[In1unison]

They also attracted my attention, such a brand, with a new drive, very attractive
But cruel limited

We can only hope...or we give up because they ALL sound the same

 

[LongBeforeShort]

@LongBeforeShort
Tell me please, when comparing the headphones, you chose HEDD over Susvara, why?
I am interested because Susvara is one of my targets

ADDED
Sorry, I read your post again, my inattention

Gonna listen to the heddphone again with the qudelix 5K P. EQ. Main reason, why i would pick the heddphone over the susvara has to do with comfort fit. The driver touched my ears snuggly on both sides, which means that my ears vibrate quite a lot in bass heavy songs, which and it sounds compressed and blown out. So i could only judge the mids and up and this part was very impressive, because it felt like riding on a very quite river and enjoy the ride no matter what's around you.

I would describe the susvara, aside from bass due to my head form, as "effortless". Hard to judge, if its worth the high price tag, but surely very good sound.

The heddphone was a bit warmer sounding and i tend to like darker sounding headphones more (ZMF Auteur/Verite/LCD-2 with EQ) are my favourite picks. Found the upper region a lot more enjoyable compared to the arya, its not stressful and the upper mids don't feel fatiguing to me. I heard some "sparkling" effects that came out of nowhere in a couple of songs, which surprised me, no other headphone i know is doing that. Similiar to the ZMF verite's holographic part.

And one thing heddphone is very good at is speed, its a speedmonster in my eyes. Could sound very disturbing for someone coming from less cleaner or slower headphones in the bass area with long decay. It could be very addictive as well. I would say for its price points it's one of the best sounding headphones with slight warm tone and tons of details and speed, while being relative smooth.

I think HEDD is warmer

Yes, even though the frequency response is a bit funky on paper. May improve with some EQ.

 

[T 1000]

Gonna listen to the heddphone again with the qudelix 5K P. EQ. Main reason, why i would pick the heddphone over the susvara has to do with comfort fit. The driver touched my ears snuggly on both sides, which means that my ears vibrate quite a lot in bass heavy songs, which and it sounds compressed and blown out. So i could only judge the mids and up and this part was very impressive, because it felt like riding on a very quite river and enjoy the ride no matter what's around you.

I would describe the susvara, aside from bass due to my head form, as "effortless". Hard to judge, if its worth the high price tag, but surely very good sound.

The heddphone was a bit warmer sounding and i tend to like darker sounding headphones more (ZMF Auteur/Verite/LCD-2 with EQ) are my favourite picks. Found the upper region a lot more enjoyable compared to the arya, its not stressful and the upper mids don't feel fatiguing to me. I heard some "sparkling" effects that came out of nowhere in a couple of songs, which surprised me, no other headphone i know is doing that. Similiar to the ZMF verite's holographic part.

And one thing heddphone is very good at is speed, its a speedmonster in my eyes. Could sound very disturbing for someone coming from less cleaner or slower headphones in the bass area with long decay. It could be very addictive as well. I would say for its price points it's one of the best sounding headphones with slight warm tone and tons of details and speed, while being relative smooth.



Yes, even though the frequency response is a bit funky on paper. May improve with some EQ.

very nice
enjoy the music

 

[X1787X]

Gonna listen to the heddphone again with the qudelix 5K P. EQ. Main reason, why i would pick the heddphone over the susvara has to do with comfort fit. The driver touched my ears snuggly on both sides, which means that my ears vibrate quite a lot in bass heavy songs, which and it sounds compressed and blown out. So i could only judge the mids and up and this part was very impressive, because it felt like riding on a very quite river and enjoy the ride no matter what's around you.

I would describe the susvara, aside from bass due to my head form, as "effortless". Hard to judge, if its worth the high price tag, but surely very good sound.

The heddphone was a bit warmer sounding and i tend to like darker sounding headphones more (ZMF Auteur/Verite/LCD-2 with EQ) are my favourite picks. Found the upper region a lot more enjoyable compared to the arya, its not stressful and the upper mids don't feel fatiguing to me. I heard some "sparkling" effects that came out of nowhere in a couple of songs, which surprised me, no other headphone i know is doing that. Similiar to the ZMF verite's holographic part.

And one thing heddphone is very good at is speed, its a speedmonster in my eyes. Could sound very disturbing for someone coming from less cleaner or slower headphones in the bass area with long decay. It could be very addictive as well. I would say for its price points it's one of the best sounding headphones with slight warm tone and tons of details and speed, while being relative smooth.



Yes, even though the frequency response is a bit funky on paper. May improve with some EQ.

You considered the lcd24? It's like a better lcd2

 

[LongBeforeShort]

very nice
enjoy the music

Thanks, you too

You considered the lcd24? It's like a better lcd2

No one has them around and i don't really want to buy it just to give it back eventually. Next time i visit a friend in berlin maybe, they got more stores.

If i could have a combination of the heddphone, zmf auteur and lcd-2 + zmf construction, i would be a very very happy person haha

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

The Arya has better extension and resolution in the bass, while the 800S has more intense bass impact and more natural decay. On the other hand, the Arya has surprisingly impactful bass for a planar, a big step up from the Ananda there, while the 800S has fairly good bass extension for a dynamic. It's still outclassed in bass impact, extension, and detail by the Focal Clear, but it is certainly not lacking in bass.

With the mids, the Arya has slightly better instrument separation, but the 800S is not far behind. But, the Arya has a 2khz dip and some 3-5khz shoutiness that make vocals sound slightly odd and recessed. The vocals on the 800S also sound a bit distant, but the tuning is superb. I definitely prefer the nearly perfect mids on the Sennheiser to the slightly more resolving, but a bit less coherent mids on the HiFiMan.

The Arya has tons of resolution and presence in the treble, but it's a bit too elevated at time, making cymbals very splashy. 800S has less of an ethereal sound to the treble, but again the tuning is, to my ears, just about perfect here. Tons of detail without sounding forced or unnatural.

Hearing the two side by side, the core difference to me is that the 800S sounds far more natural with only slightly less resolution. The Arya comes off as more intense and detailed, but not as realistic when it comes to certain instruments. Both are outstanding headphones and well worth owning though.

I just bought an Ayra and received it two days ago. I am travelling, so I cannot A/B test them yet on my desktop system, nor my HD800S. I do have my DX300 and C9 amp with me which the HD800S sounds great with.

I agree with your characterization of the Arya vs. HD800S. I love the sound of the Arya. My only real issue with it is the sound is not as natural as the HD800S. HD800S timbre is much more natural sounding to my ear. Otherwise, the bass and resolution are probably better with the Arya. I love both and can't wait to A/B test them at home to see which is stronger for each use case and genre of music. I think the Arya may be a better all around headphone. It does have a great sound stage and resolution. For me, I've imprinted on the HD800S as my favorite headphone for Classical Music and Jazz. Not sure that will change as I hear the Arya now.

 

[phthora]

I just bought an Ayra and received it two days ago. I am travelling, so I cannot A/B test them yet on my desktop system, nor my HD800S. I do have my DX300 and C9 amp with me which the HD800S sounds great with.

I agree with your characterization of the Arya vs. HD800S. I love the sound of the Arya. My only real issue with it is the sound is not as natural as the HD800S. HD800S timbre is much more natural sounding to my ear. Otherwise, the bass and resolution are probably better with the Arya. I love both and can't wait to A/B test them at home to see which is stronger for each use case and genre of music. I think the Arya may be a better all around headphone. It does have a great sound stage and resolution. For me, I've imprinted on the HD800S as my favorite headphone for Classical Music and Jazz. Not sure that will change as I hear the Arya now.

The 800S is absolutely amazing with live music or anything, really, that's been recorded as a whole ensemble or that uses primarily acoustic instruments. Jazz and classical are no exception, but I've also really enjoyed various MTV Unplugged performances and some concert recordings from Steven Wilson. Just so real sounding with the 800S.

The Arya works well as an all-rounder, except that it can make male vocalists sound sort of uneven, like they're drifting towards and away from the mic as they sing certain parts. Nothing terrible though. And more I'm more sensitive to it since my go-to headphone for a while now has been the newest LCD-XC, which has a full 10db more in that same area. lol That could definitely skew my judgment a bit. Still, for demanding music that isn't focused on the vocals, the Arya is amazing.

 

[haasaaroni]

Burn in is basically the same as normal listening, so are you saying the ananda gets worse over time just by playing music? That's scary

I wouldn't say scary, it was just disappointing. I played pink noise through the Ananda for a few days straight, and when I listened to them again the treble was perhaps more extended, but it was also more unnatural. The bass also seemed less impactful than it was when I first got them. This happened with two different pairs of Ananda in a row (v1 and then v2), so I'm not sure if it was just losing the excitement of hearing them for the first time, or an actual change to the driver.

Luckily I've just loved the Arya more and more as time goes on!

 

[LongBeforeShort]

Luckily I've just loved the Arya more and more as time goes on!

This is a very good sign. If you don't listen for a week and you are still hooked right away, it's a keeper.

 

[ezduzit2500]

@tjdub

those cans are not mine, wanted to listen to them, in case i consider buying one, but my ears were too big for the susvara and the meze sounded really weird to me. The heddphone won this competition, but is too big and clunky for girls.



You heard me right, i use an XLR switch box and selfmade balanced cables to be able to use the amps full power and level matched all amps with the spl device at 1khz sinus wave to my listening level and the signal to DAC was given out simultaneously to all dac/amps at the same time. All tested dac/amps sounded exactly the same with no exception whatsoever.

For example from my pictures, the xduoo XD-05 BAL VS Questyle Twelve Master sounds exactly the same. I can back it up and reproduce this 100% unbiased and invite everyone who wants to try it out in germany/hannover, if you want, pm and visit me. I have invited someone who claimed there are difference in his result and he never answered my pm inviting him to come over.

So far everyone who is claiming something different and lives even nearby is either ignoring my invite, responding with nonsense or straightforward ignores me entirely, which speaks for itself really, when it comes to confronting, everyone suddenly fear my test.



I have just tested 2 people who believed strongly in different sound and were absolutely sure, that the headphone amp section from the RME-ADI2 DAC FS for example was terrible and were quite shocked to learn that it sounds the same like for example the HeadAmp GS-X Mini, or let me correctly myself, is just doing its job properly to not changing the sound.

You can tell me which ones sounded different to you, if i should be able to test them, or heard them myself and tested it with my switch box, i can tell you the truth. Everything else is a biased opinion and whishes how it has to sound, not what actually is the case. Unless you have tested it level matched and being able to switch between sources instantly.

I can back it up and deliver the same result every single time and have no trouble confronting anyone who's willing to try, can you?

May put a list together of devices i have personally tested myself and what headphones you could pair up with it with/without EQ (EQ needs negative preAmp which means you need a whole lot more power just for the eq).

BUT There is something to be happy about. Something like an xduoo ta-30 actually sounds different. Not by a lot, but you can point it out pretty reliable. So for me, either EQ and/or Tube is the way to go for changing the sound, or features like true bass 3D from idi audio. That's it. I know it sounds boring, but that's how it is.

Just buy something that delivers enough juice for what you want to use and ow (eq) and the rest (materials, features, how it looks, brands name if thats a thing) is just up to your taste, but has nothing to do with sound quality

You talking about me? I did answer but as I'm in the U.S., and trying to buy a house (along with other more personal issues), now's not the right time to travel for a listening test. Am I still invited? Keep in touch.

 

[ezduzit2500]

thank you

By that logic just get an Atom, haha. Seriously, because one person or three can't (or won't) hear a difference doesn't mean there aren't differences with different amps driving Arya. All four of my amps bring something different to the table. Vote your conscience.

 

[ezduzit2500]

The 800S is absolutely amazing with live music or anything, really, that's been recorded as a whole ensemble or that uses primarily acoustic instruments. Jazz and classical are no exception, but I've also really enjoyed various MTV Unplugged performances and some concert recordings from Steven Wilson. Just so real sounding with the 800S.

The Arya works well as an all-rounder, except that it can make male vocalists sound sort of uneven, like they're drifting towards and away from the mic as they sing certain parts. Nothing terrible though. And more I'm more sensitive to it since my go-to headphone for a while now has been the newest LCD-XC, which has a full 10db more in that same area. lol That could definitely skew my judgment a bit. Still, for demanding music that isn't focused on the vocals, the Arya is amazing.

Give them time to play in and loosen up. IME, they get a little more natural if not quite to the level of the 800s. Notice I didn't say "burn in", haha.

 

[Archerious]

I recently purchased a brand new pair off Amazon, and was shocked to find the box not sealed, it looks like the seal or part of the writing was ripped off?

Anyone had this happen before? The seller is an authorized dealer, specifically Kaviso fulfilled by Amazon.

 

[tjdub]

Mine wasn't sealed but the box was intact, I got them directly from hifiman. It looks like they missed with with the box cutter on yours I hope the headphones are ok

 

[Archerious]

Mine wasn't sealed but the box was intact, I got them directly from hifiman. It looks like they missed with with the box cutter on yours I hope the headphones are ok

Oh they sound fantastic. At first I was like what's so special, it's just neutral. Then I did a A/B test between them and Eikon.

Then I realized the massive differences.

Doing a blind test likely this weekend, the vocals are just so delicious on the Arya.