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

Product Information

Maybe I have a very strange taste but to this date, I thought the every single of them were really bad. Th This can be the only headphone you need (provided you don't need sound isolation). They work with all genres, require some drive but nothing unmanageable, and are just extremely well balanced tonally to please a diversity of tastes. I give HiFiMan a lot of credit, the dynamics with some of these Stealth versions seem to really punch without overdoing it. One thing I did note about the pressure strap is a subtle ribbed cushioning which is not on the Ananda version. The older strap was just a flat piece of faux leather whereas this one has a bit more cushioning.

HiFiMAN’s top-of-the-line headphones are all quite similar in terms of design, once we exclude the Susvara: they’re all drop-shaped and quite large, so that they can house larger diaphragms. The Arya make no exception to this and feature large earcups with a suspended headband design.

Design, Build and Comfort​

However, the Arya Stealth is the first revision of the original Arya out since 2019 and ties into the Stealth technology revamp in most of their headphones currently on the market.

Overall the top end of the audible frequencies is very fast, detailed, and well-textured, but HiFiMan took another step to make Arya less extreme and more pleasant to listen to even for many hours. Most importantly, they didn't do it for the price of the texture and detail retrieval, as the Organic retained all of the qualities of its predecessor. They simply retuned it slightly to appear to a wider audience, because of its more safe treble delivery, which was a very good idea actually. While I couldn't really spend an entire evening with the Arya SE, I don't have this problem with the Arya Organic. This is a job well-done, HiFiMAN. After the Upper Midrange, we’ve got the Treble region between 6kHz and 8 kHz, and this is where things start to It also has a tighter level of control on the bass, improved layering, and more headroom. The Arya Stealth also has a faster driver and one that sounds more resolving. It is on another level and rightly so.For those of you who’d like to know more about Hifiman and their founder, there’s always this interview we did with him: https://headfonia.com/q-n-a-saturday-hifiman/ The Arya Organic cup design and form factor in general were retained from past Arya headphones iterations. The only aspect that changed was the presence of that wood veneer ring as previously mentioned. The new stealth magnets make the Arya a specific type of headphone. If you weren’t a fan of its floatier elements, then this version might satisfy you more. The range of accuracy on the stealth is greater than the original, but I personally preferred the more textured and open sound it had. Both versions are heavily articulate, but some more subtle elements get lost in translation. However, in terms of purity, this is definitely a big improvement.

The headband assembly sits comfortably on the head plus the clamping force is just right on the Arya Organic in my opinion. The jumbo pads make them even more comfortable. I like the headband except for one caveat I dug up. The third Arya variant was the Stealth Magnet Edition which incorporated HIFIMAN’s Stealth Magnet technology. As a follow-up, HIFIMAN has now released the Arya Organic which is the fourth edition, also with Stealth Magnet technology but with an added visual cue and a refined sound tuning profile.What hit me first was the concentrated and focused tuning aspect, added resolve, and an overall sense of clarity and definition over the past Arya models but not much so over the Stealth model. Another thin layer of veil has certainly been lifted compared to the first model. That 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 music because this is where you get a lot of buildup with guitars, vocals, and even the top-end of the bass guitar I often see the HD800S and Arya compared, and of course Andrew famously called the Arya the “planar magnetic HD800S”. I can understand why, they have some very obvious things in common. Both are just slightly on the bright side of neutral, both are wide open, and both are excellent at soundstage, imaging, & detail. But in my opinion, that’s where their similarities end. I find them more different than they are the same.

Although I must admit that bass always seems to be the low point in the Arya lineup’s overall sound tuning, no pun intended. Don’t get me wrong, I have no complaints about the overall experience wearing the Arya Organic or any other HIFIMAN headphone that uses this style of headband assembly. They’re comfortable indeed and could be worn for long periods. Years of research into planar driver optimization led HiFiMAN to utilize an asymmetrical design with smaller magnets on the ear-facing side. This reduces interference in sound wave transmissions from the diaphragm. Metal and High-Grade Plastic Construction

Tech Highlights

Mostly everything you love about the HiFiMAN Arya is still intact with the Organic. However, there are certain tweaks offered here that make things fresh, such as elements of the sound profile and build. The Arya Organic seems to cater to bass heads more than the previous iteration, but that doesn’t take anything else away from the Arya’s established sound. I think that will be its selling point both for those who haven’t tried the Arya yet or are looking to upgrade to something similar.