[bagwell359]

Does anyone rub tubes on their Arya?

Damn.... caught! I run a NOS 807 tube over my Arya as I chant.... sorry, carry on.

 

[Relaxasaurus]

one "issue" I'm having with the Arya's is I could use more midrange presence in a lot (but not all) material. It's even a little bothersome in some non-vocal music: jazz, classical, acoustic. But the big sound stage is what you gain for somewhat recessed mids.

100% feel the same way. I plugged my Aryas into several expensive tube amps at Canjam and was amazed, and even thought that filled the mid-void.

I ended up taking a chance on a new and unknown tube amp, but it was non-OTL and has power to spare for planars. I liked the sound I was getting out of it but what truly filled my mid craving was getting some solid dynamic headphones. An Aeolus or even HD6XX on a tube is a great compliment to the Arya when you want to switch to jazz and female vocals.

Shameless plug but I use the Arya in my tube amp review and discuss how it sounds here:



My next video I pit the Arya against the LCD-X and HD800S on both tube and solid state, so subscribe if you'd like

 

[kid vic]

Actually I listen to a lot of vocal music (rock/pop/metal and some vocal jazz; all decades) and one "issue" I'm having with the Arya's is I could use more midrange presence in a lot (but not all) material. It's even a little bothersome in some non-vocal music: jazz, classical, acoustic. But the big sound stage is what you gain for somewhat recessed mids.

That said, and I still have a lot more listening to do with some of my favorite vocal tracks, but I've never heard Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, Basia, Jim Croce, Suzanne Vega, Carly Simon, Jennifer Warnes, Gordon Lightfoot, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, to name a few, sound so good on cans. So real the performances border on listening live (like you are in the studio with them). Actually that's how vocals are overall on these to me: very realistic, but sometimes too far back in the mix.

So close miked vocals sound incredible on the Arya, but in more pop/rock music where the vocals don't stand out as much vocals can be (but not always) recessed.




I'm getting a RME ADI-2-DAC FS. Probably this week (probably won't be able to wait for a sale, if there ever even is one, and I want to make sure I have the latest version anyway with the different chip and better remote). I want to see what some tweaking of EQ can do with the Arya because I'm so close to having, for me, perfect sound out of this. If that doesn't work then I'm upgrading my amp (currently the Gilmore Lite Mk2). (And if that doesn't work, then maybe I'll get a different headphone for at least some material; interested in the Focal Clear, which I was very much looking at before I got the Arya).

Currently very interested in the iFi Pro iCan amp because of its power and I'm very intrigued about the tube modes because another "problem" I have with the Arya is that its highs can be kind of mechanical/metallic/glassy/hard with some material (the plus to this is man is the sound snappy/crisp/clear with drums for instance) and I could use more sparkle and delicacy in the highs, and overall warmth at times.

Also looking at the Cayin HA-1A, Cayin iHA-6, Mk2 Wells Audio Milo, and Phonitor XE. (And others).

You're right about the HPA4; I've been looking at so many amps/dacs (at least a dozen) that I got confused!

Sorry about getting back to this so late, thanks for all the help, and take care!

Very interesting...I'm mostly a tube newbie, being more of a liker of neutral solid state sound, but I know that SS amps can sound "warm" and tube amps can sound "cold".

I have 2 hybrid tube headphone amps that are now broken: an old Head-Direct EF1 which from memory was a great amp, and a Schiit Vali 2 which was meh and broke within months (replaced the tube but it still won't turn on. given that, and also that my Asgard 2 is also a very meh sounding amp which I could tell even with less resolving cans, I'm very turned off by that brand and will probably never buy anything from them again).

I am considering a full tube or tube hybrid amp for pairing with the Arya: I don't like an overly warm or "meaty" sound (or else I would of picked a darker and more full sounding can), but some touch of warmth that makes the highs less "clinical" (I have no problem with the highs being harsh, they aren't to me, even on brutal material; rather they seem kind of artificial at times, especially in comparison to the Sundara) and fills out some mids might be ideal for the Ayra for me.

I am even considering buying an under $200 tube amp just to see how that might sound with the Arya and then go up from there. But first the RME ADI-2-DAC FS and EQ experimenting!

I suspect that a tube amp might be exactly what you need; if you don't mind buying used a Garage 1217 tube amp might do you well. Though I personally havent heard one I recall a lot of people saying they powered both hard to drive planars and difficult dynamics well. If you can get one cheap enough you can just try tubes until you find something you like because rolling on tube is waay cheaper than rolling sets.

EDIT: just checked the new prices and you could probably buy one brand new for only marginally more than your $200 limit. The Flagship Ember II starts at $310

 

[Sermo]

Hi,

I recently got my Aryas and I really love them. However, on the bottom of the right ear cup there is a bump from the socket, which is correct. However, on the left ear cup there isn't the same bump from the socket. It's more of a flat surface. Fortunately it doesn't affect the sound.

Hifiman said that this was a "structural tolerance".
Do you have the same thing on your Aryas?

It's pretty obvious if you compare the pictures below.

 

[wanderingnomad]

Hi,

I recently got my Aryas and I really love them. However, on the bottom of the right ear cup there is a bump from the socket, which is correct. However, on the left ear cup there isn't the same bump from the socket. It's more of a flat surface. Fortunately it doesn't affect the sound.

Hifiman said that this was a "structural tolerance".
Do you have the same thing on your Aryas?

It's pretty obvious if you compare the pictures below.

I don’t see that bump on either side of mine.

 

[KenB]

Hi,

I recently got my Aryas and I really love them. However, on the bottom of the right ear cup there is a bump from the socket, which is correct. However, on the left ear cup there isn't the same bump from the socket. It's more of a flat surface. Fortunately it doesn't affect the sound.

Hifiman said that this was a "structural tolerance".
Do you have the same thing on your Aryas?

It's pretty obvious if you compare the pictures below.

Sermo: I, too, do not see any such "bump" on either the L or R exterior of my Arya's.

 

[cigarello]

Hey guys, I have a pair of Arya's on the way to me and I am very excited! However, my amp is the Audio GD NFB 11.28 w/ TXCO, can anyone confirm if that is sufficient power to drive these headphones to their max potential? Thank you!

 

[Dexon]

However, my amp is the Audio GD NFB 11.28 w/ TXCO, can anyone confirm if that is sufficient power to drive these headphones to their max potential?

I have AGD11.28 in the office and have tried it with Arya. Not a greatest synergy, AGD is dark sounding and Arya is somewhat darkish as well. Sufficient power? Sure and nice listen no doubt. To max potential? Not nearly there IMHO.

At home rig, with more power behind, there's more dynamics, sharper attacks etc..

 

[Focux]

anyone drive these a dap?

say like dx220 or something

 

[goaud27]

anyone drive these a dap?

say like dx220 or something

I use R2R2K Red with them on High Gain. I love the sound, but cannot compare with anything else, since I never heard them from a desktop amplifier. Can only say that High Gain setting sounds better than Low Gain, although the volume is sufficient in both settings, therefore they seem to love more current.

 

[Focux]

I use R2R2K Red with them on High Gain. I love the sound, but cannot compare with anything else, since I never heard them from a desktop amplifier. Can only say that High Gain setting sounds better than Low Gain, although the volume is sufficient in both settings, therefore they seem to love more current.

ended up going for the THX789 instead

hope it pairs well for the arya or rather planars in general

 

[sennfan83261]

ended up going for the THX789 instead

hope it pairs well for the arya or rather planars in general

I drive almost all of my planars out of the 4-pin XLR output of the THX AAA 789 (save for the HE-6). And it drives them just fine.

 

[GoldenSound]

So I've had my aryas for a while now, and I absolutely adore them. But I wanted to post about something I've found today, and a couple other Arya owners have confirmed.

I have a pair of susvaras on the way (cause I fell in love with Aryas and wanted more)
and so i've been looking quite a bit into amps for those, and there is a bit of a repeating theme with both Susvara and HE-6:

You can drive them to a decent listening volume on a higher powered headphone amp, BUT, giving them much more power headroom really transforms them,opens them up, the sound is more controlled and "effortless" etc.

So I was curious: Does this improvement with more power headroom extend to other planars or members of the hifiman range?
I tested it:

Previously, I had been using my dac (RME ADI-2 DAC fs) at a fixed volume, and controlling the listening volume with the THX AAA 789 pot/volume knob.
I instead switched my THX AAA 789 to gain 3, and put the pot right up to max. The pot is a resistor, the lower it is, the higher the resistance and therefore the less power there is to drive the headphones. I turned down the volume on the RME, and started playing a track I knew well.

Oh my god, its so much more open, the lowend and especially subbass is so much more present and controlled.
Even just slowly turning the volume pot down and the dac volume up to transition between high dac output vs maximum amp power, the difference was stark.

Clearly the aryas also scale well with additional power available, quite considerably, and so I'd urge you to try this if you have a dac that supports digital volume control. Turn the dac down, put the amp at gain 3 and the pot all the way up...and just listen.

Shared this with a couple other arya owners who tried it and had similar results.
Its an instant improvement to these already beautiful cans by offering them more power

 

[vlach]

Turn the dac down, put the amp at gain 3 and the pot all the way up...and just listen.

I don't have any experience with the RME or THX, however in theory lowering the digital volume of the DAC means truncating bits and compressing resolution. The result is usually better doing it the other way around; max digital volume on DAC and adjusting the analog volume on the amp.
I'm not disputing your findings or preference but it has me questioning the quality of the THX volume pot when engaged in the signal path.

 

[sennfan83261]

Previously, I had been using my dac (RME ADI-2 DAC fs) at a fixed volume, and controlling the listening volume with the THX AAA 789 pot/volume knob.
I instead switched my THX AAA 789 to gain 3, and put the pot right up to max. The pot is a resistor, the lower it is, the higher the resistance and therefore the less power there is to drive the headphones. I turned down the volume on the RME, and started playing a track I knew well.

Remember that the THX AAA 789 clips at the third gain stage when being fed a >2.1V source [Andrew Mason's quote]. 4V is typically the max output voltage from a DAC's XLR outs (vol. set to 100 of course). If you can attenuate your DAC to output 2.1V or less, then yes you should be able to achieve max voltage swing with the THX AAA 789 at the third gain stage [Andrew Mason again].