HiFiMAN Arya Full-size Over Ear Planar Magnetic Audiophile Adjustable Headphone

Product Information

If you start playing an well recorded high quality acoustic live concert, everything turns into an weird and unauthentic sounding mess. If you fancy A/B comparing headphones, and this is your endless obsession (as it is with many of us enthusiasts), go ahead with a clear warning that your happiness and wallet are unsafe until you have these in your possession.

Thanks to the abundant padding of the angled earpads and to the wide headband, the Arya are extremely comfortable. Despite my very sensitive scalp, I can wear them for a few hours without discomfort or fatigue. This means that people with a normal scalp can probably wear them forever, or something close to that. They’re almost as comfortable as the HE-560, which I still find the most comfortable headphones on the market – the main difference between them and the Arya being that the HE-560 apply larger pressure on the sides of the head, while the Arya are much more relaxed from that perspective. It’s still a very spacious sound, with floaty imaging and great separation. There is a lot of air showcased in between each individual element, which helps bring out the layers into a more dimensional headspace. The wrap-around goes beyond stereo limits, but the imaging is just brought into a tighter space than in past iterations. However, the width still establishes a great scope, helped by the height of the imaging. Everything about it is still distinctly within HiFiMAN’s usual presentation, just with a few tweaks that bring in subtle changes. Low End Cable length and type: 1.5m (6.6ft) 6.35mm to dual 3.5mm detachable single crystalline copper cable The important parts of the headphone support system are made of metal, and the rest is made of high-quality plastic, making Arya a proper flagship that’s going to survive heavy usage, but their really open nature dictates that you’re unlikely to take them in any environment that would naturally damage them. The Nanometer technology is a breakthrough core technology developed by Hifiman and it’s the first of its kind in a headphone application. According to Hifiman, working with this advanced material is extremely challenging yet the successful incorporation of this film as the Arya’s planar driver is the cornerstone of its remarkable sound.

I actually appreciate this a lot. Including a stand for your headphones is a tradition long, long gone, and somehow we are always short on stands. So, while the included one is basic, it's better than no stand at all, and this is just great. The cable is reasonably light and much higher quality than those included with some of the lesser HIFIMAN offerings, which buyers often despise and discard immediately. The splitter, strain relief, and plug housings are strongly fortified and flexible. Most importantly, and thankfully, no microphonic noise — huzzah! Design Resolution and overall sense of clarity are undoubtedly some of the Arya’s best qualities. The Arya’s detail retrieval capabilities are truly impressive, and it holds its own against some of the most resolving headphones I’ve listened to, such as the HD 800 S, RAD-0, and Stellia. In all registers of the frequency response, the Arya conveys very realistic images of the music, with all the subtle nuances in instrument and vocal tones being perfectly textured. Moreover what really makes the Arya’s internal resolution exceptional is that even when reproducing highly-complex, busy musical passages, all the different elements in the mix retain a flawless structure. Soundstage, Imaging, and Layering Our mission is to create great-sounding products that stand out and have the potential to change the game. We are not interested in repeating ourselves for the sake of increasing sales.” Dr. Fang Bian, President and CEO, HIFIMAN Electronics Technical Specifications Any critiques I share below are at a truly minor scale and intended to help you decide if the Arya will appeal to you.

I hope these initial thoughts are helpful to anyone who might be considering adding one of these to a collection that already contains the other and is interested in hearing an alternate perspective. The aesthetics are very basic, and a touch on the serious side, but they work well if you usually go for industrial looks as well, and if you’re one of those folks that’s into stylish and classy, Arya should fit right in. That is unless you are talking or eating. The size and length of the ear cups will result in possible pressure on some users’ mandibles (lower jaws). Movement may disrupt the seal of the ear pads, thereby affecting the sound. This issue can be even more irritating if you have facial hair. I thought the new Aryas had soundstage... then I heard the 2020 Aryas... and wow! The difference is significant- the 2021 changes have lessened the soundstage significantly in favor of right in your face intimacy, with just some of the dimensionality . I don't think of these as the same headphones at all- without having heard the Audeze line personally- and I can see why someone might think this is more like an LCD series. Once you go desktop, the Arya Stealth scales really well without any noticeable clipping. Feed it more power and that bass response just hits deeper and the treble gets even more control. Frequency ResponseThat means higher pitching notes have a slightly bright overtone but that never seems to translate to an overly thin or sibilant quality through the raised upper mids. Synergy with sources both in terms of tonal bias and output power can calm it down or amplify it. Timbre NsD stands for NEO “superman” diaphragm and whilst not something new to the Arya Stealth or the original it does seem to be almost the defacto driver diaphragm construction now for HIFIMAN.

And here comes the treble - a place with the biggest differences between the two headphones. In my Felix Audio Euforia Evo review, I wrote that it’s the first device paired with Arya V3 that made the treble of the HiFiMAN not causing my ears to bleed. The treble of Arya Organic is also very detailed and crispy, so fans of the Arya sound will be satisfied, but it isn’t as extremal as the one known from the Stealth. The new Arya doesn’t require that level of synergy between the source and headphones. Even with my daily setup - Topping A90 and SMSL SU9 it’s pleasant to listen to. For example, listening Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain with this setup and Arya SE made my ears exhausted after like a minute, while Arya Organic is just slightly smoother so no detail is lost, but at the same time I can sit with the headphone for hours and I don’t feel any tiredness. The Arya’s presentation can be overwhelming until you adjust to the intensity, extreme detail, and clarity. Given enough power to drive them, they deliver sound akin to having an over-caffeinated neighbor showing up at your house to party on an early Sunday morning. Neither are particularly capable of relaxing. Company Overview The Arya Stealth’s bass tuning, particularly sub-100Hz has a strong 50-60Hz dB elevation and less of a roll-off compared to the likes of the Ananda. The V3s are more like monitors- they will reveal mistakes in sound engineering, they will reveal more detail, and are just fantastic when you want to hear everything in great detail.

Sound of HiFiMAN Arya Organic​

The stealth magnet design utilizes powerful neodymium magnets arranged in an array to achieve exceptional magnetic flux density. By precisely positioning the magnets, Hifiman engineers have created a uniform magnetic field, which contributes to improved driver control and reduced distortion. Furthermore, the stealth magnets employed in Arya Organic enhance the overall efficiency of energy transfer within the headphone's drivers. This optimized energy transfer results in improved transient response and enhanced audio dynamics.

Hifiman designed the Arya’s high-quality metal headband with extra strength and a special high-grade plastic for lightweight comfort and rugged durability. I find it to be a very comfy headband, and it allows you to perfectly position the headphone on your head. The side pressure is perfect, the top of your head pressure non-existing. The Arya Stealth weighs just over 400g, but as the pressure is perfectly spread, it together with the soft perfectly sealing earpads (pleather + polyester, not velour) and asymmetrical ear cup shape, makes using this headphone a pure joy. Even for long listening sessions. HIFIMAN could easily redesign the headband piece so that it’s easier to disassemble and replace that head strap. Plus at that point, they can Now let’s dive into the treble. That’s a very impressive part, it’s very fast, detailed, and sparkly, but not as bright as the one known from the predecessors - Arya SE, or even brighter Arya OG, but still, it’s one of the most detailed headphones I’ve ever listened to. On the other hand the treble is even more relaxed than in previous versions of Arya, so it’s not that harsh or fatiguing. Even poorly mastered songs, when played with this headphone sound, maybe I wouldn’t use the word “good” but “acceptable” is more appropriate. Stealth Magnet technology improves upon earlier magnet designs by reducing interference beyond a point that wasn’t thought possible only a few years ago. The tech behind Arya is Planar Magnetic, having a very thin driver membrane, and an asymmetric design. The connectors on the headphones are 3.5mm and they come with a longer 6.3 to 2X3.5mm cable. This makes upgrading the default cables really easy, and the original cables are also interchangeable with Sundara cables and cables from HE6SE. This may come as a surprise, but it means that cables made by Meze for their Meze 99 series also work for Arya, making them one of the cable upgrade options if you were looking for them.

Comparisons​

They make tons of great headphones at various price tags. From Shangri-La - an electrostatic headphone that was made to show that they can make Sennheiser’s Orpheus but better, through a bit more casual, but still ridiculous in terms of drive requirement Susvara, to a touch of high-end in a budget-friendly price - HE400se. In between there are even more headphones, but I don’t have enough time to write about them all. For all of you newcomers, let’s highlight the most important thing about the company HiFiMAN - the technology.