SmartCheetah
500+ Head-Fier
@Enther and anyone who might be interested.
I'm willing to do a proper comparison in the upcoming days, but I'm happy to share some initial impressions of The Aryas Stealth vs The Ananda Nano vs The Edition XS. I'm using the same balanced cable for all three, and I'm compensating for any volume differences with APO EQ to make the test as fair as possible. The Nanos are by far the loudest (easiest to drive), followed by the Arya, with the Edition XS being slightly more demanding.
My current source setup is the Aune S17 Pro feeding the Hifiman EF400 in DAC mode. Later, I'll test them with the Earmen ST-AMP and the EF400 solo.
First of all, this is how they measure, they're very much alike in their tuning. But does it mean they sound the same? Hell no!
The Edition XS is the warmest of the bunch, a little muddy in the mids compared to the other two. The Nanos are razor sharp, sterile and the brightest. The Aryas fall in between, as I expected after reading through countless of reviews and opinions. However - and this is interesting - even though the Aryas are more transparent and resolving than the Edition XS, they're actually less fatiguing. Example:
I suggest to play it lossless on Tidal or so.
This track from 2:30 - when I ramp up the volume to the levels I don't normally listen with, the Aryas sound cleaner and more transparent than the Edition XS, but at the same time easier on my ears. I have to turn down the volume because it's too loud, not because it's piercing or harsh. This is quite impressive and means that the Aryas are technically superior.
The Nano as mentioned are the brightest. It really works in some music, i.e. acoustic rock. But they also can be too sterile and shouty in certain tracks, on the verge of being unpleasant. I've been testing them for a week now, and there have been evenings when i was tired I found myself grabbing the Edition XS instead, even though the Nanos outperform them. And this is with the Aune S17 Pro, which is rather warm and creates a great synergy with the Nanos or neutral-bright headphones in general. It's not that Nano are particularly spiky in higher frequencies, in fact all 3 require EQ in the ~10k hz range. It's more about the overall presentation. The Nanos are much less forgiving for shoutier, more aggressive or badly recorded music.
The bass. The graph above doesn't confirm it, but the Aryas Stealth has the least of it. Both the Edition XS and the Nanos are more bassy, which is much more to my liking, though I'm not a basshead. Especially the Nanos are great with in the lows. But the Aryas, being Hifiman planars with great technicalities, respond to EQ like a boss. I fine tuned them to my liking, they can produce absolutely spectacular low frequencies.
Soundstage - I thought that the Edition XS was hard to beat for a mid-fi. Well, I was wrong
The Nanos are similar in the width but better in depth. The Aryas are significant wider than both and more "3d" in depth. But it's not like they present everything from afar. If the recording is supposed to be close and intimate, they will deliver it easily.
Lastly, they're the most comfortable. Lack of swivel in the Nanos is disturbing me more than I expected, I have this irritating feeling that they don't seal around my ears and jaw at all. The Edition XS don't have this problem, but they create a hot spot on top of my head after a while instead. The Aryas just disappear.
Overall: Arya Stealth <- Ananda Nano <- Edition XS <- Meze 109 Pro (I tested them recently too, borrowed from a friend of mine)
They're for 749$ new from the HFM store. Hard to beat.
I'm willing to do a proper comparison in the upcoming days, but I'm happy to share some initial impressions of The Aryas Stealth vs The Ananda Nano vs The Edition XS. I'm using the same balanced cable for all three, and I'm compensating for any volume differences with APO EQ to make the test as fair as possible. The Nanos are by far the loudest (easiest to drive), followed by the Arya, with the Edition XS being slightly more demanding.
My current source setup is the Aune S17 Pro feeding the Hifiman EF400 in DAC mode. Later, I'll test them with the Earmen ST-AMP and the EF400 solo.
First of all, this is how they measure, they're very much alike in their tuning. But does it mean they sound the same? Hell no!
The Edition XS is the warmest of the bunch, a little muddy in the mids compared to the other two. The Nanos are razor sharp, sterile and the brightest. The Aryas fall in between, as I expected after reading through countless of reviews and opinions. However - and this is interesting - even though the Aryas are more transparent and resolving than the Edition XS, they're actually less fatiguing. Example:
I suggest to play it lossless on Tidal or so.
This track from 2:30 - when I ramp up the volume to the levels I don't normally listen with, the Aryas sound cleaner and more transparent than the Edition XS, but at the same time easier on my ears. I have to turn down the volume because it's too loud, not because it's piercing or harsh. This is quite impressive and means that the Aryas are technically superior.
The Nano as mentioned are the brightest. It really works in some music, i.e. acoustic rock. But they also can be too sterile and shouty in certain tracks, on the verge of being unpleasant. I've been testing them for a week now, and there have been evenings when i was tired I found myself grabbing the Edition XS instead, even though the Nanos outperform them. And this is with the Aune S17 Pro, which is rather warm and creates a great synergy with the Nanos or neutral-bright headphones in general. It's not that Nano are particularly spiky in higher frequencies, in fact all 3 require EQ in the ~10k hz range. It's more about the overall presentation. The Nanos are much less forgiving for shoutier, more aggressive or badly recorded music.
The bass. The graph above doesn't confirm it, but the Aryas Stealth has the least of it. Both the Edition XS and the Nanos are more bassy, which is much more to my liking, though I'm not a basshead. Especially the Nanos are great with in the lows. But the Aryas, being Hifiman planars with great technicalities, respond to EQ like a boss. I fine tuned them to my liking, they can produce absolutely spectacular low frequencies.
Soundstage - I thought that the Edition XS was hard to beat for a mid-fi. Well, I was wrong
The Nanos are similar in the width but better in depth. The Aryas are significant wider than both and more "3d" in depth. But it's not like they present everything from afar. If the recording is supposed to be close and intimate, they will deliver it easily.The winner is the Arya Stealth to me. They are the best headphones of the three. Better than the Nano, with better overall timbre, better imaging and with the widest, immersive soundstage. It is a higher level headphone at it shows (sounds). They're also better at technical nuances - dynamics, sound decay, binaural/spatial audio. They are the most musical of them all. Less dark, more transparent than the Edition XS, but even less fatiguing. But unlike the Nanos, more forgiving towards sources and music, less sterile and clinical, but as resolving and transparent. Nearly perfect allrounders, there's no thing they can't do very good at least.My Aryas Stealth just arrived. I'm comparing them to the Ananda Nano and Edition XS. Will add my 2 cents, but I already know the winner
Lastly, they're the most comfortable. Lack of swivel in the Nanos is disturbing me more than I expected, I have this irritating feeling that they don't seal around my ears and jaw at all. The Edition XS don't have this problem, but they create a hot spot on top of my head after a while instead. The Aryas just disappear.
Overall: Arya Stealth <- Ananda Nano <- Edition XS <- Meze 109 Pro (I tested them recently too, borrowed from a friend of mine)
They're for 749$ new from the HFM store. Hard to beat.
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