what headphones do you own thread - i own dt150's :)

Welcome to the headphone/amp/dac upgraditis phase of your life, this is a dangerous rabbit hole, I remember getting into game nearly 30 years ago with the Koss Porta Pro, now I'm eyeing up 6k DACs and 4k headphones, audio nirvana is out there but your wallet will be sacrificed at the alter!
 
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Oh I've been through this process many times over the last 20 years ever since the first proper headphones I got, the Technics RPF200 and then the Sennheiser HD555 :p

This time round it's more curiosity since the Nano sounds so good in the form I have them in now, so given that the Arya Stealth is £510 and the Nano were £460 a few months ago when I got them, I'm intrigued to see what the direct differences are using the same memory foam velour earpads.
 
Oh yeah I also fixed the "loose" 4.4mm port on the Onix XL1, it wasn't the port at all, the Linsoul balanced cable I have had heat wrap strain relief which wraps around the end of the connector grip too, this adds about 0.5mm of extra gap and the port on the XL1 is precise fit which means with that 0.5mm margin, the click doesn't happen which is why it felt loose. Removed the heat wrap and it locks in perfectly now.

Will do my own heat wrap without overlapping the grip end.
 
Ah the HiFiMAN QC lottery strikes again by the sounds of it :D - It could also be shipping antics. My outer box came with the entire corner crumpled in so must have been chucked about. The inner box is direct from China as still had the import stickers on it, and inside that box if is the retail headphones box.

I've been lucky so far, My Nano have been perfect, and now the Arya Stealth too.


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Good news:
- The feel is nicer than the Nano even though material quality is the same. The rounded cup yokes are the best part and the swivel rotation of the head is nice.
- The headband strap is very nice, it's actually leathery and soft padded now vs the cardboard stiffness of the stock Ananda suspension strap.
- The headband clamping force and skull pressure is excellent. There are no hotspots that I can feel, it's just perfect. They should bin off all other headband styles and use this. No modding needed.
- Arya feels smaller in the hands and on the head because the tokes and headband design is more well thought out. It doesn't wobble on the head like the Nano does as a result of this.
- The adjustment on the headband is very tactile and satisfying to use, much better than the old style adjustments
- The black on black theme looks cool, the outer grille fabric is more transparent than the black on the Ananda Nano:
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- The soundstage is slightly brought closer than on the Nano which is wider. More intimate and vocals are more natural with better timbre. Dare I say the timbre is on level with my modded HD650s even.
- Stereo imaging is better refined over the Nano. background instruments that are placed in specific positions sound naturally in those locations and are clearer too but vocals 100% take priority which seems to work well in the songs I've listened to so far.
- Bass is still really good, but it's subtly less punchy than on the Nano, it rumbles when needed but the Nano's bass "feel" is greater, though not by a huge amount. The Nano suits gaming more with this in mind I'd say although not games on the Arya yet.
- The headband adjuster does scrape along the rail causing marks:
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- The box is much nicer than the brown box that comes with the Ananda Nano and other HiFiMANs:
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Bad news:
- Have to find a buyer for my Nano :o To be fair should not be too hard as I've done all the legwork anyway with the headband mod and suspension strap options included.
- Have to buy a headphone case to store the Arya in as they don't come with a case like the Nano does....
- The Arya didn't come with the foam headphone stand as shown in the reviews and unboxings, seems packaging inside has been updated so is now a silky lined foam interior where the headphones slip into and that's it. No stand, no case:
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- The cable is 6.35mm on the amp end, useless, can't find an adapter in the box to convert to 3.5mm too. Not an issue as I'm using a 4.4mm balanced cable anyway.
- The stock pads are exactly the same as the Nano pads, also the same as the pads on the £6000 Susvara. Why do HiFiMAN choose to use such crap pads?! They're even the same pads (just not round) as on the Sundara.

Overall it feels like a solid refinement over the already great qualities of the Ananda Nano. I used only the Voarmaks memory foam velour pads between both as don't like the stock pads.

I don't think the Arya Stealth sounds £500+ better than the Nano if we look at the steady price it has been retailing at since September 2021, I wouldn't even upgrade if it was £800 if I had the Nano, but at £510? Absolutely a good upgrade, and if I can sell my nano for £400 or more, then absolutely ideal given I bought them new for £447 and they currently sell for £476. Looking at eBay the average used set goes for £400 buy it now, and mine are better than stock and are issue-free.

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LMAO, Nano being your endgame lasted a long time :cry: However, you should probably do some more A/B testing first, especially if you are going to use them for gaming.

I knew you'd prefer the Arya, they're ridiculously good for the price you just paid. The only thing that surprised me was that you found the soundstage wider on the nano, I often hear people say that the Arya is the planar version of the HD800S when it comes to soundstage.

Now wait until you hear about the Arya Organic... :p
 
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  • Haha
Reactions: mrk
The Nano is definitely wider for sure, although I don't know what amps people were using them with as the XL1 is a wide presentation headphone amp anyway which focuses on midrange vocal focus so would only amplify the wideness of any given can.

I forgot to mention volume, there's about 6-10 steps volume level variance between Nano (14ohm) vs the 32 of the Arya. So not a huge difference in power requirements between them really. The Nano is the louder headphone at the same dialled in volume.

It's the additional comfort out of the box that sold me it, simply picking the Arya up the headband and yokes are just better designed. I'd have kept the Arya even if the sound was about the same simply based on the headband for this price :p
 
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Ayahuasca said:
LMAO, Nano being your endgame lasted a long time :cry:
Click to expand...

Yes he already has them up for sale on another forum :cry: . This is why I visit a store with headphones and speakers/monitors in for testing before buying as the never ending upgrading game kicks in. I just buy what I consider end game gear now and swallow the price pill, overall I find it saves money and keeps the upgrade urge down and seems to have worked over the years. Especially with audio gear.

I tried the Nano's and didn't like them and the XS, not really a fan of Hifiman stuff apart from the Sundara's as for the price they were good value for what you got and also the egg shaped cups are not for me on their others.
 
mrk said:
- The cable is 6.35mm on the amp end, useless, can't find an adapter in the box to convert to 3.5mm too. Not an issue as I'm using a 4.4mm balanced cable anyway.
Click to expand...

Does the 6.35mm not unscrew to give a 3.5mm on the cable ? Worth checking many friends always say hey my headphone cable is too big and don't realise the adapter is on and can be unscrewed to give 3.5mm.
 
But Amazon makes it pretty easy :p My closest audio stores are in Southampton and they don't stock any of the stuff from brands like HiFiman so ordering via Amazon is the only sure way to demo stuff :D

See I didn't like the Sundara, way too bright and pearcing to the ears leading to fatigue whereas the Nano had that much more under control which was then only perfected with the memory foam pads.

I've got the headphones amp sorted now with the XL1, and would have been happily attached to the nano if that price deal wasn't posted. Like I said in the review I wouldn't have upgraded even if the Arya Stealth was £800 (at over £600 still it's still a no!) as don't think they are that much better than the Nano but are just more refined. Since the nano, I have considered the HifiMan sound to be a cut above Sennheiser having also owned the HD650 and 660S2, there's just no contest now. The timbre the 660S2 had is matched and beaten now by the Arya Stealth as I found.

Oh yeah the cable does not unscrew, it's a moulded 6.35mm cord!

Edit* £600 not 6000 lol.
 
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I also ordered the Arya Stealth at £510. I'm not expecting much of an upgrade in sound over the Sundara, the main reason was I wanted those huge HiFiMan egg shaped earcups with full tilt and swivel. The padded headband looks a little nicer too, and hopefully it'll be more durable as the one on my Sundara is peeling off.
 
It is a very noticeable improvement over the Sundara, although not sure what kind of amp you have to drive them as that will make a difference too but between them both on their own, the Arya Stealth and Ananda Nano are a league above the Sundara in basically every area of sound.
 
mrk said:
It is a very noticeable improvement over the Sundara, although not sure what kind of amp you have to drive them as that will make a difference too but between them both on their own, the Arya Stealth and Ananda Nano are a league above the Sundara in basically every area of sound.
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I'm using a JDS Labs Atom amp which should be audibly transparent.
 
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I've been switching back and forth between the Onix XL1 and the Topping MX3S all night, the MX powers my speakers and with the Ananda Nano as you guys recall I could not use it because 14ohms was too sensitive which triggered protection mode on the MX randomly which was annoying so since May I've had the Questyle M15i, Onix XL1, Fiio K7 and Topping DX3 Pro+ - obviously ended up keeping the XL1 as it was not only the cheapest, but matched or beat the rest and the DX3 Pro+ had several quirks I did not like, such as randomly dying :Cry:, the K7 was just too bright sounding for my tastes.

Now though, on the Arya Stealth that all changes because 32 ohms is perfectly usable on the MX3S so I've been bouncing between the XL1 (4.4mm balanced so 500mW @ 32ohm, 129dB SNR) and the MX3s (700mW @ 32ohm, 115dB SNR).

The Stealth is ridiculously lush sounding on both MX3S and XL1, there is a small volume loudness difference between both at high gain, the XL1 is the same loudness at volume 68 as the MX3S on 62 - The extra 200mW of difference per channel, not a huge difference really. The XL1 is in non oversampling mode.

Stereo imaging and detail between both MX3S and the XL1 feel very similar, if there is a difference I can't tell, the upshot is that the MX3S has tone controls built in for treble/bass (something the DX3 Pro+ does NOT have, wtf Topping???).

I'm impressed with the MX3S that it powers speakers and headphones so well (as long as the cans aren't 14 ohm....) and costs so little. Massive sound credentials at an amazing price with all the inputs I could need, and all without needing a 4.4mm balanced output. I will keep the XL1 given it only cost £87 or so, who knows if I ever change headphones again then it might come in handy :p

Edit*

Ok so there is a subtle difference I can hear in some songs between XL1 and MX3S now that I'm focusing for differences, it's in vocals, the timbre is ever so slightly more nuanced on the MX3S, on the XL1 and M15i this was near identical with the Ananda Nano, but with the Stealth the MX3S is the more resolving output in this particular area. The song where I can hear it best is Fink's Trouble's What You're In (Spotify Exclusive) as well as Com-On-A-My-House by Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. So yeah the XL1/M15i beat the desktop amps with the Ananda Nano, but with the Stealth it's back to the MX3S having the better quality in vocal timbre.

What a wild ride it's been since May LOL.
 
Placed an order for HiFiMan HE400se which are on offer at the moment. Never had Planar before but looking forward to seeing how they sound.
 
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