[UsoppNoKami]

No, the 3 do not all sound the same...

 

[franz12]

No, the 3 do not all sound the same...

Glad to see that you have all of them. So can you give your thoughts about in what aspects HEKse are better than Ayra?

 

[mixman]

Uh.. I heard that many people are saying that the HEKse is a solid step-up from the HEKv2.
Is it true that HEKse ~ Ayra > HEKv2 ?

One thing I hear consistently is that Ayra and HEKse are brighter than HEKv2, so it might be the case that they indeed sound similar.
Some reviewers have to do serious comparisons between them.
I really miss Tyll.

I watch some of his videos for entertainment and sound demos, but obviously that's not accurate. He starts off by saying The HEX and the Ananda are pretty much the same HP, just that one is $300 less. We all know that's not true especially since it has been the subject of a few heated discussions here that the Ananda is nothing like the HEX sonically. Also, he stated the Arya had more bass than Ananda. Well I and a couple of people here have heard both have stated that's not true. I think there was an owner of both here the Arya and SE that said there was a definite difference in SQ between the two. So I think you have to take any review he does with a grain of salt, he is all over the place with Hifiman.

Unfortunately it's one of only what about two or three professional reviews of the Arya and hell the Jade has even less.......none I could find.....at least in English. Hifiman really needs to get it together as far as getting their product out there and promoting it. It makes no sense to keep a good HP like the Arya hidden.

 

[mixman]

No, the 3 do not all sound the same...

Ha you beat me to it. I knew there was an owner with the Arya and HEK SE.

 

[UsoppNoKami]

Glad to see that you have all of them. So can you give your thoughts about in what aspects HEKse are better than Ayra?

Earlier post in this thread & link to my post in HE1KSE thread

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-arya-impressions-thread.890421/page-35#post-14786608

 

[kid vic]

Earlier post in this thread & link to my post in HE1KSE thread

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-arya-impressions-thread.890421/page-35#post-14786608

Hahaha it's funny that you have basically replied to disprove my posts twice (maybe three times) though you might not see it that way.
Not trying to disseminate disinformation it's just there have been a few people- including soulsik- who have said that they sound the same. Would you be willing to give a more detailed comparison?
I agree that soulsiks impressions should be taken with marginally more salt than normal seeing as he thought the Edition Xv2 and LCD-2c sounded almost identical with the LCD-2c having a wider soundstage (IK,What), however, we gotta work with the detailed impressions we get, even when the source is wonky but provable.

 

[UsoppNoKami]

I don't remember who asked what when, but at the risk of being a stuck record here is what I have to say:

I bought the Arya first. I love it, and I still think it's a great headphone at its price point, preferred it over my Focal Elex.

At some point I went to my friend's shop to A/B the Arya with their HE1000 V2. Tested on Cayin iDAC-6 source with AudioGD HE-9 amp. The Arya had a more aggressive sound relative to HE1000V2, more punchy.. in direct comparison the V2 had more clarity on instruments, it sounded smoother but also had a softer presentation.

I just did a A/B/C again when I posted the last photo, my HE1000SE is probably sitting at the 300 hour mark now. The HE1000SE is a spectacular achievement, the clarity one hears is a cut above its predecessors, it can be aggressive, it can be smooth and refined - it really brings out the best of whatever I'm listening to. And also the showcases the worst of my music if it was badly recorded, since it's so clear.

At the end of the day, everyone has their own opinion on what they hear - best try to get to a dealer to audition it before buying. I've said it before and I will say it again - if one is looking at the Arya thinking its a great deal, yes it is. It's clearly a member of the HE1000 family. Don't have to obsess over whether it's identical to a V1 or V2 etc.. it's a great sounding headphone. If one is looking at picking up a V2 at full retail, then my advice is stretch for the HE1000SE instead. You may even find deals on the SE already if you look hard enough if you already own a HE1000V2 and are considering the trade in upgrade, I say do it - the SE is a clearer, fuller sounding headphone, very balanced with great extension and speed. If you own a V2 and are happy with what you have, then you have achieved enlightenment and are not afflicted by upgradetitis, spend the spare cash on a holiday, something nice for the family or maybe some other gear

 

[veepee]

Has the Auteur been mentioned here? Auteur (teak), Arya and Clear should be the 3 main combatants of the ~$1500 price point no?

 

[franz12]

Has the Auteur been mentioned here? Auteur (teak), Arya and Clear should be the 3 main combatants of the ~$1500 price point no?

zmf headphones in general have a bit more color, so it may or may not work depending on one's taste. Each of their offering has different color/tuning.

Hifiman and focal (clear/utopia) are more on the neutral side. Their higher end offering tend to nest the lower end. But that is not the case with zmf headphones. For the zmf, it is not clear whether their more expensive one is upgrade from less expensive one. And one user told me that the he thought the auteur was overrated, as in his opnion, the atticus was almost 99% of the auteur, and recommended to buy the atticus instead. So with the zmf headphones, you will face more 'your ears, and my ears' situations.

So I would categorize them differently.

 

[veepee]

True, the Auteur is said to have a neutral tuning though (same as the Clears and Aryas), choosing between them's gonna be hard

 

[phthora]

True, the Auteur is said to have a neutral tuning though (same as the Clears and Aryas), choosing between them's gonna be hard

The Clear and Auteur are neutral-ish, but the Auteur has more mids, while the Clear has a thinner, brighter sound. I could see calling the Auteur neutral (or not) depending upon what one considers neutral. The Atticus, for example, is decidedly not neutral. While I think the Auteur is the obviously better headphone, the tuning of the Atticus is pretty magical and may push a lot of people to think it's technically better.

Wish I could tell you about the Aryas. Maybe in 6 months...

 

[Bonddam]

I have Aeolus on the way was wondering where they stack up even though they are less?

 

[mixman]

I don't remember who asked what when, but at the risk of being a stuck record here is what I have to say:

I bought the Arya first. I love it, and I still think it's a great headphone at its price point, preferred it over my Focal Elex.

At some point I went to my friend's shop to A/B the Arya with their HE1000 V2. Tested on Cayin iDAC-6 source with AudioGD HE-9 amp. The Arya had a more aggressive sound relative to HE1000V2, more punchy.. in direct comparison the V2 had more clarity on instruments, it sounded smoother but also had a softer presentation.

I just did a A/B/C again when I posted the last photo, my HE1000SE is probably sitting at the 300 hour mark now. The HE1000SE is a spectacular achievement, the clarity one hears is a cut above its predecessors, it can be aggressive, it can be smooth and refined - it really brings out the best of whatever I'm listening to. And also the showcases the worst of my music if it was badly recorded, since it's so clear.

At the end of the day, everyone has their own opinion on what they hear - best try to get to a dealer to audition it before buying. I've said it before and I will say it again - if one is looking at the Arya thinking its a great deal, yes it is. It's clearly a member of the HE1000 family. Don't have to obsess over whether it's identical to a V1 or V2 etc.. it's a great sounding headphone. If one is looking at picking up a V2 at full retail, then my advice is stretch for the HE1000SE instead. You may even find deals on the SE already if you look hard enough if you already own a HE1000V2 and are considering the trade in upgrade, I say do it - the SE is a clearer, fuller sounding headphone, very balanced with great extension and speed. If you own a V2 and are happy with what you have, then you have achieved enlightenment and are not afflicted by upgradetitis, spend the spare cash on a holiday, something nice for the family or maybe some other gear

Here is a tough question, which would you pick.....An Arya or a used HE 1000 V2, if they were about the same price, as far as sound quality is concerned?

 

[Newk Yuler]

You guys are frustrating me with suggestions for spending $3500 on an undoubtedly extraordinary set of cans (the SE) when I want to be able to expect truly excellent quality in a set of $1600 cans. Being that I believe I should be able to expect Arya at that price point should be unquestionably pretty effing great and more than twice that is an unreasonable cost for someone stretching practicality by choosing to spend $1600 on a set of headphones.

My audio systems are made from very good quality high value components where I spent as necessary to eliminate weaknesses to maximize the potential of the system. Headphones is my final audio frontier. I've had Arya for a couple of weeks after weighing headphone considerations based on opinions in this thread (thank you!) and other information on the web. Purchased untested and for a lot of thinking about what $1600 should sound like and trying to keep it real in relation to the system components before Arya. In other words, for practicality's sake, if I had decided I needed to spend $3000 or more for headphones I should be upgrading some of the components driving the headphones. I wasn't wiling to do that, so I chose Arya based on the hope that she would be a proper quality component relative to the rest of the existing system.

I'm not ready to critique Arya although I can say I'm well enough impressed with a few small reservations. I'm in the process of making relatively inexpensive changes in the system to see how Arya responds. The last of which is a 10' headphone cable from Amplifier Surgery (silver plated conductors) versus the 10' Periapt cable I've been using. Both of those cables are good examples of my idea of high value components. Amplifier Surgery can be a bit slow filling orders due to a service queue so I patiently wait and continue to put hours on Arya 24/7.

The headband clips are weak crap. That's a significant quality issue in a $1600 set of cans. Not a deal breaker, though. I appreciate Hifiman as a big fan of planar tech since my first serious stereo system in 1980. Probably one of the bigger reasons I immediately considered upscale Audeze and Hifiman when the can bug recently bit me.

 

[mixman]

You guys are frustrating me with suggestions for spending $3500 on an undoubtedly extraordinary set of cans (the SE) when I want to be able to expect truly excellent quality in a set of $1600 cans. Being that I believe I should be able to expect Arya at that price point should be unquestionably pretty effing great and more than twice that is an unreasonable cost for someone stretching practicality by choosing to spend $1600 on a set of headphones.

My audio systems are made from very good quality high value components where I spent as necessary to eliminate weaknesses to maximize the potential of the system. Headphones is my final audio frontier. I've had Arya for a couple of weeks after weighing headphone considerations based on opinions in this thread (thank you!) and other information on the web. Purchased untested and for a lot of thinking about what $1600 should sound like and trying to keep it real in relation to the system components before Arya. In other words, for practicality's sake, if I had decided I needed to spend $3000 or more for headphones I should be upgrading some of the components driving the headphones. I wasn't wiling to do that, so I chose Arya based on the hope that she would be a proper quality component relative to the rest of the existing system.

I'm not ready to critique Arya although I can say I'm well enough impressed with a few small reservations. I'm in the process of making relatively inexpensive changes in the system to see how Arya responds. The last of which is a 10' headphone cable from Amplifier Surgery (silver plated conductors) versus the 10' Periapt cable I've been using. Both of those cables are good examples of my idea of high value components. Amplifier Surgery can be a bit slow filling orders due to a service queue so I patiently wait and continue to put hours on Arya 24/7.

The headband clips are weak crap. That's a significant quality issue in a $1600 set of cans. Not a deal breaker, though. I appreciate Hifiman as a big fan of planar tech since my first serious stereo system in 1980. Probably one of the bigger reasons I immediately considered upscale Audeze and Hifiman when the can bug recently bit me.

What are your first impressions? You will be allowed to change them later......