Background… About 10 years ago I started my journey with the BD 990Pro while looking for a gaming headphone. It was an eye opener for me. I discovered how good music can sound and how much more fun it can make. I was truly in love. I wouldn’t call it a life changing experience but as said it was a starting point. The more I was in touch with this whole hifi thing, the more I started to hate this whole scene. It’s like a life action version of the tale “the emperor’s new clothes”. Ridiculous. People snobbing about differences that are either not existing or in such a minor way, it basically not worth mentioning. Not even talking about sounding cables. But maybe it’s just me not fitting in this show. After the 990pro experience there was just one other experience worth to mention for me: the focal sopra. This was the best I have ever heard in my in entire life. Hard to describe. Phenomenal. This was the only hifi moment I really felt like “I WANT THEM!” Truly a WOW-moment. Everything else just felt like “yeah… Nice…”.

Fast forward to now… I am still happy with my 990Pro but somehow I feel like I am ready for ready the next level. I ordered the BD 1990pro but somehow they stayed way under my expectations. Different, in some ways better, in some ways even worse, like the aggressive highs. So I decided to go a step further and take a look at the kilo league. So I ordered a hifiman Arya stealth and a audeze LCD x. I listen 100% with my PC in combination with a douk amp and eq is not a problem for me. I listen to my flac/mp3 library, as well as YouTube music.

When I heard both headphones for the first time, I hated both of them, even with eq. the Arya was sometimes so shouty and unpleasing I head to turn the volume down. The LCD x was just muffy, bad and unclear. I couldn’t understand why those two headphones are so popular. Now, after a week got used to both and I see what people like about them, even though I was disappointed not to experience the “wow-moment” which I was hoping for. They sound nice, each in there own way. And yes they sound better as my 990pro, but do they sound a 1000 bucks better?

I wanted to give each a fair chance and used them both for longer sessions. On some days the Arya, on some days the x. I started to build a preference towards the Arya. Wearing them is like not wearing them. :D they are barley noticable. Super lite and super comfortable. Brilliant! The lcdx is ok… I come along with it’s weight, and if it would sound clearly better I would accept it. But this is not the case for me. Too often I would have wished for more clarity and a bit more sparkle. I listen to a wider range of genres, Pop, EDM, Rock, Classic/ Soundtracks (not much metal or hiphop). The Arya is doing it better for me in this genres.

I don’t want to talk about sound stage much. This is something I really struggle with. I can tell if a headphone sound a bit wider or a bit more narrow but honestly they are both doing great and I couldn’t pick a winner here. I am always surprised when people talk about how much of the different there is or they sound like listening to a pair of stereo speakers. Wut?! At least for me, the music is between my hears.

That’s it? Not quite. I know I will return the lcdx, that’s for sure. But will I keep the Arya? It’s complicated. On the one hand, I really starting to like this headphones and looking forward to use them. On the otherhand it’s still 1000 bucks and I am not sure if it’s worth it. Where’s my wow-moment? But maybe it’s love on the 3rd sight (listen)? Also I am not sure about the durability. I’ve read some unnice things about hifiman. I have ordered the hifiman edition x to see, if they still come close enough to the Arya but for less money. Also I want to check out the focal clear MG. But honestly I don’t think they can give me my wow-moment. Sorry for the long story, I just wanted to share my thoughts. I will keep you updated.