I would take the Expanse of your list, way too colored in the bass/mid-bass region to be used for any mixing work, unless you compensate with EQ. The Stealth is really good for what you're looking for. I have used it for mixing plenty. I can't speak to the E3, but it should be a little more energetic from what I hear. The distortion levels of the Stealth are unmatched, even by the E3, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Stealth also outperforms the E3 on impulse response. However, given the price difference between the Stealth and the E3, combined with the universal praise the E3 is getting (versus the Stealth on release), I think you couldn't possibly go wrong with it. Any minor technical edge the Stealth might have surely won't be audible. If I didn't already have the Stealth, the E3 would be a no-brainer buy for me.
If you're looking for an open back, you can consider the Audeze MM-500.
Hey ra990, thanks so much
. The closed-back design *is* a big and definite plus in itself for my use-case. I can't stand all the noises I hear across the studio anymore, may it be the computer, the bad power supplies... I seek silence.
Interesting what you say about the Expanse... So it's really more bass forward than the other. The curve suggests it to some extent, but I wasn't imagining such a difference. Luckily, about the 3dB proprietary DCA bass bump, I think it can be corrected with one band of hardware eq on the masterbuss... I can't fuss around witth eq too much for technical reasons, but one band on the master is "ok".
On the other hand I see that the Expanse is a bit shy in the 6k to 10k region, relative to the Harman curve. This concerns me quite a bit.
If we had the E3 impulse response, we could form an informed opinion on the 5th gen DCA driver. Graph show that it has more distortion ok, but right now we don't know how much slower it is compared to the Stealth and Expanse 4th gen drivers.
The bump above 10Khz on the E3 is not exactly Harman compliant either.
The Stealth is really intriguing. I was not considering it as much as the other two at the beginning, but there is SO MUCH to like about it. Amir said it all already... <3
The MM500, yeah... I'm afraid I won't like it. The "studio neutral" kind of curve, where the bass is just a straight flat line, it doesn't really work for me (for a mixing or casual listening standpoint). I'm more a DT770 guy, I disliked the DT880 very much, I found it to be very bass-shy. It must be said that I'm doing mostly electronic music, so there's that... Bass range has to be a driving force of the listening experience. To me, headphones like the DT880, HE6, HD600 or probably MM-500 sound as if you're listening for flat studio monitors, but outside, in a garden or a park. Lots of details, but definitely not enough balls.
It's interesting how everybody differs... It's probably music genre-specific too.