[ruXx]

So I went ahead and purchased the arya. This is the first "audiophile" headphone ive ever bought.
My previous headphones were DT150 which ive used for comparison.
I figured i would skip everything inbetween and just go straight for end game.

I use a asus xonar essence st as dac/amp.

Not being an audiophile at all, my ears are very untrained in what to listen for, but ill try anyway so heres my brief first impressions:

Build quality: I feel like i have to handle them with care (they are 1600$ after all). The yoke looks like it might be a weak point, but otherwise they seem fine. It doesnt look like a 1600$ construction at all, but when theyre on my head i dont mind, no creaking at all when on the head.

Comfort: Super comfy. I wear glasses and even then theyre really comfy. Wore them for a 10 hour session and there was no pain or fatigue associated with it. They also dont heat your ears, being that theyre an open design. Your whole ear fits inside the cup, and it doesnt braze against the driver. Also sits well, doesnt feel like its going to fall of.

Bass: well defined and textured. It has a good edge and punch to it, albeit you will feel like you want more when listening to bass heavy tracks like edm.
It feels a bit unengaging with the out of box bass response.
The great thing is that it responded really well too bass EQ. I boosted the sub bass 30-60hz area a few decibels and now they sound amazing for bass, its like night and day, with a hefty great amazing bass.
It does not smear into the mids or distort the total sound picture. It just simply gives you more of the same great bass capability thats innate to this headphone.

Mids:

Vocals sound really good on well mastered tracks, both male and female vocals sounds good. The vocals feel like they extend well without being shrill. They also have a good texture and body to them, without being bloated. They seem smooth and not too forward. Really enjoyable to listen too for a chill session, not fatiguing at all, and really musical imo.
However on genres where you want that forward energy, such as on metal songs, it leaves something to be desired, sounding a bit recessed and lacks energy and detail.

Now theres one issue: it sounds a bit sibilant. This becomes more clear as I turn up the volume. f, s and sh sounds sound a bit smeared.
The best way for me to describe it is that it almost sounds like the s sounds are "clipping" or not resolving properly.
Its as if you reached the peak of resolution and then the sound kind of lingers a bit and forces itself onto you.
It also smears itself into the rest of the sound affecting the quality of the sound that come directly after the point of sibilance.
Thats not to say that its harsh or fatiguing, its just really annoying because for me its impossible not to notice it. It distracts me from enjoying music where it manifests itself.
Badly mastered tracks will reinforce this constantly.
This is the only negative thing I have to say about the sound, but its such a big deal that im considering returning them.

Highs:

My least knowledgeable area.
I listened to some instrumental and orchestra, and it sounded clear and clean. good resolution. You can hear each instrument clearly. Good timbre and percussion without sounding bright.

Well this my amateur take on this and the way it sound to my untrained ears.
Im going to let it burn in for some more hours and see if it has any effect.
My overall impression is that this headphone is tuned for genres of music that doesnt necessarily overlap all that much with my own.

TLDR:
- Great comfort
- Great for non vocal music.
- Great for orchestra and instrumentals
- Great for EDM with a little bass EQ.
- Vocals sound a bit recessed for genres like metal where you want energy.
- Non fatiguing sound for longer listening sessions.
- Annoying sibilance that ruins the overall impression.

To me this is absolutely not worth the 1600$ upgrade from my DT150 .Ill probably end up returning them in a few days.

 

[Karister]

Leave them playing 24/7 for 5 days. They will change sound signature. Also, warm-sounding amp like Schiit helps. Or even better get RME ADI 2 DAC. It has wonderful EQ on board that will do wonders to any HPs. I manged to get rid of sibilants this way. On Windows PC you can install APO EQ which is paramateric, same as RME one. Cut down 9-11kHz range with steep (Q=~8) slope. It will kill sibilants. For more vocals try boosting 1-2kHz area.

 

[jsmiller58]

So I went ahead and purchased the arya. This is the first "audiophile" headphone ive ever bought.
My previous headphones were DT150 which ive used for comparison.
I figured i would skip everything inbetween and just go straight for end game.

I use a asus xonar essence st as dac/amp.

Not being an audiophile at all, my ears are very untrained in what to listen for, but ill try anyway so heres my brief first impressions:

Build quality: I feel like i have to handle them with care (they are 1600$ after all). The yoke looks like it might be a weak point, but otherwise they seem fine. It doesnt look like a 1600$ construction at all, but when theyre on my head i dont mind, no creaking at all when on the head.

Comfort: Super comfy. I wear glasses and even then theyre really comfy. Wore them for a 10 hour session and there was no pain or fatigue associated with it. They also dont heat your ears, being that theyre an open design. Your whole ear fits inside the cup, and it doesnt braze against the driver. Also sits well, doesnt feel like its going to fall of.

Bass: well defined and textured. It has a good edge and punch to it, albeit you will feel like you want more when listening to bass heavy tracks like edm.
It feels a bit unengaging with the out of box bass response.
The great thing is that it responded really well too bass EQ. I boosted the sub bass 30-60hz area a few decibels and now they sound amazing for bass, its like night and day, with a hefty great amazing bass.
It does not smear into the mids or distort the total sound picture. It just simply gives you more of the same great bass capability thats innate to this headphone.

Mids:

Vocals sound really good on well mastered tracks, both male and female vocals sounds good. The vocals feel like they extend well without being shrill. They also have a good texture and body to them, without being bloated. They seem smooth and not too forward. Really enjoyable to listen too for a chill session, not fatiguing at all, and really musical imo.
However on genres where you want that forward energy, such as on metal songs, it leaves something to be desired, sounding a bit recessed and lacks energy and detail.

Now theres one issue: it sounds a bit sibilant. This becomes more clear as I turn up the volume. f, s and sh sounds sound a bit smeared.
The best way for me to describe it is that it almost sounds like the s sounds are "clipping" or not resolving properly.
Its as if you reached the peak of resolution and then the sound kind of lingers a bit and forces itself onto you.
It also smears itself into the rest of the sound affecting the quality of the sound that come directly after the point of sibilance.
Thats not to say that its harsh or fatiguing, its just really annoying because for me its impossible not to notice it. It distracts me from enjoying music where it manifests itself.
Badly mastered tracks will reinforce this constantly.
This is the only negative thing I have to say about the sound, but its such a big deal that im considering returning them.

Highs:

My least knowledgeable area.
I listened to some instrumental and orchestra, and it sounded clear and clean. good resolution. You can hear each instrument clearly. Good timbre and percussion without sounding bright.

Well this my amateur take on this and the way it sound to my untrained ears.
Im going to let it burn in for some more hours and see if it has any effect.
My overall impression is that this headphone is tuned for genres of music that doesnt necessarily overlap all that much with my own.

TLDR:
- Great comfort
- Great for non vocal music.
- Great for orchestra and instrumentals
- Great for EDM with a little bass EQ.
- Vocals sound a bit recessed for genres like metal where you want energy.
- Non fatiguing sound for longer listening sessions.
- Annoying sibilance that ruins the overall impression.

To me this is absolutely not worth the 1600$ upgrade from my DT150 .Ill probably end up returning them in a few days.

Great set of observations. Disappointing, but great. I have been on the fence thinking of buying these, but may have to rethink that...

A few questions... what is your audio chain (music source, quality of the tracks, DAC, AMP). Balanced or SE? As prior poster asked, have you done any burnin?

 

[Ithilstone]

To me this is absolutely not worth the 1600$ upgrade from my DT150 .Ill probably end up returning them in a few days.

Not a big surprise if you power them with tiny D class amp. Asus might be not that bad as a dac but amp section is way underpowered for planars like Arya

 

[ruXx]

Leave them playing 24/7 for 5 days. They will change sound signature. Also, warm-sounding amp like Schiit helps. Or even better get RME ADI 2 DAC. It has wonderful EQ on board that will do wonders to any HPs. I manged to get rid of sibilants this way. On Windows PC you can install APO EQ which is paramateric, same as RME one. Cut down 9-11kHz range with steep (Q=~8) slope. It will kill sibilants. For more vocals try boosting 1-2kHz area.

Yeah, i will reserve judgement for a few days. Im considering getting a better amp, but im not sure what would match well with it.
Thanks for the equalizer tips

 

[ruXx]

Great set of observations. Disappointing, but great. I have been on the fence thinking of buying these, but may have to rethink that...

A few questions... what is your audio chain (music source, quality of the tracks, DAC, AMP). Balanced or SE? As prior poster asked, have you done any burnin?

My audio chain is really simple, its arya into the xonar essence st headphone out, so its definitely not the best, but volume goes high enough.
Im just your everyday casual guy. I dont have a stash of flac rips layound around, just play songs off of spotify or youtube.
My tastes range from rap, pop, metal, edm, country and everything inbetween that sounds good. Not into classic music or pure instrumental acoustics.
The cans have about 15-20 hours of playback through them so far.

 

[ruXx]

Not a big surprise if you power them with tiny D class amp. Asus might be not that bad as a dac but amp section is way underpowered for planars like Arya

Any suggestions?
Im considering getting a dynamic microphone to compliment my streaming setup as well, so if theres some combined mic amp / head phone amp combo out there that sounds good i would prefer that over buying separately.
I dont think id want to spend more than 400$

 

[Ithilstone]

Any suggestions?
Im considering getting a dynamic microphone to compliment my streaming setup as well, so if theres some combined mic amp / head phone amp combo out there that sounds good i would prefer that over buying separately.
I don't think id want to spend more than 400$

Here I will not be able to help you
I simply have no idea if any combo like that would be any good.

For basic head amp - easiest way to drive planars on budget is to use speaker amp - planars are current driven and present no load to amp so you need a amp that can deliver sufficient level of current - old fashion A/B speaker amp with decent side transformer will do - just power them directly from speaker taps.

There are better dedicated headphone amps but unfortunately nowhere near your budget.

And in general yes I know bargains can be found but finding an amp that will let them shine at 1/4 of Aryas price will be hard.

 

[bidn]

So I went ahead and purchased the arya. This is the first "audiophile" headphone ive ever bought.
My previous headphones were DT150 which ive used for comparison.
I figured i would skip everything inbetween and just go straight for end game.

I use a asus xonar essence st as dac/amp.

Not being an audiophile at all, my ears are very untrained in what to listen for, but ill try anyway so heres my brief first impressions:

Build quality: I feel like i have to handle them with care (they are 1600$ after all). The yoke looks like it might be a weak point, but otherwise they seem fine. It doesnt look like a 1600$ construction at all, but when theyre on my head i dont mind, no creaking at all when on the head.

Comfort: Super comfy. I wear glasses and even then theyre really comfy. Wore them for a 10 hour session and there was no pain or fatigue associated with it. They also dont heat your ears, being that theyre an open design. Your whole ear fits inside the cup, and it doesnt braze against the driver. Also sits well, doesnt feel like its going to fall of.

Bass: well defined and textured. It has a good edge and punch to it, albeit you will feel like you want more when listening to bass heavy tracks like edm.
It feels a bit unengaging with the out of box bass response.
The great thing is that it responded really well too bass EQ. I boosted the sub bass 30-60hz area a few decibels and now they sound amazing for bass, its like night and day, with a hefty great amazing bass.
It does not smear into the mids or distort the total sound picture. It just simply gives you more of the same great bass capability thats innate to this headphone.

Mids:

Vocals sound really good on well mastered tracks, both male and female vocals sounds good. The vocals feel like they extend well without being shrill. They also have a good texture and body to them, without being bloated. They seem smooth and not too forward. Really enjoyable to listen too for a chill session, not fatiguing at all, and really musical imo.
However on genres where you want that forward energy, such as on metal songs, it leaves something to be desired, sounding a bit recessed and lacks energy and detail.

Now theres one issue: it sounds a bit sibilant. This becomes more clear as I turn up the volume. f, s and sh sounds sound a bit smeared.
The best way for me to describe it is that it almost sounds like the s sounds are "clipping" or not resolving properly.
Its as if you reached the peak of resolution and then the sound kind of lingers a bit and forces itself onto you.
It also smears itself into the rest of the sound affecting the quality of the sound that come directly after the point of sibilance.
Thats not to say that its harsh or fatiguing, its just really annoying because for me its impossible not to notice it. It distracts me from enjoying music where it manifests itself.
Badly mastered tracks will reinforce this constantly.
This is the only negative thing I have to say about the sound, but its such a big deal that im considering returning them.

Highs:

My least knowledgeable area.
I listened to some instrumental and orchestra, and it sounded clear and clean. good resolution. You can hear each instrument clearly. Good timbre and percussion without sounding bright.

Well this my amateur take on this and the way it sound to my untrained ears.
Im going to let it burn in for some more hours and see if it has any effect.
My overall impression is that this headphone is tuned for genres of music that doesnt necessarily overlap all that much with my own.

TLDR:
- Great comfort
- Great for non vocal music.
- Great for orchestra and instrumentals
- Great for EDM with a little bass EQ.
- Vocals sound a bit recessed for genres like metal where you want energy.
- Non fatiguing sound for longer listening sessions.
- Annoying sibilance that ruins the overall impression.

To me this is absolutely not worth the 1600$ upgrade from my DT150 .Ill probably end up returning them in a few days.

Hi ruXx,

Great write-up, I agree with your impressions, especially when the headphones have little burn-in.
At the beginning I too was hearing some sibilance, and was even more annoyed by some treble peaks, to the point that I wasn't sure that I would keep them. But overtime things improved (the driver or my brain?), though I still find them to be at the borderline of sibilance and the (very nicely detailed) treble doesn't come as natural to me, but must have some irregularities, but because these issues were lessened and the Arya has a lot of excellent qualities, I kept them.
How many hours have you been driving your Arya?
You could try to let them break-in for something like 100 200 hours and check out whether things improve.

Edit:
Sorry, in between I see you replied to someone:

The cans have about 15-20 hours of playback through them so far.

In this case try having them play music or a sweep of frequencies at normal loudness level non-stop for several hundreds hours, and test again afterwards.

I also agree with your genre assessment.
From a high fidelity perspective, metal requires i.a. a lot of dynamics, and I find the Arya to be too soft for a faithful representation of metal. If you are interested in listening to metal with high fidelity, then I would recommend instead a Focal headphone like the Elex or the Clear. However from a non-hifi but audiophile (in the sense of enjoyment, euphonics) perspective, the Arya allows to enjoy a softened, relaxed presentation of metal, not fatiguing, unlike what would be the case in reality with such an aggressive and intense genre.
The Arya are my preferred headphones among my collection for listening to ambient and the so-called "post-rock" genres.

Re. the Asus Sonar,
in one of my computers I have a Asus Supreme HiFi DAC-amp which fills in a full 3.5" bay, I use it sometimes when it is too hot and I don't want any external devices to produce additional heat in my study, I find its SQ good enough (but there is better), but I don't like the MS-Windows user-interface.

Leave them playing 24/7 for 5 days. They will change sound signature. Also, warm-sounding amp like Schiit helps. Or even better get RME ADI 2 DAC. It has wonderful EQ on board that will do wonders to any HPs. I manged to get rid of sibilants this way. On Windows PC you can install APO EQ which is paramateric, same as RME one. Cut down 9-11kHz range with steep (Q=~8) slope. It will kill sibilants. For more vocals try boosting 1-2kHz area.

Hi Karister,
I agree with your advice re. getting and using a RME ADI 2.
ruXx, if you have the money and are not looking for some audiophile pleasant coloration (e.g. not looking for adding some harmonics that make things sound "fuller"), I also recommend a RME ADI DAC-amp, not only is this professional high fidelity audio, but there are buttons and display on their devices which offer countless settings through numerous screens, menus, etc.

All the best,
bidn

 

[devilboy]

Regarding your sibilance issue, it must be the amplifier. I don't understand how anyone claims the Arya to be bright or harsh. I'm running a Burson to the Arya and I get nothing close to sibilance.
Maybe it's because I replaced the Focal Clear with the Arya?
Wait, that's a good idea! Rent out a Focal Cear for a week ($75), then you will LOVE the Arya.

Hahahaha! Man, I should get paid for this Sage advice.

 

[ruXx]

Here I will not be able to help you
I simply have no idea if any combo like that would be any good.

For basic head amp - easiest way to drive planars on budget is to use speaker amp - planars are current driven and present no load to amp so you need a amp that can deliver sufficient level of current - old fashion A/B speaker amp with decent side transformer will do - just power them directly from speaker taps.

There are better dedicated headphone amps but unfortunately nowhere near your budget.

And in general yes I know bargains can be found but finding an amp that will let them shine at 1/4 of Aryas price will be hard.

i understand that the amplifier is important, and my plan was to get a better amp if i found the tonality of the arya to my liking. And i do like most of it, but can you really fix sibilance with an amp?

Bidn, who has significantly better gear and experience than me also commentes that it borders on the edge of sibilant still(the way i understood it)

if it was just a question of not sounding full bodied or thin, then i would understand. But the way i understand it, a linear amp is not supposed to color the sound signature.

Sibilance was never ever something i thought about with my dt150, but with the arya i cant help but notice it.

i understand i could probably eq it away partly, but its not only the sibilance, but also some bit of shoutiness that surrounds that sibiliance, which distorts the sound and make the presentation sound a bit unnatural.
But maybe that part can be fixed with a stronger amp.

 

[ruXx]

Regarding your sibilance issue, it must be the amplifier. I don't understand how anyone claims the Arya to be bright or harsh. I'm running a Burson to the Arya and I get nothing close to sibilance.
Maybe it's because I replaced the Focal Clear with the Arya?
Wait, that's a good idea! Rent out a Focal Cear for a week ($75), then you will LOVE the Arya.

Hahahaha! Man, I should get paid for this Sage advice.

its not bright or harsh outside of the sibilance issue. And even the sibilance itself isnt harsh, it just sounds artifically forced and distorts the sound a bit.

mind you this varies a lot in degree depending on the track.
On some i dont notice, while on others its very profound.
On low volume the sibilance is not as noticeable, and way less annoying. But i dont want to be limited to just low volume listening.

 

[bidn]

Hi again,

BTW have you discovered or been following resolve (Andrew Park) headphone reviews on youtube?
https://www.youtube.com/user/GrippeSC2
He tests headphones, incl. their measurements, from a critical high fidelity perspective,
and I don't know of anyone else besides him coming close to filling in the void left after Tyll Hertsen retired.

resolve has an interesting combined review of the Ananda and of the Arya :



In particular, I find interesting what he says between about 10:00 and 11:20,
i.e. the Arya has a little too much energy in the area causing sibilance, and that he recommends EQing down there,
this corroborates my experience, but I think it became mild enough after burn-in to be acceptable and I personally don't apply this EQ (I try to avoid EQ as I often swap headphones, unless something is really too much for me, like the HD 800 treble peak).

BTW I never heard any sibilance with the Clear nor did I notice someone mentioning this on the Clear thread or in the reviews I read.

All the best,
bidn

 

[ruXx]

Hi ruXx,

Great write-up, I agree with your impressions, especially when the headphones have little burn-in.
At the beginning I too was hearing some sibilance, and was even more annoyed by some treble peaks, to the point that I wasn't sure that I would keep them. But overtime things improved (the driver or my brain?), though I still find them to be at the borderline of sibilance and the (very nicely detailed) treble doesn't come as natural to me, but must have some irregularities, but because these issues were lessened and the Arya has a lot of excellent qualities, I kept them.
How many hours have you been driving your Arya?
You could try to let them break-in for something like 100 200 hours and check out whether things improve.

Edit:
Sorry, in between I see you replied to someone:

In this case try having them play music or a sweep of frequencies at normal loudness level non-stop for several hundreds hours, and test again afterwards.

I also agree with your genre assessment.
From a high fidelity perspective, metal requires i.a. a lot of dynamics, and I find the Arya to be too soft for a faithful representation of metal. If you are interested in listening to metal with high fidelity, then I would recommend instead a Focal headphone like the Elex or the Clear. However from a non-hifi but audiophile (in the sense of enjoyment, euphonics) perspective, the Arya allows to enjoy a softened, relaxed presentation of metal, not fatiguing, unlike what would be the case in reality with such an aggressive and intense genre.
The Arya are my preferred headphones among my collection for listening to ambient and the so-called "post-rock" genres.

Re. the Asus Sonar,
in one of my computers I have a Asus Supreme HiFi DAC-amp which fills in a full 3.5" bay, I use it sometimes when it is too hot and I don't want any external devices to produce additional heat in my study, I find its SQ good enough (but there is better), but I don't like the MS-Windows user-interface.



Hi Karister,
I agree with your advice re. getting and using a RME ADI 2.
ruXx, if you have the money and are not looking for some audiophile pleasant coloration (e.g. not looking for adding some harmonics that make things sound "fuller"), I also recommend a RME ADI DAC-amp, not only is this professional high fidelity audio, but there are buttons and display on their devices which offer countless settings through numerous screens, menus, etc.

All the best,
bidn

Hello bidn, thank you for your reply.
Yes, i totally agree that the arya is great for when you want to have a laid back listening experience.

The soundstage together with the comfort provided by the lightness and all encompassing earcups, really makes me feel like im melting or blending right into the sound. I feel enveloped from all sides and just want to lay back and forget the world around me.

If im listening to music while doing something else on my pc, the arya is so laid back and unintrusive i sometimes forget that music is even playing.
It very nicely places itself in the background and doesnt scream for attention but just sits there pleasantly and lets me decide how much of my attention i want to dedicate to listening, and at any time i can switch in and out of listening intently or just let it sit in the background.

However when i do want to have a critical listening experience and really want to rock out to the music(like metal), it doesnt provide enough presence, energy and dynamics like you mention.

an example of a song that I felt was lacking was this song:



Here the vocal really struggled on the arya with providing enough dynamics and just ended up sounded recessed, especially on the refrain.
But could be my amp once again.

 

[ruXx]

Hi again,

BTW have you discovered or been following resolve (Andrew Park) headphone reviews on youtube?
https://www.youtube.com/user/GrippeSC2
He tests headphones, incl. their measurements, from a critical high fidelity perspective,
and I don't know of anyone else besides him coming close to filling in the void left after Tyll Hertsen retired.

resolve has an interesting combined review of the Ananda and of the Arya :



In particular, I find interesting what he says between about 10:00 and 11:20,
i.e. the Arya has a little too much energy in the area causing sibilance, and that he recommends EQing down there,
this corroborates my experience, but I think it became mild enough after burn-in to be acceptable and I personally don't apply this EQ (I try to avoid EQ as I often swap headphones, unless something is really too much for me, like the HD 800 treble peak).

BTW I never heard any sibilance with the Clear nor did I notice someone mentioning this on the Clear thread or in the reviews I read.

All the best,
bidn

Yes i did watch his review, amongst like 5-6 others on youtube.
Interesting that you should mention that review, because i noticed exactly the same thing you pointed out in his video, and it really made me think twice about the purchase.
Amongst all the other reviews raving over the arya, his was the one sobering review that broke the flow of positive reviews.
Z also wasnt all that charmed by the arya, especially at its pricepoint.
I was quite conflicted, but decided to trust the majority.

One reviewer in particular tipped me over the edge.
Im a big fan of joshua valors reviews, since I like his way of explaining things.
He was raving a lot about the arya which is why i ultimately pulled the trigger.

Either way this is a good benchmark to go back and see which reviewer most closely aligns with my taste and hearing.