Today, Louis reviews the HIFIMAN Arya Unveiled, a new grill-free or fully open driver iteration of the company’s popular planar driver headphones. They are priced at $1449.
Disclaimer: I received this sample in exchange for my honest opinion. Headfonics is an independent website with no affiliate links or status. I thank the team at HIFIMAN for their support.
Click here to read more about the HIFIMAN products previously reviewed on Headfonics.
This article follows our current scoring guidelines, which you can read in more detail here.
We recently covered the HIFIMAN Unveiled line of headphones, including the Susvara Unveiled and the HE1000 Unveiled. Today, we will cover the third edition and the baby of the bunch thus far, the Arya Unveiled.
The HIFIMAN Arya headphone series is one that I’m fond of and familiar with. I’ve owned almost every version, and the only one I have never owned I had the privilege to listen to at home for over a month as a loaner.
The previous Arya release was the Organic, which many consider the best value model, including myself. Now, it’s a scary proposition to revise one of HIFIMAN’s most revered headphones, but they did it, nonetheless.
One can shine a positive light on the HIFIMAN Unveiled concept because, until now, it has not disappointed. However, off the bat, I can tell that this implementation has transformed the Arya, more so compared to the other changes made to previous models within the Arya line.
Features
The HIFIMAN Unveiled concept attempts to solve planar magnetic driver refraction issues by removing the rear grill altogether. However, the magnetic structure is the only layer of protection for the planar magnetic diaphragm, and one must handle these with care.
In this model, the Arya Unveiled, the rear magnets are closely spaced to each other, providing a small layer of protection, comparatively to the Susvara Unveiled, for example.
The inner magnetic array only uses a one-to-four magnet ratio and spaces them wider apart, leaving wider gaps, naturally avoiding refractions on the output side of the diaphragm since the sound waves will have less to bump into on the way out.
That, and the added breathability, seems to be the novelty of the HIFIMAN Unveiled driver design. It uses a dual-sided magnetic array, yes, but the design takes advantage of both single-array and dual-array magnet design virtues.
The Arya Unveiled uses HIFIMAN’s Nano thick film diaphragm, and it looks as if they used silver in the traces, but it could be aluminum, I can’t say.
One thing I noted is that the traces are dense and tight. It seems HIFIMAN is improving on the manufacturing end, and gone are the wrinkled traces. Manufacturing seems to have been tightened up.
Design
HIFIMAN is sticking to its guns on the original Arya design. The Arya Unveiled uses the same cup size, the same headband, the same ear pads, and the same diaphragm size.
This is good since these pads are easily replaced and readily available, but the headband needs protecting since they’re difficult to replace.
The yokes are solid and made of metal. They’re on the thin side of the coin, but that gives them a sleek look. They seem strong enough to withstand the test of time and some light abuse.
The back side of the cups can be covered with the included magnetic veil covers. I would not recommend storing these without the covers.
I don’t recommend using these with the covers on because they sound horrible with them on, plus that will also add weight to the overall package. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it’s the price of admission.
Comfort
The HIFIMAN Arya Unveiled is a lightweight headphone at 413 grams, which is not bad. The magnetic veils seem to weigh more than the headphones themselves.
HIFIMAN went with the same bend on the spring steel from the other Arya headphones, and the result is that these have the same amount of clamping force as the other versions.
The pads seem to be made with softer and faster-reacting foam that makes them more comfortable compared to the original two Arya models, which were already comfy and wearable for hours but came with stiffer pads.
I don’t feel any excess pressure wearing these for hours, and they also have nothing within the cups that protrude enough to touch my ears.
Stock Pads
I think HIFIMAN is tweaking the comfort levels of these pads, not so much with the materials used on the outside to make the pads, but the internal foam, which seems slightly softer.
I still feel that quality needs to be improved upon. I know these pads will do the same as they usually do because they’re made of the same material as always and in the same manner. They will separate themselves from the mounting ring, and a new set will be needed in less than a year.
HIFIMAN also changed the mounting system on this model, which makes it harder to obtain replacement pads. Regardless, these are some of the most comfortable pads out there, and any ear will fit comfortably inside those large 160mm pads.
Stock Cable
I’m surprised that this time around, HIFIMAN gave us a decently constructed cable. It’s their Monocrystalline cable wrapped in fabric.
It’s a five-footer with decent connectors, especially the 3.5mm connectors, which are metal and painted black and sport some gold-plated connectors.
The only problem here is that the cable is fitted with a fixed 6.35mm plug with strain relief, and there’s no step-down. In other words, there is no 3.5mm connectivity or any other type of connectivity included inside the box.
I understand that this is a headphone designed to be enjoyed at home, but this hinders connectivity and will force many to outsource another cable, adding expense to the final cost of the product.
The good aspect is that, aside from HIFIMAN, a ton of aftermarket cables are available from several places, and you can also use a Meze Audio cable (Liric II) since they use similar connectivity. They use a common positive tip and negative sleeve configuration.
Packaging & Accessories
The best part of HIFIMAN’s packaging is that they’ve converted the packaging foam innards into a usable headphone stand with HIFIMAN branding upfront. This stand also holds the headphones in place during transport inside the large box.
I’m all for simple, bare-bones packaging if it saves on the total cost of the product and complies with Amazon’s eco-packaging rules, so while I was expecting a bit more from the unboxing experience at this price tier, I understand why that is not the case here.
The Arya Unveiled comes with one cable plus two magnetic back plate covers. Four cloth sacks, two to cover the drivers during transport and the other two to transport the covers.
Sound Impressions
Some of the HIFIMAN DAC amplifier combo models, like the EF400 and the EF600, were used to obtain a good sense of the HIFIMAN house sound. The SMSL SU-X and the SH-X combo were also used.
I used the stock cable when I could, but I also used Meze Audio’s 3.5mm silver-plated mono cable with the 4.4mm balanced connector and one of HIFIMAN’s own Monocrystalline cables with an XLR termination borrowed from the Audivina.
Summary
What I thought would turn out to be the brightest Arya from HIFIMAN turned out to be the most balanced of the series and probably the smoothest. Gone is the ultra-bright presentation in exchange for a more balanced upper region.
Although the top end is still pronounced, it doesn’t have the high amount of vividness that HIFIMAN Arya cans are notorious for. It seems like HIFIMAN litigated a couple of peaks, mostly in the upper midrange and lower high-frequency ranges.
There seems to be some forwardness in the midrange area, but it can be attributed to the low intensity of the bass response, which is south of neutral at times in its stock tuning, a characteristic carried from the other Arya siblings.
The detail is what the Arya Unveiled brings to the table over the others in the series. Particularly within the vocal ranges. I was listening to an original master of Moody Blues, and Justin Hayward’s Tuesday Afternoon was brought forth with added detail and emotion in his vocalization unheard on previous Aryas.
In other words, the Arya Unveiled is tuned to be an enjoyable listen with lots of structure and enough revelation to be good for those who like to monitor and like detail but don’t want to sacrifice musicality.
Bass
The bass response is deep and controlled and seems flat all the way through and past the midbands. I prefer rich, fuller bass, and these do need a couple of decibels added to the low end to get me going, but that’s my personal preference.
Once you boost the bass, the Arya Unveiled can produce a nice punch and supply lots of bass rumble. You can take these to a point where they can rattle your cheeks.
I almost made the mistake of feeling negative or unfulfilled about how neutral the bass response was at first, but those familiar with the Arya line know that bass is not their forte.
However, this set can produce a bass response that is tight, responsive, and potent enough to sound enjoyable on bass-heavy tracks while simultaneously keeping the bass isolated so it doesn’t disturb the rest of the frequency bands. It’s what I call clean bass.
The stock tuning is tuned to produce neutral but tactile bass. But the one aspect I like the most is the omnipresence of the bass, which fills your headspace with bass, a typical characteristic of the HIFIMAN Asymmetrical driver.
Midrange
The Arya Unveiled produces the best midrange in the series. It’s balanced, close to flat-lined, and manages to give way to a ton of detail. The midrange is transparent and natural sounding and has a natural tonality attributed to the driver’s high breathability.
The midrange response is linear, more so compared to the other Arya headphones. The midrange is well-controlled, textured, and sweet-sounding.
They’re not as forward as the Organic’s mids, but not as distant sounding as on the V2. The vocals have a nice amount of presence. You can say the water is just right this time.
I didn’t notice any major peaks or any funkiness, although the Aryas is not a line that is notorious for peaks in the midrange except for the first two variants, which had a couple of higher-than-average peaks.
The Arya Unveiled variant is restrained but retains correct contiguity, which produces a realistic performance most of the time.
That last phrase was stated because the Arya Unveiled is not as forgiving as some of its siblings in that if there are flaws in recordings, those issues will rear their heads, and when listening at loud volume levels, that can break the enjoyment chain.
The midrange area produces all the elements and hands them to you on separate platters, and there’s a sense of localization and resolve that’s only surpassed by the bigger brother, the HE1000 Unveiled.
Treble
The treble response is well-extended and crisp. I would say that this is one of the areas this Arya variant improves on. It produces more sparkle and high frequencies that are resolute, airy, and uncolored.
On some of the Aryas, the treble response seems elevated, but again, the Arya Unveiled variant has a better high-frequency extension capability, and it still manages to keep the highs in better balance with the rest of the spectrum.
One could say that the Arya Unveiled is the darkest of the bunch, but that’s not to say that I’m calling it a dark-sounding headphone because that would be a mistake.
The overall signature is a bright presentation, but HIFIMAN was able to manage a sweeter tonality that, although not forgiving, manages to remain pleasingly revealing.
Staging & Dynamics
The HIFIMAN Arya Unveiled produces a holographic stage that’s large and precise. It falls between the larger-sounding Arya V2 and the Organic in size and retains some of the other two’s good traits.
It’s not ultra-wide, sounding like the soundstage on the V2, but it’s wide indeed. It brings in vocals closer, which gives them a sense of intimacy. At the same time, they supply lots of 3-dimensional information, even rear projecting with lots of depth and height.
You would have to step up to the HE1000 Unveiled for a wider soundstage with the same amount of focus or even more so.
When it comes to soundstage, the Arya Unveiled is as good as it gets in this price range, and lots of talk on the net says that these will be good enough for most, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Click on page 2 below for my recommended pairings and selected comparisons.
