Hifiman Arya vs. Arya "Revision"

[XGeneX88]

Hi there, just to clear up any confusion that there might be regarding the revision. The change was that the mesh formerly attached to the pads in now a mesh attached to the headphone cups themselves. There should be no sonic changes.

What I might suggest is the "issue" is that your open box one was one that had been fully burnt in and the replacement was not. Give it a little time to stretch its legs and it should open up nicely.

If after a little time you're not happy with it, contact our customer support and we would be happy to exchange it for you.

Mark

Hi Mark,

You took a cloth covering that was on the "inside" of the cup (toward the ear) and added a similar cloth covering to the outside of the cup (where sound exits). I'm no sound engineer but adding anything to the outer side where sound "exits" might not be a minor change and I think could affect the sound of a headphone (people add foam/filters all the time to tweak sound as DIY). I included a couple pictures so people can actually see this difference. Regardless, both pairs I had went through a burn-in period. I ran them both on my DX7 balanced system and although I didn't have both in front of me to A/B (this was based on my memory and just knowing what I like), the sound no longer appealed to me on the version that was revised. Maybe this was a revision issue.. maybe it was a unit variation.. I honestly don't know. Unfortunately I've already returned my open-box pair from you for a full refund so I don't think a "swap" will be possible. The revision model was purchased through a third party vendor and has also gone back. I really don't want to return these a third time.. especially if it really is a "revision" thing and not just a one-off. I already feel terrible sending these back twice.

 

[obsidyen]

Wow, the revision looks so ugly. That thing would definitely affect the sound. The original looks much better.

 

[mroneto]

Hi Mark,

You took a cloth covering that was on the "inside" of the cup (toward the ear) and added a similar cloth covering to the outside of the cup (where sound exits). I'm no sound engineer but adding anything to the outer side where sound "exits" might not be a minor change and I think could affect the sound of a headphone (people add foam/filters all the time to tweak sound as DIY). I included a couple pictures so people can actually see this difference. Regardless, both pairs I had went through a burn-in period. I ran them both on my DX7 balanced system and although I didn't have both in front of me to A/B (this was based on my memory and just knowing what I like), the sound no longer appealed to me on the version that was revised. Maybe this was a revision issue.. maybe it was a unit variation.. I honestly don't know. Unfortunately I've already returned my open-box pair from you for a full refund so I don't think a "swap" will be possible. The revision model was purchased through a third party vendor and has also gone back. I really don't want to return these a third time.. especially if it really is a "revision" thing and not just a one-off. I already feel terrible sending these back twice.

That looks considerably thicker than what the original "V2" Arya was viewed as having...it may just be the angle and lighting of the picture, but in any case a change to that area of a massive planar driver will definitely have a huge impact on the sound and may account for a lot of the newer reviews not mentioning the "hot" treble that these have been known for since their release.
I wonder if your set has been subject to yet another revision?
Could you include pictures from the earpad side (with it removed) as well as a straight-on picture from the back (similar to this one I posted)?

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Hi Mark,

You took a cloth covering that was on the "inside" of the cup (toward the ear) and added a similar cloth covering to the outside of the cup (where sound exits). I'm no sound engineer but adding anything to the outer side where sound "exits" might not be a minor change and I think could affect the sound of a headphone (people add foam/filters all the time to tweak sound as DIY). I included a couple pictures so people can actually see this difference. Regardless, both pairs I had went through a burn-in period. I ran them both on my DX7 balanced system and although I didn't have both in front of me to A/B (this was based on my memory and just knowing what I like), the sound no longer appealed to me on the version that was revised. Maybe this was a revision issue.. maybe it was a unit variation.. I honestly don't know. Unfortunately I've already returned my open-box pair from you for a full refund so I don't think a "swap" will be possible. The revision model was purchased through a third party vendor and has also gone back. I really don't want to return these a third time.. especially if it really is a "revision" thing and not just a one-off. I already feel terrible sending these back twice.

Oh, that does NOT look right at all. Will PM you just now and we can get that replaced for you.

Mark

 

[ThanatosVI]

Hi Mark,

You took a cloth covering that was on the "inside" of the cup (toward the ear) and added a similar cloth covering to the outside of the cup (where sound exits). I'm no sound engineer but adding anything to the outer side where sound "exits" might not be a minor change and I think could affect the sound of a headphone (people add foam/filters all the time to tweak sound as DIY). I included a couple pictures so people can actually see this difference. Regardless, both pairs I had went through a burn-in period. I ran them both on my DX7 balanced system and although I didn't have both in front of me to A/B (this was based on my memory and just knowing what I like), the sound no longer appealed to me on the version that was revised. Maybe this was a revision issue.. maybe it was a unit variation.. I honestly don't know. Unfortunately I've already returned my open-box pair from you for a full refund so I don't think a "swap" will be possible. The revision model was purchased through a third party vendor and has also gone back. I really don't want to return these a third time.. especially if it really is a "revision" thing and not just a one-off. I already feel terrible sending these back twice.

Actually that looks like a defective unit.
Usually the revision was supposed to move the cloth from the earpads to the headphones inner side.(probably to save costs on the earpads)

Old models like HeX, HeK and early Aryas (like mine) all have it on the earpads, while new Arya Revisions and HeKSE have it on the headphone.
However all on the side between phones and your head.

Yours having an additional dust protector of the same kind on the outside looks like a defective unit.

 

[r343]

Wow the foam seems to be very thick with XGeneX88 Arya. Here is comparison photo of mine non revision.

 

[freeza2001]

Hi Mark,

You took a cloth covering that was on the "inside" of the cup (toward the ear) and added a similar cloth covering to the outside of the cup (where sound exits). I'm no sound engineer but adding anything to the outer side where sound "exits" might not be a minor change and I think could affect the sound of a headphone (people add foam/filters all the time to tweak sound as DIY). I included a couple pictures so people can actually see this difference. Regardless, both pairs I had went through a burn-in period. I ran them both on my DX7 balanced system and although I didn't have both in front of me to A/B (this was based on my memory and just knowing what I like), the sound no longer appealed to me on the version that was revised. Maybe this was a revision issue.. maybe it was a unit variation.. I honestly don't know. Unfortunately I've already returned my open-box pair from you for a full refund so I don't think a "swap" will be possible. The revision model was purchased through a third party vendor and has also gone back. I really don't want to return these a third time.. especially if it really is a "revision" thing and not just a one-off. I already feel terrible sending these back twice.

The one should feel terrible is the person in charge of QA from HIFIMAN, that is if they have a QA department at all.
My theory is the driver used on the Arya are the B grade leftovers from HEK v2....hence the overwhelming amounts of defects reported on this model.

 

[XGeneX88]

That looks considerably thicker than what the original "V2" Arya was viewed as having...it may just be the angle and lighting of the picture, but in any case a change to that area of a massive planar driver will definitely have a huge impact on the sound and may account for a lot of the newer reviews not mentioning the "hot" treble that these have been known for since their release.
I wonder if your set has been subject to yet another revision?
Could you include pictures from the earpad side (with it removed) as well as a straight-on picture from the back (similar to this one I posted)?

You are correct, I think this is a result of angle/lighting. the fabric didn't really look "that thick" in my hands. However.. I wasn't exactly able to see the driver easily either. I don't think this was a "bad revision pair" or anything like that. I do think you're also correct that this indeed affects the sound and the treble to my ears definitely seemed "less bright". Apologies.. I cannot include any detailed photos because I no longer have either of the two pairs on hand.

 

[ls13coco]

Got these 3+ months ago..

 

[XGeneX88]

Got these 3+ months ago..

Yup, that’s a revision pair. They’re still gorgeous sounding headphones . I’m also sure many ppl will probably prefer the revision too because I think it’s overall less bright and many will lean that way on sound preference. Thanks for posting! Yours look identical to how mine looked and again.. I do not think there was anything at all defective about them. I was just trying to say that the outer backing underwent a change. The “patented grill mesh” we normally see has been replaced with a piece of cloth and I think that change is enough to cause some perceptible change (at least for some). I really feel the marketing team should update this on every page where they sell the product because a. They look significantly different than what the standard mesh presentation offers, and b. The page still shows the old mesh and describes it to be a key product feature that makes them special. I think it’s somewhat misleading to the buyer. Why advertise it if it’s no longer there?

 

[ThanatosVI]

Yup, that’s a revision pair. They’re still gorgeous sounding headphones . I’m also sure many ppl will probably prefer the revision too because I think it’s overall less bright and many will lean that way on sound preference. Thanks for posting! Yours look identical to how mine looked and again.. I do not think there was anything at all defective about them. I was just trying to say that the outer backing underwent a change. The “patented grill mesh” we normally see has been replaced with a piece of cloth and I think that change is enough to cause some perceptible change (at least for some). I really feel the marketing team should update this on every page where they sell the product because a. They look significantly different than what the standard mesh presentation offers, and b. The page still shows the old mesh and describes it to be a key product feature that makes them special. I think it’s somewhat misleading to the buyer. Why advertise it if it’s no longer there?

Well it should be there, thats why we call it defective. This is NOT what the Revision change was for.
As TeamHIFIMAN posted this is not how a pair after the revision should look like.

 

[XGeneX88]

Well it should be there, thats why we call it defective. This is NOT what the Revision change was for.
As TeamHIFIMAN posted this is not how a pair after the revision should look like.

Hmm interesting. I'm truly at a loss then. I've spoken with several authorized dealers over the phone and have been told that all current units (recently received from Hifiman) being shipped now have a "cloth backing" to them like the one being shown in the revision photos. I literally asked them go look for a unit that still had the advertised mesh and they were unable to locate one for me. I just don't see how this could be possible unless a revision was made. Maybe someone from the Hifiman team could grab one out of the box (maybe an open box) from the latest production run and share a photo of how a current unit should look like. I could understand a defective pair having a "flaw" in the mesh but we're talking a completely different material being substituted here altogether during production.

 

[ls13coco]

Interesting read.. I honestly never had a close look and believed mine had the grill this whole time.
That said, I do not experience brightness in a negative way with my pair, but I can tell a huge difference in sound vs the Empyrean for sure.

Everytime I listen to the Arya, I feel like there is a slight imbalance.. I can't verify it but no other headphone makes me think about imbalance everytime I listen to it.. now hearing this about the "revision" or "defect" I'm wondering how my pair really stacks up.

 

[mroneto]

I don't believe it's a defect, as all the pictures and reviews of the 'revision' seem to indicate that the change from the wire looking mesh to a thin cloth covering on the outer side was intentional.

There are a few reasons they would have done this without noting it on the official page:

- save manufacturing costs compared to the other material
- tune the sound slightly to address the hot treble that many were complaining about
- masking/occluding some noted imperfections on the surface of the driver itself, which were usually all cosmetic but not satisfactory for many buyers, especially with OCD (see both the Ananda and Arya threads for pictures)

In any case, the biggest issue is that on these 'egg-shape' styles, I do not believe there is a way to change that material easily, as many (including myself) had done with the 400i/4XX, etc, where the grilles are very easily popped off and replaced with anything (foam, different mesh, etc).

 

[TeamHiFiMAN]

Dear audiophiles,

We sincerely appreciate your attention to HIFIMAN and we would like to clarify about the confusion caused by the revision of the mesh .
We have revised the mesh for Arya in 2019 and instead of the original mesh we selected the new version of mesh which has the same sound penetration /reproduction rate with that of the original mesh.
And in order to ensure there are absolutely no issues on the sound output, we tested the new mesh with some Aryas and we got the identical frequency response chart.
In addition, we invited some listeners to do the blind audition to ensure there is no obvious distinction between the two types of the headphones.
Based on the data and tests we have changed the mesh, we apologise for the confusion caused but please be assured that the sound between the two versions remains identical.

Best regards,
HIFIMAN TEAM