Dan Clark E3 Headphone Review

[cheapmessiah]

@Dan Clark could you share your explanation of how smoothing the top end of the FR affects our perception of the kind of headphone we are listening to?

 

[CedarX]

Interesting headphone. From a company that cares about frequency response AND design, not just the latter.

Yes they care !!! LOL… love it!!!

 

[TheHighContemplator]

Yes they care !!! LOL… love it!!!
View attachment 331046

I was cracking up when I read Amir's post on the specifications, knowing he just copied and pasted what was published.

 

[Dan Clark]

I've had mine for about 6 months and the left channel is playing with a lower volume for some reason. Changed cable, no difference.. Sigh..

Contact us for warranty, we'll take care of you.

 

[Dan Clark]

I've used "Yes" for frequency response for years. There is no single spec more thoroughly abused by the industry than frequency response...

 

[Zim]

When the newsletter came and it said extraordinary value, I was expecting a sub-$1000 headphone. How disappointing, despite its clearly amazing performance.. Also, this basement gamer aesthetic with the contrast stitching throughout and on top of the headphones need to stop. It looks cheap and tacky. IMO.

 

[Dan Clark]

@Dan Clark could you share your explanation of how smoothing the top end of the FR affects our perception of the kind of headphone we are listening to?

The easiest example is cymbals… live cymbals make a Tangggg sound (not talking some like those with rivets etc). When the high frequency spectrum is super peaky that come off more like a Tsssss.

Our brains are pretty good at learning to process and say “that’s a cymbal” but it doesn’t sound real, it comes off as synthetic…

When you present a more complete spectrum it sounds more lifelike, and less fatiguing.

Beyond that I’m not sure what you mean by “type of headphone.” If I didn’t answer please clarify.

 

[Mac Arthur]

@Dan Clark So what would be the best answer to the 2 following questions:
"Why should I buy the Stealth rather than the E3"
"Why should I buy the E3 rather than the Stealth"?
Thanks !

 

[Dan Clark]

@Dan Clark So what would be the best answer to the 2 following questions:
"Why should I buy the Stealth rather than the E3"
"Why should I buy the E3 rather than the Stealth"?
Thanks !

There are multiple differences… Stealth has a nicer aesthetic, the distortion is lower, if you want a slightly mellower top end, if you want the weight savings, the strap is made of nicer leather.

There are also real differences in how the two headphones present, the sound difference is somewhat larger than measurements suggest. I will be enjoying both.

If cost is a concern E3 is an easy choice, if not the best thing is to pick the sound and aesthetic that works best for you. E3 also has some advantage for people who wear glasses as it is a bit less sensitive to seal.

We made a deliberate decision to deliver incredible value with E3 because in the end my personal goal is to make more people’s day just a little nicer through the music they love.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

We have already shipped a large order to Germany so they should start being available next week...

Yes, pads are replaceable. We essentially use a "sticker" so they just peel off and replace.

Is clamping force a bit stronger than Stealth?

For various reasons (mostly financial) I had to sell Stealths, but I don't know how much longer I can resist

 

[Dan Clark]

Is clamping force a bit stronger than Stealth?

For various reasons (mostly financial) I had to sell Stealths, but I don't know how much longer I can resist

Yes, a little.

 

[Somafunk]

Good to see the meta material being implemented on a headphone half the price of the Stealth/Expanse, still too expensive for myself at the moment so I’ll wait for the updated Aeon Noir at the £1k price with meta material at the end of 2024………………please

 

[dzerig]

This has the AMTS that the stealth has, and a new "5th generation" driver. This is tempting with the open back to go with my closed dca.

 

[Mac Arthur]

I has been a long time I wanted to open a post regarding this, but no need, just a comment as we have a fresh newcomer on the scene...
It's really funny to see that, at the time of writing, already 81% of reviewers (46 out of 57 posters) consider the E3 as a "Great (golfing panther) " ;-)
I am just wondering how they can rate it without having listen the device ! @amirm effect?

​

 

[Steven Holt]

I'm not a headphone guy, so please help me out here. First, does graph 2 show FR without equalisation i.e. just plain natural? Second, don't they get kind of messy btwn. 10 and 20 Khz? Looks like quite large peaks and valleys -- or is this normal and expected? Does it in any way affect performance? Thanks for your help.

 

[amirm]

I'm not a headphone guy, so please help me out here. First, does graph 2 show FR without equalisation i.e. just plain natural? Second, don't they get kind of messy btwn. 10 and 20 Khz? Looks like quite large peaks and valleys -- or is this normal and expected? Does it in any way affect performance? Thanks for your help.

Frequency response is as is with no EQ. Above 10 kHz the wavelength gets small enough to get reflections inside the cup, the pinna, etc. so you are bound to get resonances no matter which headphone you test. They are narrow in width and move easily depending on how you wear/measure the headphone so not easy to EQ. You can experiment with broad EQ to taste.

 

[amirm]

I has been a long time I wanted to open a post regarding this, but no need, just a comment as we have a fresh newcomer on the scene...
It's really funny to see that, at the time of writing, already 81% of reviewers (46 out of 57 posters) consider the E3 as a "Great (golfing panther) " ;-)
I am just wondering how they can rate it without having listen the device ! @amirm effect?

​

No, it is the effect of half a decade of research into what makes a good sounding headphone. When the response resembles the dashed line, you can have high confidence that you will like the sound. If not, you can apply a bit of EQ but the response should be close.

 

[Moravid]

How long before open back version....

 

[Hemi-Demon]

I have owned the Ether C closed and the Noire closed, but I ultimately ended up selling both. I love the DCA sound but they never seal very well for me. I listen to all my equipment less than 50% on the volume knob. I have never been able to use DCA cans in my office as the sound leaks. Will these new glass shells help with the sound leakage issue?

Also how what type of stress tests were done to estimate the longevity of the glass on a headphone? I dont think I have seen this type of shell on a pair of cans before.

I will probably purchase these to replace my D9200's

 

[MayaTlab]

When the response resembles the dashed line, you can have high confidence that you will like the sound.

Not really. I've already shown that graph before, but I don't think that it's sunk in enough on ASR what this :

DCA Stealth, blocked ear canal entrance measurements (https://danishsoundcluster.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Olive_DSD_2022.pdf)

Means for this :

And, unless Sean's unit had issues (but my little stint with DCA's Stealth, Noire and Expanse makes me doubt that), in extenso a review like this :

Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the just announced Dan Clark Audio Stealth closed back planar magnetic headphone. Company was kind enough to share with me a couple of samples which I have been testing and playing with in the last couple of weeks. It costs US $3999. The price...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Basically, to put it admittedly excessively bluntly, the above review is quite misleading, and the fixture's measurements mostly irrelevant to most if not all users. The one thing the first graph above tells me, and this time with rather high confidence, is that most people won't experience in situ what the fixture tells them, and that they'll experience something quite different between them.

This is a blind spot for most review outlets at the moment, alongside sample variation or HRTF matching (but for the Stealth I think that the latter two issues are quite likely of a much lesser importance).

Interestingly I notice that in this video Dan Clark might have tried to work on that problem with the E3 :

The Noire performed quite well in terms of inter-individual variation in Harman's tests above (possibly less well in terms of average transfer though), hopefully the E3 does as well... but that needs to be tested before any consideration of target adherence comes into play.

I can understand that it's highly impractical to perform in situ measurements for each review, like Rtings does to some degree, but some proxy measurements could already provide some clues that would increase or decrease one's confidence in what the fixture's measurements say.

If not, you can apply a bit of EQ but the response should be close.

Applying EQ based on measurements performed on a fixture on a pair of headphones which in situ response is unpredictable and variable is like shooting in the dark.