Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[JohnYang1997]

Yeah it's a problem. But... you can test this yourself if you can find an original HE-6. There are also other examples - certainly more so from moving coil headphones where measured bass response is lower but it's more 'punchy'.

HE-6 has much lower distortion in the low frequencies even at higher level. This is possibly causing audible difference.

Punchy bass from dynamic drivers don't really exist. The once with "punchy" bass usually has mid to upper bass emphasized. They sound soft once you eq them to flat.

 

[Resolve]

Not to mention how ridiculous a 'golden sample' would be to give to Amir with his fancy-schmancy gear can measure to -150 db. You don't think he'd notice the discrepancy and make a video or two?

I kind of have a hard time with this suggestion. I think you'd see too much discrepancy between measurements. I'm sure Amir got a very similar sample to what we got and what Jude got.

 

[Resolve]

Punchy bass from dynamic drivers don't really exist.

Going to have to agree to disagree with you on that one, but... maybe this is just a semantic difference. Although to be clear, I do imagine they would sound softer if you EQ'd them flat. But even without being EQ'd they often have less bass.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

Does Amir enjoy the Stealth more than abyss tc or diana ?

As far as making a review it's hard to tell. Personally I think Amir enjoys taking down a fraud more than elevating a king.

 

[Tachyon88]

HE-6 has much lower distortion in the low frequencies even at higher level. This is possibly causing audible difference.

Punchy bass from dynamic drivers don't really exist. The once with "punchy" bass usually has mid to upper bass emphasized. They sound soft once you eq them to flat.

I'm going from memory, but I never felt as if my lcd2 was punchy even when I eq'd the bass up. Even another user pointed this out and called the bass "pillowy" and the term resonated with me. I just got an arya recently and even stock it feels "punchy", which actually surprised me.

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

I kind of have a hard time with this suggestion. I think you'd see too much discrepancy between measurements. I'm sure Amir got a very similar sample to what we got and what Jude got.

I was trying to agree with your sentiment, not the opposite.

 

[JohnYang1997]

Going to have to agree to disagree with you on that one, but... maybe this is just a semantic difference. Although to be clear, I do imagine they would sound softer if you EQ'd them flat. But even without being EQ'd they often have less bass.

You can call it punchy. That shows the inconsistency and lack of scale of subjective descriptions. And same word can mean a lot of different things.
I do get a sense of how the stealth would sound like in the bass now (kinda)
Low distortion bass is also present on LCD3 LCDX from audeze. I also have heard a replica of he6 using the same process. The bass sounds solid and controlled. These indeed have the sound of low distortion bass.
And when we have measurements we can compare and pin point exactly what the differences are and how much.

 

[Resolve]

You can call it punchy. That shows the inconsistency and lack of scale of subjective descriptions. And same word can mean a lot of different things.
I do get a sense of how the stealth would sound like in the bass now (kinda)
Low distortion bass is also present on LCD3 LCDX from audeze. I also have heard a replica of he6 using the same process. The bass sounds solid and controlled. These indeed have the sound of low distortion bass.
And when we have measurements we can compare and pin point exactly what the differences are and how much.

Actually this would be a good experiment. See if you can get a Stealth and an HE-6 EQ'd to the same response and see if you notice any subjective differences. That's actually something I'll try later today since we have a six screw here.

 

[Dro]

@amirm since you kept the Stealth, do you mind taking FR measurements at different SPL, say 84, 94, 104 and 114 dB SPL? That could be used to rule out a Focal style linearity issue or the reverse of it. If FR changes with SPL, that would be bad.

 

[Shazb0t]

Actually this would be a good experiment. See if you can get a Stealth and an HE-6 EQ'd to the same response and see if you notice any subjective differences. That's actually something I'll try later today since we have a six screw here.

They're likely to sound very similar if properly EQ'd and level matched at 94dB and below. No amount of hand waiving or made up descriptors is going to change that.

 

[Paolo]

Perhaps a suitcase full of one hundred dollar bills would explane the flight?

Or maybe @Dan Clark had a new product to promote with full endorsement to the right audience?
Seems quite a bit more obvious than getting payed to advertise your own product…
And you should never forget how effective can be to sell your novelties when you can be face to face with the journalist. Marketing 101, really.

 

[Resolve]

They're likely to sound very similar if properly EQ'd and level matched at 94dB and below. No amount of hand waiving or made up descriptors is going to change that.

This is why I want someone else to try it haha.

 

[Robbo99999]

Curiosity got the better of me. It’s actually not bad!! ; ) View attachment 149163View attachment 149164

WTF! I see later you did it in jest - good!

 

[Zensō]

Well to be fair he said TC becomes a delight with EQ hehe. But ya seems like hes more in love with stealth.

Not disagreeing, but it points to the fact that there’s more to headphones than how they measure and sound, much more. Just looking at the TC is going to rule it out for a majority of people, regardless of price and performance. That sort of bias is hard to overcome, even when we’re fully aware of it.

 

[bt3]

Always smile when I see sellers selling their goods for penny of dollar less than a big ole whole number.
A headphone selling at $3999 or $4000, it's that old game of keeping the first number smaller.
A new vehicle at $39,995 or $40,000, it's that old game of keeping the first number smaller.
More than a few ASR members mock, sneer, react with disgust at prices Abyss headphones retail for given their measurements.
Surely some here know that no less than soldierdude have the Abyss AB-1266 on his recommended headphone list, specifically
under his obscenely expensive recommended headphone list. I never owned an Abyss headphone, nor ever considered buying one.
I love ASR. I think soldierdude is tops, and enjoy his posts.
I've owned three different Dan Clark headphones, from one of his earlier models, to in more recent times, the Ether C and Aeon Closed.
I think sometimes we all need to laugh at ourselves more.
I know I laugh at myself frequently, some of the dumb things I do, or dumb things I've fallen for, and I am a science first person.
I know waiting for technology to trickle down is smart. I think Dan will offer more affordable headphone(s) with innovations discovered in his/his teams process of constant evolving. Dan is one my favorite manufacturers in the headphone business.
It's just a matter of patience. Then again if you bought a lot of shares of Amazon at $50, no need to wait.
Me? I'm still bereft that Sennheiser was sold, and worried about possible negative consequences for future of Sennheiser.

 

[MikeJ]

@Dan Clark Plans to have a "direct" EU distributor anytime soon? I am willing to give these Stealths a try, thanks.

 

[Dan Clark]

@Dan Clark Plans to have a "direct" EU distributor anytime soon? I am willing to give these Stealths a try, thanks.

We have multiple distributors with orders in queue to cover most of the EU.

 

[Zensō]

Always smile when I see sellers selling their goods for penny of dollar less than a big ole whole number.
A headphone selling at $3999 or $4000, it's that old game of keeping the first number smaller.
A new vehicle at $39,995 or $40,000, it's that old game of keeping the first number smaller.

"Setting a price even a penny or two below the full dollar amount can increase sales by 21-34%, depending on other factors."

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287358

Of course, some people want to spend more to be sure they have "the best". This pricing strategy doesn't work on those people.

 

[edahl]

We have multiple distributors with orders in queue to cover most of the EU.

Will any of these factor in DCA Club membership? All Norwegian resellers I'm aware of have absolutely crazy price markups, especially on flagships so I predict a reasonable price is still going to be rough to come by.

 

[budje]

Welp looks like I'm going to get another dent in my bank account.

I wish Dan Clark would hire different designers, for $4,000 these don't visually look like premium headphones. The red stitching isn't a good color choice and reminds me of the look of $30 Superlux headphones. I get what he's going for with the mesh outer cover, it needs a different shape and different pattern of plastic underneath it though.

I'm also fairly disappointed to see they use the same pads as the Aeon, which are subject to permanent twisting of the foam under the pad rendering them less comfortable, worse seal, and unpleasant looking. What's funny is that the marketing image appears to show the start of this exact problem:

If you're curious, here's what that warping looks like after 1-2 years of normal use:

This is unfixable by the way, no amount of twisting / massaging the foam under the material will correct the pad shape. Believe me, I've tried for a long time, because replacement pads are $60. And this behavior isn't considered a "defect" with free replacements by Dan Clark audio, you have to pay full price. $4,000 headphones shouldn't require a pad replacement every 1-2 years. I ended up buying replacement pads for my Aeons, which themselves have already started the same twisting after a few months.

I haven't owned a pair of headphones with a pad issue like this. I've seen lots of leather pads fatigue and crack, that's probably unavoidable, but it's more along the 4-5 year time horizon, and during this pad degradation time the pads still hold their shape. I've only seen the Aeons have the foam twisting issue. For a comparison, my pair of LCD-Xs which get regular use, and have much larger pads, show no signs of fatigue after 2 years, despite having a similar visual look. I wonder if they glue or stitch the outer edge of the foam to the material somehow to avoid this.

The Aeon pad issue isn't bad as Focal Clear pads which discolor after a few months from skin oil (who the hell chose light gray pads as the only color lol), and cost $100-$200 to replace. However at least with the Focal Clears, despite taking on a nasty stained look, the pad shape stays in tact.

I hope Dan will consider upgrading the pad design especially for a price point of $4,000.