is with HD600's btw) - I look forward to listening to my old favourites again ... Paul

I have enjoyed listening to Aerial as well through the aria & beyer dt880's & 990's. It is an album well produced - I love the bass on pi & nocturn & her vioce is sublime with the aria & 880's. The detail with the aria is quite something I think - enjoy!
Ian

 

[practitioner]

I am trying to compare my headphones using the Aria, but each time I try, I get so engrossed in the music... and thats with which ever phones I'am using.

I will do some impressions... when I get round to them.

let's just say the Aria seems to let my headphones do the talking???

 

[skyline889]

I've got a question for the Aria users who use it with their computer, what's the best way to hook it up? If you use the usb in does that mean my soundcard is useless? If you use the RCA in do you not get the benefit of the built in DAC?

 

[Daryn Alexander]

The only way to get the benefit of DAC is to hook it up to your computer. The soundcard is pretty much useless with use of your Aria, but it sounds wonderful.

I have to agree with those who have said the Aria lets the music do the talking. You'll barely notice it is there the sound is so accurate and fresh. It lets the headphones do their job. In the case of the 701, it drives them so well straight down the middle with ease. (I had mine modded to 17 db only to switch from 880's to 701's. They sound miraculous). Jan is awesome for this amp. And I can't live without that Meier crossfeed.

 

[Toren]

Anyone know what the impedence of the headphone jack is?

 

[jriihi]

Yeah if you want to use onboard dac then you need to use usb (i have not gotten kernel streaming or asio to work

).

Still amp sounds good and i like crossfeed

Technical data lists output impedance as 0 ohm.

 

[darky_mtp]

ASIO works with ASIO4ALL and ASIO4KS but no improvement at all.

 

[jriihi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darky_mtp ASIO works with ASIO4ALL and ASIO4KS but no improvement at all.

Yeah thats because it doesnt really work. Only way to use usb correctly in aria is to use macos x or linux because of ms. I tried usb-audio.com driver but it doesnt work with aria.

 

[darky_mtp]

Usually ASIO is for low latency.
As far as I know, it is bypassing Windows audio mixer, but if 'master' and 'pcm' are set to 100%, the mixer doesn't interfer.
You can say you can A/B recognize linux sound from windows sound with aria ?

 

[Ihmemies]

How good the Aria DAC actually is when compared to doing the D/A conversion in a sound card like E-MU 1212 and transferring the signal via rca? Is it worth upgrading from Corda Ha-1 MkII? Someone said in other thread that Aria beats even HA-2 Mk2 SE

Should I .... upgrade? At least Aria is way cheaper than Ha-2 or Prehead

Another question is, where Aria is made? Traditionally Meier Audio products have the "Hand-made in Germany" text, but Aria has "Designed by Meier Audio, Germany". Does it mean that Aria is made in China?

 

[jriihi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihmemies Aria has "Designed by Meier Audio, Germany". Does it mean that Aria is made in China?

Yes Aria is made in China.

 

[bizkid]

I had the Aria but returned it. I used it with a DT-880 and honestly, there was a difference ofcourse, but not that world of a difference like the original poster experienced. I hoped it would do all what it did for the OP, but it didnt do that for me

Yeah everything was much more controlled, bass tighter and deeper, highs much more comfortable, but there were no changes in soundstage, detail, instrument seperation, all the same as an unamped DT-880 which is even said to be very demanding on amplification. But in no way it did "come to life"; it just sounded more under control, thats it. I returned the aria and im happy with the DT-880 directly out of my onboard soundcard

Maybe it needs some years of headphone listening to appreciate a good amplification?

I do appreciate and enjoy a nice stereo speaker setup though.

ps. both had over 100 hours playing time.

 

[Elephas]

I'm not a Corda Aria owner, but I wish I am.

Last week I tried the Corda Aria with the Audio Technica ATH-AD2000 for the first time. The AD2000 is one of my favorite headphones, and I've owned it for about a year. The Corda Aria made the AD2000 sound very good, with very accurate and tight impactful bass. The AD2000's bass is one of its strong qualities, and the Corda Aria made it sound extremely good.

At the time, I was using a store's demo AD2000, not my own, and I was thinking that the store's AD2000 was better than mine. Using the same source, CEC CD3300R, and song tracks, Depeche Mode's Policy of Truth (Capitol Mix) and New Order's Round and Round, I switched to a Corda HA2 Mk II SE and then a Lehmann Black Cube Linear. Both didn't match the Aria's bass in term of tightness and accuracy. I believe the HA2 MkII was the SE version, because it had a stepped attenuator.

Here's the Corda Aria in action, along with some other gear.

 

[Sisyphos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas Here's the Corda Aria in action, along with some other gear.

I see the CEC amp in the picture.

Did you have the opportunity to compare it to the Aria?