Yesterday, I stopped by
@Audio46 in the afternoon on my way home. I promised someone here I'd compare the Dunu Arashi to the Arya Unveiled, and it seemed like a great excuse to say hi to Tony K. and Rigo, do some fun comparisons, and perhaps see what else they happen to have in store that day. I ended up making the following product comparisons:
- Dunu Arashi vs. Hifiman Arya Unveiled
- iFi iDSD Valkyrie vs. FiiO K19
- Hifiman HE1000 Unveiled vs. Hifiman Arya Unveiled
Dunu Arashi vs. Hifiman Arya Unveiled
Price
Arashi: $1,399
Arya: $1,449
Build
Both the Arashi and Arya are well built, but the Arashi exudes a certain quality of design that is a distinct step up, incorporating metal with an understated sleek industrial-chic design, compared to the Arya’s black plastic. Both feel well built on their own, but the Arashi has a sense of luxury and durability beyond what the Arya offers.
Comfort
I find them both equally, and very, comfortable. Good weight distribution, with a very similar headband design and feel. The Arya sports the famous big oval pads, similar to its progenitors, which you either like (I do) or may find too big (if the bottom goes over your jaw, depending on your head shape; especially smaller ones, I think). Both offer comfortable over ear depth with lots of clearance.
Pads
The Arashi pads are made protein pads (solid on the exterior, and perforated on the interior, facets), and soft cloth material on the rim that rests on one's face. The Arya pads are made of faux leather (solid on both the exterior and interior facets) and a velour or sueded like material in contact with the face. They seem quite similar in texture and comfort to me.
Drivability
Arashi: 97dB @ 26 Ohm
Arya: 94db @ 27 Ohm
--> In practice, they are nearly identical. With both using 3.5mm headphone terminations, I could listen with the same source and cable and easily swap them around. When I did so, I rarely changed the volume beyond a tiny nudge up for the Arya. These two planar magnetic headphones can be considered as requiring medium power, and should be fairly easy to drive from any desktop amp, or off a powerful transportable amp.
Chain
I've tried both headphones with FiiO K19 DAC/Amp first, and the new iFi iDSD Valkyrie second. I preferred the Valkyrie (a brief comparison of these two DAC/Amps follows further below) and so I spent most of my time listening on the Valkyrie. I used my iPad as a source, connected to the DAC/Amps units via USB-C cable. Headphone cable used was a Strauss & Wagner 4.4mm-terminated silver cable that is thin and ergonomic (something I'd think would be good as a portable solution; priced around ~$150 or so if I recall).
Sound Impressions
This isn't meant to be a comprehensive review, just impressions from an hour or two of listening as I while a lazy afternoon away at one my happy places at Audio46. So, I'm presenting my own personal notes in the order I took them as my personal stream of consciousness rather than a proper critical comparison. With that..
I started with “
Trying to figure it out” by sax player/singer Grace Kelly. The Arashi stood out as having the better soundstage presentation for me on this track, feeling more spacious, and offering better-defined imaging.
Moving from jazz to some modern R&B, I played Aaliyah's “
Got to give it up”, a quintessential bass testing track. The Arashi had a distinctly warmer bass presentation; in comparison, the Arya Unveiled sounded brighter. I think that if I listened to the Arya in isolation I'd likely describe its tonal balance as neutral; but I didn't listen in isolation, so there's that..
Wanting to test lower bass, I played “
OK” by Kirk Franklin. The Arashi sub-bass extension and resolution is the better one to my ears. Note: I haven't applied EQ to see how the Arya may respond; if you like to do that, it may work well (I owned the Arya V2 years ago, and my overall experience with Hifiman headphones is they respond well to EQ; I personally don't have the patience or inclination to use one, so I can't offer immediate insight on this one; perhaps another user can offer that insight
).
Time to switch to the mids and listen to vocals. I played one of my favorite female jazz vocal tracks: “
Prelude to Coup de Foudre” by Brandi Disterheft. While I found the Arashi female vocals are more forward, the Arya places vocals more evenly in the space, neither forward nor recessed. I slightly preferred the Arya spatial presentation for such a more intimate track that includes only vocals and piano.
I wanted to get a better sense of the vocal presentation comparison, and played another of my favorite female vocal tracks by Jo Harrop, singing “I
think you’d better go”, which includes only vocals and acoustic guitar. Again, I found the Arya excelling in its vocal presentation. The Arashi vocals were again a bit more forward, but on this track I also noticed they were slightly better resolving.
I almost inevitably play “
Blind-Hearted” by Sara K. when testing new gear. Other than being just a beautiful song that I adore and know well, it also includes some amazing lower bass notes of bowed double bass that require great bass resolution to be properly rendered. The Arashi offered much better lower bass extension and resolution to my ears. I also found it had better resolution of female vocals (those small cues of breath etc. we all look for).
Back to jazz, this time with wonderful trumpeter/singer Till Brönner playing and singing “
Come Dance with me”. My impressions are now getting quite consistent, with the Arashi better rendering the acoustic double bass note. It also sounded warmer and more organic to me with the piano and trumpet notes. On this track, the Arashi's vocals seemed to "breathe" more (which I think was likely my subjective perception resulting from better detail).
Wanting to still get a better handle on female vocals, I next played Sydnie Christmas' wonderful cover of “
My Way”. The Arya Unveiled was again slightly more laid back compared to the Arashi's more forward vocal presentation. There are some subtle low bass notes on this track that can be missed if not well resolved (and one blinks), such as the drum kicks around seconds 0:29 and 0:42. Both headphones did that equally well. When the full orchestra kicks in around min 1:50, it can get quite busy; in this segment, the headphones were pretty closely matched in instrument separation, with perhaps a small edge for the Arya.
Finally, I played “
Midst of your love” by Wolfgang Haffner. I decided to just lean back and enjoy myself. I listened to it fully on both headphones and determined that I just liked the mids presentation better with the Arashi. Male vocals - now backed by electric guitar, piano, and drums - benefit from being a touch more forward and delineated from the backing instruments. It's a highly subjective thing.
Summary
These headphones are practically identical in price, comparable in build and comfort, and both enjoyable on their own. I'd be happy with either. Comparatively, and subjectively to my ears and in the setup used, I found the Arashi to have better bass, and better overall resolution and imaging; and I found the Arashi to offer a more forward (intimate) presentation of vocals, comparatively to the more balanced vocal presentation of the Arya Unveiled. To my taste, I clearly prefer the Dunu Arashi. But I suspect that many users who apply EQ may find the Arya to be equally satisfying, especially if they have less acoustic and vocal music in their rotation. As always.. my ears, your ears.. YMMV..
iFi iDSD Valkyrie vs. FiiO K19
Price
iFi Valkyrie: $1,699
FiiO K19: $1,365
Specs
Both of these DAC/Amps boast modern DACs with different bells and whistles (the FiiO is based on a dual ES9039SPRO chip; the Valkyrie uses FPGA that remasters files to DSD), and strong solid-stage amps (the FiiO outputs 8W into 32ohm load; the Valkyrie outputs 2.25W into 64 Ohm; empirically they are both quite powerful and will drive most headphones well). The K19 amp is based off THX AAA architecture (788+).
Design
Both offer good value and functionality in relatively small form factors that are highly friendly for limited desktop space. However, the Valkyrie is a truly transportable unit. It's quite heavy and dense feeling for its size, but it's small enough to easily throw into a small backpack or carryon to be used with your phone or tablet wherever your travels take you. The Valkyrie also has a much more unique design that exudes more quality; nothing wrong with the K19 design, but it's generic looking (for my subjective taste).
The Valkyrie has variety of unique features, including support of Bluetooth, several DSP choices (XBase, XPresence, XSpace), and a variety of DAC filters to choose from (which make an audible impact). These are all quickly accessible through thoughtfully placed buttons. It also has iFi's iEMatch switch for IEM and more sensitive headphone listening.
Sound Impressions
So as not to make this post too long, a couple of representative tracks off many I listened to that demonstrate some of the recurring comparative themes:
Listening to “
Just now” by Michel Camilo, the Valkyrie was a bit more resolving, offering more percussive detail.
Playing “
Piel Canela” by Ilan Chester, the Valkyrie offered a bit better bass and a more spacious presentation.
Summary
My preference here was clearly in favor of the Valkyrie. The K19 is a well-designed product that reliably does what it's supposed to do and well, like all FiiO products. But like most THX AAA based amps, I found it a bit sterile sounding. The Valkyrie, in turns, added some more bass and space, while offering a slightly better performance - all in a much smaller form factor, with richer functionality, and the advantage of portability. For those that value those aspects, it is a really unique AIO product that's worth checking out.
Hifiman HE1000 Unveiled vs. Hifiman Arya Unveiled
As always when I go to Audio46, I never quite know what I'll end up listening to. And the bonus session this time was the Hifiman HE1000 Unveiled that Rigo offered me to try. It was a great opportunity to compare it to the Arya Unveiled and, so, I jumped on the opportunity. The HE1000 is currently priced at nearly double the price of the Arya, and so I was expecting a lot. TLDR; it delivers a lot..
Price
HE1000: $2,699
Arya: $1,449
Build and Comfort
The two headphones are very similar in their design and build, except the HE1000 showcases more than plastic with metal headband and silvery cups. It just looks a little better and more premium; as it should. Comfort wise, they were practically identical for me.
Drivability
HE1000: 95dB @ 28 Ohm
Arya: 94db @ 27 Ohm
--> They are practically identical, both being medium sensitivity and reasonably easy to drive.
Sound Impressions
I've tried numerous tracks. Here are a couple of representative examples:
When listening to “
Come rain or come shine” by Susie Arioli I experienced a very big jump in performance from the Arya to the HE1000. It was quite notable in how much the soundstage expanded, resolution improved, and overall the presentation was more natural sounding. In short, it really just sounded great!
Moving on to “
Luz Negra", the first track on Stefano Bollani's wonderful album "Carioca" (which I wholeheartedly recommend listening to end to end), I found the Arya’s bass presentation muffled and bloated compared to the HE1000 bass, which was very detailed and even sounding (in a good way).
Summary
I got the goosebumps listening to Hifiman HE1000 Unveiled, which only happens when I listen to really engaging and fun headphones that move me. These are just great. They made me happy. I still dislike immensely the usability aspect of the unveiled headphone covers. But, if I didn’t have the Susvara (OG) at home, I’d probably consider getting a pair of these. They are just good. And they are also pretty easy to drive, comparatively speaking.
That's it for me this Friday night. I'm back at my home rig and relaxing at my home setup. I hope you are as well..
Wishing you a wonderful weekend, and lots of happy listening!
).
