[bagwell359]

A pair sold here for $295 free shipping in CONUS like 2 days ago. They pop up pretty regularly....

I was talking to a guy in Canada on Friday and had him to $310 including a fancy cable, but junk pads, and they were made in '13, but someone came in over me. Might as well sell my MD TH-X00 and buy another pair of 500's, I can level match the drivers to create a really good set.

Funny 3 months ago they were running mid 300's/low 400's. If they are sound, have one of the good pads, and you take out the screen there is nothing new that can touch them under $700 - as long as you have an amp to drive them. They don't do much on portables.

 

[kid vic]

I was talking to a guy in Canada on Friday and had him to $310 including a fancy cable, but junk pads, and they were made in '13, but someone came in over me. Might as well sell my MD TH-X00 and buy another pair of 500's, I can level match the drivers to create a really good set.

Funny 3 months ago they were running mid 300's/low 400's. If they are sound, have one of the good pads, and you take out the screen there is nothing new that can touch them under $700 - as long as you have an amp to drive them. They don't do much on portables.

Lol, leave whats in canada alone! It's hard enough with our dollar being so bad and most retailers and independent sellers not willing to ship to us let alone having Americans buy out or products! Just be satisfied with what lies within your borders that I don't have access to

 

[Napilopez]

Haven't seen measurements for these yet, so I thought I'd share the ones I took with my MiniDSP EARS.

The usual disclaimers apply. Not industry-standard gear. The MiniDSP tends to shift treble peaks a bit. I don't have access to an anechoic chamber. Measurements are only valid against other headphones on my same rig. Yadda yadda.

L+R Using MiniDSP HEQ compensation because it's close to how I hear things. To my understanding, HEQ fairly close to the harman curve with some differences in the treble. Averages are made from 5 measurements, 1/24 octave smoothing applied after averaging. :

Here's the Raw uncompensated measurement of the left mic. As others have found, the MiniDSP EARs introduces a rather ridiculous 4.5K peak with almost every headphone when measured RAW, so you can effectively ignore that portion. I wish miniDSP included a raw calibration that basically only compensated for that peak.... Still, the measurement does show just how ruler-flat the headphones are in the mids and bass.

And here it is against the Focal Clear, back in HEQ mode, and volume matched at 300hz:

Take these with a grain of salt, but I hope they're useful.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Haven't seen measurements for these yet, so I thought I'd share the ones I took with my MiniDSP EARS.

The usual disclaimers apply. Not industry-standard gear. I don't have access to an anechoic chamber. Measurements are only valid against other headphones on my same rig. Averages are made from 5 measurements, 1/24 octave smoothing applied after averaging. Yadda yadda.

L+R Using MiniDSP HEQ compensation because it's close to how I hear things. To my understanding, HEQ fairly close to the harman curve with some differences in the treble:


Here's the Raw uncompensated measurement of the left mic. As others have found, the MiniDSP EARs introduces a rather ridiculous 4.5K peak with almost every headphone when measured RAW, so you can effectively ignore that portion. I wish miniDSP included a raw calibration that basically only compensated for that peak.... Still, the measurement does show just how ruler-flat the headphones are in the mids and bass.


And here it is against the Focal Clear, back in HEQ mode:


Take these with a grain of salt, but I hope they're useful.

That frequency response looks pretty damn good.

 

[Napilopez]

That frequency response looks pretty damn good.

I do think it reflects their sound quite well! Maybe a bit less peaky in the treble, where the MiniDSP is weakest. Also, I have the graph cutting off at 20 hz, but I measured down to 10 hz and there is virtually no roll off lol. If you play a 10hz test tone you feel massive air pressure. These are great headphones for movies. Just to show the full extension:

 

[Skycyclepilot]

I have these headphones, and the bass is even better than the graphs show. I think that dip around 2 KHz is also accurate. It keeps the vocals from being too forward, as they are in a lot of headphones I've tried, including the Ananda. Thanks for this information. For me, these are probably end-game headphones. I can't afford the only real step up, which would be the He1000se.

 

[Napilopez]

I have these headphones, and the bass is even better than the graphs show. I think that dip around 2 KHz is also accurate. It keeps the vocals from being too forward, as they are in a lot of headphones I've tried, including the Ananda. Thanks for this information. For me, these are probably end-game headphones. I can't afford the only real step up, which would be the He1000se.

Yep- very much endgame level imo. I'd take these over the Utopia and HD800S easily. Utopia are better built and have a more dynamic sonud... but that's about it. They might have a bit more precise imaging because of the tiny soundstage, but the Arya is unsurprisingly far more expansive, and goes to to toe on detail while having a more pleasant tuning imo. Again, the bass on these....

 

[Skycyclepilot]

Yep- very much endgame level imo. I'd take these over the Utopia and HD800S easily. Utopia are better built and have a more dynamic sonud... but that's about it. They might have a bit more precise imaging because of the tiny soundstage, but the Arya is unsurprisingly far more expansive, and goes to to toe on detail while having a more pleasant tuning imo. Again, the bass on these....

From every graph I've seen, and every review I've read, I would never be happy with the HD800S. There is just way too much bass roll-off. By 40 Hz, they are already three decibels down. I have a pair of HE400i headphones, and I was never completely happy with them, because they were the same way. Comparing other HiFiMan headphones to the HD800S on the RTings website (they haven't reviewed the Arya), the HD800S just barely manages to edge out a win in imaging and sound staging, but just barely. I would never trade a solid, flat down to almost zero Hz bass for that tiny extra imaging and sound stage. I really think I'm done headphone shopping for quite a while.

I also love the sound of planars - the detail and transient response is right up my alley. I'm wondering now if an upgrade to my JDS Element amp would be worth it. My electronics engineering training says an amp is supposed to be a wire with gain, and the Element is just that, but still, I wonder if a higher end amp would improve anything.

 

[Napilopez]

From every graph I've seen, and every review I've read, I would never be happy with the HD800S. There is just way too much bass roll-off. By 40 Hz, they are already three decibels down. I have a pair of HE400i headphones, and I was never completely happy with them, because they were the same way. Comparing other HiFiMan headphones to the HD800S on the RTings website (they haven't reviewed the Arya), the HD800S just barely manages to edge out a win in imaging and sound staging, but just barely. I would never trade a solid, flat down to almost zero Hz bass for that tiny extra imaging and sound stage. I really think I'm done headphone shopping for quite a while.

I also love the sound of planars - the detail and transient response is right up my alley. I'm wondering now if an upgrade to my JDS Element amp would be worth it. My electronics engineering training says an amp is supposed to be a wire with gain, and the Element is just that, but still, I wonder if a higher end amp would improve anything.

Yeah, I love the HD800S' soundstage and sheer resolution, but I think it's from an era when it was acceptable for headphones to roll-off in the sub-bass in the name of tight bass and big soundstages. Even worse if you go back to the HD600 familiy.

I guess its fine if all you ever listen to is acoustic music, but with modern music and much orchestral one, it simply sounds incomplete to me. It's why I prefer the HD820 despite the tonality wonkiness on that one. Same resolution, and a proper amount of bass. It always baffles me when people are willing to put up will bass roll-off, but different strokes I guess.

Thankfully, headphone companies seem to be wising up.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

Yeah, I love the HD800S' soundstage and sheer resolution, but I think it's from an era when it was acceptable for headphones to roll-off in the sub-bass in the name of tight bass and big soundstages. Even worse if you go back to the HD600 familiy.

I guess its fine if all you ever listen to is acoustic music, but with modern music and much orchestral one, it simply sounds incomplete to me. It's why I prefer the HD820 despite the tonality wonkiness on that one. Same resolution, and a proper amount of bass. It always baffles me when people are willing to put up will bass roll-off, but different strokes I guess.

Thankfully, headphone companies seem to be wising up.

I listen to a lot of orchestral music, and the Arya is the first open headphones I've had that can reproduce the timpani, basses, cellos, etc accurately. Mahler is a joy on them. I also listen to a lot of classic rock and pop, and bass is important there, too. I used to have a pair of Oppo PM3s. The bass on those was fantastic, but they were closed, so the sound stage was nonexistent.

 

[XERO1]

In my experience, the HEK V1/V2 is one of the very few planar headphones (at any price) that can reproduce low bass (<40Hz) at high SPLs (>100dB) without the planar driver audibly crapping out.

I haven't heard the HEKse yet, but I'm sure it does bass just as well.

It's pretty cool that this level of performance is now available at such a relatively reasonable price.

 

[omniweltall]

In my experience, the HEK V1/V2 is one of the very few planar headphones (at any price) that can reproduce low bass (<40Hz) at high SPLs (>100dB) without the planar driver audibly crapping out.

I haven't heard the HEKse yet, but I'm sure it does bass just as well.

It's pretty cool that this level of performance is now available at such a relatively reasonable price.

Can you give examples of over $1000 planars that can't? I have never had problems with planars reaching that low with authority. If anything HEKv1 didnt impress me much with bass authority. HEKv2 fared better in comparison.

 

[davidmthekidd]

Hey all, What would be a good headphone amp/dac to pair with the Arya, any suggestion? The budget is around $600-1200.

 

[Napilopez]

Hey all, What would be a good headphone amp/dac to pair with the Arya, any suggestion? The budget is around $600-1200.

I don't see what you'd need more than your current setup. That said, I'm using the ifi iDSD Micro BL, which I've read performs better than the magni at high power (which the Arya likes). The 3D boost is also handy for adding a little more treble energy to the Arya, which I like, while the bass boost brings up the low end to laughable levels of head-shaking bass.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

Hey all, What would be a good headphone amp/dac to pair with the Arya, any suggestion? The budget is around $600-1200.

I'm running mine with a JDS Element. It's a no-nonsense DAC/Amp with plenty of power for less than $400.

Let me append my post... From your signature, it appears you are already running the Modi/Magni. I don't think the Element would give you anything you don't already have.

I would personally like to know what I'd have to go to in a DAC/Amp that would be a noticeable sonic improvement over the Element.