Hifiman Arya Organic's Review - A different flavour

 

General/Build/Comfort/Packaging

Having tested and reviewed the Arya Stealth previously and having both the Stealth and Organic with me, how does the Organic perform compared to the Stealth? Let us find out in this review. The Arya Organic’s design and build quality is more or less similar, with the exception of Arya Organic’s earcup which has a wood grain finishing rather than metal. The differences between the two are easily distinguishable, other than that, the overall structure is almost identical, including the earcup’s size.  In terms of comfort, Arya Organic is comfortable to use for long listening session, clamping force is just right for me, taking into the consideration of my head’s size, which is quite small, i do not need any adjustment on the position of the earcups as it is able to cover my ears completely due to the design of the earcups.

Packaging wise, most headphones from Hifiman share the same kind of packaging box. Cable, as well as a headphone stand is included for both, though it is missing a balanced cable which is a shame in my opinion, but I guess this won’t change anytime soon as I believe this has been mentioned by most of the reviewers out there for many years, not really a major issue anyway as i have plenty of balanced cable at my disposal.

Gears used for this review

• Earmen Tradutto -> Earmen CH-Amp

• Nipo A100

• Aune S9c Pro -> Aune N7

• xDuoo XD05T

• Arya Organic using stock cable and earpads

Foreword

My review is solely based on what I hear via my equipment and I never consider my reviews to be objective in any way rather a subjective approach. Do take into consideration that everyone’s ear anatomy is not the same, so the psychoacoustics perception might be different as well, but i believe it will not stray too far

Sound Impression

Arya Organic has been put through a burn in station for roughly 100+ hours, to my ears, there are some noticeable changes in terms of treble, bass, but that’s just me, for those who don't believe in burn-in, skip this part please.

To my ears, Arya Organic is leaning towards a more slightly colored sound while still remaining technically capable. Note weight is good and it doesn’t sound thin overall. Timbre performance is close to natural as well due to the nature of the tuning being slightly warm.

Bass

• The bass on Arya Organic has good extension and deep rumble, but of course, it is not a bass head set once again

• Mid bass has good punch and thick body without bloating and creeping to the lower mids

• In terms of speed, Arya Organic does have fairly good control and tight for the bass, in some track where there are a lot of speed drumming, every punch can be felt and it’s satisfying

Mids

• The mids on Arya Organic is slightly fuller sounding compared to the Stealth variant , male vocal sounds full and with good texture, female vocal however is slightly lacking lacking in terms of energy due to a tamer upper mids

• As i mentioned above, upper mids are generally safe to my ears and not certainly not shouty

• Details in this range are good for the asking price

Treble

• Arya Organic’s treble has good extension, at the same time it does not sound overwhelming nor overly energetic to the point where it feels fatiguing to listen

• Due to the slightly warmer tuning, cymbals doesn’t sound thin and harsh, in fact it has got good texture

• It also has good amount of air and presence to not make the track sounding compressed

Soundstage/Imaging

• Arya Organic’s staging size is slightly more intimate sounding, slightly lacking in terms of width but with good depth and height perception, imagine the artist being say 4-5 steps away from you

• Imaging remains a strong point for Arya Organic, pin point accuracy, even in complex track where instruments are playing from left to right and vice versa, you’d be able to pin point where it’s coming from

Driveability

• In terms of driveability, Arya Organic is not that hard to drive compared to Arya Stealth, high end dongle such as Nipo A100 works quite well, as well as xDuoo XD05T, although not maximising the potential compared to desktop setup, but i’d say its at about 80% compared to desktop setup

• Switching over to my desktop stack, Earmen’s Stack and Aune, both offers different kind of listening experience, Earmen’s tuning is more reference sounding, offering better extension on both the lows and highs without coloring the sound too much, Aune’s stack gives the Organic more warmth and slightly lifting the lows and gives the overall track more body

Comparison between Arya Stealth and Arya Organic

• Arya Stealth to my ears sound more reference and analytical in terms of tuning, lacking the “fun” factor

• Arya Organic sports the “fun” factor, with added weight in the bass range, as well as the mids, while retaining the airiness as well as extension of the treble from the Arya Stealth

• Both sports similar design language and build quality

• Personally, to me the Arya Organic is more of a all rounder based on my listening preference, it can be used for multimedia consumption as well, Arya Stealth works very well with genres such as classical, jazz, as well as acoustics tracks, it can be used for multimedia consumption as well, but it will lack the impact in the bass region especially in scenes like explosions or shooting

Final Thoughts

The Arya Organic does not serve as a replacement for Arya Stealth, rather, it is being introduced as a different flavor of Arya in my opinion.

As i have mentioned earlier, the build quality, design and the size is almost identical with the change mainly resides in the tuning, one offers a reference and near analytical tuning(Arya Stealth), while another one offers a tuning that is generally considered to be more focused on listening pleasure rather than behaving like a monitoring tool (Arya Organic).

In my opinion, you won’t go wrong with either one, it ultimately depends on your preference, both are great headphones and both of them definitely deserve a recommendation! My personal preference is leaning towards the Organic.

*The Hifiman Arya Organic was sent over by Hifiman for the purpose of this review, I received no monetary compensation nor was I influenced in any way to produce this review.

If you are interested in getting a pair, head over to their official store to grab one now! Both are currently on sale with substantial discount at the time of writing!

Hifiman Arya Organic - Non Affiliated