Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
No problem. I wasn’t being critical, was just pointing out that the stealth magnets didn’t enhance the soundstage on the HEKse.
HIFIMAN Arya - Arya Stealth - Arya Organic :: Impressions Thread
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Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
You can’t judge brightness by only looking at a frequency response graph. A waterfall or CSD plot would help as well. Because the quantity of treble at a given frequency is only half the picture. The quality of treble is equally important. It’s possible that the stealth magnets could have reduced resonances and/or ringing in the upper mids/treble area that makes the Stealth sound smoother and clearer, instead of brighter. Or it could also be that Hifiman has added or improved damping of the driver.
I’m getting to demo the Stealth Arya tonight, so I’ll let you all know if I think it sounds bright or harsh. I used to own the HEK V1, V2, and HEKse, the Arya V1 and V2, Ananda, Edition X V1 and V2, Susvara, he400i, and he560 V1. So I’m pretty familiar with the Hifiman sound.
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ezduzit2500
1000+ Head-Fier
Maybe having something to do with transient speed and greater dynamics - because of the larger magnets on the inside and stronger neodymium magnets on the outside creating a stronger magnetic field? Again, spit-balling...
ezduzit2500
1000+ Head-Fier
I wonder what else could affect the tunings of both? Being that they both have a similar design except the SE's have stronger neodymium magnets all-around.
Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Your magnet speculation above could definitely be a factor, especially in the improved bass response that people are reporting. More powerful magnets are also more capable of stopping and starting the diaphragm movement, which again, could reduce resonance and ringing.
ezduzit2500
1000+ Head-Fier
Yup, speculation is an accurate term for my above post - as my background is in the Electrical Installation, Construction, and Maintenance field, not Electrical Engineering or Physics. Thrice removed from a knuckle dragger, haha.
Passion For Sound's review
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NtraX
Member of the Trade: NTRAX MOD Design
Courtesy of BGGAR (Arya Stealth Magnet) 24K Gold Plated
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Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
I just received the Arya Stealth today, so these are very early first impressions. I pretty much agree with most of the reviews here, especially @FullBright1 and Lachlan from Passion for Sound.
I find these to be the best tuning for any Hifiman model to date, at any price. These are definitely smoother and less harsh than all previous iterations of the Arya. And these are smoother than the entire HEK series. Honestly, these remind me of the Edition X V2, but with less of a V shape and much better detail.
I’m honestly shocked by these. In graphs, these look like they’d be fairly bright in the midrange and they have a peak in the treble as well, but I even find them smoother than the Susvara, from what I can recall. But that could be because the Susvara has such high resolution, rather than differences in frequency response.
Either way I’m enjoying these very much and they’re not even broken in, yet. I will post more after more days of listening.
I haven’t owned the Arya V2 in a while, but from memory, the Stealth soundstage seems pretty good to my ears. Could be a little less wide, but it’s definitely not small or narrow. The tuning, however, is worlds better than the V2, to my ears. These don’t hide sibilance, but they certainly don’t add to it either, unlike the Arya V1 and V2. I’d take these all day, every day over previous versions.
My equipment:
Musicians Audio Pegasus R2R DAC balanced in —> Singxer SA-1 amp —> balanced out via custom XLR cable using low gain only.
I find these to be the best tuning for any Hifiman model to date, at any price. These are definitely smoother and less harsh than all previous iterations of the Arya. And these are smoother than the entire HEK series. Honestly, these remind me of the Edition X V2, but with less of a V shape and much better detail.
I’m honestly shocked by these. In graphs, these look like they’d be fairly bright in the midrange and they have a peak in the treble as well, but I even find them smoother than the Susvara, from what I can recall. But that could be because the Susvara has such high resolution, rather than differences in frequency response.
Either way I’m enjoying these very much and they’re not even broken in, yet. I will post more after more days of listening.
I haven’t owned the Arya V2 in a while, but from memory, the Stealth soundstage seems pretty good to my ears. Could be a little less wide, but it’s definitely not small or narrow. The tuning, however, is worlds better than the V2, to my ears. These don’t hide sibilance, but they certainly don’t add to it either, unlike the Arya V1 and V2. I’d take these all day, every day over previous versions.
My equipment:
Musicians Audio Pegasus R2R DAC balanced in —> Singxer SA-1 amp —> balanced out via custom XLR cable using low gain only.
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This is exactly what I was hoping to hear. A jack-of-all-trades like my Edition XX with refinement. Maaan I'm getting excited for when I can order these!
Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Just for the record, I’ve never heard the Edition XX from Drop. I used to own the original Edition X V1 and V2. That is what I was comparing the Stealth to.
Of course. The Edition XX was built to imitate the EXV2, and by many accounts they're very similar to each other.
prymortal
100+ Head-Fier
Edition XX was a step up in terms of hardware, Went to 3.5mm jacks & Nano diaphragm (like Ananda/Arya) Also the specs improved due to this.
Oh you ment sound... Yeah, similar enough.
The X/Xv2 Like the HE1000/HE1000V2 & Arya (OG & unoffical V2) Was a pad change, slight colour change to cups or headband change. The specs & driver stayed the same to the best of my knowlege, which is Funny since Hifiman said they "wont consider there headphones a version change unless the driver changes" while we have these 3 contridcting examples.
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thefinalhope
New Head-Fier
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Interesting. I'm not saying the graph is wrong, but my experience and almost everyone universally agrees that the V3 bass has more punch and is noticeably meatier. As for the treble, again chart shows it should be more bright but it's way more smooth on the V3. Night and day.
After A/Bing over the weekend between the V2 and V3, I've decided to keep the V3 and return the V2. It's possible burn in and a class A amp might fix my gripe with the V2 (harsh treble/sibilance and off sounding treble timbre) but I don't see the point in risking it when the V3 out of the box is pretty much perfect and resolves that issue.
I do think the V2 has a wider soundstage but not my much. On the other end, the V3 has more accurate imaging.
I think the V3 is an absolutely perfect all rounder but for certain music types I can totally understand why one would prefer the V2.
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