While the pads feel comfortable and the foam padding is sufficient, again, I am a bit disappointed with the choice of materials. Even a lifestyle headphone that costs a fraction of the Arya uses real leather or sheepskin cover. Fortunately, the pads are replaceable. There are better aftermarket ear pads that use real leather or better materials, like earpads from Dekoni. But that would entail additional cost. Anyway. The Arya Stealth is rated at 94db compared to the 90db of the HEK Family and the Arya v2, a healthy boost towards stronger DAPs in the same fashion as the HE-1000SE. I have tested numerous Hifiman products in the past, from their flagship IEMs like Svanar, RE600, RE800 and RE2000 Gold to their diverse planar Headphones like Deva, Ananda BT and my personal favorite: the Sundara. Maybe I have a very strange taste but to this date, I thought the every single of them were really bad.

Speaking of the HD800S, how does the Arya compare to this venerable classic? From a tonal perspective, the Arya has a slightly V-shaped profile with a sharp vividness while the HD800S is smoother with a more neutral tuning. That 1 kHz scoop is quite noticeable when doing an AB comparison. Though the HD800S does still have a bit of an edge to its sound, it’s much better controlled than what the Arya presents. The Stealth goes further here, giving the aggression a nice little boost with its more intense energy delivery and added cleanliness. Trails and reverbs are easier to hear fading out in the distance now.Then, the HD820 sound more neutral bright, so perhaps better balanced for proper high fidelity monitor like listening from what I remember. The headband of the HiFiMAN Arya Stealth Magnets continues the same design of the original Arya, which is based on the HE1000’s suspension-strap headband system. After the pandemic started, the hobby sort of escalated for me. I previously owned the following headphones: HD58x > HD650 > Sundara > ZMF Aeolus > Arya V2. I currently own the ZMF Verite Closed, HD800s and yesterday I received the Arya Stealth edition.

But I do have similar reaction to the Arya spatiality, which is even more evident with acoustic music like chamber classical, worldmusic, jazz or any well recored instrumental music, than pop or overcompressed and sampled modern recording that don't have lot of loudness amplitude diversity for the instrument to blossom naturally in soundscape...feed the Arya with best music in the world, and it will amaze you by translating the true nature of accurate spatiality, bigger than what normal headphones should be able to achieve. Fans of acoustic guitar are in for alot of joy and wow effect with the Arya, since you will hear every subtilities of string pulling texture, natural brilliance and long sustain decay , the instrument presence will be perfectly define and extracted, not mixing with percussions or feeling blunted in edge. Do you want a proven, reliable build? Then take the HD800S for Sennheiser’s legendary build quality.The treble is the star of the show with the Arya. It's effortless in detailing, open and airy in snap and decay, it have this appealing brilliance and sparkle to it too. The highs are out of your head, adding airyness to spatiality and extra dimension in sharpened sound layering. The slightly distant character of the Arya V2 surely helps in perceiving its very large and tall stage –naturally as the Arya Stealth is more dynamic, punching harder and more relentless, the greater sense of “physicality” also makes the stage appear slightly less. In my opinion, this is aforementioned trade-off is just a matter of psychoacoustics. It is pretty comfortable and the offers enough clamping force to keep it firmly on my average sized head, without to become uncomfortable, even after longer listening periods. The Final D8000, Sony MDR-Z1R or the Sennheiser HD820 are faaaaaar superior to the Susvara in every single aspect you could think of and cost a fraction. I like both the Arya and LCD-X. They have their own strengths and weaknesses. But I’ve been using the Arya more since it is more comfortable to wear. Sometimes I switch between the two depending on the music I listen to or the mood. Arya vs LCD-GX

The Arya Stealth’s tuning shows a perfect mix of bass presence, mid naturalness and top end excitement. All-in-all it’s a very good and easy to like tuning. Call me impressed! Detail, technical and extension wise, the Arya Stealth is still playing below the HE-1K series and of course the Susvara, but it makes up for it with its musicality, energy, layering, addictive bass presentation, mid timbre and treble liveliness. It all just works perfectly together and that’s how you build award winning headphones. The Arya Stealth isn’t the cheapest, but you get so much in return that’s ridiculous. Sound-wise this is a hard to beat headphone in the segment. Highly addictive. Like the Ananda, the fit is rather loose, but I found the Arya to be an improvement overall. I’m able to lean over without them slipping off immediately, but these are definitely headphones to wear when sitting down and really sinking into your music (or game, as we’ll get to later). What exactly does a stealth magnet do, and what are its advantages? These magnets allow the signal to pass through the driver while avoiding interference. With less wave diffraction impacting the quality of the output, the signal flow is allowed to be purer than originally before. Soundstage The EarMen Colibri which we looked at a week or two ago in balanced mode sounds very fast, precise, and energetic with the Arya Stealth. The most remarkable thing here is that the Colibri struggles a bit with complex passages. For the rest you get a sound which is lighter in body and bass presence, with more forward vocals. You can turn on the Bass Boost function, but it just doesn’t sound natural to me with this headphone. This isn’t the very best combo for my ears, and that’s quite remarkable as I absolutely love the Colibri which I gave a recommended buy award.

The Arya is made from a combination of steel and high quality plastic which leads to a nice compromise between sturdiness and being light Their a sens of musical vivacity that is highly engaging and I would not say it's a very smooth sounding headphones, yet it's not harsh, nor sibilant or trebly, just not something I would suggest to those seeking a warm or dark sounding headphones. These are really for big headroom lover, those who want to be able to position precisely instrument in a vast and open spatiality. But let dig deeper in the sound now. As the frequency response suggests, the Arya has a flat bass, a 1 kHz midrange scoop, and plenty of upper mids and treble. Though I won’t be comparing them in this review, the difference between the Stealth and V2 is in the treble. Specifically, the positioning of the 5 kHz peak and additional gain in the upper treble region around the 10 – 14 kHz mark. Overall, the Arya has a clear tuning with bright treble that gives it a sense of vividity. Bass

The lower midrange of the HiFiMAN Arya Stealth Magnet Version has a moderate level of depth and intensity that is sufficient to show a good sense of warmth and fullness, which is a must have while listen to male romantic male vocals such like Barry White and Isaac Hayes. Other male voices such like Elton John, Sting and David Bowie do sound pretty natural, emotional and with an impressive sense of clarity and resolution. 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. Here i would say the Arya is marginaly superior in term of technical performance but notably more fun, immersive, dynamic, lively and open sounding. The HD820 was a cold shower for me at the time, so they might be more neutral in term of tonality. Oh, and craftmanship wise, Sennheiser is superior even if mostly made of plastic, they are way lighter and more comfortable than the Arya.

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I haven't noticed a difference with the V2, it is still excellent and the primary reason why I will be selling my HD800s. Even after +5db bass boost on the HD800s the quality/feeling of the bass on the Arya is just so much better in my opinion. The HE-1000SE for me still is the better headphone, sounding more natural and refined. The HE-1000SE has the width, depth and 3-dimensionality where the Arya focuses most on width. The top end of the HE-1000SE for me is also more precise and extended. Basically that goes from the lows all the way up to the highs. The Arya Stealth is fuller and softer sounding with bigger bass but the HE-1000SE is more vibrant and all around you. It’s more speaker like where the Arya Stealth, to me, is more headphone like. I prefer the vocal presentation of the HE-1000SE as well. All-in-all the HE-1000 is the better one of both to my ears. That doesn’t mean you will like it more than the Arya Stealth, but it to me is the better one, getting more things right. How thin is the diaphragm? It's so thin that if you were to view it from the side, you wouldn't be able to see it. It also sounds spacious, open, and wide, with great instrument separation and layering. However, I don’t think the height and width are not that (far) extended, which for me is good. I don’t want the music to sound (artificially) 3D-like. It Does Have Bass The Arya in its first edition had a few minor quirks here, notably in the 6khz and 8khz region, making it prone to sibilance with certain songs and sometimes being a bit too aggressive with genres like metal. The V2 fixed both quirks but kept the clarity and airiness.