General Headphone Audio

If I can get 450 for the Arya and chuck in the Hifiman XLR cable and Tripowin SE, then really the upgrade has cost not that much at all for the better build quality and sound improvements. I think that is worth the improvements
 
mrk said:
Yeah but who would say no to flagship headphones for half price??
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Where are you getting them for £800? Half price doesn't really mean anything in terms of value when it comes to flagship headphones, but I'd consider buying them at £800 considering they sell for £1k used on eBay.
 
If they were lent out for business reasons e.g. review, but they let you buy them half price you can get them anywhere else for personal use, then the £800 discount would count as income which you'd have to pay tax on so they wouldn't really cost you £800.
 
Huh? I borrowed them from someone I personally know, not some business, what is it with you and going on about business so much anyway??
 
Looks new, barely used anyway and I'm using my own pads/cables. Warranty issues I am not fussed about as I can just go through them if something happens within warranty. These are trivial non-issues at best.
 
mrk said:
Looks new, barely used anyway and I'm using my own pads/cables. Warranty issues I am not fussed about as I can just go through them if something happens within warranty. These are trivial non-issues at best.
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To answer your earlier question I'd likely say no to "half price" flagship headphones depending on how long was left on the warranty, especially as I'd lose the extended 3 year warranty I got for my Arya.
 
Eddie99 said:
To answer your earlier question I'd likely say no to "half price" flagship headphones depending on how long was left on the warranty, especially as I'd lose the extended 3 year warranty I got for my Arya.
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If it was through amazon it was insurance too and not just warranty.

Either way let mrk be. He's happy, isn't that what counts. Audio gear is a deep dark rabbit hole anyhow.
 
£800 sounds like a very good price. This year I feel like I've found some massive bargains picking up some bits second-hand and certainly wouldn't turn down a deal like that.
 
It's a shame the DX5 II has several lingering question marks above it otherwise it could have/should have been the biggest bargain of the decade. Massive power specs, an actually good interface (Aurora) and speed control response even though it's just buttons and a dial as opposed to a snappy touchscreen. In comments elsewhere people have asked "where is the catch?" because it's so cheap, until a full on breakdown of its innards and implementation of the components is better known, I think the question marks will remain.

It's still a very good amp that has strong potential, but I still don't think it should have released requiring 2 immediate FW updates to fix critical bugs whilst stuff like custom PEQ profiles vanishing randomly still remain, as well as other oversights like applying DAC mode in settings forces it to fixed volume output on all outputs which is a bit crazy.

There didn't appear to be any dedicated discreet components on the PCB, just ICs and capacitors, though the PSU shroud blocked a portion of the remainder of the board. Seems a lot of the inner workings are handled digitally, then, which is fine as that means it can be perfected with firmware updates.

Have we reached the state of amps and DACs like what PC games are, launch day/month/year issues until eventually updates fix the bugs? At least this is very affordable, games still launch with AAA pricing lol.
 
HE1000se are awesome cans to be fair. If I was more into audio than other hobbies they’d probably be my end game as well, as on the few occasions I’ve tried them they blew my Sundara’s away in side by side comparisons. The Arya stealth felt more like a minor upgrade and it’s why I’ve now returned them twice, as I don’t feel they’re worth 5 times the price I paid for some barely used Sundara’s.
 
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Wait you got Sundaras for under £100? That's a bargain. I paid £510 for the Arya Stealth last year which I thought was a great price given they launched at around £1400.

For me the Sundara was far too fatiguing after a long session, plus the earpad and headband combo created uncomfortable pressure on my face and top of the head. Seems you're either in the camp that hates the egg shapes and likes the round, or the other way around lol. For me the egg shaped is most comfortable. Am finding the HE's headband suspension strap to be more comfy than the Arya's one as well, even though the Arya one has a foam padding layer on the underside, I think it's the softness and airflow holes that aid the comfort considering the headband is the exact same design and size between both otherwise, could even remove the strap and swap them around, or just buy the strap alone for £70 or whatever Hifiman are charging for it.

The brightness of Hifiman's seems to have become less and less of an issue the higher up the ladder you go is what I've noticed now after experiencing Sundara > Ananda nano > Arya Stealth > Susvara/HE1000se.

By the way I still have stock Hifiman pads and swapping back and forth between them and the Voarmaks, they still make a marked improvement to the HE1000se in that the highs are not as peaky just like on the other models down the line, the best £20 or less you could spend really to improve your headphones is on good pads.
 
I don't do long listening sessions and considering I've owned HD700's previously, I know what an actual bright and fatiguing headphone sounds like :p

Egg vs Round shape didn't even come into it, both were comfortable enough.
 
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