HIFIMANArya Stealth Magnet Version Full-Size Over-Ear Planar Magnetic Headphone for Audiophiles/Studio

$600 is the new $500 headphone, and the Arya Stealth is so worth the upgrade over both the Ananda Nano and the Edition XS (or anything else under 600). I just tried them all after a zillions hours watching video reviews over and over.The Edition XS was a disappointment for me after seeing such super glowing video reviewd. The bass was muddy, the detail wasn't on the level I expected, and overall, the sound wasn't worth the effort to EQ. Honestly, they sounded "almost" as good as the AirPods Pro 2 — which are fun and musical, but definitely not high-end headphones. the tuning had vocals sound too far away and i wanted to turn the music up to hear that, but made highs and lows too loud. worst thing is I couldn't get over how uncomfortable to wear, and I bought a 3rd party comfort strap, but decided to return.The Ananda Nano was a noticeable step up in clarity, comfort and technical performance. I would have been happy with them—until I tried the Arya. What most reviewers are saying between these two are accurate. The Nano is analytical, where it was hard to just relax and enjoy the music, except when on my too overly warm ifi zen can dac. They’d be great for mixing or reference listening, but less so for hours of pleasure listening. You notice you've had them on after about an 45 minutes. That said, they were much better than the XS and almost similar level of Arya.The Arya Stealth, I’m so glad I decided to give them a try - almost didn't. They were immediately more comfortable, felt more premium in build, and the sound was slightly more detailed than the Nano but also more musical and easy to listen to. The increase in price jump was very worth it for the performance upgrade and is a step up from the Nano.They don’t play well with my OTL tube amp, but they pair beautifully with my iFi Zen DAC and Hiby DAP. Where they truly sound "magical" is with my $120 hybrid Class A Apos Gremlin tube amp with Ray Select tubes - the sound will keep you up all night listening to just-one-more-track. Female vocals, hi-hats, and snares just come alive and sparkle with richness and rolling off those achy highs. The sound stage is wide and expansive as I would want - not intimate at all - which is what I was looking for.This was the absolute most I was willing to spend, and I feel like I found what I was looking for: a great deal on a high-quality performing musical planar headphone that I’ll be using regularly with my hybrid amp and DAP for music. I use other gear for gaming with a smaller sound stage. Never say Never, but I may not get another lanar . I may EQ later, but even stock, I'm very satisfied.Paired with the hybrid tube/class A amp really adds magic to female voices and that awesome sound from hihats and snare drums. Really wide sounding - not intimate at all. This is the most I wanted to spend and I feel I found what I was looking for, a great deal on a new set of high quality and musical HiFi planar headphones that will get a lot of regular use from a hybrid amp for music. Very satisfied.

My headphone journey began back in the late 90's when I spent what I considered an outrageous amount of money on a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones. At the time I was working a second shift job and getting home after work at around 12:30 am. My wife was working during the daytime so I needed a quality pair of headphones so that I could listen to music without waking her by turning on the stereo. So about a year after buying these headphones we welcomed our son into the world and certainly they would be even more important to me because I didn't want to wake the baby, either.Fast forward just about one year later and our boy was on the verge of learning to walk. He could stand up by holding onto table tops and such but he wasn't yet walking and one day I left the house to go to work and left them on my desktop. Somehow my precious little man got his meat hooks on them and they wound up in the bottom of the dishwasher. His little "experiment" didn't work out so well!Over the years I have amassed 22 pairs of headphones. I've sold several of them, too. I own some that are less expensive than the Arya, and some that cost more. I've got to say, I'm really impressed with this headphone. In fact, at $599 the Arya stealth has to be one of the best bargains in audio. Consider this... $600 IS a considerable amount of money to spend on a headphone, but at the same time, three years ago this headphone was selling for $1600.I own the HFM Sundara, and it's still a nice sounding headphone, but I have a few issues with them, notably the build quality and lack of swiveling earcups. The overall feeling of the Sundara when held in my hand is one of being pretty cheap. And to be honest I was concerned that the Arya would feel cheap as well. It doesn't. The build quality is superb. When placed on the head it feels lightweight and very comfortable for extended listening sessions. The earpads are giant, no doubt, and I can feel them kind of irritating me just a bit in the jaw area below the ear while laying down. It's not a big deal but worth noting.So how do they sound? Well, I'm not going to dazzle you with all kinds of superlatives. They sound glorious. They sound BIG and expansive. Feed them a terrific recording and you will be rewarded in a big way. Feed them a lousy recording and they are going to tell you how terrible it is. They leak sound in a great big way so these aren't for the morning commute or for listening on an airplane. And if your significant other is in the same room with you, that might not go over so well, either. This is NOT a headphone to wear at the gym or while out walking. It's a great BIG headphone and you will look like a dork outdoors. Personally I'd only wear it outside if sitting on the patio where I'm not going to be seen by the masses. I'm not so vain that it would bother me if my neighbor saw me with them on.I don't consider myself an audiophile in the truest sense, I am a music enthusiast. I care ONLY about how a headphone or a stereo system sounds to my own ears. If a product sounds so good to my own ears that it can elicit emotion it's a keeper and in that context the Arya stealth delivers in spades. For many this level of performance will be their endgame. Feed these with the Ibasso Nunchaku DAC/Amp in tube mode if used in a portable rig, or feed it with a good quality desktop tube amp and they really shine. I use a Woo Audio WA6, Little Dot MKII on the tubes as well as a Burson Audio Conductor 3 Performance or Earmen CH-Amp with it’s included PS3 Linear Power Supply, along with the other two parts of the stack, the Tradutto and the Staccotto DAC and Streamer. The Arya Stealth, as well as all of my other headphones sound fabulous on good gear.