Audiophilepure

HIFIMAN Arya Wi-Fi Streaming Media Planar Magnetic Headphone Review

When I think of HIFIMAN, lately I’ve also been thinking about Dr. Fang Bian and his visionary push for his company. I remember him once saying that he doesn’t like to simply repeat success, but to keep pushing into new territory. He has many “firsts” to his name, including the first “First True High-Fidelity Portable Music Player” that HIFIMAN brought out in 2009 called the “HIFIMAN HM-801”. That was followed by the first planar magnetic headphones designed for the mass consumer market, the “HE-5” in 2009, and the world’s first R2R True Wireless Earphones, the “Svanar Wireless”, in 2023. This was followed by the “Unveiled” open-back technology that removed the outer protective grill from the headphones. This started with the flagship Susvara, which I reviewed in Oct. of 2024, and has now been incorporated in several of the HIFIMAN models. And now, in 2026, we have the release of the Arya Wi-Fi and the HE1000 Wi-Fi, another bold first in the headphone world.

Though this world’s first Wi-Fi planar magnetic headphone series has had some network set-up issues (at least for me) and is awaiting an iOS app as of this writing, the headphones themselves are stellar. Not stellar because they are the first Wi-Fi headphones, but simply stellar. They have the quality of “soul” that I love to find in a headphone. It is an intangible quality that makes me stop analyzing for a review and simply get lost in the music. Considering the amount of hi-tech packed into these headphones, it may be odd to say they have soul, but for me, they do.