Just throw on a bass shelf on the arya and watch it become even less bright. Expanse has less treble in some areas and more bass.
HIFIMAN Arya - Arya Stealth - Arya Organic :: Impressions Thread
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Just throw on a bass shelf on the arya and watch it become even less bright. Expanse has less treble in some areas and more bass.
It definitely takes the edge off on on them. Unfortunately my tube amp isn't as good as my solid state gear so they have other issues compared to really nice solid state output that makes me prefer the latter, generally.
I do miss that sweet tubey harmonic distortion tho
PaulLovesMusic
New Head-Fier
Pendel
100+ Head-Fier
Here is an account my little adventure with the Aryas v2. Bought these used off the classifieds here. Came with original cable and pads. Could not get used to the rubbery feel of the cable housing; icky. Replaced the cable with Hart cable which feels much better.
I listen to Amazon Prime Music HD, via a MacBook Air feeding RME ADI-2 DAC (ESS chip variant). After a little while I tweaked Amir's and Oracle's settings on the PEQ to achieve the FR that is to my liking. The timbre of the headphones remained a bit on the jittery/metallic/sharp side, no matter what PEQ settings I tried, and so I decided to roll the pads to see if I can remedy this.
Dekoni Elite sheepskins are very expensive, and Dekoni does not offer sheepskin pads that are fenestrated just on the inside, unless you get the hybrid pads. I do not like the velour surface (my beard wreaks havoc on it). Also Dekoni pads are thinner and softer that stock, and my ears touched the drivers when I tried these on. So I had to look for alternatives. I got a pair of lambskin pads (fenestrated only on the inside) on E-bay (sent from China). I thought these pads may be it, as their thickness matched the stock more closely.
Unfortunately the hooks on mounting rings were too small to lock in properly. So I got a B-stock pair of velours from Dekoni for the mounting rings and the foam (Dekoni uses memory foam). Took apart both pairs; glued some of the foam from the E-bay pair to the Dekoni foam, to make it thicker, and used the skins from the Ebay pair and the rings from Dekoni to bring a Frankie version to life.
Very happy with the way it turned out. Locks in place well. The pads are thick and stiff enough to give room for my big ears, while maintaining good comfort level. Soft leather feels good on the face. And the sound? Well, here was a pleasant surprise. It seems that the sharpness in timbre may have to do with the pleather on the stock pads and a fairly stiff quick-rebound foam. I think the pads produce a lot of reflections, adding to the sense of space/soundstage at a cost to smoothness. With the lambskin the feeling of the sonic equivalent of shards of fiberglass is gone, replaced by very smooth sound across the full spectrum.
Think a bright summer day versus a crisp and cold winter one. Of course there was a gain in bass and some loss in the highs, which I immediately corrected via PEQ. It is not just that, the whole sound quality is so much more pleasant now, with all of the resolution and layering still there, displayed on a big soundstage. The soundstage did shrink just a tad, but not much. I now use the Aryas for longer listening sessions; something I could not do previously, as they were too fatiguing.
The process did make me wonder about the very strange choice of mounting ring design HIFIman chose for the Aryas; almost as if the pads are designed not to be removed until they are dead and need to be scrapped. The mounting rings are very fragile and removing the pads without wrecking these is not for the faint of heart. With replacement pads costing USD80+, one can feel quite annoyed in this regard.
Overall, this is a happy story. I like how things turned out, but sure hope I do not have to do this again any time soon.
I listen to Amazon Prime Music HD, via a MacBook Air feeding RME ADI-2 DAC (ESS chip variant). After a little while I tweaked Amir's and Oracle's settings on the PEQ to achieve the FR that is to my liking. The timbre of the headphones remained a bit on the jittery/metallic/sharp side, no matter what PEQ settings I tried, and so I decided to roll the pads to see if I can remedy this.
Dekoni Elite sheepskins are very expensive, and Dekoni does not offer sheepskin pads that are fenestrated just on the inside, unless you get the hybrid pads. I do not like the velour surface (my beard wreaks havoc on it). Also Dekoni pads are thinner and softer that stock, and my ears touched the drivers when I tried these on. So I had to look for alternatives. I got a pair of lambskin pads (fenestrated only on the inside) on E-bay (sent from China). I thought these pads may be it, as their thickness matched the stock more closely.
Unfortunately the hooks on mounting rings were too small to lock in properly. So I got a B-stock pair of velours from Dekoni for the mounting rings and the foam (Dekoni uses memory foam). Took apart both pairs; glued some of the foam from the E-bay pair to the Dekoni foam, to make it thicker, and used the skins from the Ebay pair and the rings from Dekoni to bring a Frankie version to life.
Very happy with the way it turned out. Locks in place well. The pads are thick and stiff enough to give room for my big ears, while maintaining good comfort level. Soft leather feels good on the face. And the sound? Well, here was a pleasant surprise. It seems that the sharpness in timbre may have to do with the pleather on the stock pads and a fairly stiff quick-rebound foam. I think the pads produce a lot of reflections, adding to the sense of space/soundstage at a cost to smoothness. With the lambskin the feeling of the sonic equivalent of shards of fiberglass is gone, replaced by very smooth sound across the full spectrum.
Think a bright summer day versus a crisp and cold winter one. Of course there was a gain in bass and some loss in the highs, which I immediately corrected via PEQ. It is not just that, the whole sound quality is so much more pleasant now, with all of the resolution and layering still there, displayed on a big soundstage. The soundstage did shrink just a tad, but not much. I now use the Aryas for longer listening sessions; something I could not do previously, as they were too fatiguing.
The process did make me wonder about the very strange choice of mounting ring design HIFIman chose for the Aryas; almost as if the pads are designed not to be removed until they are dead and need to be scrapped. The mounting rings are very fragile and removing the pads without wrecking these is not for the faint of heart. With replacement pads costing USD80+, one can feel quite annoyed in this regard.
Overall, this is a happy story. I like how things turned out, but sure hope I do not have to do this again any time soon.
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cgb3
500+ Head-Fier
As a young man, I got a 2nd hand Jaguar 1971 4.2ltr. XKE v2.5 drop head coupe (convertible). There was lots of talk at the time about which XKE was best.
My E-type was best, obviously, as it was the one I had.
Hi guys, in some weeks i will get the hifiman arya v2, i don't have a high budget for a dac/amp, i have seen these for my budged: Topping DX3 Pro+ and FiiO K5 Pro ESS, which one will perform better for my arya v2?? will be enought to squeeze the potential of this headphone?? thanks!
SwedishBass
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I just got a Dolby Atmos license for PC/Xbox. Sounds absolutely amazing for gaming and movies with the Aryas.
They are essentially the same electronics inside them, ES9038Q2M as a DAC chip and TPA6120A2 as the headphone amplifier.
The Topping is just slightly more powerful, 1800mW/32Ω vs 1500mW but in my opinion the FiiO is slightly more engaging and fuller sounding.
The Topping also has more bells and whistles.
I think the Zen Dac would be a better dac/amp at that price point.
Arya v2 is neutral bright, a warmer amp would pair better.
To unlock its full potential will cost you a lot more.
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The Zen DAC doesn't have enough power for the Arya, it is only 300mW/32Ω.
Totally unsuitable.
What do you mean with a "slightly more engaging and fuller sounding" on the fiio, both dac/amps don't sound the same?
Unsuitable?
Loudness or sound preference?
According to the IFI headphone calculator, the Zen Dac/ amp can drive the Arya over 100db....
Even my Shangling UP5, at 240mw@32 can get over 100db when I had the Arya v2 and v3.
There is a lot more than loudness regarding how an amp can drive an headphone.
I didn’t believe it myself, but after some testing it was pretty clear that planars in general scale a lot with higher quality (and quantity) wattage.
On my Sundara there was a huge difference in bass punch and presence going from a EL AMP 2 (1.3W) to a K9 Pro (2.2W).
On the EF400 (4.4W) I did some a/b testing with volume matched and it was like going from lacking to full satisfaction, on the bass department.
Try to pop a Sundara on a Apple dac dongle: it will be loud at 50% volume, but it will sound sibilant and hollow.
Absolutely, more power equals more bass for planars.
The OP's scenario has a budget of around $200 dollars for a DAC and amp.
At that price point, there are going to be compromises.
I have paired the Arya v2 with a Topping D50s and an Atom Amp......I remember the sound to be sterile, analytical and fatiguing.
Don't think there is a right or wrong answer at that price point.
Personally I would give up bass for a warmer sound signature.
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Of course they don't sound the same.
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