What kind of chain do you have? Thereās a lot of good used sales out there right now that can make it way more difficult to answer.
Here and headfi for used gear and the atom stack with going Arya or HE1K would be very neutral id prefer something a little warmer for hifiman but thatās my tastes.
What kind of budget are you working with?
Shameless plug but a really interesting headphone would be my kennerton Gh50s JM that I have for sale. The horn loaded design gives a forward but wide sound for a closed back headphone.
Yeah I donāt want to go down the rabbit hole of amps with different flavors just yet. Works just fine for me for now until I run into something that it canāt power well.
Probably a budget of under $1K. I originally had in mind some Focal Clears or Elex, Meze 109 Pro or HD800s if I could find a good price on them. Typically prefer openbacks if I am going over ears.
Definitely try the 109s out they come up from time to time on sale at stores or used for $500. I tend to stay away from focal after to many DOA pairs and focal doesnāt want to touch elex for warranty.
If youāre into iems give the Theiaudio monarch MK3 and 64 Audio U4s/duo a try pretty good wow factors for those but they put you right at the edge of your budget.
Hm I will have to look into that Focal Elex warranty thing I know some runs have driver issues. I just got into IEMs with the ea500lm and f1 pro to see what all the ābang for your buckā talk was about. I am not sure how I feel about spending so much on small iems but I have considered a few models around the 500 dollar mark such as the hype 4 and mega5est.
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Definitely look into it cause I got really upset when focal wouldnāt even help source drivers.
To me the butter zones for iems is less than $100 and then kilobuck range specially if you find a great used pair. They really start competing with over ear cans at that price point.
Sort of looking for the same answer, but also sidegrade.
Last year I purchased the Edition XS but sold it earlier this year because I grew tired of the headband. I donāt consider myself to be a small head at all but even on the lowest position it still didnāt sit correctly on my ears. I have quite long listening sessions and it became uncomfortable. Also it felt loose, like if I shaked my head it felt the thing could fall of.
Soundwise I really liked the Edition XS and having issues finding a good replacement.
Damn what model did that apply to? Just the elex?
and @JeroenNietDoen for the price we paid for the xs last year you can get a refurb/open box arya for about the same price so maybe that is the direction you should go if the headband was the biggest issue for you. Thankfully for me it isnāt so I can reap all the sound quality benefits for a lower price like with their new mini shangri-la if I so choose.
Yeah the elex when they were sold by drop, after my second pair arrived DOA I got a third that last right till the warranty period ended and then I was left high and dry. Iām on the second pair of bathys but audio46 helped me out with the first pair without any hassle.
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Just a heads up if the Arya V3 is the one you are referencing. If you listen to a lot of music that benefits from the headphone having a decent amount of slam and sub bass grunt, then Arya V3 might disappoint you. It is also very source chain dependent as to its actual sound. Just wanted to give you a heads up, I own the Arya V3 and enjoy it, but I have other headphones to complement/compensate for its weakness.
Yeah I donāt remember how the non-stealth and v2 stacks up with bass or even the new organic but in general I know that isnāt the main reason to get the arya. The edition xs just so happened to do low end fairly well compared to other models and be at a price point I was ok with jumping into hi-fi at.
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Just wanted to make sure you were aware. A lot of people who are disappointed with their Arya purchase are normally those who jumped in jumped in blind.
The Arya V3 is a great headphone when it comes to scaling up with better gear. So it will evolve as your setup does.
BTW you can upgrade the headband, i did the conversion to the Sundara headband for about 20-30$ off aliexpress, makes the headphone way better, though you do have to lock the vertical adjustment (i found that with the Xs the gaint ear cups give a lot of freedom)
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Do you have a link to what you bought and a guide potentially? I thought it wasnāt possible to do that.
I donāt have the Edition XS anymore. Also, to be fair, I find having to mod things to solve manufacturerās issues a bit too much. A ā¬500 headphone should just be fine out of the box.
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As far as guide, not a visual one but the steps are pretty simple, the hardest part is taking apart the Xs
This is the kit i used (but you can find other ones slightly cheaper)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003296779476.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.10.376c18029uUG2R
Three imporant notes:
- This does require you to ruin the PU padding of the Xās headband,
- since you are using the stock yokes, not that ones that come with the new headband, they will not slide up and down, you have to lock them into place - so when you get to the point of putting them in the new headband - you can reopen the headband but its a bit anoying.
- Buy the kit and understand how to assmble it, just to figure how things lock into place (it does not really come with instructions) you wount be using the stock yokes though
Start by wiggling off the plastic bits at the end of side of the headband, peel back the PU leather padding (its about 5 cm above the yoke) on either end exposing the screw and you can take out the driver + yoke (the yoke that comes with the kit doesnt fit the large egg shaped driver of the XS)
If you use the same kit that i use you have to do a minor modification but aside from that it fits - but like i said the major downside is that you need to lock in the height adjustment (you can leave it free moving but i preferred locking it, feels way more sturdy)
totally understandable also the cable is trash, but in terms of sound quality its outstanding, even compared to the Ananda (i actually prefer it to the Ananda OG, though i havent tried the newer versions)
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That goes for all Hifiman headphones. I replaced my Arya V3 cable the first chance I got. 
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