Price / Where to Buy:
US – US$249 – Feenix Aria
While deadly precision controls and high-performance visual outputs are basic necessities in one’s gaming, it goes without saying, audio cues are still very much vital in getting a leg up in one’s career. Brands including Kingston’s HyperX Cloud, Steelseries, and Razer currently occupy the lion’s share of the market, but elitists looking for a far premium offering would tend to look elsewhere. This is where Feenix, an artisan thriving in premium gaming peripherals, come in with their Aria gaming-audiophile headphones primed for the elite end of the trade.
There’s a great misconception going around with headphones – all that matters is the detailed hardware specifications, and design is mostly an afterthought that’s saved for the luxurious and rich. However, the materials being used should not be taken lightly since they would actually cause several differences on the sound quality in terms of resonance and sound reproduction to an extent.
Feenix is an independent computer peripherals manufacturer from Southern California. Because of their unique structure, they can design and engineer the finest and best peripherals around. Owning a Feenix product is considered to be equal to owning a collectors item because of their rarity and premium feel.
Feenix Aria Product Description
Through meticulous craftsmanship and visionary design, the Feenix Aria introduces gamers to audiophile level sound quality.
For the first time, experience a pure and unaltered acoustic sensation. Listen to music and games the way sound engineers intended; in studio quality, and in mesmerizing detail.
The Aria’s acoustic chamber is constructed entirely of Japanese Pine wood, providing an impeccablly warm and rich sound.
50mm full range neodymium magnet drivers deliver studio monitor sound performance. Additionally, each individual driver is sound checked prior to assembly to ensure perfect quality.
Independent studio grade cardioid clip microphone allows for impeccable uni-directional voice recording unmatched by traditional headset mic’s. It allows the Aria to be utilized as an everyday headphone rather than solely as a headset.
100% memory foam and protein leather earcushions completely surround your ear and provide unrivaled comfort and breathability.
Handmade assembly, hand finished quality checks, extensive stress tests, beveled aluminum casing, single steel band, and on wood logo engraving… are all reasons the Aria is the epitome of masterful workmanship and beauty.
Specifications
- Hi-Fi Headset
- Ear cup material: Japanese pine wood
- Connection options included-
- 3.5mm stereo jack
- 6.3mm stereo jack
- USB adaptor
- Cable type: braided & detachable
- Cable length: 2 metres
- Mic: uni-directional cardioid clip
- Driver unit: 50mm
- Impedance: 64 ohm
- Sensitivity: 101dB
- Frequency Response: 10Hz~26KHz
- Weight: 370g
- Gold plated USB adaptor included
- Ear cushion: memory foam protein leather
- Independent input jacks for left and right drivers
Closer Look
The Aria’s box looks premium from the onset. Its a pristine white package similar to what we’ve seen from both the Autore and Nascita. Feenix thrives in its divine elegance.
Inside the package is the Aria headphones, a lavalier microphone with a clip, a USB audio card, and premium 2 meter audiophile cable.
NOTE: STAND NOT INCLUDED
The USB DAC has its plugs gold plated.
The uni-directional clip-on microphone.
The Aria has independent left and right channels stemming from the cables and these are run through the long braided 2-meter cable and the end is capped with a screw-on 6.3mm jack.
A view of the Aria from the front.
This is where the Aria’s signature style is more apparent. With the japanese pine wood earcups, the Aria is luxurious to behold and the metal headband melds nicely to the design and doesn’t seem forced.
The earcups are suspended from the headband and can rotate up to 180* horizontally.
The japanese pine wood backs are finely crafted and the Feenix logo emblazoned on the sides is a nice touch.
The left and right channel ports are located on the bottom of each cup and the jacks have ridges in them to line them up right.
The earcups on the aria are pleather. They’re soft and are cushioned by memory foam and depending on your tendencies they can get a bit warm but the size is just right. Clamping isn’t as tight as I want it to be but sealing is good enough if you’re head is of average size.
The headband pad cushion is similar to the cups and line the headband. Its quite balloon-ey to feel but its got a nice rest on the top of the head and doesn’t rub up your dome as badly as velvet-lined or pure plastic bands.
Connectors all hooked up. Its one long cable so you might want to have velcro tie or clip hanging around.
User Experience & Conclusion
We tested the Feenix Aria with a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 5 Rx and an LG G3. The unit was burned-in for 100 hours before any opinion was formed.
The Feenix Aria sports 50mm drivers which means it sits at the range where most decent (and I mean decent) headphones come in. Starting off with sound quality, the Feenix Aria has a distinct character to its audio with the bass being relatively rich and graceful. Depending on how perceptive you area, it might be a bit more overpowering on the other ranges. Its not gut-rumbling bassy but what it has is rich bass and its got a punch that’s sure to please everyone. Going over to mids, this is where the Aria stands out: they are clear, crisp and full-bodied. The Aria gives excellent presence on the mids something similar to the Sennheiser GAME One but with a bit more of a spacious feel. Highs are also good on the Feenix Aria and are also very present and detailed. As mentioned earlier, the Aria’s sealing may vary but when you get the fit just right its isolation is superb giving you the full Aria experience: a fully enclosed, spacious soundstage with clearly defined details with distance rendering spot-on.
For games, if you play mostly FPS games you’ll love the sound character of the Aria as it really creates a clear reproduction of where you’re in. For AAA games, that’s what the experience is all about. For a closed-back headphone, its really spacious and there’s plenty of detail in the effects if you’re trying to pick out details of when and where you’re enemies coming from.
Moving over to comfort, the Feenix Aria may be large but it offsets this with its really comfortable cushions. Its not that heavy either but longer sessions may need some rests in between as it is heavier than most traditional gaming headsets due to the metal frame. An upside to this is the sturdiness of the Aria and its incredibly deceptive elegance fused with technology.
So it all boils down to value. The Feenix Aria is currently priced $249 going for as long as $219 during sales. This puts it directly in competition with some of the more mainstream competitors such as the ATH-M50X, the Sennheiser GAME ONE, and a lot of mid-range audiophile headphones. For gaming though, its always way up in the pricing stratosphere with the HyperX Cloud II serving as its main rival in terms of looks and overall package. The difference though is that the Cloud has a boom mic as a headset but the Aria has a separate lav mic connected to the included USB DAC audio card or your own source. It might have a slight disadvantage to dedicated headsets for that, but there are some gaming brands that do go with lav mics instead of a boom so its not that uncommon in the industry.
Discussing more about the wooden back of the Aria, its not a new thing as Audio Technica and plenty more have already and still have entire product lines marketed with wood. For us, there’s really no science involved here as this isn’t a music instrument where the audio characteristic is affected by the material used. That said, the wood on the Aria and pretty much everything out there is more on the aesthetic side. We can argue it does have a distinct acoustic property that may affect the audio signature but if the drivers are directly pointed at your ears then it has no bearing, but if they’re facing the wood and letting it reverb inside the chamber, that’s a different story. So ultimately, the wood is mostly cosmetic. But it looks so darn good.
I think Feenix just wants this headphone to be out there and are appealing with the gaming crowd with the marketing but its position is obviously a hi-fi headphone aimed for audiophiles and desktop show pieces like many of Feenix’s product lines. In true Feenix fashion, the Aria manages to stand out from its looks and audio performance as well. Overall, the Feenix Aria is an excellent pair of cans with the distinct advantage of being both excellent for gaming and music.
Price / Where to Buy:
US – US$249 – Feenix Aria
Feenix backs the Aria with a 1-year warranty. We give it our B2G Editor’s Choice Award!