HIFIMAN seems to be a believer in the trickle-down economics theory, or at least trickling down of new technology. We saw this years ago with the stealth magnet system that came with the Susvara, then the HE1000 line, and the Arya line, all the way down to the HE400se too. Amortizing R&D costs by slowly using it in less expensive products also allows a company to update the product stack, which is almost a must-have in the personal audio space apparently if you were to see how often new headphones and IEMs are released these days. A similar trend seems to be happening with the unveiled driver concept too, again first used with the new Susvara Unveiled ($8000) earlier this year, then the HE1000 Unveiled ($2700) released a few months later. I was genuinely surprised the latter launched this early, and perhaps that is why I was less taken aback by the announcement of the Arya Unveiled not much later. At $1449, this is obviously the least expensive of HIFIMAN's "Unveiled" series to date. Yet, this also bodes the question—where will the unveiled driver concept end? Will we see, for example, an Anana Unveiled under $1000? What about an Edition XS Unveiled closer to $500 perhaps? There are already memes galore about the budget-friendly sub-$100 HE400se getting this unveiled driver treatment too, with the underlying serious question being should people wait it out to get the best value for this new driver tech? The unveiled drivers are easily the biggest update HIFIMAN has brought out in years now, with a consistent theme of the mids being filled up allowing for improved vocal timbre, and more relaxed mid-treble leading to a smoother overall treble response too.

Waiting it out also has a second benefit to the end user thanks to HIFIMAN being so aggressive with price cuts lately. What cost $1600 in 2021 is now $600, a product that released last year for $1300 is now under $1000. These are the previous two entries in HIFIMAN's Arya line, and we've seen other headphones get a similar treatment. There does not seem to be a specific time of the year for these discounts to start occurring either, so how do we know the Arya Unveiled isn't going to be discounted soon? I do have an answer for that at least, with HIFIMAN telling me the price cuts lately have been the result of a more efficient manufacturing process and to make room for the new headphones. If this is the case, then it is likely that the Arya Unveiled is going to hold steady at $1449 for a while. There are also so many other HIFIMAN headphones priced below it to where I personally see the unveiled driver concept already hitting its sweet spot here with the Arya Unveiled. HIFIMAN is already its own competition for a lot of headphones, so logically I really don't see an Ananda Unveiled doing much more. HIFIMAN has surprised me in the past though, so time will tell.

So let's assume then that the Arya Unveiled remains at $1449 and the other already-discounted headphones also remain at their current prices, at least until some of them eventually get discontinued or sold out completely—I'm looking at you, Arya Stealth! I've already compared the Arya Unveiled to all the other relevant HIFIMAN entries on the previous page, with only the HE1000 Stealth being the real competition in my books. Yet the Arya Stealth does something that makes me confident it will be a big hit, so much so that I am willing to recommend people go for the Arya Unveiled over the HE1000 Unveiled even if you can afford either set. The HE1000 series continues to have an edge in terms of using aluminium ear cups and a genuine leather suspension band with ventilation holes compared to the partially glossy plastic cups and solid protein leather band here, yet there's not much to differentiate them when it comes to the sound signature. The HE1000 Unveiled has a wider soundstage and is arguably more resolving, whereas the Arya Unveiled offers a more amenable treble response to where it feels like the most neutral HIFIMAN set until you get to the $6000 Susvara. Purely as a result of the more controlled treble, especially without the excess air so many HIFIMAN sets have—I personally prefer some air to help balance out the ear gain too—the Arya Unveiled is the safe bet for anyone interested in a HIFIMAN set. It's also a genuinely good product, outside of the unveiled driver part necessitating more careful use which thankfully is less of a concern here than before.