Dan Clark Expanse Headphone Review

[majingotan]

My 25+ year-old Sennheiser HD600 headphones finally just disintegrated. Now I'm searching for a cost no object headphone to replace them. Beyond stellar sound quality, I'm looking for extreme comfort, light weight, luxurious materials, and beautiful visual aesthetics. Sort of the core values of an Aston Martin, but in a pair of awesome-sounding headphones and without the *necessity* of EQ fussing (I may still EQ though). I don't want to turn headphone ownership into a hobby, I just want to enjoy them.

I've read this entire thread from start to finish (phew!). I'm excited by the Expanse as a possible contender, but since I never found the HD600 to be terribly bass-lean, I'm uncertain that the Harman target is for me. So I'm left with a nagging concern that I may find the Expanse too bass heavy, or that maybe I won't like the midbass hump, or that maybe I want a more open-backed feeling headphone like the HD600. I don't need closed back for sound isolation, which leans me toward the Expanse.

I ordered a Topping DX5 II as a hopefully "drive anything" DAC/amp combo. It seems like my best path forward is to buy the HD600/650 to keep as a baseline reference headphone and audition other headphones against them, returning the rejects within the return window. Then if either headphone develops problems, I have a backup while they are being repaired.

When I do my auditions, presumably I should expect the Expanse (or whatever) to be revelatory in terms of tonal balance and detail relative to the HD650? It's hard to quantify the superlatives in this thread, but that's the impression I'm getting. For the price, I would expect a significant improvement over the HD650.

IMHO. Expanse does not remotely sound like the HD600. You're better off with ZMF Tessidera if you're wanting to resemble something close to HD600/650 tonal signature but with planar magnetic drivers so transient response and lower overall distortion should be perceived as higher clarity

 

[chouca]

IMHO. Expanse does not remotely sound like the HD600. You're better off with ZMF Tessidera if you're wanting to resemble something close to HD600/650 tonal signature but with planar magnetic drivers so transient response and lower overall distortion should be perceived as higher clarity

I'm not familiar with that headphone, but I'll check it out. Thanks!

 

[etc6849]

I would listen the Expanse if you can. They are great headphones. I have a pair, and love them on my Benchmark AHB2's (via a custom speaker switcher I made) and also on the HPA4. The headphone's EQ curve they designed to is dead on for me.

 

[chouca]

I would listen the Expanse if you can. They are great headphones. I have a pair, and love them on my Benchmark AHB2's (via a custom speaker switcher I made) and also on the HPA4. The headphone's EQ curve they designed to is dead on for me.

I think I will try them within the return window. A headphone that sounds great without EQ is very appealing to me.

 

[ALeg]

Hello,
First time here
Just bought one pair of expanse after reading review and talking with DCA Team. There are few things that most mainstream reviews miss...

My setup is Eversolo A6 + JDS Atom 2 + DCA expanse.
What can be said? To my ears they sound like they measure. Simply excellent with perceivable bump in lower mids. Not all music apporves
However, i would not recommend combo I have. I would go for headphone amp with higher gain (i use it in high gain already). I use -4dB on Eversolo to account for intersample overs and on some tracks this setup lacks gain. Best example being Children of Sanchez.

Additional thing that many may miss is that low distortion headphones really encourage loud listening sessions... They do not get harsh or unpleasant and it may be damaging to ears...