HIFIMAN - Arya Unveiled

This is a very interesting list. I wonder if some of this has to do with the purpose in which they listen? The susvara is constantly rated high, but I would put that close to the bottom of my list. It just sounded way too dry. The best hifiman I've heard was the nano and arya unveiled.

All the S-tier mentions in the video: Audio Technica W2022: "it's a comfortable A tier for me, if not bordering on S-tier" \[Listener\] HiFiMan Arya Unveiled: "Once you fix that \[5khz with EQ\] I'd almost be tempted to put it in S-tier" \[Goldensound\] HiFiMan Susvara OG: "This is S-tier for me" \[Goldensound\] Sennheiser HE-1: "I am pretty happy putting this in S-tier" \[Goldensound\] "I think it goes without saying that if ... we had EQ available to us, like there would be a lot more like S-tier \[and\] A-tier type stuff, that we could do with a lot of these headphones." \[Resolve\]

Fun can w too much bass and treble for me.  HEK Stealth and Arya U both better as is a refurbed or used HE-6 SE or SE 2.

If you’re willing to EQ for impact the Arya is a good bet. Clear MG probably better tuning for you out of the box. Bit of a left field suggestion but check out the ZMF Bokeh Closed. Seems to fit your criteria. Not sure about shipping/pricing to the EU though.

Sennheiser HE-1 ig? But if you just want something that sounds exceptionally good then get the Arya Unveiled and call it a day. You're already heavily in the diminishing returns category by that point. If you want something cheaper, go for the Arya Organic, even cheaper would be the Arya Stealth and if you want something even cheaper then the Edition XV is a solid option or you could go for the legendary HD600 around that price. The HD800s are well liked and stuff but reviewers i trust all say the Arya Unveiled is better for 90% of technicalities. I personally am gonna go for the Arya Organic in a few months.

Absolutely. I use that and Arya unveiled as my only two headphones now… but let’s see how long that lasts lol.

The E3 has more of an upper-mid emphasis, less treble and more bass. The forwardness in the upper-mids is what gives that sense of “clarity” and detail with, for example, vocals. The bass is interesting. You obviously get a much stronger rumble and sense of impact and low-end heft. However, the Arya unveiled, being quite linear, actually has more mid-upper bass warmth to my ears. The E3 drops down a bit in that region which makes it sound leaner in comparison. The treble is also interesting. Arya Unveiled is definitely brighter overall. More air, shimmer, all that stuff. E3 is smoother, tamer but still well-extended. That said I find the Arya Unveiled to be better tuned overall compared to the past Hifiman headphones. Much better sense of overall tonal balance. Mids feel like they have body and appropriate warmth, and the treble, while still bright, doesn’t have the same level of spiciness that I could not stand. It’s also very easy to EQ so that’s a big plus. Hope that helps; let me know if you have any other questions.

Try Arya Unveiled. If you can get over the fact that the drivers don’t have grills protecting them, it’s for sure one of the best reference sounding planar on the market right now.

I actually think the HE1000 Unveiled is the worst open headphone Hifiman currently makes with its reaaaally excessive treble and weird midrange tone combined with the flat upper bass and low mids I complain about with the 1266 to a worse degree. I think the Empyrean 2 is a wildly terrible headphone too…a hilarious amount of treble and really muddy bass. I think the 105 AER does what I think the Empyrean 2 is trying to do in a way that makes more sense. The Empyrean 2 sounds like it could have been a cheap headphone sold at Best Buy; I was so wildly pissed off when I heard it for the first time and subsequent listens only showed more issues. However I think the Arya Unveiled isn’t bad, just have to go into it understanding that it’s a very different presentation. I’ve met plenty of people that like the snappy attack and decay that planars have, and I do like my Stax and, to a lesser degree, my Caldera for when I want that specific sound. But for actual long term use it just sounds really weird to me, like overstuffing a kick drum but everything sounds that overdamped. I’ve been really, really jaded about the headphone hobby for the past few years because companies kept releasing slop like the Empyrean 2 and the ADX7000 is the headphone I’ve been waiting for since I started the hobby in 2009. I’ve gotten a lot of flak over the years for being overly negative about stuff so it feels so weird to be excited about a headphone. The ADX7000 may be a little safe for some people but the Empyrean 2 is a goddamn awful headphone and I’m still frustrated that they didn’t instead try to improve upon the original Empyrean, which had some neat tricks.

Over? HE1000SE. I have two Arya Unveiled and the Stealths (and many others), but there’s just something another SE that only can be beaten by good speakers.

If anyone finds the HE1K SE or Arya Unveiled for under a thousand, DEFINITELY jump on it...