Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Zensō]

Amazing. Congrats to @Dan Clark !

 

[Fafnar]

Omg it's great down to the impulse response. Why was I unaware of this model?

These are very very new.

From the shop page: "STEALTH WILL BEGIN SHIPPING THE WEEK OF AUGUST 23."

 

[Dro]

@Dan Clark @amirm Are the ear pads replaceable like on the Ether 2?

 

[Theriverlethe]

Now EQ the HD560S to a Harman target and do a comparison.

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks Amir and Dan Clark.

I am impressed, and I don't have any concern with the price. I am glad to see the Aeon shape versus the Ether shape. I prefer this.

Now I can hardly wait for the Aeon Noire review.

I disagree this is the only research based engineering company in headphones. I would put Focal there, and some of the (now a bit dated) Sennheiser stuff too.

 

[XGEOX]

Wow, this seems to have come out of nowhere. As an owner of the Ether 2, Aeon Flow Closed, and as fan of the DCA range, I'm looking forward to hearing these at some point.

DCA should be commended for involving objective reviewers in the late prototyping and early production stages.

That pricing though. Here in the UK we typically get straight $:£ prices, so I'm anticipating the equivalent of $5000-5500 by the time Scan et al are stocking it. Crazy.

I do like the cup design; though overall they don't have that beautifully clean look of the Ether 2. I agree with the comments regarding it looking a bit "gamer-ish"; I think mostly because of the headband stitching and name.

An MSI logo would not look out of place on it; particularly as they also have a gaming laptop line called 'Stealth', with weirdly similar design themes.

Everything is soft touch

I hope it's not that rubberised coating that they've used in the past?

Over time it always fails on every product I've had that used it, including my AFC.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

QUE? for what reason?

Discontent with my own headphones: HD800s and LCD Xs.

 

[phoenixsong]

These are very very new.

From the shop page: "STEALTH WILL BEGIN SHIPPING THE WEEK OF AUGUST 23."

Usually there are rumours, leaks and sneak peeks though (although I have to admit I haven't been keeping up to date with headphones lately X)

 

[Matias]

This needs a black on black headband to be perfect. Impressive engineering though.

 

[phoenixsong]

About the distortion it is important to keep in mind the lack of need for bass-boosting EQ compared to most of the other headphones measured so far

 

[Robbo99999]

Wow, that's really impressive for a stock headphone, that frequency response, plus really excellent channel matching.

@amirm , in my experience with exact channel matching EQ (done through Oratory's measurement of my particular unit of headphone), I found that to be quite a transformative experience. So I think your massive praise for this headphone is largely down to both the really close compliance with the Harman Curve whilst being quite a nice smooth compliance rather than any jaggedness or "fine noise / fine grass" in the frequency response, combined with the truly excellent channel matching. I think the low distortion is icing on the cake, but I really think you shouldn't underestimate the perfect channel matching of this headphone as being an important contributor to your wow factor experience (whilst complying with the Harman Curve too of course).

 

[Dro]

About the distortion it is important to keep in mind the lack of need for bass-boosting EQ compared to most of the other headphones measured so far

Correct, considering how bassy the Harman target is, you even might find yourself pull down the bass instead.

I don't listen very loud (measured around 80-85 dBA with miniDSP EARS), so the 94 dB SPL curve is most relevant to me and it will do just fine.

 

[faheem]

Wow, that's stunning. Thanks for the review amirm. The comparison I'd like to see is with the Susvara, hopefully you get one in to test soon.

 

[dmac6419]

So... What is Dan Clark about as a company? Is it a boutique business or large corporation?

Dan Clark is a small company that make quality headphones and she'll ( the receptionist ) will answer the phone or call you back if you leave a message,might even get to speak to Dan too if he picks up the Phone

 

[Rottmannash]

Just ordered my first DCA product because of this review. My wallet may not be deep enough for the Slealth but this is definitely a company I want to do business with and I think the Aeon closed RT will do nicely while I wait to amass riches and for the Stealth tech to trickle down. Way to go DCA!

I bought those as well and they're the best HPs I've owned or heard. When I retire I'll cash out my IRA and buy these.

 

[Rottmannash]

Not at all. Everything sounds stunningly clean. I didn't want to put such subjective descriptors in the review and get called on it. But the level of detail and clarity of it constantly surprised me over and over again. It was one of the most pronounced things in the listening tests.

How much better is this HP compared to the RT?

 

[John B]

Part of me is pleased this company is asking for a good chunk of money in exchange for true SOTA performance. The other part is furious I’ll have to pay it. : )

 

[Doodski]

@Dan Clark how much time did it require for you to tune this headphone.

 

[m8o]

Man, this covid crap needs to end. So that CanJam NYC 2022 can commence. And I hear it there before purchase. Dont imagine I'll get to do so in any other venue. ...Maybe per chance at Audio46.

 

[Doodski]

Man, this covid crap needs to end. So that CanJam NYC 2022 can re-commence. And I hear it there before purchase. Dont imagine I'll get to do so in any other venue. ...Maybe per chance at Audio46.

Simple. Have protocol for proof of vaccination or alternatively a recent test proving no covid infection before admittance. That's what is about to happen in Canada.