Great review William, I listened to these a couple of days ago and got blown away by the sound they produce, I've saving up for these now and they will be my endgame headphones.
I love these headphones....i actually think the soundstage is just right. The V2 felt a bit exaggerated to me.....I gladly am happy to sacrifice that width for the added benefits the SE brings to the table. Granted.....the only genre I put emphasis on staging is classical and for instrumentation the width is great. I never understood the desire for wide vocals.....it's not as if human mouths are 20 feet wide......most of the time vocalists are dead center *SHRUG* to each their own.....I love them. I do have a theory that something about the stealth magnets and increasing detail and bass by default affected the stage and while they COULD'"VE done some further engineering they could've fixed. That being said......now they can sell 2 versions still, had they engineered the stage the V2 would be obsolete
Soundstage isn't just an issue with headphones but is quite dependent on the production and engineering of the source material. Even though you may like a wider soundstage that doesn't mean the original source was meant to have a wide soundstage. I would prefer that my headphones stay true to the original source and not add presence to the music that wasn't meant to be there. Besides, it's all subjective preference and as you stated there is no perfect headphone nor are there any perfect ears either. I think Hifiman makes some of the absolute best headphones money can buy. I hope they continue to improve and bring out new technology and that they survive in this niche market for a long long time.
Funny thing with these, some people say the soundstage is great, others not.. I listened through a few amps and the soundstage and whole sound was awesome through the Violectric 280
I have never really experienced much change over time with most headphones, but with the ARYA Stealth the soundstage does seem to be wider than it was at first.
I have 30days of trial these Arya Stealth. They are brand new and they are under burn-in.Anyway they are not wide at all and I don't think they could be better one day.So the question>To keep them sweet on medium freq. and punchy, what didi you advice to try?Thanks
I agree. I don't think the Arya Stealth will ever have the soundstage width of the V1, or V2. They did seem to get a little wider with time though. They now have decent width, but I wouldn't call it wide. "Burn in" didn't seem to change the sound. IMO they have a perfect tone balance.
They will absolutely expand and smooth out after some time (starting at ~50 hrs and beyond). Also, they looove discrete Class A or Class AB amps instead of IC-based amps like the Topping A90 or THX '789. You've had them a few more weeks now - how do you like them now?
@@Ezees23 I believe you are correct. The soundstage does seam to be expanding with time. I've been listening to them a lot lately. An almost perfect headphone IMO.
I wish I had seen this video before deciding to buy the Arya SE. That would have saved me a lot of effort. I can only wholeheartedly agree with this review. In all aspects. Coming from an Ananda I had high expectations of the Arya SE and was bitterly disappointed. The sound literally sticks to the drivers and only takes place between the physical dimensions of the headphone. Lots of information - very little emotion. For me, the lack of a sound stage was the deal breaker. I sent it back and am now waiting for the organic version, hoping that it will give me as much fun as my old Ananda, which unfortunately died last week.
Have you auditioned any aftermarket headphone cables with the Stealth? The reason I ask is because I own a Sennheiser 800S and bought a ToneKraft cable by Audio Envy. And the improvement is night and day. It would also be useful to know what amp/dac you auditioned the Stealth on to give your review more context.
Great review. Though the Stealth doesn't "quite" have the excess staging of the V2 - that it's still an Arya and is rather large and spacious, that it's not small or claustrophobic at all.....
I got the Arya Stealth ($1599) but I noticed that the HE1000v2 is now $2000 (instead of $3000). I'm tempted to try the Hifiman trading program to get the HE1000v2 better soundstage (mainly) but in the same time, I fear losing the "correctness" induced by the stealth magnets of the Arya... IDK if you heard the HE1000v2 but if you did, do you think the trade would be a worthy move (soundwise)?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thanks. I decided to put things on hold anyway and keep the Arya Stealth for the moment (I chose it as a compromise before going for an endgame TOTL, mainly for it's forwardness and clarity, knowing that the soundstage was adequate but not optimal). I will skip the HE1000v2 because it doesn't have the stealth magnets tech and I will save for a potential Susvara, which seems to be the best to reunite performance and enjoyment in the same package. I haven't tried the Susvara yet but I tried the LCD5 (balanced and efficient but lack of excitment), the SR1A (amazing soundstage but bass light), the Utopia (almost perfect but small soundstage) and still, I chose the Arya Stealth as a good all arounder. I'll keep an eye on the upcoming Raal circumaural headphone in the meantime (we'll see... or hear!) :)
@@Reeeepicheep Yes but I've heard that the treble is exagereted and a bit unnatural on the HE1000se so I probably would prefer the Susvara (or another TOTL that I haven't heard yet, like the Stax X9000 or Warwick Bravura) as a potential endgame headphone.
Give the Aryas ample time to play/burn in - they should expand and smooth out nicely. Plus, they're coming out with an HE-1000V2se with stealth magnets soon......
I don't know if we can get thicker pads this shape, but I'm wondering if thicker pads could add to the soundstage without taking away from the added bass and warmth.
I cant say that my V2 is warm more like neutral but definitely not bass shy, bass go as low as was intended in recording. Maybe you have power issue, I'm using XLR cable cost me 250$ but well worth it, cant understand all those complains my V2 sounds amazing.
arent vocal mixed in the center... they might have some width added to vocal with fx but the core of vocal should be dead center... lots of headphone are widening the center too much..
True, but with headphones if the vocals don't have any width, they can sound like they are coming from inside your head. I would rather have the sound wrapped around my head.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 as long as its in the recording .. i listen to moslty electronic music so i dont like fake widening soundstaging coming from headphones.. vocal should be wide if it was mixed wide.. and dead center if not..
I like the unedited stuff They had to put the stuff magnets if they were going to make it easier to drive because easier to drive Planar Magnetics just don't sound as good they lose their detail quality and everything affects it's the sensitivity affects Very little it but it's more of the impedance that affects that quality of sound And Tuning is different that's why it lost a lot of its sound stage with And When you have a Recession in the upper mid range it can fake sound stage
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thanks, I watched your Edition Xs video and you compared them there too. I'm interested in both, but not sure which to get yet. Thanks again love the videos! Have you done a video on the Fiio K9 pro? I'm interested to know your thoughts on those.
@@skerrus The Edition-XS is great, but with the Arya Stealth just being reduced to $1299.00 If that were in my budget I would go with the Arya. Just better in almost every way.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thank you so much! I'll probably pick it up and try it out, I also have extra budget for a dac/amp, but since you did a review of the Ifi Zen do you think the stack is good enough or do you have a recommendation? I was thinking of picking up the Fiio K9 pro. Sorry so much questions, but this is last one for today :D
@@skerrus I'm supposed to be getting a K9 Pro in for review soon. I just got a Singxer SA-1 a few days ago. So far I am very impressed. The ZEN stack Signature is also very nice.
The Milo is outstanding with hard to drive headphones, and works very well with the ARYA V1. The Arya Stealth is quite a bit easier to drive, and might pick up the noise floor of the Milo?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 im deciding on the reference upgrade for the milo or just go big on the headtrip 2 since the price is not far apart.. which would be a better choice?
Give them more time to burn in. They usually start to expand around the ~50 hour mark and beyond. They also looove discrete Class A or Class AB amps over IC based amps like the A90.....
Depends which earpads used on the Rognir. Basically more bass, and a warmer midrange than the Wodan. Both very detailed, but the Wodan has a little wider sound-stage.
It's a shame. You're not the only reviewer that said almost word for word what you said and that, yeah, the soundstage took a hit. It's a shame as I like soundstage, and I was looking to move from my LCD-2f (2016) to these because they nail so much and are easy to drive, but I don't want a step back soundstage-wise.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Great review William, I listened to these a couple of days ago and got blown away by the sound they produce, I've saving up for these now and they will be my endgame headphones.
They're great too. Mind your DAC and amp too - they scale with better amps/chains. Discrete Class A and AB amps over any of the IC based amps, IMO....
I love these headphones....i actually think the soundstage is just right. The V2 felt a bit exaggerated to me.....I gladly am happy to sacrifice that width for the added benefits the SE brings to the table. Granted.....the only genre I put emphasis on staging is classical and for instrumentation the width is great. I never understood the desire for wide vocals.....it's not as if human mouths are 20 feet wide......most of the time vocalists are dead center *SHRUG* to each their own.....I love them. I do have a theory that something about the stealth magnets and increasing detail and bass by default affected the stage and while they COULD'"VE done some further engineering they could've fixed. That being said......now they can sell 2 versions still, had they engineered the stage the V2 would be obsolete
Soundstage isn't just an issue with headphones but is quite dependent on the production and engineering of the source material. Even though you may like a wider soundstage that doesn't mean the original source was meant to have a wide soundstage. I would prefer that my headphones stay true to the original source and not add presence to the music that wasn't meant to be there. Besides, it's all subjective preference and as you stated there is no perfect headphone nor are there any perfect ears either. I think Hifiman makes some of the absolute best headphones money can buy. I hope they continue to improve and bring out new technology and that they survive in this niche market for a long long time.
Funny thing with these, some people say the soundstage is great, others not..
I listened through a few amps and the soundstage and whole sound was awesome through the Violectric 280
I have never really experienced much change over time with most headphones, but with the ARYA Stealth the soundstage does seem to be wider than it was at first.
I have 30days of trial these Arya Stealth. They are brand new and they are under burn-in.Anyway they are not wide at all and I don't think they could be better one day.So the question>To keep them sweet on medium freq. and punchy, what didi you advice to try?Thanks
I agree. I don't think the Arya Stealth will ever have the soundstage width of the V1, or V2. They did seem to get a little wider with time though. They now have decent width, but I wouldn't call it wide. "Burn in" didn't seem to change the sound. IMO they have a perfect tone balance.
They will absolutely expand and smooth out after some time (starting at ~50 hrs and beyond). Also, they looove discrete Class A or Class AB amps instead of IC-based amps like the Topping A90 or THX '789. You've had them a few more weeks now - how do you like them now?
@@Ezees23 I believe you are correct. The soundstage does seam to be expanding with time. I've been listening to them a lot lately. An almost perfect headphone IMO.
I wish I had seen this video before deciding to buy the Arya SE. That would have saved me a lot of effort. I can only wholeheartedly agree with this review. In all aspects. Coming from an Ananda I had high expectations of the Arya SE and was bitterly disappointed. The sound literally sticks to the drivers and only takes place between the physical dimensions of the headphone. Lots of information - very little emotion. For me, the lack of a sound stage was the deal breaker. I sent it back and am now waiting for the organic version, hoping that it will give me as much fun as my old Ananda, which unfortunately died last week.
If you want the sound of the ARYA Stealth, but a larger soundstage, the HE-1000 Stealth is the way to go. I haven't heard the ARYA organic.
Have you auditioned any aftermarket headphone cables with the Stealth? The reason I ask is because I own a Sennheiser 800S and bought a ToneKraft cable by Audio Envy. And the improvement is night and day. It would also be useful to know what amp/dac you auditioned the Stealth on to give your review more context.
Great review. Though the Stealth doesn't "quite" have the excess staging of the V2 - that it's still an Arya and is rather large and spacious, that it's not small or claustrophobic at all.....
Hifiman made a decent cable?! Someone send Satan a warm winter jacket cause hell must have frozen over!
Lol
haha
Great review thank you!🙂 May I ask your 2 best recommendations as for a headphones...🙋♂️
Of what I have heard so far. The ZMF Atrium, and Kennerton Rognir (Planar), are two of my favorites.
I got the Arya Stealth ($1599) but I noticed that the HE1000v2 is now $2000 (instead of $3000). I'm tempted to try the Hifiman trading program to get the HE1000v2 better soundstage (mainly) but in the same time, I fear losing the "correctness" induced by the stealth magnets of the Arya... IDK if you heard the HE1000v2 but if you did, do you think the trade would be a worthy move (soundwise)?
I haven't heard any version of the HE-1000 yet. Hopefully soon?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thanks. I decided to put things on hold anyway and keep the Arya Stealth for the moment (I chose it as a compromise before going for an endgame TOTL, mainly for it's forwardness and clarity, knowing that the soundstage was adequate but not optimal). I will skip the HE1000v2 because it doesn't have the stealth magnets tech and I will save for a potential Susvara, which seems to be the best to reunite performance and enjoyment in the same package. I haven't tried the Susvara yet but I tried the LCD5 (balanced and efficient but lack of excitment), the SR1A (amazing soundstage but bass light), the Utopia (almost perfect but small soundstage) and still, I chose the Arya Stealth as a good all arounder. I'll keep an eye on the upcoming Raal circumaural headphone in the meantime (we'll see... or hear!) :)
@@christianblais3350 Have you thought about the He1000se?
@@Reeeepicheep Yes but I've heard that the treble is exagereted and a bit unnatural on the HE1000se so I probably would prefer the Susvara (or another TOTL that I haven't heard yet, like the Stax X9000 or Warwick Bravura) as a potential endgame headphone.
Give the Aryas ample time to play/burn in - they should expand and smooth out nicely. Plus, they're coming out with an HE-1000V2se with stealth magnets soon......
I don't know if we can get thicker pads this shape, but I'm wondering if thicker pads could add to the soundstage without taking away from the added bass and warmth.
That is a good question. Thicker pads usually add soundstage width. As far as bass, it depends on the headphone. Sometimes thicker pads increase bass.
I cant say that my V2 is warm more like neutral but definitely not bass shy, bass go as low as was intended in recording. Maybe you have power issue, I'm using XLR cable cost me 250$ but well worth it, cant understand all those complains my V2 sounds amazing.
Have you had a chance to review the HE1000v2? I wonder how it compares to these two (Arya V2 and V3)
I would love to, but haven't had the opportunity yet.
Where can I buy the V2?? Everywhere I look it's replaced by the V3 😕
The last I knew, The Hifiman Store still sold the V2.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 I've just found it, thank you very much! They only have open-box but that works for me!
@@thunderstar254 Glad that you found one.
So which headphones would you say have a particularly deep 'holographic' type of soundstage?
Deep and holographic? 660s2 but it is not wide
The lack of stage is why I won't trade in my V2. If I want bass in the future I'll get a closed back maybe.
Really wait for the xs review
arent vocal mixed in the center... they might have some width added to vocal with fx but the core of vocal should be dead center... lots of headphone are widening the center too much..
True, but with headphones if the vocals don't have any width, they can sound like they are coming from inside your head. I would rather have the sound wrapped around my head.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 as long as its in the recording .. i listen to moslty electronic music so i dont like fake widening soundstaging coming from headphones.. vocal should be wide if it was mixed wide.. and dead center if not..
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 well said. i agree
I like the unedited stuff They had to put the stuff magnets if they were going to make it easier to drive because easier to drive Planar Magnetics just don't sound as good they lose their detail quality and everything affects it's the sensitivity affects Very little it but it's more of the impedance that affects that quality of sound And Tuning is different that's why it lost a lot of its sound stage with And When you have a Recession in the upper mid range it can fake sound stage
How do these compare to the Edition Xs?
Better in every way. Except soundstage width.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thanks, I watched your Edition Xs video and you compared them there too. I'm interested in both, but not sure which to get yet. Thanks again love the videos! Have you done a video on the Fiio K9 pro? I'm interested to know your thoughts on those.
@@skerrus The Edition-XS is great, but with the Arya Stealth just being reduced to $1299.00 If that were in my budget I would go with the Arya. Just better in almost every way.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Thank you so much! I'll probably pick it up and try it out, I also have extra budget for a dac/amp, but since you did a review of the Ifi Zen do you think the stack is good enough or do you have a recommendation? I was thinking of picking up the Fiio K9 pro. Sorry so much questions, but this is last one for today :D
@@skerrus I'm supposed to be getting a K9 Pro in for review soon. I just got a Singxer SA-1 a few days ago. So far I am very impressed. The ZEN stack Signature is also very nice.
Love to see how this stealth Arya compares to the new Edition XS. Bet the XS kills it for value and comes close.
As did the Ananda..
would the v3 pair well with the wells audio milo?
The Milo is outstanding with hard to drive headphones, and works very well with the ARYA V1. The Arya Stealth is quite a bit easier to drive, and might pick up the noise floor of the Milo?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 im deciding on the reference upgrade for the milo or just go big on the headtrip 2 since the price is not far apart.. which would be a better choice?
@@abelacsina8257 I have not heard the Headtrip, so I really can't say.
I own the Arya Stealth and they're fine but nothing special. I really don't see all the fuzz about them.
Give them more time to burn in. They usually start to expand around the ~50 hour mark and beyond. They also looove discrete Class A or Class AB amps over IC based amps like the A90.....
Arya stealth or kennerton wodan?
They are absolutely different. Wodan is good for metal
Very different headphones. Arya Stealth has way more mid-bass. Wodan has much larger sound-stage. Both have exceptional detail.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 How is the rognir compared to the woddan?
Depends which earpads used on the Rognir. Basically more bass, and a warmer midrange than the Wodan. Both very detailed, but the Wodan has a little wider sound-stage.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 After hearing them both what would you choose?
AH-REAR ?
It's a shame. You're not the only reviewer that said almost word for word what you said and that, yeah, the soundstage took a hit.
It's a shame as I like soundstage, and I was looking to move from my LCD-2f (2016) to these because they nail so much and are easy to drive, but I don't want a step back soundstage-wise.
I usually don't really believe in "burn in" but it seams that with time the soundstage of the ARYA Stealth has gotten wider.
I'm not trying to give you a bunch of shit at least pronounce the name of the headphone correctly😊