HIFIMAN - Arya Stealth Magnet Version

Listener is my spirit animal. Resolve and GoldenSound rate the Arya Stealth very highly, which is the opposite of my taste. Listeners take on it is practically identical to mine.

If you are treble sensitive it makes sense. The Arya Stealth is basically unlistenable for me without EQ.

Such a tierlist doesnt really make sense with EQ though, you can tune almost every headphone to be very close to taste. The Arya Stealth is actually an exception for me. I dont know what it is, but I just hate the treble on that headphone, its something about the tone of it. Even with EQ it doesnt sound good to me, just less painful. I get that other people like it though, it just doesn’t work for me at all.

Thats so funny because its the other way around for me. I sold my Arya Stealth to buy a 660S2.

I got and returned the 109 Pro after few weeks. They are super comfortable, nice sounding and that is it. They are nice they didn't do much for me no complaints it just OK. I found my self going back more and more to my older Arya Stealth and 6xx. Obviously everyone is different but I think under $1000 there is much better at least objectively better headphones and you can listen to them first. Focal Clear, Arya Stealth, LCD-2C (used) I would even throw in 660S2. All these to me sounded better than 109 Pro.

So that's about $400 USD. Does he already have an amplifier? Most good headphones will need one but not all. Sennheiser has the HD560S. I thought the HD490 Pro, which is considered to be superior to the HD560S, would be in that price range because it is about $350 USD here, but for whatever reason it is $800 AUD on Amazon Australia. The Aune AR5000 is very easy to drive and doesn't need an amplifier to sound decent. It looks like it sells at $499 AUD, which compromises the value proposition a bit compared to prices here in the US. It is $299 USD, and I bought it on sale for $210 USD recently. I have a couple of HiFiMan headphones that are fantastic for gaming, but they are outside of that price range. I found the HiFiMan Arya Stealth on a huge sale, just over half off: [https://eliseaudio.com/en-us/products/hifiman-arya-stealth-magnet-version](https://eliseaudio.com/en-us/products/hifiman-arya-stealth-magnet-version) I think he'd be VERY pleased with this assuming he already has a headphone amplifier to run it. To go from an Astro to an Arya Stealth would be like a 2000 Honda Civic to a new Ferrari. This is a high end audiophile headphone good at just about everything that received very strong reviews and is considered elite for gaming. BTW, I don't know anything about Elise Audio and can't vouch for them. I've never bought anything from them. I just did a search and saw that sale.

Tried these, but the L and R that's stitched inside the cups destroyed all comfort for me, so I returned them. Also I couldn't wear them comfortably with glasses. Otherwise I agree that they are pretty comfortable. Got Arya Stealth now and can wear them all day without any discomfort even with glasses.

Love my Arya Stealth comfortwise (and also soundwise). First Headphone in my posession (DT770/880/1990) or that I've tried (HD490, Focal Clear, Amiron Home) that I can wear comfortably with glasses all day long.

Arya Stealths are amazing. Got them a few months ago (new for 550€ on an Amazon sale) after one of the drivers of my DT 1990 gave up after just 4 years. Otherwise they were really nice sound wise and decent comfort wise. Hope I'll have better luck with the Aryas, but so far I am really pleased with their sound and comfort. Especially comfort wise the Aryas were a gamechanger when wearing them with glasses.

My favorites in terms of "bank for your buck" are definitely the Arya Stealth. If you spend a bit more, you get the LC2C which are also absolute beasts. Focal Utopia stunned me by how good it sounds for dynamic headphones and it made me reconsider how I view dynamics. As for immersion, I'd pick Susvara any time of the day, they were the best sounding ones and the most resolving ones I've ever tried (if I had the budget ofc). Other than that, the ADX5000 are brilliant and if you can't afford them, the ADX3000 is a cheaper model but still sounds amazing.

I’ve got my stealths paired with a Merlin/Gremlin stack with the upgraded select tubes and they are truly wonderful.

Arya Stealth - a great Allrounder

If you have a desk setup and don’t mind wired, you can put something amazing together. I’ve got a Fosi Audio K7 amp, Hifiman Arya Stealth headphones and a modmic. The PS5 Pro sees it as a headset. It sounds incredible.

A good over ear headphone that’s not wireless, will more times than not require/ benefit from an amp/dac. Besides that as many have recommended the Arya stealth, a closed back headphone will usually provide you that feeling of bass you sound like you’re looking for. Open backs tend to trade bass for sound stage, Arya stealth being one of the best in its price bracket especially if you find one used, that has amazing imaging detail and sound stage, bass however might not be super. I’m personally an advocate of IEMs but fit is super subjective so more times than not an over ear headphone will have more of a universal fit. IEMs also don’t produce the bass slam like headphones do simply because of basic physics, bigger over ear drivers move more air and therefore have more satisfying bass (as long as you don’t get an open back)

the one arya stealth (or maybe it was organic? don’t quite remeber) i listened to is, to me, the least listenable treble-knife hifiman of any i’ve tried, and there are both cheaper and more expensive models I strongly prefer