HIFIMAN Arya Organic Review: It’s Sort Of Like Expensive Mayonnaise

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Greetings mate and Welcome aboard!

Stuart Charles here, HomeStudioBasics.com helping YOU make sound decisions, so…

The Arya has always existed in somewhat of a strange realm. It’s definitely not mid-fi, but also doesn’t really represent Hi-Fi from an objective standpoint. Sure, it’s certainly a little better sounding than an Ananda in terms of overall resolution and timbre, but not to the tune of 3 or 4x the price. So it kind of sits in that high-end tier even though, in my opinion, it’s not quite there.

This is something I’ve adamantly harped on for years, and in 2024 the Arya Stealth’s price was slashed in half and then some. Originally retailing at $1,599, it now sits at around $600-$650 (Subject to change). A huge price cut and though part of the reason for that is the birth of the Arya Organic, the stealth homie was still neverrrrrr worth the original asking price and I never told people to buy it.

You’ll understand why towards the end, so stick around!

The Organic is an interesting headphone in that it’s around $400 cheaper at $1,200, but is it even worth that much?

Today we’ll unpack it all and help you make a sound buying decision.

Tip-toeing these headphones can be a bit tricky since prices are always fluctuating, but by the end of this article you’ll know if the Arya (in any form) is right for you; by first reviewing the Organic version and comparing it to the Stealth version (with the Ananda Nano thrown in for good measure).

We’ll cover everything from build, comfort, amplification needs, genre pairing, and more.

If neither of these is worth a purchase, I’ll point you in the direction of something that is.

Deal?

Cool.

Let’s dive in.

All specs, box contents, and pricing toward the end!

What is it?

If you’re brand-spankin’ new to the wonderful wide and wacky world of audiophile products, the Arya Organic is an open back, planar magentic headphone with HIFIMAN’s stealth magnets and nanometer thiccness diaphragm; contributing to its superior sound and excellent resolving power.

With an Impedance of 16Ω and a Sensitivity of 94dB, it’s pretty inefficient but still not terribly hard to drive at the end of the day.

Right now I’m using a FiiO K19 which is a bit of overkill, but the Arya works well with pretty much anything and everything I have lying around: the Universal Audio Volt 2, JDS ATOM 2, FiiO K7, K7 BT, HIFIMAN EF400, EF600, etc. Even something like a Go Link is pretty feasible given the super low Impedance, but I may not rely on it for full-time duties.

Build

The Arya Organic is built wonderfully, feels robust, and will hold up well over time. I say this possessing many years of experience with HIFIMAN products dating back to 2017, and though they’ve faced some QC challenges in the early days, most of them have been ironed out. These ranged anywhere from connection problems/sound cutting out to cheap headband yokes, but I haven’t had any issues since around 2019. 

That said, I will caution you about a couple of things right off the bat:

For whatever reason, so much as farting in the wrong direction may result in some nicks and scratches on the surface of the headphones. This can happen almost anywhere on any model, and it’s been a minor issue since I first heard the OG 400S.

And, even despite treating the headphones like a newborn baby, they still suffer from this issue. While not a dealbreaker by any means, it is rather annoying and should be mentioned since I know many people including myself can be pretty OCD about it.

In addition to that, the glue issue on the cups should always be mentioned out of sheer principle, but if you don’t swap pads often it won’t be a major dilemma.

Without going on a rant, I’ll just say that I wish they would manufacture the correct pads and include them in the price of the headphones rather than force people to pay Dekoni upwards of $80.

To me, that’s quite ridiculous, but I digress. The Dekoni pad below doesn’t need glue as it wraps around correctly:

So which one looks like an arts and crafts project?

Outside of these caveats, HIFIMAN headphones are built very well and hold up nicely over time per my experience.

The Arya Organic, like most of the line, includes a dual 3.5mm termination with a 1/4″ thicc Wendy’s Beefy Baconator jack at the business end.

The crystalline copper cable, while braided and durable, is incredibly stiff and holds its shape way too well. In other words, it’s not malleable, is hard to tame, and likes to get in the way. Another minor annoyance but should be noted.

The Arya’s overall design hearkens back to the OG Edition X and has remained largely unchanged over the years. Unlike the Ananda, the Arya’s cups rotate 360° and fold down. Many will love this feature and while I also enjoy it, the headphones can sometimes get pretty discombobulated and twisted around like an Annie’s pretzel.

That said, the matte black finish is wonderful and the wood accents are a nice touch.

The polyester/memory foam cups have become a mainstay, and the design follows the general shape and contours of the human ear. Cup depth is also very good and you won’t feel your ears touching the cloth that covers the drivers either.

The same deformed-looking Ostrich style headband makes another appearance, and the thin pad underneath supports most any sized melon quite well.

Moreover, the headband adjustments feel solid, and you’ll easily be able to get a nice fit. And, despite the Organic coming in at a whopping 440g, HIFIMAN has always done a fantastic job of evenly distributing the weight around and ensuring they never feel all that heavy in real-time.

Clamping force on the sides is just right, and because of the angled drivers, I’d recommend you push the headphones forward until the backs of the cups are touching the backs of your ears ever so slightly.

This will result in a more open, spacious sound while improving resolution and timbre to an extent.

While we’re dancing around the subject, how do they sound?

Sound

• DAC(s) Used: FiiO K19, K11, Universal Audio Volt 2, JDS ATOM 2.
• Playlist: Here and Here!
• Source(s): FLAC, Spotify, Prime, Max, PS4
• Games: Coming Soon.

The sound of the Arya has always been a subtle step up from an Ananda, and the Organic is no different although it’s an even bigger improvement; something we’ll discuss in a bit.

With fantastic resolution, realistic timbre, great separation of sounds, and plenty of air around instruments, the Organic is a breath of fresh air and sounds excellent.

Because of these things, it works well for almost any genre; excelling with Hip-Hop, Pop, Rock, Jazz, Classical, Folk/Acoustic, and almost anything in between.

Bass

As with all Ananda/Arya variants, the bass response mostly follows a flat line trajectory, and while the Ananda typically opts for a few dB roll-off, the Arya(s), generally speaking, don’t have any.

This is of little consequence as any information below around 40Hz isn’t perceptible to the human ear, but it should be noted.

That said, the Arya’s bass sounds accurate and correct while providing just the right amount of weight and impact. You’ll be able to hear bass lines in their entirety rather than just feel them, and the mid/high bass around the bloat regions of 200-300Hz avoids the pitfalls of most consumer trash that opts for a boost here rather than a cut.

HIFIMAN understands the low-end rather well, as this area is either flat or slightly scooped out; in effect rendering the entirety of the bass about as natural and organic as is realistically possible.

The frequencies around the most important region of the bass, roughly 60-90Hz, are also mostly flat, which is great news since HIFIMAN headphones typically respond pretty well to EQ.

Use your discretion and play around with it, but a boost in these areas is never a bad idea if your goal is to bang your head into a wall like an out-of-control bass head.

Mid-Range

The mid-range is also handled exceptionally well and better than a typical 400 series variant. This is because the gradual decline after 1kHz is less dramatic while also coming back up around 2-3kHz and sounding excellent for vocals and instruments.

Everything stands out nicely, and overall, the mids sound very natural. You won’t get that dull, sleepy, claustrophobic vibe as you would with say, a 400se or Sundara, as the fidelity and clarity of the mid-range is a cut above like Jersey Mike’s. 

Furthermore, there aren’t any glaring cuts or peaks in HIFIMAN mids, which contributes nicely to a lack of honk or resonance in some of these more sensitive areas. Likewise, an absence of sharp cuts means nothing ever feels overly recessed or distant. Moreover, everything is tonally correct, so do keep in mind that if the Organic sounds “bad” to you, it’s not the headphones but rather the source.

And I’m not talking about some silly rap magazine ALRIGHT?!

Treble

Treble on the Arya has always been darker than an Ananda, but the Organic is actually a bit brighter around 8kHz than an Arya Stealth.

It’s important to note that my Arya Stealth’s cups aren’t brand new, but you can still clearly hear the difference. The Organic is brighter overall, and to my surprise, it’s a fairly significant discrepancy.

The Stealth, by contrast, sounds almost laughably dark in comparison when A/B testing a track like K-DEF’s “Touching Realness.”

This beat provides a perfect hi-hat to compare, and the difference is easily distinguishable.

By and large, the sound of the Organic is also going to present itself as more open and spacious than an Ananda Nano, and for me, that’s the biggest difference between the 2 so far.

The Arya Stealth? It’s easily more subdued and laid back than both, and not as enjoyable if I’m being honest. The Organic’s treble, while bordering on essy at times (like an Ananda interestingly enough) represents a crisper, livelier sound overall and still doesn’t come across as sibilant or biting for the most part.

I’m actually quite flabbergasted at the difference between the Arya Stealth vs. Organic, and wasn’t expecting it at all.

To me, the Arya Stealth’s price getting slashed in half + more makes perfect sense now, but again, the pads likely have at least a little to do with it. Please keep in mind that I don’t listen to the Arya Stealth every single day as I have upwards of 20+ headphones here, so the pads, while by no means brand new, still don’t resemble a pancake by any stretch of the imagination.

To prove this, I measured both.

The cups at the thinnest part of the pad are 3/4″ thick on each, and just under an inch thick for the larger sides. So I’m inclined to think that the difference can mostly be attributed to the Organic’s superior tuning rather than solely a pad discrepancy.

Final Verdict

Considering the superior tuning of the Arya Organic vs. The Arya Stealth, it’s no wonder HIFIMAN decided to cut the price so drastically. I’m just glad I still have both to compare.

Even so, I never recommended the Arya Stealth at its original $1,600 tag as it was grossly overpriced then and still is now at $600-$650. This is especially damning when you consider it doesn’t sound nearly as good as an Organic, but is the Organic worth $1,200?

Sigh.

I’ll first say that I applaud HIFIMAN for adjusting the starting price down by roughly $400, but no, I still don’t think the Organic sounds $700-$800 better than the Ananda Nano at roughly $400-$500.

Update: The Organic has already come down to under $1000 at roughly $979 (Subject to change). As always, I will update this article to reflect any future price fluctuations.

The Nano is certainly more closed-in sounding than an Organic, with a bit less air, a tad worse separation, and maaaaybe ever so slightly worse resolution, but in no way does that mean you should drop everything and fork over an additional $500-$800 or however much it is. My impressions represent a somewhat subtle but still noticeable difference, but diminishing returns play a large role here so keep that in mind.

If you’re looking for that grand step up from mid-fi purgatory without having to burn a hole in your pocket, go for an Ananda variant (what I’ve always recommended as a step-up from mid-fi) and fist pump at checkout because you’ll certainly be doing a lot of laundry in the near future; if you catch my drift.

Which Ananda variant you ask?

Good question. I’ll tell you for the low low price of just kidding.

Right now the Nano is around $400, while the older Stealth is $359 (All prices are subject to change). Remember that they’re basically giving the Ananda away now as it originally retailed at $1000 in 2019.

I don’t currently have an Ananda Stealth here, but from what I remember, it’s going to be around the same sound give or take. My guess is that the “Nano” thicc diaphragm is even thinner than the Ananda Stealth’s (in effect improving resolution to a degree).

Now is that worth another $40? Sure HIFIMAN, I’m not going to bitch about 2 Jacksons, so here, have my money.

Learn More:

HIFIMAN Arya Organic

Price: Check Amazon!

In The Box

Specifications

• Frequency Response: 8Hz-65kHz
• Sensitivity: 94dB
• Impedance: 16Ω
• Weight: 440g

Well, that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve enjoyed this HIFIMAN Arya Organic Review and came away with some valuable insight.

Questions? Comments? Requests? Did I miss the mark on something? Please let me know down below or Contact me!!

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Is the Arya Organic worth the price? I would love to hear from you. Just keep it civil, alright mate? Until next time…

All the best and God bless,

-Stu

[Xtr@Ba$eHitZ]

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