[jincuteguy]

I don't have 'high end' gear but what I do have is okay decent - for the $$$. PC> Tidal Hifi> Topping D30 DAC> tube hybrid preamp> Emotiva A-100. Fairly enough resolution and power to justify trying Arya, I believe.

Why do you need the Tube Hybrid PreAmp in between your D30 DAC and the Emotiva A-100 Amp? Can you explain? im learning here, thx. And what is that Tube Hybrid Preamp?

 

[Dramlin]

I should clarify that the soundstage is not narrow, but not quite as enveloping as I had imagined. That's one reason that I'm performing a mini burn in. Still wider and more laterally layered than my new-ish Ananda. It's also not as bright as I had thought on first listen. I'm actually finding it somewhat warm-ish yet detailed when comparing it to my new-ish Ananda.

You are progressing along exactly as I have. You are burning yours in quicker though, so I'm interested to hear what changes come next in your setup. Mine isn't enveloping yet, except on very specific songs that were mastered to have an ultra wide stage.

One thing I have noticed in my setup is that my Periapt Type 8 cable has a wider sound stage compared to stock, and also has clearer instrument separation. However, it's slightly less warm than the stock cable leading to a thinner sound than I would like. I tend to go back and forth with the cables, preferring the Periapt for electronic music and the stock cable for everything else. The Periapt Cable has a few hundred hours on it, so that may account for some of the difference in sound though. Point is, you may find a change in sound stage with different cables or perhaps the stock cable just needs more time to get there.

 

[Module]

I should clarify that the soundstage is not narrow, but not quite as enveloping as I had imagined. That's one reason that I'm performing a mini burn in. Still wider and more laterally layered than my new-ish Ananda. It's also not as bright as I had thought on first listen. I'm actually finding it somewhat warm-ish yet detailed when comparing it to my new-ish Ananda.

Thank you for your impressions Ezduzit, I too considering maybe upgrading to Arya from Anandas and it's very helpful. Can I know what music you're listening to? Do you find bass on Arya stronger or weaker than on Ananda? Thanks.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Why do you need the Tube Hybrid PreAmp in between your D30 DAC and the Emotiva A-100 Amp? Can you explain? im learning here, thx. And what is that Tube Hybrid Preamp?

The D30 is responsible for putting out a clean neutral signal from my laptop via USB. The A-100 is a 50 watt stereo integrated (speaker) amp that has a feature to bypass internal resistors and supply full power to it's 1/4" headphone jack - about 12 watts at 33 ohms - as Emotiva measures but it can sometimes sound a little rough, and in 'bypass' mode there's not much movement on the volume dial before it gets LOUD. I use the tube hybrid preamp for more volume adjustment range - I set the a-100 to about 50 ~ 70% and leave it. The preamp also adds a touch of tube smoothness to the a-100's sound, making the overall soundstage smoother and wider. It's a hybrid because it has tubes for driving signal voltage and opamps that provide more signal current than the tubes themselves provide, as opposed to much more expensive purely tube preamps. I also have a passive preamp that I put in the chain in place of the tubed one when I want to switch up, just a volume potentiometer and switching contacts in a small case. All in all these components work as a decent system. Hope this helps

 

[ezduzit2500]

You are progressing along exactly as I have. You are burning yours in quicker though, so I'm interested to hear what changes come next in your setup. Mine isn't enveloping yet, except on very specific songs that were mastered to have an ultra wide stage.

One thing I have noticed in my setup is that my Periapt Type 8 cable has a wider sound stage compared to stock, and also has clearer instrument separation. However, it's slightly less warm than the stock cable leading to a thinner sound than I would like. I tend to go back and forth with the cables, preferring the Periapt for electronic music and the stock cable for everything else. The Periapt Cable has a few hundred hours on it, so that may account for some of the difference in sound though. Point is, you may find a change in sound stage with different cables or perhaps the stock cable just needs more time to get there.

I have a few cables but none that are decidedly high end. Arya and Ananda to a degree are both resolving enough to allow me to hear differences in three cables - stock Arya, stock Ananda, and a ~$30 NeoMusicia from Amazon. I sometimes use the Ananda's cable on the Arya. I can't decide which one is 'better' but they are definitely different sounding, I switch up, keeps it interesting. I may look up a Periapt solution in the future when my funds recover , haha, or I may look into DIY, I believe I still remember how to solder though it's been a while. Will keep you posted on my burn in progression...

 

[ezduzit2500]

Thank you for your impressions Ezduzit, I too considering maybe upgrading to Arya from Anandas and it's very helpful. Can I know what music you're listening to? Do you find bass on Arya stronger or weaker than on Ananda? Thanks.

I listen to Tidal Hifi almost exclusively. My playlists includes: Steely Dan, Steel Pulse, Missy Elliot, Sade, GRP big band, Dwele, Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, Joe Sample, Marian Hill, Lauryn Hill, Ziggy Marley, Dave Grusin, Bootsy Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Grace Jones, and many others. Not as much classical yet but I do like show tunes and soundtracks. I'm open as far as musical tastes go, not wanting to limit my range of thought. Bass on Arya is as much as Ananda, maybe a little better. Detailed, punchy, deep reaching, yet more controlled as I hear it. Sometimes I can hear what I thought was one bass note on Ananda but is actually one note layered on top of another with Arya. The double sided magnets likely have a part to play in it being controlled and detailed like that. Keeping in mind that I just got it a couple days ago and I'm still going through my burn in process. Hope this helps.

 

[bidn]

Hi there,

catching up from my summer break,
I saw a discussion at the beginning of Aug. re. the drivers of the Arya vs those of the HE1000 v1 and v2. I think that you may be interested in the following.

When FR curves comparisons were freely accessible on crinacle site, I then set and captured this comparison:

It shows that the FR of the Arya v1 smoothes out the sharp dip at about 3,5 kHz as well as the sharp peak at about 6 kHz which were present on the FR of the HE1000 v1.
So these drivers differ and the FR of the Arya v1 is for me clearly improved over that of the HE1000 v1.

 

[Kashen2020]

Guys iam facing a problem when I play high notes in arya it start to distort having sounds like electric farts iam using it with A90/D90 and xlr. when I put it high gain 3o'clock and above this problem happen sometimes with high notes like in this music in YouTube the distortion is keep happening in this video and it become crazy in the 2.05 when the girl raised her voice in perfect way I know maybe some will say youtube is suck but this problem happen to me in some other music and video games. It is sooo annoying ruin the enjoyment of the music.

 

[sennfan83261]

Guys iam facing a problem when I play high notes in arya it start to distort having sounds like electric farts iam using it with A90/D90 and xlr. when I put it high gain 3o'clock and above this problem happen sometimes with high notes like in this music in YouTube the distortion is keep happening in this video and it become crazy in the 2.05 when the girl raised her voice in perfect way I know maybe some will say youtube is suck but this problem happen to me in some other music and video games. It is sooo annoying ruin the enjoyment of the music.

I don't hear that with my Arya's (or the HD800S) (chain: USB > Eitr > SPDIF > Mimy or USB > SDAC-B to THX AAA 789) at my normal listening volume of 8 o'clock (gain II) (or 7 o'clock, gain III) (volume of both DACs maxed out at 100 on my system); I'm not willing to sacrifice my hearing to test it at 3 o'clock gain of III. The THX AAA 789 is known to clip at gain III when fed with a signal that's >2.1V (xlr connections from the SDAC-B, like other balanced DACs, output at 4V). Sounds like your A90 is clipping at high gain at that volume, which the designer of the A90 says still might happen (see A90 review thread on ASR, page 41, post 810). Either try listening to it at a lower gain setting or reduce the DAC's volume or pre-amp gain while using the highest gain on the A90. The latter should reduce the voltage coming from the D90 into the A90. Worth to try testing this out on other cans to see whether the issue lies with your Arya's or with your signal chain.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Still burning in my open box unit Arya. What once was warm sounding after playing brown noise for a few nights has become more bright sounding after switching back to pink noise, as if it's treble quality has been emphasised. Not a bad thing, just different. Anyone else have this experience or impression? Just asking, to gain some understanding.

Adding to this: Holy S**t, Batman!... These things are really opening up. I typed the above before I started a more in depth listening session. I queued up my master Tidal playlist, put it on random, and just listened. First thing I noticed was how much brighter the Arya were. Almost too bright. I then started to notice the headstage had gotten bigger from my first impressions. Then I noticed the details, starting with vocals and how the S's and T's were more pronounced from first listens. Now my brain is starting to adjust to this new signature and I''m noticing background details such as handclaps, rimshots, horn sections, finger snaps, and the echoes of the recording space. Quick, snappy, revealing, spacious, and realistic are words that come to mind. I'm now hearing much more layering, space, and separation. Anybody have these impressions? I wasn't hearing these qualities from this unit before. I'm feeling more and more like I made a decent decision in setting my bank account back a little while by buying these. I'm much more impressed. Is this what you high end folks have been hiding? Shame on you, haha .

 

[actionfinger]

The problem is .. after you stop listening, the same sharp Vocals will appear the next listening session. I was frustrated, because there is no hint of such sharpness in the frequency response. So I tested with a sinus sweep to find out, what’s the problem. Around 7200hz it burned my ear away.. so the arya triggers my inner ear resonance frequency. Other headphones do the same, but with the Arya it’s more obvious. So I set a peaking Filter on 7200hz with -6db Q6. Now i am happy and i never had such a good listening experience.
So .. the problem isn’t the headphone.. it’s our ear.

 

[Kashen2020]

The problem is .. after you stop listening, the same sharp Vocals will appear the next listening session. I was frustrated, because there is no hint of such sharpness in the frequency response. So I tested with a sinus sweep to find out, what’s the problem. Around 7200hz it burned my ear away.. so the arya triggers my inner ear resonance frequency. Other headphones do the same, but with the Arya it’s more obvious. So I set a peaking Filter on 7200hz with -6db Q6. Now i am happy and i never had such a good listening experience.
So .. the problem isn’t the headphone.. it’s our ear.

Do u have arya v1 or v2? because I have arya v2 at first it has the ss,, tt sounds and some sharpness in highs but then after burning it and use it with my new a90/D90 it become much smoother without sibilance and harshness.

 

[actionfinger]

I have V2.
My Arya burned in about 300 hours. There is no more smoothness incoming.
I hear silbilance in most headphones. One of the only headphones I never heard it, was the focal clear, because there is a dip in its frequency response by 7200 at about 10 db

 

[jincuteguy]

I have V2.
My Arya burned in about 300 hours. There is no more smoothness incoming.
I hear silbilance in most headphones. One of the only headphones I never heard it, was the focal clear, because there is a dip in its frequency response by 7200 at about 10 db

Do you think the Focal Clear is worth to buy over the Arya?

 

[ezduzit2500]

The problem is .. after you stop listening, the same sharp Vocals will appear the next listening session. I was frustrated, because there is no hint of such sharpness in the frequency response. So I tested with a sinus sweep to find out, what’s the problem. Around 7200hz it burned my ear away.. so the arya triggers my inner ear resonance frequency. Other headphones do the same, but with the Arya it’s more obvious. So I set a peaking Filter on 7200hz with -6db Q6. Now i am happy and i never had such a good listening experience.
So .. the problem isn’t the headphone.. it’s our ear.

It is sharp but not unbearable to me, not like an Audio-Technica set that I used to own. After my brain/ear system adjusts what is left is an open soundscape and good details. I've got v2, with the lightweight outer fabric. I'm still in the early stages of my burn in process so I hope that things continue in a positive direction. I own Ananda also, hoping to make a final decision on what to keep in the next few months. I am able to EQ as well, may try that same filter some day if I feel that it's needed or simply for experiment.