Dan Clark E3 Headphone Review

[holdingpants01]

Any people here know how much of a hassle it is to replace the glued on pads? I mean maybe it's not much of a hassle. Any room to get the process wrong (easily)?

it's way faster and easier than for example Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro pads

 

[Dan Clark]

Any people here know how much of a hassle it is to replace the glued on pads? I mean maybe it's not much of a hassle. Any room to get the process wrong (easily)?

It’s not glue it’s tape and it’s extremely simple. Peel and replace.

 

[Robbo99999]

It’s not glue it’s tape and it’s extremely simple. Peel and replace.

When you remove the pads do you have to clean away any residue or anything? (Is there residue?)

 

[holdingpants01]

When you remove the pads do you have to clean away any residue or anything? (Is there residue?)

nope

 

[Dan Clark]

When you remove the pads do you have to clean away any residue or anything? (Is there residue?)

There can occasionally be a little but it just rolls off with a little friction from a finger, no other cleaning needed..

 

[Robbo99999]

It’s not glue it’s tape and it’s extremely simple. Peel and replace.

nope

There can occasionally be a little but it just rolls off with a little friction from a finger, no other cleaning needed..

Seems pretty simple then, from what's been said doesn't seem like any negatives associated with it.

 

[Chagall]

Wallet cries but...
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

 

[Somafunk]

Wallet cries but...
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Ooof, 21 day delivery time, I hope you're patient , don't forget to add in the head-fi obligatory 300hr burn in time before you listen to them so they'll be ready to experience sometime February

 

[Chagall]

Ooof, 21 day delivery time, I hope you're patient , don't forget to add in the head-fi obligatory 300hr burn in time before you listen to them so they'll be ready to experience sometime February

Just in time for a romantic Valentine's ... music and candlelight dinner.
May even ask my wife to join

 

[Mr Swing King]

This looks like a great closedback and if I indeed listened to closed headphones, this would probably be my first pick.
I am a little dissapointed in the overt similarities to the Stealth, but that’s mostly just me wanting a more linear bass response per IEF neutral standards. I wonder if we’ll ever see a closedback like that.
Other than that, I consider this a true home-run. Nicely done Dan.

 

[Chagall]

This looks like a great closedback and if I indeed listened to closed headphones, this would probably be my first pick.
I am a little dissapointed in the overt similarities to the Stealth, but that’s mostly just me wanting a more linear bass response per IEF neutral standards. I wonder if we’ll ever see a closedback like that.
Other than that, I consider this a true home-run. Nicely done Dan.

I don't own any closed-backs either. For whatever reason never wanted to. But my desktop setup is in the living area, and I got tired of hearing TV, refrigerator hum, laptop cooling, and all other sounds through my open-backs. And hell, I figured it's better to have two or three great headphones than one headphone with five DACs and amps.

 

[Mr Swing King]

I should probably follow your lead and sell off some of the 13-14 headphones lying around my apartment. I could exchange them for a trip to Sicily or a case of sour beer (who knew they were this expensive?!!??)….but truth be told I’m not entirely logical when it comes to headphones. I fully aknowledge that about myself.

 

[IAtaman]

I am a little dissapointed in the overt similarities to the Stealth, but that’s mostly just me wanting a more linear bass response per IEF neutral standards. I wonder if we’ll ever see a closedback like that.

That is an easy problem to solve with EQ no?

 

[Mr Swing King]

It is but I don’t EQ. I have an enormous cd collection and only really use my Rotel player with a Lake People head amp.
I could probably invest in a stand alone equaliser, but I’m also a little hesitant. I am quick to go down the complete OCD path and having something that allows me to finetune every headphone to the max, could also lead this man to insanity.
I know how great EQ can be, but I also know myself.

 

[IAtaman]

It is but I don’t EQ. I have an enormous cd collection and only really use my Rotel player with a Lake People head amp.
I could probably invest in a stand alone equaliser, but I’m also a little hesitant. I am quick to go down the complete OCD path and having something that allows me to finetune every headphone to the max, could also lead this man to insanity.
I know how great EQ can be, but I also know myself.

Okay. Well, if you sell some of your headphones and want to "reinvest" the money back into the hobby, I'd recommend you get an RME ADI-2 DAC which has built in 5 channel PEQ that can be manually adjusted from a small screen, so it is not 5000 difference combinations that can drive your OCD crazy as you mentioned. You can just dial in an "anti Harman bass lift" curve which you can activate any time. It also happens to be a great DAC.

 

[Mr Swing King]

Thanks, duly noted

 

[SlothRock]

My E3 arrives tomorrow! First Dan Clark headphone and first headphone in general that complies so well to Harman. Might end up being the only headphone in my staple potentially as I am using my speakers more and more and only headphones when it’s late and I need to be quiet or need isolation. Hoping these can be that one set perfect for that scenario

 

[Rhamnetin]

Ooof, 21 day delivery time, I hope you're patient , don't forget to add in the head-fi obligatory 300hr burn in time before you listen to them so they'll be ready to experience sometime February

Can't forget the $50k 400W bridged monoblock power amp and $2k headphone cables as well.

On that note, I'll point out that my Chord Mojo 2 powers the E3 just fine. I don't have to max out the volume or even come too close to such, and it sounds just fine compared to running it balanced off of my HeadAmp GS-X Mini.

My E3 arrives tomorrow! First Dan Clark headphone and first headphone in general that complies so well to Harman. Might end up being the only headphone in my staple potentially as I am using my speakers more and more and only headphones when it’s late and I need to be quiet or need isolation. Hoping these can be that one set perfect for that scenario

This is basically what happened with me, plus I bring them with me when traveling (my main use case). No headphone has reminded me of listening to my 3-way monitors quite like these, it's weird but excellent. My other headphones are purely for backup.

 

[gilency]

Amir. Would you mind elaborating the differences a little more? Thank you.

 

[SlothRock]

How long does brain burn-in take to adjust to a new sound signature? Because I just got the E3's in and I am almost ready to return them already. The clarity is great but the bass sounds thin in a lot of tunes where I'm used to hearing more of it and vocals are SPICY to the point it's hurting my ears at certain peaks. I was expecting a lot more of a "wow" effect for my first "perfectly tuned" Harman headphone and, so far, I'm pretty disappointed to say the least.

But, I will say, I went back to my Atrium Closed and, while they are MUCH easier to listen to, I definitely now hear a "veil" and much less clean of a sound. I just want my hears to not bleed while listening to my headphones :-/. Not sure if I've just been too used to headphones with that veil or not