[Reputator]

Switching opamps - it's the poor or frugal person's way of upgrading to different amps. On hand I have what were the stock opamps in my Gustard H20 - lme49720's - but I also have the old JRC ne5532's that I took out of a tubed pre. I had previously bought Ti's opa2134pa's and Muses 8920d's to replace the '5532's in the pre. Then I bought the Sparkos for the H20, and now I'm trying out the Burson Vivids. Switching op amps is like being able to listen to a somewhat different amp altogether - they each impact the sound in subtle - or not so subtle ways - and are so much fun seeing how they sound with my gears. Just make sure that all the opamps are compatible replacements for each other so that we don't fry or somehow damage internal parts. I've also found that each of the opamps have a time period where they sound either kind of "rough" or "foggy/unresolved" until they stabilize or smooth out to their nominal sound performance - the discretes taking far longer than the IC based ones. Both the Sparkos and Burson took over 100 hours (or a month or so), they were both either lean and tipped up in the treble (Sparkos), or too upfront/bright (Vivids) when I first installed them. They're both much smoother and natural now yet still very revealing. Happy listening.

Yep, when I used to have a Xonar Essence STX in my PC, I remember opamp rolling. One of them I tried was the LME49720 you mentioned, actually. Changed the character of the sound quite a bit. I remember it being a lot of fun, but then again IC opamps were and are a lot cheaper, and you can get a whole bunch of them for very little money.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Yep, when I used to have a Xonar Essence STX in my PC, I remember opamp rolling. One of them I tried was the LME49720 you mentioned, actually. Changed the character of the sound quite a bit. I remember it being a lot of fun, but then again IC opamps were and are a lot cheaper, and you can get a whole bunch of them for very little money.

Roll on, roooll on. It's part of the fun of the hobby to me. Who else wouldn't want to tailor their DAC, or especially their amp, to maximize their listening experience - without buying a whole 'nother piece of kit.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Roll on, roooll on. It's part of the fun of the hobby to me. Who else wouldn't want to tailor their DAC, or especially their amp, to maximize their listening experience - without buying a whole 'nother piece of kit.

I'm in the process of evaluating the Burson V6 Vivids - on their own and against the other opamps I mentioned - especially against the Sparkos Labs. I've just started to give them a comparative listen (they took about a month to play in) and I'll be posting my impressions in the near future. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Qhao]

You did well man. Arya V3 is awesome. Although I'm an Audeze fanboy if someone asked me for a recommendation in the sub-$2000 mark I would probably recommend the Arya V3 as I'm not sure everyone is into the Audeze house sound. It's a safer recommendation all around. For me the OG Clears were a bit harsh, yes crystal clear with great neutrality but the metal drivers were a bit harsh/fatiguing for me in the long run. For me the real contenders are LCD-X 2021 and HD800S in this price range or grab a used Empyrean!

You should enjoy the hell out of the Aryas and later add the LCD-X 2021 as a companion headphone. I do think Aryas sound amazing from class A amps like the Singxer SA-1 and GX-X Mini which bring a bit of warmth. With the Qutest and GS-X Mini... so nice!

Can you share the experience arya v3 pairing with singxer sa1 and qutest?

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

About Josh V., I like his vids/reviews but he uses the A90 with his Aryas and it is known to have a flat soundstage, to not reproduce spatial cues well, and to not be the most natural sounding amp. BTW, it's the V6 Classics that add the warmth. The Vivids add clarity, I'm evaluating a set of them now. That may be why there's some sense of sibilance - along with the Aryas not being quite burned in (nor the opamps). Also note, the Vivids take about a good 20-30 days to burn in/mellow out too - Burson told me 30 days but I played pink noise overnights for 2-3 weeks to speed along the process. That's a super looking unit you got there. Happy listening.

Both Bursons V6 OP amps are decent op amps, however they lack the transparency of some other op amps I have tested after weeks of ABing them. (I've been using Burson products for 7 years now.)

I have to disagree on the points of the A90. When paired with the D90/D90SE (I've had all 3 still have the SE and A90) it's the most natural sounding amp I have ever owned. The transparency completely blows away everything else I have tried to date. It's sound stage isn't flat at all, but honest, it's sound stage doesn't lie, being both a hybrid gamer and audiophile it's the most honest sounding (sound stage included) amp I've heard to a fault even.

I've so far I've tested the HD 600, HD 700, Focal Elex, Focal Clear, Arya V2, and Sennheiser 58X as far as headphones go.

 

[ezduzit2500]

Both Bursons V6 OP amps are decent op amps, however they lack the transparency of some other op amps I have tested after weeks of ABing them. (I've been using Burson products for 7 years now.)

I have to disagree on the points of the A90. When paired with the D90/D90SE (I've had all 3 still have the SE and A90) it's the most natural sounding amp I have ever owned. The transparency completely blows away everything else I have tried to date. It's sound stage isn't flat at all, but honest, it's sound stage doesn't lie, being both a hybrid gamer and audiophile it's the most honest sounding (sound stage included) amp I've heard to a fault even.

I've so far I've tested the HD 600, HD 700, Focal Elex, Focal Clear, Arya V2, and Sennheiser 58X as far as headphones go.

No worries about our differing opinions. I find the Bursons to be great opamps. Studio-clean and mid focused - bringing vocals close and reproducing the plucks and vibrations of strings really well (this with the v6 Vivids)...in my amp and with the Arya v3's. I also found the A90 to be closed-in up top (the upper treble), with a slight mid-bass bloom and canned, not exactly natural-sounding vocals. It just didn't sound natural or realistic to me with my Arya v2's and SMSL Su-9 DAC. This compared to my Class AB amps and even the Monolith 887 - they were all more open/transparent in the treble, mids, and bass than the A90. This was just my humble opinion. I'm a fan of open-sounding musical reproduction without going over the top bright. Peace.

 

[cactus_farmer]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

 

[ezduzit2500]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

I doubt that you're damaging them unless it's the amp that's distorting instead of the headphone. It's not good to drive it to levels that it distorts nor is it good to listen while "turned up to 11" - save your ears, please. If the amp in the DAC is distorting it could damage the drivers though - clipping amps have killed many a speaker (or HP in this case). I read up on the DAC1 and it has the headphone output in dBu (116dB A-weighted, 114 unweighted) which I didn't take the time to decipher. There are calculators that would tell you the value in watts per impedance I believe. Find them and report back to inform others (me too - I'm curios). Happy (safe) listening.

 

[dougq]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

.....What? I am pretty confident this is not possible.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

This is is true, you need a really strong amp to feed the Arya V2 properly, why they say it's impedance is so low I'll never know. It loves power to make it really stand out.

Some people say they prefer high gain on the A90 for the Arya. I find medium is ok close to the 12 o clock without blowing your ears out. I am on Oxygen Free Silver cables for both my interconnects and for my Arya's XLR though, and they are slightly more sensitive than my OFC cables are.

The Arya actually made my ears sore on my normal volume on Silver until I broke the cables in. They don't hurt anymore but it was a rough ride. I knew better to break them in first but I was eager to hear the sound signature regardless.

 

[K.J.]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

This is seriously not a thing.

 

[phthora]

How do I know if I'm damaging my Arya (non-Stealth version) by using it with an amp that's too weak to drive it properly and therefore causing clipping?

I'm driving it with the internal amp of a Benchmark DAC1. Can't find specs on the power output of the amp, but it drives the Arya to un-listenably loud volumes before 11 o'clock is reached on the volume dial. But of course, just because loud volume is reached easily, the amp could still be damaging the headphone's drivers because it is too weak to drive them properly and therefore causing clipping.

I can't hear audible clipping. But could the amp still be damaging the Arya's drivers?

I ask because I hear that the non-Stealth Arya basically need to be plugged directly into the sun in order to be driven properly, lol

It's a solid state amp, so if it clips you will know. The distortion shoots through the roof and it's a very unpleasant and unsubtle experience. Regardless, the fact that you have so much extra movement available on the volume knob is a good indication that you have plenty of headroom. You only need 1mW of power to get the Arya to 90db and roughly 10mW to get them to 100db. I think it would be difficult to find an amp that clips at 10mW. You've got nothing to worry about.

Now, whether the amp delivers that modest amount of power cleanly and in a way that you enjoy is another matter.

 

[Somatic]

Ended up selling my Arya V2s about 6 months ago and have been rocking the Susvaras. I do miss how well the Arya's EQ'd especially in the bass department. I had it connected to TT2 and the Benchmark AHB2. With a substantial low bass shelf it was having two mini subwoofers attached to ones head. Soundstage wasnt affected much and i found them bright to begein with so it balanced it a bit for me.

Was wondering if any other Hifiman Cans have better EQ'd bass? If not, I'm probably going to buy a used pair again. Use Susvaras for the most part but Arya's when I want to rock out ....

 

[Somatic]

I went straight from a secondhand burned-in Arya v1 to a brand new Arya v2. I was quite surprised with the change of the v2's sound:

My impressions of the v2 vis-a-vis the v1 over time:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-arya-impressions-thread.890421/post-15755609
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-arya-impressions-thread.890421/post-15783256
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-arya-impressions-thread.890421/post-15802434

So if you had to pick V1 or V2? V1 just due to comfort? Or is V2 better is some areas? I am debating on V1 or V2 at the moment. Used to own a V2.

 

[ezduzit2500]

This is seriously not a thing.

Debatable. My silver plated cables - that were bright and rough/harsh sounding when brand new - are still revealing but quite a bit smoother now after a few months, for whatever reason. I'd not even consider cable burn in to be a thing before but this experience has changed my mind. Of course, if one's chain, transducers, ears, or mind are not revealing of (or even open to) small changes then a cable change wouldn't matter. As always, YMMV.