Definition, layering and clarity are phenomenal while words like masking, mid bass bloat and muddiness are completely unknown to the Arya, you can clearly hear every single instrument and the faintest of the notes no matter how busy the bass line is. It can drive my R70x to extremely loud volumes without reaching max volume and without noticable distortion on high gain. Excluding very dynamic Romantic music (which is quiet by design) it drives every genre to loud levels (it reaches 110dB peak SPL even for bass which is more than enough headroom). If it drives the R70x it can drive these.

Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. For Sara Schweiger, a 9-5 spent listening to and writing about amazing audio gear never feels like work.In terms of technical ability, both of these headphones equally trade blows. Both have large, diffuse soundstages, great imaging, and effortless resolution. The HD800S is a little more resolving, with superb low level detail retrieval ability. Though the HD800S has a dynamic driver, it isn’t actually that much more dynamic than the Arya in the bass. It does have a lengthier decay compared to the tightly defined transients of the Arya but in terms of bass quality, I’d say they’re interchangeable. But apparently there are people who like these for whatever reasons I can not understand. Certainly not because they play instruments and/or know how they sound in real live. The Focal Clear Mg is another beast at the same price range but this time the sound signature differences from the Arya are quite pronounced.

I have not heard the Arya Stealth yet but I’d be surprised if it remotely as good as this review makes it sound. Arya Stealth Magnets is constructed from metal and high-grade plastic, which lends both sturdiness and light weight to the headphone (it's 404g, or about 14 ounces). The head strap is perfectly comfortable but the fabric on the underside is slightly bunchy, which seemed odd to me, but that's a minor detail. However, since I prefer neutral-sounding headphones, whether it’s warm-leaning or a bit bright, I don’t think the Arya is overly bright. To my ears, it has a good amount of treble extension, without being sibilant or too edgy or too analytical. After a slight bump on its 8Khz frequency, it drops to 9Khz. I think this is why it doesn’t get too “hot” or fatiguing to the ears. Arya vs LCD-X Fast forward today, although the Ether Flow is still considered a high-end planar headphone, there are now “better-sounding” or more competitive headphones in the market. And I think the Hifiman Arya is one of them. The Arya has better details, clarity, and transparency than the Ether Flow. But to my ears, the Ether Flow has more bass presence and sounds fuller, warmer than the Arya Stealth. Price and Availability The Arya is youthfully fresh, alive, sparkling and agile, with excellent treble extension but still smooth and well behaved.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. I didn’t dismantle the driver even though it uses a standard Phillips screw. Some parts in the driver area are plastic, and I don’t want to damage the driver. I put a light on the other side of the driver and you can see the magnets through the screen covering. The driver inside measures 65mm x 100mm, and it is said to be larger than the driver used on the Sundara or Ananda. Overall Build Quality and Comfort