[Atgm1]

Hey guys,

my Aryas arrived today. I try to read though this thread, but maybe someone can give me some advice for a warm and relaxed sounding dac/amp kombo that will pair good with the Arya. My budget is around 500-1000€. Any advice?

I also have the Audezey LCD-2C. I have to make the decision if I should keep them for pc gaming because of the more punchy sound or if I should sell them. I will see. But for now I would like to listen to the Arya‘s with a good DAC/Amp the fits well and has a warmth sound.

Audio-gd NFB-1AMP

 

[N0sferatu]

Just bought a pair of Arya. They arrive next week. Will I have enough power to drive these?

Audio-GD FUN
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/FUN/FUNEN.htm

3500mW/25 ohm
900mW/100 ohm

Being they are 35 ohm I'm assuming I'm probably at the 2500/3000mW (2.5 to 3 Watt) so I have enough. Yes?

 

[ScottPilgrim]

Just bought a pair of Arya. They arrive next week. Will I have enough power to drive these?

Audio-GD FUN
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/FUN/FUNEN.htm

3500mW/25 ohm
900mW/100 ohm

Being they are 35 ohm I'm assuming I'm probably at the 2500/3000mW (2.5 to 3 Watt) so I have enough. Yes?

you should be looking at sensitivity levels, as these are planar-magnetics.

 

[N0sferatu]

you should be looking at sensitivity levels, as these are planar-magnetics.

So, once again, I left the link to all the specs of my AMP. Care to give me some constructive feedback as to how it should handle the Arya?

EDIT: It says 2V RMS for input sensitivity and an output level of 10 V RMS. Is that sufficient. Please feel free to look at link I listed for my amp/dac and see if it has enough punch.

 

[SilverEars]

Just bought a pair of Arya. They arrive next week. Will I have enough power to drive these?

Audio-GD FUN
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/FUN/FUNEN.htm

3500mW/25 ohm
900mW/100 ohm

Being they are 35 ohm I'm assuming I'm probably at the 2500/3000mW (2.5 to 3 Watt) so I have enough. Yes?

Yes, plenty of power. Arya's sensitivity is 90dB.

 

[adeadcrab]

Just bought a pair of Arya. They arrive next week. Will I have enough power to drive these?

Audio-GD FUN
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/FUN/FUNEN.htm

3500mW/25 ohm
900mW/100 ohm

Being they are 35 ohm I'm assuming I'm probably at the 2500/3000mW (2.5 to 3 Watt) so I have enough. Yes?

Wow, a blast from the past!

I have this all-in-one, personally I don't think it has the best headphone out. The headphone out does get very loud and technically it's more than enough power but imo rolled off on bass and treble with a narrow soundstage. I'd recommend the THX AAA 789 or equivalent.

Nowadays I only use the FUN for the preamp out. It's being fed signal from Topping D50 and from the FUN into the THX AAA 789. High gain only for the ACSS circuitry! Also try the Burson V6 opamps (or equivalent, there are a few opamp manufacturers in the game these days) in the FUN and get rid of the stock 2394 or whatever it has.

 

[adeadcrab]

edit - oops

 

[N0sferatu]

Wow, a blast from the past!

I have this all-in-one, personally I don't think it has the best headphone out. The headphone out does get very loud and technically it's more than enough power but imo rolled off on bass and treble with a narrow soundstage. I'd recommend the THX AAA 789 or equivalent.

Nowadays I only use the FUN for the preamp out. It's being fed signal from Topping D50 and from the FUN into the THX AAA 789. High gain only for the ACSS circuitry! Also try the Burson V6 opamps (or equivalent, there are a few opamp manufacturers in the game these days) in the FUN and get rid of the stock 2394 or whatever it has.

Borrowed my friend's Arya. He got them today so we tried them out on his equipment and mine. You're correct it sounds dead coming out of the Audio GD FUN headphone jack. It has the power just not the dynamics. Friend brought his Schitt Magni 3. He didn't bring his dac so had to use the fun dac from the PC. Now on that little Magni they sang so nicely I bought the new Magni 3 Heresy. Can't wait for it to arrive. Heresy comes Monday Arya on Tuesday. Thought about the Gilmore mk2 ($500) and looked at the 789 ($400). I can't see them as 5x and 4x better. Maybe I'll get the Schitt modi to match and save desk space

 

[Relaxasaurus]

Is anyone using their Arya with a tube amp? I just got back from Canjam and was wowed after connecting mine to a Manley Absolute, Audiovalve Solaris, and Auris Euterpe. Seemed to have a fuller sound, maybe not as resolving as my Vio v280 but was intrigued nonetheless at what I was hearing. Even a pair of Sundaras connected to the Manley made me question my whole setup, lol.

 

[descloud]

I'm putting my just-arrived secondhand Arya through its paces and I just so happen to have a few Chelsea Wolfe albums. My daily driver for most of last year was my HE-500 (focus pads). Comparing the two, the leading edge of female vocals is definitely smoother on the HE-500 than the Arya; the difference is slight but noticeable after closer inspection. Furthermore, the Arya requires a bit more juice than the HE-500. However, the Arya definitely edges the HE-500 is almost everything else: soundstage (width, height, and depth), imaging, layering, detail retrieval, comfort, etc. For example, "We Hit a Wall" from the album "Pain is Beauty" truly sounds 3D on the Arya. However, the greater soundstage of the Arya sometimes stretches out songs unnecessarily so such as "Destruction Makes the World Burn Brighter" from the same album, as this song sounds more natural on the HE-500. Whatever you choose, don't sell off your HE-500. They're special cans and I know that I'm not selling mine, heh.

You comment is pretty insightful and making me consider getting an Arya in the near future LOL.

May I ask which amp pairing do you find works best with the HE-500 and the Arya?

 

[sennfan83261]

You comment is pretty insightful and making me consider getting an Arya in the near future LOL.

May I ask which amp pairing do you find works best with the HE-500 and the Arya?

Thanks for the compliment! I hope my impressions were useful. I powered both from my THX AAA 789's balanced output, the source being the SDAC-B; I'm sure that you can substitute the Monoprice THX 887 with the 789 here. Planars generally enjoy the extra juice provided by the THX AAA 789. I briefly tried running both from speaker taps of my Crown D-75A, and extra power from the power amp doesn't appear to improve things from the 789. If anything, the Arya's soundstage sounded a tiny bit narrower from the speaker taps than the 789, but I'm pretty much splitting hairs here.

Since I've had the HE-500 for longer, I've tried it with different amps: Magni 3, Darkvoice 336SE, Crown D-75A (speaker taps), Cuestyle 600i (balanced out), Moon 430HA (balanced out), and of course the THX AAA 789 (balanced out). The HE-500 sounded fine on the Magni 3, it (predictably) sounded like ass on an OTL like the Darkvoice 336SE, and I couldn't really find significant differences between how the HE-500 sounded on the other two balanced amps compared to the THX AAA 789+SDAC-B pairing. There are a bunch of other types of amps that I haven't tried the HE-500 on, namely transformer-coupled tube amps and tube-solidstate hybrids. In sum, based on my experience, I'm happy with how the THX AAA 789 sounds with the HE-500 and the Arya (and with other planars I own*). The HE-6 bears special mention, as that beast requires more juice than what the THX AAA 789 can offer, which is why I bought and use the Crown D-75A to drive it.

*My HEXv2 sounds perfectly fine on my Magni 3+Modi 3 setup at work

 

[N0sferatu]

You comment is pretty insightful and making me consider getting an Arya in the near future LOL.

May I ask which amp pairing do you find works best with the HE-500 and the Arya?

The guy you quoted listened to them via the Magni 3. I heard them through the Magni 3 as well via a friend who has both the Arya and the Magni 3. I just bought a Heresey which it (and the 3+) I hear are more of a punch so if not looking to break the bank I can recommend that one. Just got the Heresey today (awaiting delivery on the Arya) and it brings a new level of wow to my other two headphones (HD600 and Fostex TH900). I'm waiting to see if the Arya can out slam my Fostex when they show up. I know it'll be close.

 

[descloud]

Thanks for the compliment! I hope my impressions were useful. I powered both from my THX AAA 789's balanced output, the source being the SDAC-B; I'm sure that you can substitute the Monoprice THX 887 with the 789 here. Planars generally enjoy the extra juice provided by the THX AAA 789. I briefly tried running both from speaker taps of my Crown D-75A, and extra power from the power amp doesn't appear to improve things from the 789. If anything, the Arya's soundstage sounded a tiny bit narrower from the speaker taps than the 789, but I'm pretty much splitting hairs here.

Since I've had the HE-500 for longer, I've tried it with different amps: Magni 3, Darkvoice 336SE, Crown D-75A (speaker taps), Cuestyle 600i (balanced out), Moon 430HA (balanced out), and of course the THX AAA 789 (balanced out). The HE-500 sounded fine on the Magni 3, it (predictably) sounded like ass on an OTL like the Darkvoice 336SE, and I couldn't really find significant differences between how the HE-500 sounded on the other two balanced amps compared to the THX AAA 789+SDAC-B pairing. There are a bunch of other types of amps that I haven't tried the HE-500 on, namely transformer-coupled tube amps and tube-solidstate hybrids. In sum, based on my experience, I'm happy with how the THX AAA 789 sounds with the HE-500 and the Arya (and with other planars I own*). The HE-6 bears special mention, as that beast requires more juice than what the THX AAA 789 can offer, which is why I bought and use the Crown D-75A to drive it.

*My HEXv2 sounds perfectly fine on my Magni 3+Modi 3 setup at work

Thanks for the feedback!

I think I will put THX AAA 789 on my list moving forward. Just got an iFi Micro (non-black) and it's pairing up pretty well with my HE-500 thus far.

If I ever get the HE-6 in the future, I'll definitely consider the Crown D-75A if there are available left.

 

[webmi]

Just want to report back. Hifiman swapped my unit. I am happy again. Thanks Hifiman for your great customerserivce!

 

[N0sferatu]

Woohoo...gonna have some fun for a little bit. Bought a new amp and a new DAC comes tonight. XMAS in February. Just running a small amount of EQ on the low end to give it more of that Fostex slam.