It's all business today, serious business.
My thoughts on the Susvara are interesting, I had explicit expectations given the ravings about this model online, and the eye watering price tag.
Build quality and pads, yes, the build quality is leagues above the Arya, Anandas and anything that originally cost under £3000 I'd say, the headband pivot joint is OILED, it's so smooth, the Arya ones grind when you pivot, you guys know what I am on about if you have had a pair, the other egg shapes with the same headband no doubt are the same with the exception of the HE1000 series I suspect.
The leather suspension band on the headband frays due to the way the edge lays on flat surfaces when placed down, unlike the band on the non leather band models like Arya, wear/tear observation...
The earpads are much thinner than egg shaped pads, this means your ears touch the fabric film that is covering the inner driver magnet array. I did not like this. The inner diameter opening is also much smaller so the walls touch the outer parts of the ear, and I have medium/small sized ears. I did not like this either.
The pads feel better quality than the ones found on all egg shaped models as they appear to all be the same. The sidewalls are softer and more supple like the aftermarket Voarmaks velour pads. this was a surprise as photos make the stock Susvara pads look the same quality as the rest, just circle shape.
The source was a Blusound Power Node connected via COAX to the DX5 II first, started on low gain first and was underwhelmed by the lack of volume, I had it on 0dB and there was not enough oomph to enjoy what planars are capable of. Enabled high gain and was able to get to around the same loudness at -12dB, still not enough power to drive the Susvara
The source was set to line level out so no attenuation there and platform was Tidal. At -12dB it was loud but not loud enough, the level of loudness felt like what my Aryas are on the DX5 II set to
low gain and -28dB!
Something isn't quite right, I was connected via XLR to the Susvara too using its stock cable.
I then connected up another DAC they had on the unit, an Italian brand I only heard about in passing before, an Audio Analogue AADAC, this thing costs £4500, and comes highly rated, you'd expect its SE output to be competent, but I had the volume maxed out and it wasn't loud at all, felt like it was lower loudness than the DX5 II at -12dB... BUT, the musicality was noticeable grade above the DX5 II, the treble and upper range especially, this setup sounded more like what I hear from my Arya Stealth via the X9, and this gave me a good idea of where the X9 sits against uber high-end DACs right out of the box.
I did a lot of back and forth between AADAC and DX5 II and it was very clear that the DX5 II is unable to produce clean musical upper mids and highs, just like I found with the Arya on it, there is mushiness in the sibilance presented, it doesn't sound clean, it sounds more digital than organic, the AADAC/X9 have no issues in this area.
Bass from both AADAC and DX5 II, and basically anything below mid range was excellent and I couldn't tell that area of the sound apart in the same songs.
So after an hour or two I left and sat in a cafe to reflect. The thing that amazed me most was how much of a tank that AADAC is, it weighs 5.5KG and is fairly compact in size, everything is thick and brushed, the remote alone deserves credit. The sound from the Susvara though wasn't matching my original expectation, it had the musicality nailed down from the AADAC, but the volume was supremely weak, and the volume driving them from the DX6 II wasn't exactly stellar either given the DX is supposed to have 4300mW x2 @ 64Ω, and the Susvara is 60Ω, I expected a louder output. Is the AADAC was much louder then I'd point the finger at a DX5 II issues that needs resolving, but the AA was even weaker in loudness.
So what's going on here?? Is it the 83dB sensitivity of the Susvara? The Arya is 32Ω at 94dB, and I pick up the HE1000se tonight which is 35Ω at 96dB so am expecting the same sort off loudness from those against the Arya Stealth, with what I suspect will be better control of the soundstage and highs as that's what all the reviews say.
based on today's experience, is the Susvara over £3000 better than the Arya Stealth? No way. The subtle differences are only realised from the AADAC which produced sonics that felt aligned with what I hear from the Arya via the X9, so I'm intrigued to hear what the HE1000se is like via the X9 now.
Will the HE1000se be a £1000 improvement over the current Arya Stealth price? We will see this evening. I think the build quality of that is the same as the Susvara, no plastics, as that's what it looks like in photos.
. They were all part of a limited edition special edition CDs back early in her career, I’d say peak bonus merch was Speak Now and Red. 
