How many months or years would you expect a set of pads to last with say daily usage of couple of hours a day? Ballpark I know & factors like skin oil, etc. And would it differ between the different pads you have on your other headphones? It was one of the reasons for me holding off on the DCA Open X due to pad cost combined with importing them through life of headphone.
How many hours do you reckon you put on those earpads before they needed replacing?
Good points, but like you say they seemed to have tried to address that with the E3, but also as you say that would need to be measured to confirm.Not really. I've already shown that graph before, but I don't think that it's sunk in enough on ASR what this :
View attachment 331081
DCA Stealth, blocked ear canal entrance measurements (https://danishsoundcluster.dk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Olive_DSD_2022.pdf)
Means for this :
View attachment 331082
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...
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.
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.
'15% off all future headphone purchases through www.danclarkaudio.com or our authorized retailers',
thanks! Registered and waiting to be accepted to the DCA Club
You are right, I didn't specify, I believe the claim was that E3 sounded like an open back headphone while being closed back.
Well if you look at my signature you will understand that some of my "key purchases" have been made following your analysis
Because of how the pads touch when the headphone (Stealth/Expanse/E3/Aeon) is not in use, one thing that you can do is put a piece of paper between the pads over night, which will absorb most of the skin oils and smell. I have used the pads on on my Stealth for about 11 months now with this trick and they are still in fairly good shape. They certainly don't feel fatty when I put the Stealth on. And it was a fairly hot year with many weeks over 28°C room temperature. During they day when you take them off, make sure the pads are offset and do not cover each other, allowing them to ventilate.
Well, when I asked the same question to Oratory1990, his response was :
As amazing as AMT tech is, I think it might be also prone to variations and instability caused by the imperfections of the real world, like a high accuracy and high speed oscilator would be, maybe in a similar way how you need to make sure trace lengths are matched for PCI Express x16 slots to work at max speed?
Well, if we are to believe we can trust FR graphs to tell us almost all we need to know about a headphone, then you don't need to get the E3 to check how it sounds. Just EQ your low distortion headphone to Harman target and there you have it.
Without any attempt at evaluating whether the pair of headphones under review is more or less susceptible to in situ variation, just like questions of, for example, sample variation or pad wear, will have an impact on the confidence you can have in such statement.
This is a review, listening tests, and detailed measurements of the Dan Clark E3 closed back headphone. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $1,999.
View attachment 330967
As you see, the E3 has quite large cups which makes fitment on your ears quite easy. I used the headphone for about 2 weeks with good comfort. Compared to the Stealth, I thought it felt a bit heavier. On the looks, I find it kind of simple compared to the complex geometry of Stealth/Expanse headphones.
Let's measure it to see how it responds.
Dan Clark E3 Headphone Measurement
I expect compliance with our target and that is exactly what we have:
View attachment 330968
Indeed, it seems to comply a bit better than Stealth (as if those small differences matter!). Relative response then doesn't leave much to EQ:
View attachment 330969
There is some distortion at low frequencies but then quiets down quite well:
View attachment 330970
View attachment 330971
As you see, distortion is very low where our hearing is most sensitive (2 to 5 kHz).
Group delay was very clean indicating lack of internal reflections:
View attachment 330972
Impedance is flat and low:
View attachment 330973
Sensitivity is improved compared to Stealth/Expanse making the headphone an easier load to drive:
View attachment 330974
You still need a high-performance of headphone amplifier.
Dan Clark E3 Listening Tests
When Dan sent the E3 to me, he asked that I not measure it and just listen and that is what I did. The first impression was a familiar and accurate sound I am used to in both headphones and studio monitors. I then spent good amount of time swapping between Stealth and E3. There were audible differences to be sure but none that I could quantify other than the E3 having a bit more highs resulting in slightly more spacious and satisfying sound. The switchover between headphones was just too long to give you quantification beyond this.
I then spent the next 10 to 14 days using the E3 as my everyday headphone. I enjoy it every bit as much as my Stealth. I did find that my neck got a hair tired. Dan tells me it is a bit heavier but it may be weight distribution as I am used to wearing heavy headphones.
Conclusions
With E3, Dan Clark once again exemplifies complying with the latest research into proper frequency response of a headphone while at the same time innovating with design and performance. The headphone sounds accurate while being very enjoyable. With the cost being half of Stealth and sound potentially even more pleasing (combined with ease of drive), the E3 is even a more exciting development. Yes, you do give up some in looks department in my opinion but heck, you don't watch yourself in the mirror as you listen!
I am happy to put the Dan Clark E3 on my recommended list.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
