[gb21011971]

Spending more time with the Arya. I understand this may be blasphemy in this thread. But the Arya totally blows the Clear out of the water.

The Clear IMO has better dynamics. That's about it. In everything else, the Arya is better. Focal's PR is that they are a speaker manufacturer and their headphones sound like speakers right next to your ears. I don't agree, not after hearing the Arya. It takes exactly that comparison to the next level. I would describe the sound as "large", very spacious, 3D. Admittedly it's not news that the Clear has a small soundstage, but man the Arya drives that point home. I also feel the Arya is more resolving, better instrument separation. The bass is a typical planar bass, i.e. deeper than the Clear's dynamic driver bass.

Now in terms of tonality, the Arya is a touch more V shaped. Or is it actually not V shaped, but neutral? Because if I am critical, I could accuse the Clear of being too mid forward. Anyway, this probably comes down to taste.

Deeply impressed so far by the Hifiman.

 

[phthora]

Spending more time with the Arya. I understand this may be blasphemy in this thread. But the Arya totally blows the Clear out of the water.

The Clear IMO has better dynamics. That's about it. In everything else, the Arya is better. Focal's PR is that they are a speaker manufacturer and their headphones sound like speakers right next to your ears. I don't agree, not after hearing the Arya. It takes exactly that comparison to the next level. I would describe the sound as "large", very spacious, 3D. Admittedly it's not news that the Clear has a small soundstage, but man the Arya drives that point home. I also feel the Arya is more resolving, better instrument separation. The bass is a typical planar bass, i.e. deeper than the Clear's dynamic driver bass.

Now in terms of tonality, the Arya is a touch more V shaped. Or is it actually not V shaped, but neutral? Because if I am critical, I could accuse the Clear of being too mid forward. Anyway, this probably comes down to taste.

Deeply impressed so far by the Hifiman.

Before I retrieve my pitchfork and muster the mob, how would you say the Arya compares to the LCD-X? I'm thinking of adding the Arya to my collection to complete my Final Four (alongside the Clear, LCD-X, and Auteur).

 

[gb21011971]

Before I retrieve my pitchfork and muster the mob, how would you say the Arya compares to the LCD-X? I'm thinking of adding the Arya to my collection to complete my Final Four (alongside the Clear, LCD-X, and Auteur).

Without going into detail, the LCD wins in the bass department, although not by much. But a tad drier and deeper. I'd say other than that, the Arya is better in everything else. IMO the LCD X is not an allrounder like the Arya or the Clear. Its rilled off trebles make it slightly dark and veiled, and less resolving. I love the LCD X for EMD, but not so much for classical or acoustic music.

The Arya, on the other hand manages to be highly resolving without being sibilant (I am very sensitive to that). Wouldn't call it Utopia level, but well, maybe I would. The Utopia probably has more micro detail, but the Arya spatially separates instruments much better, which inproves perceived detail. Just listened to Rodrigo y Garcia's Soundmaker. The detail and air is spectacular. Some people said there is not a lot of difference in sound between the Arya and the 3500 EUR HEKse. Never auditioned the latter, but if that one is even better, wow.

 

[GearMe]

Spending more time with the Arya. I understand this may be blasphemy in this thread. But the Arya totally blows the Clear out of the water.

The Clear IMO has better dynamics. That's about it. In everything else, the Arya is better. Focal's PR is that they are a speaker manufacturer and their headphones sound like speakers right next to your ears. I don't agree, not after hearing the Arya. It takes exactly that comparison to the next level. I would describe the sound as "large", very spacious, 3D. Admittedly it's not news that the Clear has a small soundstage, but man the Arya drives that point home. I also feel the Arya is more resolving, better instrument separation. The bass is a typical planar bass, i.e. deeper than the Clear's dynamic driver bass.

Now in terms of tonality, the Arya is a touch more V shaped. Or is it actually not V shaped, but neutral? Because if I am critical, I could accuse the Clear of being too mid forward. Anyway, this probably comes down to taste.

Deeply impressed so far by the Hifiman.

Before I retrieve my pitchfork and muster the mob, how would you say the Arya compares to the LCD-X? I'm thinking of adding the Arya to my collection to complete my Final Four (alongside the Clear, LCD-X, and Auteur).

 

[parimento1]

The Arya is discontinued right?

 

[gb21011971]

No it's pretty brand new actually .

 

[pataburd]

To my ears, the HifiMAN treble just never sounds right.

 

[SilverEars]

Spending more time with the Arya. I understand this may be blasphemy in this thread. But the Arya totally blows the Clear out of the water.

The Clear IMO has better dynamics. That's about it. In everything else, the Arya is better. Focal's PR is that they are a speaker manufacturer and their headphones sound like speakers right next to your ears. I don't agree, not after hearing the Arya. It takes exactly that comparison to the next level. I would describe the sound as "large", very spacious, 3D. Admittedly it's not news that the Clear has a small soundstage, but man the Arya drives that point home. I also feel the Arya is more resolving, better instrument separation. The bass is a typical planar bass, i.e. deeper than the Clear's dynamic driver bass.

Now in terms of tonality, the Arya is a touch more V shaped. Or is it actually not V shaped, but neutral? Because if I am critical, I could accuse the Clear of being too mid forward. Anyway, this probably comes down to taste.

Deeply impressed so far by the Hifiman.

I will say this:

Certain Hifiman planar drivers output (like you say) kinda 3D like effect, like a holography of some sort. He had that down since the HE-6 days. I guess it's the way the drivers are? HE1000 onwards drivers are probably the more articulated bass, not hard hitting or lots of warmth I'd say. Utopia has the most articulated bass out of the Focal family.

Personally, I think Clear's mids are well balanced, and I wouldn't say mid forward. I guess it's my preference for mids, I luv meaty mids with full mids to upper-mids. Not the warm, lower-mids lifted kind.

 

[iPaintCode]

I've heard a few of the newer offerings from Hifiman minus the rereleased HE6 and HE5se (HE500) and saying the Arya blows the Clear out of the water is defiantly a subjective statement. The Arya did a lot of things very well for the few days I spent with it on my home set up, but there were also songs I felt my Clears had the upper hand especially for very dynamic music recordings. Both are lovely sounding headphones with different tunings and of course different drivers that contribute to sound signatures. Arya's do have nice articulate sub bass. The one thing that stuck out to me with the Arya's was how I listened to them, they fell flat at low volumes, but at higher volumes, they get better and better. That's where the Clear steals the show, lower volumes they still punch through the dynamics, but I wouldn't listen to a bass-heavy track at high volumes as Focal drivers can get a little scary with a popping sound from sub 200Hz Fq's.

I generally don't listen to my music that loud, I don't have an SPL meter to test but if I had to guess, never over 110db, maybe even less.

 

[phthora]

To my ears, the HifiMAN treble just never sounds right.

Well, if the 400i, 560, HEXv2, and HEKv1 are any indication, I believe you are correct. It was the amazing treble that drew me to the Clear and prompted me to buy them over a high-end HiFiMan. Completely unlike anything else I own. The OP didn't mention treble specifically, but I tend to find planar treble a bit grainy and ragged (when it's not simply rolled off hard or dipped oddly) compared to a similar tier dynamic. I also find it hard to believe that the Clear gets blown away by anything, but his enthusiasm for the Arya does pique my interest.

 

[franz12]

Without going into detail, the LCD wins in the bass department, although not by much. But a tad drier and deeper. I'd say other than that, the Arya is better in everything else. IMO the LCD X is not an allrounder like the Arya or the Clear. Its rilled off trebles make it slightly dark and veiled, and less resolving. I love the LCD X for EMD, but not so much for classical or acoustic music.

The Arya, on the other hand manages to be highly resolving without being sibilant (I am very sensitive to that). Wouldn't call it Utopia level, but well, maybe I would. The Utopia probably has more micro detail, but the Arya spatially separates instruments much better, which inproves perceived detail. Just listened to Rodrigo y Garcia's Soundmaker. The detail and air is spectacular. Some people said there is not a lot of difference in sound between the Arya and the 3500 EUR HEKse. Never auditioned the latter, but if that one is even better, wow.

Technicality-wise Hifiman headphones are amazing. I think the HEKse resolves fine details more than the Utopia, as well as it has better micro-dynamics.
FR-wise, something is desired on Hifiman headphones. I think it is due to their extremely open structure which does not rely on any damping material or cup resonance. But if one does not mind some EQ work, they can truly shine.

 

[Tekunda]

A poster claimed that the Arya blow the Clear straight out of the water.
I do not agree! I am a Clear owner with about 150 hours playing time on them, with lots of classical symphonic and extreme bass heavy - let me only say Goa trance - music being played.
So imagine strong dynamic attacks on the mechanical integrity of the drivers.
Only now the Clear are showing off what they are really capable of. It seems that these drivers need those very heavy bass attacks to loosen up.
The soundstage is much bigger now, the tonality of a double bass is to die for.
Yesterday I listened to an album of Richie Kotzen "The Essential Richie Kotzen"
Now I can truly claim that the Clear blew me out of the water. His soul-heavy voice and his super fast guitar riffs are a Revelation on the Clear.
I truly believe that in order to evaluate the Clear properly, you need a pair which sufficiently has loosened up mechanically. A pair of Clear right out of the box or with just a few hours of playing time on them is almost like night and day. I am sure that more Clear owners have come to the same conclusions I have experienced.

 

[gb21011971]

I will say this:

Certain Hifiman planar drivers output (like you say) kinda 3D like effect, like a holography of some sort. He had that down since the HE-6 days. I guess it's the way the drivers are? HE1000 onwards drivers are probably the more articulated bass, not hard hitting or lots of warmth I'd say. Utopia has the most articulated bass out of the Focal family.

Personally, I think Clear's mids are well balanced, and I wouldn't say mid forward. I guess it's my preference for mids, I luv meaty mids with full mids to upper-mids. Not the warm, lower-mids lifted kind.

I do love the Clear, but its the mids that make me consider selling it. I find them too eleveated or shouty. Instead of enjoying the vocals on some of my favorite tracks, I'm like 'stop yelling at me!'. Aside from mid levels (lol, somehow have to think of HK suddenly), it's also the slightly metallic nature that puts me off. They just don't sound very natural to my ears. Anyway, this is complaining on a micro level, the Clear are still fantastic cans IMO.

 

[gb21011971]

A poster claimed that the Arya blow the Clear straight out of the water.
I do not agree! I am a Clear owner with about 150 hours playing time on them, with lots of classical symphonic and extreme bass heavy - let me only say Goa trance - music being played.
So imagine strong dynamic attacks on the mechanical integrity of the drivers.
Only now the Clear are showing off what they are really capable of. It seems that these drivers need those very heavy bass attacks to loosen up.
The soundstage is much bigger now, the tonality of a double bass is to die for.
Yesterday I listened to an album of Richie Kotzen "The Essential Richie Kotzen"
Now I can truly claim that the Clear blew me out of the water. His soul-heavy voice and his super fast guitar riffs are a Revelation on the Clear.
I truly believe that in order to evaluate the Clear properly, you need a pair which sufficiently has loosened up mechanically. A pair of Clear right out of the box or with just a few hours of playing time on them is almost like night and day. I am sure that more Clear owners have come to the same conclusions I have experienced.

My Clear probably has 500+ hours

 

[SilverEars]

I do love the Clear, but its the mids that make me consider selling it. I find them too eleveated or shouty. Instead of enjoying the vocals on some of my favorite tracks, I'm like 'stop yelling at me!'. Aside from mid levels (lol, somehow have to think of HK suddenly), it's also the slightly metallic nature that puts me off. They just don't sound very natural to my ears. Anyway, this is complaining on a micro level, the Clear are still fantastic cans IMO.

Ok, perhaps you are sensitive to upper-mids, 2-5k? You think it sounds too dynamic or snappy? Because the other Focals will sound even more forward in the mids, which I found a bit much for me. People refer to it as being dynamic.

In my perspective, Z1R can use some more upper-mids body. Also HD800/S. Perhaps those are the kinds of response that aligns with your preference?

If you can discribe this shoutiness, I could better understand you, what does it sound like? Is it different from sibilence? For me, 2-4k doesn't bother me, and then when 5k just sounds like tape stripping, and then 6-8k will be most intense, and sound get's metellic from 7k onwards, you know the cymbals? You go from shaaa at 4-5k, to chaaa at 6k, to kaaa at 7k onwards I believe. Those are the sibilence sounds at the different frequencies for me.

I can understand if one think there a bit of a brightness about the Clear as well, particularly in the 8-10k (this is probably what you mean by metalic). This is what makes it different from the HD6 series aside from more elevated bass.