Meze Empyrean vs Hifiman Arya

[@literaltimbre]

I’m starting to find a common trend when it comes to the Arya. People, including myself, start out loving it but eventually get to a point where we find it somewhat fatiguing for longer listening periods ( I never thought of them as being too bright though ). And like others, I started gravitating to headphones that are described as being more “enjoyable” and “relaxing” such as the Empyreans and perhaps ZMF Aeolus. Instead of switching to yet another headphone, I was lucky enough to try the Aryas with tubes and after some tube rolling, have now achieved a great listening experience without the fatigue that used to be there. In any case, everyone’s setup will be different but for me, Arya is still a great headphone that continues to bring smiles to my face. :) We’ll see how and if this changes once I receive my Verite Closed. 🤔

[@techjourney5383]

Thanks for sharing! Which amp did you pair Arya with?

[@literaltimbre]

Tech Journey Went with these for good balance of price and specs. www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33305. Paired with Denafrips Ares DAC.

[@gauravgoel8092]

Would you please comment if Arya with ifi Gryphon would sound fatiguing in long hours listening...

[@johnccl1963]

@@gauravgoel8092 I would suggest looking at the new Arya v2 versus the v1. From what I've read, it appears to be more forgiving and thus probably less fatiguing. I no longer own the Arya and have upgraded to a HEKv2 which is amazing.

[@gauravgoel8092]

@@johnccl1963 Hello John, thanks for the points. Actually I was more interested in Arya v3 which is stealth magnet version. Im also aware that v2 was very good instead of v1. But in my area v2 is not available, only v3 is. Most of the people have praised Arya v3 (stealth) even considering it asend game headphones (as per budget), but I have read about its over brightness in sound. I was also much intetested in HEv2 but that is too high for my budget so only option left is Arya v3 or any other in the same range. So my point is if Gryphone would add some extra warmness and reduce brightness (which reviews says it does), would it be a good pair, based on someones own experience. Thanks much

[@BrentLeVasseur]

I have the Hifiman Sundaras which are my daily driver for using with my AudioQuest Cobalt DAC plugged into my iPad pro and love that combo. And then I have the Hifiman Aryas for the desktop connected to a tube head amp the WooAudio WA7 and into my M1 Mac Mini and that sounds fricken phenomenal. I don’t experience any fatigue whatsoever with that combo and it has all the goodness of tube holographics and top end sparkle without any noise or distortion. I highly recommend the WooAudio WA7 head amp with the Aryas.

[@user-rd4cl1bq6n]

I personally think the best matching for Meze Empyrean is Hugo tt2. It has that crazy detail and staging.

[@techjourney5383]

I’m interested in this pairing so may try it out some day. Thanks for the feedback!

[@cool28990]

I thought hugo 2 is not revealing like tt or tt2. It's like LCD x and LCD2c.

[@user-rd4cl1bq6n]

@@cool28990 I mean if you consider the price it has lack of staging and detail compare to tt2 but still hugo 2 is great dac. TT2 is just a monster.

[@MFHRaptor]

@@user-rd4cl1bq6n I've had the opportunity to try the Hugo 2, and then the TT2 afterwards. The headphones I tried were the Focal Clear and HiFiMan Arya. Truly an eye opening experience going from one to the other. I can't describe it, but there was grandeur to the stage, albeit naturalness was never lost.

[@picklesandufos7860]

Nah, the very best for Empyrean is the Burson Composer 3XP/Soloist 3XP stack, with a Silverdragon cable

[@kenshex666]

Damn it, you spent too much money in headphones. Thanks for actually creating a review of them! So we mortals can dream of having one of them haha.

[@SuperInternetuser]

Would you say that when running a seperate DAC anyway there is a difference between the HDV 820 and the HDVD 800? The latter costs about half the price of the former right now, and I read a lot about claims that the only improvement is the inbuilt DAC.

[@pascaljean2333]

Check out the X8 magic dac. It had swappable opamps. You can go detailed or more smooth signatures at minimal cost

[@combojohn7953]

Absolutely agree!👍

[@russb3n]

Thanks for your review and heads up on the Arya. Because the Arya was on my top 3 list to buy next. The others are ZMF Verite and Abyss 1266 Phi TC. I currently own the Meze Empyrean, Utopia, Z1R, and HD800. I also have owned many many DACS and Qutest was the last one I sold I felt it was off on the overall voicing side of it. Meaning the singers voice was coming through any headphone or speakers like 70% up front while the instruments were 30% recessed. Although it was very clean and detailed I just didn’t like it. I had a the Schiit Yggdrasil current version which is awesome but I would say it leans midrange forward. If you get a chance try the Holo Audio Spring 2 KTE version extremely detailed and like the Empyrean gives you 99% without fatigue. As of today I’m running the Chord Dave > Violectric V281 > Empyreans = Great Detail & Impact? My other favorite is Chord Dave > Feliks Euforia 4 x Gold Lion KT88’s > Utopia = Heaven very detailed, airy, life like sound. I own allot of Sony’s products as well but I have not tried that unit to the left.

[@techjourney5383]

Thanks for the great feedback! I’m very curious about the Dave vs Qutest vs Hugo TT2 and find it interesting that you run a separate amp even though you have the Dave. I don’t know why, but I have learned that I prefer running my DAC’s through preamps/amps with high quality analog volume controls. Would you say that the Dave has a richer and fuller sound than the Qutest? I only liked the Qutest with the one Empyrean setup that I showed in the video. I wasn’t that impressed when running it with my speaker setup.

[@russb3n]

@@techjourney5383 I agree with the Emp/Qutest combo, I feel with the Empyrean further back voicing and the Qutest forward voicing made it come out as normal. Before buying the Dave I tried many many DACS TT2/w MScaler, Qutest/w MScaler, dCS Bartók w/Headphone Amp but in the end the Dave comes across effortlessly. The Dave’s headphone section is good but lacks in putting out the instruments details in my opinion. Everything comes out flat sounding when using the Dave’s headphone section. But the V281 gives you a overall better instruments separation and each instruments can be louder giving you a holographic sound. Keep the video’s coming love them

[@techjourney5383]

Thanks again for the great feedback!

[@dontwatchmydoomvideos]

I gotta know, Meze Empyrean vs Focal Utopia?

[@russb3n]

@@dontwatchmydoomvideos Utopia’s for me but require high end gear around it. But just sold them today to fund my Abyss 1266 Phi TC. I also sold the Empyrean as well for my Susvara’s which are the very best. But I going back to the Utopia’s need good equipment around it like a Feliks Euforia OTL Amp. The Empyrean can pair easily with anything and sound good, but stay away from the included suede pads and use the all leather pads just sounds amazing and very important they can play ALL MUSIC GENRES well.

[@GodfreyMann]

Interesting - just wondering if you ever tried EQ-ing the Arya's to roll of the highs to make them less fatiguing? I'm really loving the bass on the Arya's for classical and jazz, so much so that I'll need to get a subwoofer with my LS50s, because I can tell what they're lacking!

[@techjourney5383]

I tried EQ in Roon a couple of times but got tired of turning it on and off. I found some headphone + DAC + amp combinations that didn’t require any eq, and made it super easy when I’d switch over to my LS50’s😊 I am a huge fan of LS50 + REL subs like T7i or R218. I have a Kef KF92 on order so will likely post a video to share thoughts about the pairing soon.

[@GodfreyMann]

Tech Journey I’ve used Roon’s EQ to boost the bass on my LS50’s to emulate what I hear on the Arya’s, but I’m a bit worried of damaging them so I’ve been eyeing up the T7i. I just remembered you’ve been using the Rag2 with your LS50s...

[@jsharp9735]

Can detail also mean resolution ?

[@46kyleb]

Hi there, I've got the arya, z1r and hd800s, I'm running them on a hdv820 but I think it's time to invest in a stand alone dac, would you recommend the qutest over the multibit schiit yggdrasil?

[@techjourney5383]

Sorry I have never tried the Yggdrasil but hear great things. I think the Arya’s and hd800’s deliver great detail and worry they may not be a great match with Qutest because it also delivers great detail, in other words it is not considered a “smooth” sounding dac in my opinion and others. Please let us know what you end up going with because I know at least I am curious about your experience so sure others will be too!

[@user-xd9br7dx6n]

@@techjourney5383 So I went in a slightly different direction, I got the mjolnir and gungnir multibit stack and oh my. I've already started ordering different vacuum tubes to experiment with. The stock tubes have blown me away, but I would still like to try the more premium/sought after tubes to see if they live up to the hype. The HD800s sound a tad warmer on this setup (I love it), and I can say that I finally found an amp that can drive the Arya without breaking a sweat. I think once I get the empyrean, my end-game setup will be complete (at least for a few years). Cheers!

[@techjourney5383]

Thanks for sharing the feedback!

[@emadwolf10]

Hi I'm interested in buying the arya although I'm in UAE if shipping is not a problem I'm interested.

[@sklazy6723]

I live in uae , I am currently selling my arya on dubbizle if you interested 😇

[@blejzerosamigos6115]

Let me know if want to sell the Arya I would be interested, thanks

[@GodfreyMann]

What're your plans for your 2-channel system?

[@techjourney5383]

Looking at Hegel H390, H590, Luxman 590axii, PS Audio BHK, Kef reference, Kef R series, Magnepan, and some of the higher end REL subs.

[@GodfreyMann]

Tech Journey lovely short list...will be hard to choose! Does this mean you’re selling your LS50s as well?

[@techjourney5383]

Nope. I finally have my LS50’s dialed in😊 this is for another system

[@Abraxus34]

I listened to both of these headphones. and didnt like any of them! No enjoyable at all. lcd x audeze sounds much much more quality than these headphones. But they are too heavy and big! not comfortable for me.

[@techjourney5383]

Interesting considering they both very well reviewed in the market. Do you recall which DAC and amp you tried them with? I found it necessary to find just the right equipment pairings for each to make magic happen with them😊

[@fastguitars4380]

Disagree.