Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

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

I'll laugh if this sounds better than the real Stealth.

 

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I just tested with my computer glasses which have metal arms but not ultra thin. It reduces the deep bass a bit. The sound is still quite warm and nice though.

Ohhh maybe that's why I tend to add +10dB of bass boost to my headphones.

 

[Wolvebain]

@Dan Clark , you made my next headphone

I'm hoping a local reseller (South Africa) can source them for me to purchase, purely for the piece of mind with having a local rep for such a headphone at this price point.

 

[Robbo99999]

I'll leave that to somebody from the same continent, not worth the time and customs nightmare to chase down a position dependent ear/channel imbalance.

Folks, if someone from Europe gets a Stealth, send one to Oratory - would be great to have that in the database, along with an EQ for it, and maybe some information on channel matching too if the sender shares it with everyone.

 

[John B]

I'll laugh if this sounds better than the real Stealth.

The first was mostly a joke and to see how an obstruction altered sound on a planar magnetic. This isn’t! and while it’s not going to measure better - it effectively breaks up the sense of boxiness closed backs tend to have. If the stealth does that without bending freq curves in strange ways (although the high end sounds smoother) I’m extremely excited to take shipment!

 

[Rottmannash]

Amir, have you heard the Aeon RT Opens?

 

[Resolve]

This isn’t! and while it’s not going to measure better - it effectively breaks up the sense of boxiness closed backs tend to have. If the stealth does that without bending freq curves in strange ways (although the high end sounds smoother) I’m extremely excited to take shipment!

This is the most impressive aspect to me. The Stealth kind of makes you think about all those other times you hear closed-backs and go "something's not quite right here".

 

[Dro]

Even when I am not listening to music, they feel fairly open. Of course outside sounds are attenuated, but it is easy to forget these are a closed system.

 

[Dan Clark]

Even when I am not listening to music, they feel fairly open. Of course outside sounds are attenuated, but it is easy to forget these are a closed system.

Exactly, it attenuates that “cuppy“ sense of closeness. That is the AMTS at work.

 

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I believe you're in the wrong place for this. This is a SCIENCE forum, not an IMPRESSIONS forum.

No I believe YOU are in the wrong place. The correlation between measurements and subjective impressions IS "science."

 

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Alright I ordered a pair, since I get bad FOMO.

 

[jae]

Amir, have you heard the Aeon RT Opens?

I'd like these ones reviewed next.

 

[amirm]

Amir, have you heard the Aeon RT Opens?

I have not. All of my Dan Clarks are closed back.

 

[Robbo99999]

Even when I am not listening to music, they feel fairly open. Of course outside sounds are attenuated, but it is easy to forget these are a closed system.

Does music also sound even better from outside when you're wearing them?

 

[Rottmannash]

I have not. All of my Dan Clarks are closed back.

They are the first planars I've owned and I instantly fell in love with the sound. Still like the Elex but I almost always grab the RT Opens. Wondered if you could compare the SQ and particularly low freq but since you haven't hear one...maybe DC will send you an RT Open.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Thanks! WhatHiFi is ranked #44 in that category so that shall be the goal to pass right?

It should be a piece of cake. Whenever I hear their name, I just ask myself: What Hi-Fi? They are the worst charlatan clown show around. Their perplexing recommendation of the AudioQuest DragonFly Red over the THX Onyx is laughably bad. I have heard both (I just received an Onyx in the mail today!) and the Red is a disturbingly muffled mess and Onyx is clear as crystal. How anyone could call the Red more dynamic and open has either gone deaf or is willingly ignorant or both. And their stupefying recommendation of the Grado GS1000i over the Sennheiser HD 800 is just a pure steaming pile. I again ask: What Hi-Fi?

 

[Dro]

@amirm does this track sound loud/annoying to you in the 2-4 kHz range when listening through the Stealth?

I find this one hard to listen to with the Stealth (the entire album really), particularly after the 8:00 mark. Much better if I drop that frequency range by 2-3 dB. However, I can see in the spectrum that this range is quite elevated in the track, so maybe it is badly EQed rather than my hearing or the Stealth off.

 

[Doodski]

@amirm does this track sound loud/annoying to you in the 2-4 kHz range when listening through the Stealth?

I find this one hard to listen to with the Stealth (the entire album really), particularly after the 8:00 mark. Much better if I drop that frequency range by 2-3 dB. However, I can see in the spectrum that this range is quite elevated in the track, so maybe it is badly EQed rather than my hearing or the Stealth off.

It has no bass on my headphones that are bass heavy. The mids are distorted sometimes and become a hash of noise.

 

[Dro]

It has no bass on my headphones that are bass heavy. The mids are distorted sometimes and become a hash of noise.

What are your headphones?

 

[Doodski]

Sennheiser 598 and some earbuds I tried too.