[cfranchi]

As an Arya SE owner I’m wondering if the HE6 could be a good fit and can’t make up my mind.
Do you think they could coexist? In particular, I’m interested in the bass region. The EF400 should be enough for the HE6.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hifiman-ef400-dac-amp.962701/post-17128203

 

[Guipnox]

Thanks for this analysis, it’s pretty useful.
As an Arya SE owner I’m wondering if the HE6 could be a good fit and can’t make up my mind.
Do you think they could coexist? In particular, I’m interested in the bass region. The EF400 should be enough for the HE6.

Glad to help.
Absolutely.
They offer different things.
HE6, though, requires a beefy amp.
I've tried EF400 before.
IMO it's not up to the task, unfortunately.
It doesn't have enough power (headroom) for streaming content.
And sound is kinda off (brighter).

Arya SE has a bigger stage, for sure.
I listened to both again last night.
All my other impressions were confirmed though.
I think with pad & grill change, HE6seV2 gets close to Arya's stage, improving details and separation, and being better all rounder headphones. Just a guess though and my experience from a unit I had with those changes.
I'll let you know my thoughts when everything arrives here.

 

[SwedishBass]

Close to one week-impressions:
Wow, these headphones just keep on growing for me. Such balanced, yet musical sounding headphones. I don't really care about measurements or technical jargong; as long as the dynamics are great and I get lost in the music, does it really matter how much they differ from the Harman curve?

At least not for me. Coming from a musician background (bass player for 25 years and educated in music) the technical, I want something that moves me, and I gotta say, these headphones have come close to move me to tears several times.

 

[bgtip]

Got Arya Stealth today and going to burn them in for some time before reaching conclusions.
Zero hour first sound impressions are not surprisingly less than good. They sound mediocre except in the sub-bass area. For the first time in my life I'm able to feel 10Hz.
I noticed that they require a little more amplification than my HD650. Is this normal?
Do they have a serial number on the headphones themself? I can't see any serial number.

 

[torpid]

Got Arya Stealth today and going to burn them in for some time before reaching conclusions.
Zero hour first sound impressions are not surprisingly less than good. They sound mediocre except in the sub-bass area. For the first time in my life I'm able to feel 10Hz.
I noticed that they require a little more amplification than my HD650. Is this normal?
Do they have a serial number on the headphones themself? I can't see any serial number.

Congrats- did you buy them new from Hifiman? Are they including a new kind of stock cable? Pretty nice..

 

[Qualitas]

It doesn't have enough power (headroom) for streaming content.

Interesting take. Why would streaming require more headroom than other sources?

Congrats- did you buy them new from Hifiman? Are they including a new kind of stock cable? Pretty nice..

Agreed. I'm curious as well. If that's not the stock cable, let us know what it is!

 

[Guipnox]

Got Arya Stealth today and going to burn them in for some time before reaching conclusions.
Zero hour first sound impressions are not surprisingly less than good. They sound mediocre except in the sub-bass area. For the first time in my life I'm able to feel 10Hz.
I noticed that they require a little more amplification than my HD650. Is this normal?
Do they have a serial number on the headphones themself? I can't see any serial number.

Yeah, the subbass reaches so low, providing so much rumble.
I have to test it using a dongle like Questyle M15 in comparison to my monoblocks.
I'm gonna break in my Arya SE soon.
The serial number is on the little box that contains the cable.
The cable is, unfortunately, very bad IMO. Only a 1/4 (unbalanced) for a planar?

 

[Guipnox]

Interesting take. Why would streaming require more headroom than other sources?

In comparison to WAVE files I bought, streaming is more compressed, so you have to crank the knob more to reach the same volume from WAVE.
I didn't burn in the EF400 though.
Maybe they'd open up?
Not sure.
Anyway, it's hard to find a middle ground between headphone and speaker amps for HE6.
There are a lot of different opinions.
Mine: speaker amps are the least cost and most effective way of powering them, with, certainly, a bigger stage and a fuller bass.

 

[SwedishBass]

Got Arya Stealth today and going to burn them in for some time before reaching conclusions.
Zero hour first sound impressions are not surprisingly less than good. They sound mediocre except in the sub-bass area. For the first time in my life I'm able to feel 10Hz.
I noticed that they require a little more amplification than my HD650. Is this normal?
Do they have a serial number on the headphones themself? I can't see any serial number.

An honest question: why were you expecting bad first impressions?

 

[bgtip]

An honest question: why were you expecting bad first impressions?

Almost all reviews stated that Arya needs at least 150 hours of burn-in. It's unreasonable to expect full swing from the beginning. Now I know there are people who think the burn-in is a placebo. I don't know, but they sound better to me already after just 6 hours.

 

[bgtip]

Yeah, the subbass reaches so low, providing so much rumble.
I have to test it using a dongle like Questyle M15 in comparison to my monoblocks.
I'm gonna break in my Arya SE soon.
The serial number is on the little box that contains the cable.
The cable is, unfortunately, very bad IMO. Only a 1/4 (unbalanced) for a planar?

Thank you for the serial. It seems strange to put it on the cable box. And what if the headphones get stolen? How you can prove they are the same serial?

 

[bgtip]

Congrats- did you buy them new from Hifiman? Are they including a new kind of stock cable? Pretty nice..

I bought them new from amazon UK. The cable is my Goldplanar GL2000 balanced 4.4 pentacon cable. I don't have an amp with 6.5mm termination with me so I'll test the stock cable later. The stock cable is the same old but I noticed on some video reviews that my box is different. Perhaps it's for the UK only?

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Almost all reviews stated that Arya needs at least 150 hours of burn-in. It's unreasonable to expect full swing from the beginning. Now I know there are people who think the burn-in is a placebo. I don't know, but they sound better to me already after just 6 hours.

https://support.beyerdynamic.com/hc/en-us/articles/201875262-Do-I-need-to-burn-in-my-headphones-

 

[SwedishBass]

Almost all reviews stated that Arya needs at least 150 hours of burn-in. It's unreasonable to expect full swing from the beginning. Now I know there are people who think the burn-in is a placebo. I don't know, but they sound better to me already after just 6 hours.

Yeah like I said above, I agree, but I adhere to the psychological burn in-factor more than the physical. A speaker cone will eventually soften up, but I don’t see how a planar magnetic speaker will. The pads will soften over time, though.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Had a chance to listen to HEKSE along with the Susvara today. The HEKSE was driven off the EF400 and I thought It sounded very good and spacious. I found the soundstage to be wide and spacious and about on par with the V2. I did notice more treble energy however and punchier bass. For some tracks I thought the treble came across as a bit harsh but it was good for the most part.

The Susvara was driven off the DCS Lina and I thought it sounded pretty good as well but didn't exactly blow me away. Soundstage was effortlessly wide and maybe even slightly bigger than HEKV2. It very much reminds me of the HEKV2 I have now. Everything sounded good, but it was hard to tell if it was actually "better" due to the noisy environment. The Susvara out of the Lina sounded very good but I didn't think it was thousands of dollars better than the setup I already have with HEKV2 out of the Burson 3XP. It certainly had more punch though. But I thought it sounded maybe a tiny bit on the lean side. Would've love to hear the Susvara out of tube amp next time.

As far as value, I don't think it makes sense to to get the HEKSE. At $3000, you're better off buying a used Susvara instead if you want the very best.

Side note:

I really like the sound of the LCD -5 as well. It has the familiar Audeze house sound. But I'm not sure I'd want to own one due to the weight and comfort. I think the sound could get fatiguing after a while too.

Tried the Abyss 1266 out of the WA33 and was left kinda underwhelmed. I thought it sounded good but just didn't connect with it. Maybe it's just not for me. Didn't really like the awkward fit either.

ZMF Aeolus was a nice surprise. Didn't sound like a dynamic driver at all. Layering and separation was impressive. ZMF does timbre the best. The Caldera was also nice, but I actually preferred the Aeolus out of the Felix tube amp.

Almost forgot about the new Focal Utopia. This was another good sounding dynamic. But wasn't totally impressed by it. I think if you like the engaging, intimate, and punchy/slammy headphone then this would be it.

The DCA Stealth / Expanse probably the most unique sounding next to the ZMF headphones. Literally sounds like your in a treated room. No harshness whatsoever.