[IZONE]

When I hear of people reporting that the Arya sounds worse than the Sundara my mind automatically goes to fit issues. If there are gaps because the cups are not fitting properly due to wearing glasses or just general head shape/size then that makes perfect sense. You are not getting a good representation of the sound. Or it could be a faulty unit? Either way if the Arya isn't for you then it's not for you. I write this in case there are those out there who can adjust the placement in a way that creates a better seal by taking off their glasses, getting a haircut, or adjusting the headband height. Also, be mindful of what your source/amp might be. Using a tiny low power DAP or phone might not bring out the best. I'm not saying someone did that, but just putting down some thoughts that come to my mind as Arya V3, is IMHO a headphone that not everyone will love but at least they will respect it for the sound quality, especially at the price. If it sounds worse than a sub-$500 headphones something as gone terribly wrong

 

[NtraX]

(Hi all. I’m a new member and I’m hoping this is the right thread to post my recent review of the Aryas I got from Apos Audio. If not, some Admin may zap it and I understand.)

Hifiman Arya review

Big disappointment

Short version-
Bad- gigantic earpads (feels weird on your head), L-R driver imbalance (left driver noticeably less volume than the right), muted high end (on instruments like cymbals, with lots of harmonics), sound stage too wide (instruments sound too spread out to be realistic).

Good- excellent bass (if you can get them to seal on your ears with the huge earpads), lightweight, comfortable, very good midrange (especially male vocals).

Long version-
I had been looking forward to buying these headphones for 2 years, ever since i watched some rave reviews on YouTube by people like Joshua Valour and Andrew from Resolve.
In September, 2021, I bought the Stealth Magnet Revision version from Apos online, as soon as they advertised them. When I got them I didn’t see anything on the box that denoted the Stealth Magnet upgrade. I searched YouTube for some info about the upgrade and found that Apos had shipped me the older, non-stealth, version. I believe this was an honest order-filling mistake and not some bait-and-switch scam. They were really good about letting me return the non-stealth phones for a full refund.

So, before going on I need to say that I only had these phones for a week and I think they might have been slightly defective. I immediately noticed that the left driver had noticeably less gain than the right one by quite a bit. I had to shift the balance to the left by around 10% more than any other headphone I own. Annoyance #1.

After using the phones for about 5-7 hours the left driver started coming up little, but was still off by quite a lot. If I had them longer and broken them in more they might have leveled off better.
As for the earpads, I don’t know who these phones are designed to fit. Maybe chimps, but not an average person. I have a larger than average head and ears and there was a good half inch all the way around my ears when wearing these phones. When I adjusted them for the best sound there was around 3/4 of an inch gap at the bottom of ear by my jaw; enough room that the sound seal was off and it effected the bass adversely. Fix the seal problem and the sound stage felt off. Annoyance #2.

The highs- strangely, initially, the treble frequencies seemed OK and detailed, but I described these phones as having a “fun filter.” When there should have been harmonics on sounds, like cymbals and piano and acoustic guitar, there were just NONE. Cymbals had no ZING at all. It was as if the drivers were damped. Maybe this would have improved if I had them longer, as well. I’ll never know. Annoyance #3.

The soundstage- in critical listening the soundstage initially sounded very good, but as I adjusted to the new audio image I realized that it was strangely too wide and that made the instruments sound too spread out to be realistic. Some drum sounds filled the whole middle third of the sound image and sounded diffuse to the point of being muddy and vague. Annoyance #4.

All four of these annoyances (as well as being NOT what I ordered) made this expenditure of 1600 bucks a big disappointment.

I have the good fortune to have some other excellent headphones to compare these Aryas to and that comparison was very bad news for the Aryas. One of my favorite phones are my 2 year old Hifiman Sundara. Actually, the reason I wanted to try the Aryas was because I enjoy the Sundaras so much. The Sundaras beat out the Aryas in every category except bass reproduction. They have a wonderful sound on any percussion instrument; some of the best sound of percussion of any phones I’ve heard costing even 5 times as much.

These Aryas failed to get anywhere near the overall quality of my other phones either; not my Drop/Focal Elex, Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro, nor ZMF Aeolus and they cost more than any of them.

Bummer. I would like to have heard an amazing set of planar magnetics, better than my Sundaras. My search continues.

Great write out nonetheless, is sad even the large cups and swivel ability of the Arya doesnt fit you. That sums up why you got the bad seal. Then again, if one dont like how it sounds, no seal will help. Even the Sundara can fit you well... dont think anyone can rec you anymore headphones out there. You need to fish out more and demo them before buying.

 

[Korean audiophile]

LCD 4 or Zmf Verite Closed Monkey Pod?

 

[ezduzit2500]

In another reply below I covered this. Apos was, eventually, great about replacing the full cost of these because it was their fault for filling the order wrong. They shipped me the older non-stealth version instead of what I paid for, the Stealth Revision.

Ok. Everything isn't for everybody. Most who don't like the Arya (either version) are driving them either with too little power or with "chip" type amps, not discrete class A or AB. Live well.

 

[morpheus69]

In another reply below I covered this. Apos was, eventually, great about replacing the full cost of these because it was their fault for filling the order wrong. They shipped me the older non-stealth version instead of what I paid for, the Stealth Revision.

Seems like a defective unit in addition to the incorrect one. Many of us with the V3s now not exhibiting those issues, so an unfortunate f'up'd unit.

 

[Slartibartifast]

When I hear of people reporting that the Arya sounds worse than the Sundara my mind automatically goes to fit issues. If there are gaps because the cups are not fitting properly due to wearing glasses or just general head shape/size then that makes perfect sense. You are not getting a good representation of the sound. Or it could be a faulty unit? Either way if the Arya isn't for you then it's not for you. I write this in case there are those out there who can adjust the placement in a way that creates a better seal by taking off their glasses, getting a haircut, or adjusting the headband height. Also, be mindful of what your source/amp might be. Using a tiny low power DAP or phone might not bring out the best. I'm not saying someone did that, but just putting down some thoughts that come to my mind as Arya V3, is IMHO a headphone that not everyone will love but at least they will respect it for the sound quality, especially at the price. If it sounds worse than a sub-$500 headphones something as gone terribly wrong

I have to admit that when I was trying to anticipate some of the possible reactions to my Arya review I didn’t guess “taking off their glasses and get a haircut.”

 

[Slartibartifast]

Seems like a defective unit in addition to the incorrect one. Many of us with the V3s now not exhibiting those issues, so an unfortunate f'up'd unit.

You may be right. That’s why it’s an informal fallacy to generalize from a specific example. ALL Aryas are probably not like the one I received. That’s why I stated that in my review.

Another weird thing I didn’t mention in my review was the chintzy included SE cable. It didn’t even look as good as the ones I got with my 2 year old Sundaras. I didn’t even take it out of the box, but used the SE and balanced cables from the Sundara and a balanced Periapt cable I bought aftermarket.

 

[IZONE]

I have to admit that when I was trying to anticipate some of the possible reactions to my Arya review I didn’t guess “taking off their glasses and get a haircut.”

Yeah all serious audiophiles look like this:

with hard training you can also achieve this level where Arya sounds like the voice of angels as the heavens open up

 

[Forsaked]

Just ordered my Arya V2, since it was on a sale to make room for the V3 version.
1299€ instead of 1799€ was enough discount for me.

 

[Avi]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the V3. Got it Friday. Already it reminds me of when I first heard the HE-500. Not so much the soundstage, but the instrument separation with good bass right out of the box. I'm excited about how it will mature after a few hundred hours. And it's SO MUCH MORE comfortable than the HE-500, which I had to stop using due to my TMJ. Was literally painful. Glad I went with the Arya over the Jade, as rhythm sections are important to me. My bass-testing track is "Russia on Ice" from Porcupine Tree, and while my Koss (E950) can play that back, the Arya is like the HE-500 in that you can feel those sub-100 Hz tones at 9:30 or so. They are still a bit weak; hoping it opens up after burnin.

 

[morpheus69]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered the V3. Got it Friday. Already it reminds me of when I first heard the HE-500. Not so much the soundstage, but the instrument separation with good bass right out of the box. I'm excited about how it will mature after a few hundred hours. And it's SO MUCH MORE comfortable than the HE-500, which I had to stop using due to my TMJ. Was literally painful. Glad I went with the Arya over the Jade, as rhythm sections are important to me. My bass-testing track is "Russia on Ice" from Porcupine Tree, and while my Koss (E950) can play that back, the Arya is like the HE-500 in that you can feel those sub-100 Hz tones at 9:30 or so. They are still a bit weak; hoping it opens up after burnin.

The sub-bass at 11:00 is in my chest.

 

[Slartibartifast]

Great write out nonetheless, is sad even the large cups and swivel ability of the Arya doesnt fit you. That sums up why you got the bad seal. Then again, if one dont like how it sounds, no seal will help. Even the Sundara can fit you well... dont think anyone can rec you anymore headphones out there. You need to fish out more and demo them before buying.

I’m thankful that online dealers like Apos and Headphones.com let you try them out, but have a return policy. If the Aryas would have had normal sized earpads I probably would have kept them and burned them in to see how they sounded. But the fact that they shipped me the wrong version worked in my favor thus time. Otherwise I would have to pay their 20% restocking charge before 45 days was up. On 1600 bucks that’s nothing trivial.

I think my next purchase is going to be the Focal Clear MG. I love the Elex phones I have now and the MGs sound like an even better version of that sound. Or, maybe later or instead, ZMF Verite Open. So many choices, so few bucks.

 

[ezduzit2500]

I’m thankful that online dealers like Apos and Headphones.com let you try them out, but have a return policy. If the Aryas would have had normal sized earpads I probably would have kept them and burned them in to see how they sounded. But the fact that they shipped me the wrong version worked in my favor thus time. Otherwise I would have to pay their 20% restocking charge before 45 days was up. On 1600 bucks that’s nothing trivial.

I think my next purchase is going to be the Focal Clear MG. I love the Elex phones I have now and the MGs sound like an even better version of that sound. Or, maybe later or instead, ZMF Verite Open. So many choices, so few bucks.

Maybe you simply prefer dynamic HPs. Nothing wrong with that. I'll keep my Aryas, none of the dynamic cans I've owned compare in bass depth/detail, soundstage, sense of space, or layering.

 

[NtraX]

Maybe you simply prefer dynamic HPs. Nothing wrong with that. I'll keep my Aryas, none of the dynamic cans I've owned compare in bass depth/detail, soundstage, sense of space, or layering.

Is not easy to get planar with Omnipresent bass like the V2 and Punch like the V3.

 

[quawn0418]

Is not easy to get planar with Omnipresent bass like the V2 and Punch like the V3.

I love the bass on my OG, sure I’ve heard sets with more in your face bass, but the bass on my Arya is far out, it’s truly separated from the rest of the music, I love it.