[Hifiearspeakers]

Steely Dan - Hey Nineteen, Steve Winwood - Higher Love, Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing, Diana Krall - Just the Way You Are, excerpts from Mahler symphonies, Bach cello sonatas, etc...

Not bad at all. That’s a diverse selection. Dire Straits is one of my favorite bands of all time. I even love Mark Knoppfler’s solo stuff and his collaborations. His collaborations with Ruth Moody are fantastic and his Tracker album is great as well.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

Not bad at all. That’s a diverse selection. Dire Straits is one of my favorite bands of all time. I even love Mark Knoppfler’s solo stuff and his collaborations. His collaborations with Ruth Moody are fantastic and his Tracker album is great as well.

Thanks... Knoppler is terribly underrated. My music collection is most definitely diverse - everything from bluegrass to pop to classic rock to country to classical. People who enter my area at work are likely to hear anything from AC/DC to Rachmaninoff. As Duke Ellington used to say, "If it sounds good, it is good".

 

[thecrow]

Just received my Arya headphones. Compared to the Anandas I had, here are my impressions... The matte black theme looks great. The headband is a considerable improvement. Overall, it feels much more upscale. It has the ability to swivel, where the Ananda headband did not. The head strap is softer. The adjustment mechanism has a much higher quality feel, with nice, precise clicks. The ear cushions are softer, and the part that touches the face is more comfortable. There is only one cable. It is typical HifiMan, with a woven black cover, and a 6.35 millimeter TRS end.

My initial sound impression is that there is a tad more low bass, and tests with a frequency generator seems to confirm this, especially in the 20 to 50 Hz range. The upper midrange and lower treble seems a bit less forward, and smoother that those same ranges were with the Ananda, which was almost too forward. Treble is silky, with no obvious, annoying peaks.

The "scratches" mentioned by some reviewers, on the backs of the magnet structures on the Anandas are present on both sides of both magnet structures on my Aryas. I'm wondering if this is normal??? I'd love to know if other owners see the same thing with their Arya headphones...

would you (and others) agree with the major hifi review and comparisons

http://majorhifi.com/hifiman-arya-review/

 

[Skycyclepilot]

would you (and others) agree with the major hifi review and comparisons

http://majorhifi.com/hifiman-arya-review/

I haven't heard most of the headphones he compares the Arya to, but in general, yes, I agree with the review.

 

[Inspek2orgadget]

would you (and others) agree with the major hifi review and comparisons

http://majorhifi.com/hifiman-arya-review/

I've only had them for a day, but overall my first impressions of these match this review pretty favorably. I also haven't heard many of the headphones he makes comparisons too, however.

 

[franz12]

...
I sometimes wonder if I should be watching stocks and make greater profit than trying to save on headphones. LOL. I'm sure those guys on wallstreet is banking on same amount of time spent....

This. Savings would be just a few hundreds at best, which seems too small relative to the amount of your time spent.

It seems many people just wait and watch rather than buying a new one. I can imagine that we will have a good chance to negotiate a good discount with a dealer in a foreseeable future.
Then I can imagine HifiMan gives birth again to another product..

 

[Napilopez]

This is the only higher-end Hifiman headphone that I've been interested in.
I hope someone can make a comparison between it and the Sennheiser HD 800S.

That's what reviewers are paid for, to make reviews that use vaguely positive expressions so that everyone can agree on them.

The reason I only read the comparison part of reviews

I don't think his reviews are like that. He gets excited about certain headphones, but also isn't afraid to say when he's not impressed with particular headphones.

A quick related aside... As someone who also reviews stuff for a living (consumer gadgets in general rather than just headphoes), it seems like a lot of people always assume we want to write positive things about everything because we're paid off or won't get access or want affiliate commission or yadda yadda. I don't know anyone like that in the industry except for maybe some small independent youtubers and stuff who are trying to get a start and make a living. The vast majority of us get paid regardless of what we write. We don't earn commission independently, and if a company stopped providing reviews/access because they didn't like what we wrote, they'd get called out on it publicly, which would just lead to very bad PR for them.

The only thing I would say that might contribute to that impression of positivity is that some we tend to not even bother to write up reviews for things we don't like, so many times reviews are more positive in general. I get so many products that are trash that I don't have any motivation to write about them.

Anyway, FWIW, I prefer the Arya to the HD800S. Haven't compared them directly, so take this with a grain of salt, but I'm very familiar with the HD800S had another 30-min listening session with it not long before I got the Arya.

Bass on the HD800S is anemic and very rolled off compared to the Arya's very flat bass - typical open-back dynamic stuff. Sub-bass has genuine rumble on the Arya that puts many closed backs to shame. Sound on the Arya is overall "bigger", taller and similarly wide from my recollection. The HD800S has a more depth and is more 3D because of it. High are a bit more sparkly on the HD800S, but I'd consider the Arya the more detailed headphones overall. Comfort is similar to me.

Again, grain of salt. Different sources, and about a week between when I heard the two headphones.

 

[franz12]

...

...Sound on the Arya is overall "bigger", taller ..

I only heard Ananda, but this is also true for Ananda. I think it is due to its large driver size relative to other headphones.

 

[Napilopez]

I only heard Ananda, but this is also true for Ananda. I think it is due to its large driver size relative to other headphones.

Makes sense! They are quite literally taller. I think this also contributes to how enjoyable and tactile bass is. The Arya's driver can move so much sir that I'm sometimes surprised by the amount of bass I can hear even when the headphones aren't on my head. If you put your hand near them while there's a lot of sub-bass going on, you can quite literally feel the bass.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

For what it's worth...

More information... I emailed HiFiMan some questions about the new Arya. Mark replied back, and the one important thing he said was that, "the driver shares much with the HE1000-V1 driver". That's significant information, since the HE1000-V2 is, from everything I've read, just a re-tuned HE1000-V1 with some cosmetic changes. I would imagine that the Arya is tuned somewhat differently still. In any case, it sounds to me like, for better or worse, the Arya is essentially the fourth iteration of the HE1000, with the HE1000se being the third. Is HiFiMan really just retuning and reselling the same product in four versions???

Something else interesting... According to Frans, who runs the 'DIY Audio Heaven' website, the Ananda driver/magnet structure measures 50 X 80mm, and the HE1000-V2 driver measures 65 X 100 mm. The Edition X-V2 driver measures 55 X 90mm. (I thought the Ananda was a rebadged Edition X-V2???)

 

[hemtmaker]

The drivers on he1000v1 & v2 are supposed to be identical

 

[gtbrown50]

My Magni 3 drives my HE1000se quite well. These are my first Hifiman headphones and I am really impressed.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

The drivers on he1000v1 & v2 are supposed to be identical

That's what I thought, but I've read several reviews comparing the two, and reviewers consistently bring up differences in the sound signature. Of course, all comparisons that aren't based on scientifically controlled double-blind studies should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Skycyclepilot]

My Magni 3 drives my HE1000se quite well. These are my first Hifiman headphones and I am really impressed.

I just bought the Arya headphones, and was stunned at how well my LG V20 phone drives them, although the volume does have to be turned most of the way up. Keep in mind that that phone has an extraordinary audio section, however.

 

[hemtmaker]

That's what I thought, but I've read several reviews comparing the two, and reviewers consistently bring up differences in the sound signature. Of course, all comparisons that aren't based on scientifically controlled double-blind studies should be taken with a grain of salt.

In addition to the ear pads, dun forget the cups on v2 are also thinner, which will most certainly change the sound as well. Therefore IMHO, one to one comparison between v1 & v2 is not possible