Dan Clark Expanse Headphone Review

[asrUser]

In Norway we have a right of complaint on all electronics (and other products) that are supposed to last. If they fail before 5 years pass, even out of warranty (which is allways 2 years or more), we have a right to get it fixed for free. Ofcourse if they fail inside of warranty we can still choose to either get the money back, get a replacement unit, or get something else. All of this as long as it's not our own fault that it breaks. It even makes it safe for us to buy the expensive Hifimans like my Arya. We're very lucky to have that rule.

Is it only a 1 time fix or more times? You seem to be lucky to live in Norway.

 

[Doodski]

Is it only a 1 time fix or more times? You seem to be lucky to live in Norway.

Not sure if they are getting the full gamut of available products that we get globally. Too strict of warranty terms for importers.

 

[poxymoron]

Sennheiser HE1. Well you also get an amp, but you have to buy that amp with it.

LOL, my bad, I miss read your post. I thought you were suggesting that a comparable headphone was available for $60! In my part of Europe we'd have typed $60,000, not $60.000. I'll keep saving.

 

[Phoney]

Is it only a 1 time fix or more times? You seem to be lucky to live in Norway.

I believe we can get it fixed several times are long as it's inside the first 5 years and it's not our own fault. But ofcourse if it gets fixed after 3 years, I will still "only" have 2 years left of those rights. Our prices are a bit high though, but we can buy used ones for a good price and still have those rights for the unit.

 

[Doodski]

In my part of Europe we'd have typed $60,000, not $60.000.

With the non-systematic comma and period use the currency amount is often mixed up. In North America it would be $60,000.00 or just $60K.

 

[Robbo99999]

Sennheiser HE1. Well you also get an amp, but you have to buy that amp with it.

To be fair though, it's not quite as perfect as the DCA Expanse, and nor does it quite meet the Harman bass:

 

[Phoney]

To be fair though, it's not quite as perfect as the DCA Expanse, and nor does it quite meet the Harman bass:
View attachment 230475

Yes as I stated, the DCA one matches the target even more. But this one is still pretty darn close to the Expanse tuning (closer than any other open back). Just 15 times more expensive.

 

[mathman]

Wow but Ouch!
That's (at least in part) the price of R&D I suppose. Great that amirm prefers the headphones without EQ 70% of the time. That's how it should be!

 

[Robbo99999]

That would be nice but Dan Clark Audio's last annual report states that revenue growth was fuelled by their Stealth headphones, which were also their most successful product launch. I wouldn't hold my breath.

DSP support & all the R&D associated with that is costly, it's more suited to the likes of Sennheiser, etc....I agree. Hmm....DCA have done a whole lot to properly finetune their headphones though, and I can sense their love / dedication, along with their objective understanding......I hope they can take things further if necessary.

EDIT: Ultimately I'd really like to see a more accessible Smyth Realizer solution - mind you that's not all that far off the DCA Expanse cost now that I've looked!!!!! At this point you might start asking yourself if it's worth combining a good measuring under $1000 headphone with the $4000 Smyth Realizer to get a really out of your head experience.......actually that's really really something to think about if you're considering outlaying thousands of dollars on your headphone music listening setup.

@amirm , any thoughts or desires related to potentially reviewing the Smyth Realizer??

EDIT #2: although I fear a Smyth Realizer review could potentially kill off any further headphone reviews (at the highest end)!!

 

[DualTriode]

Is this more metamaterial engineering?

 

[Rthomas]

Audeze has also supplied headphones. But you are right that the rest of the companies are not volunteering such. I suspect their headphones are not designed to criteria that we use to evaluate them. Or they still wrongly assume we are not an important outlet for such reviews.

I hope you get a chance to review the Audeze CRBN. I've owned the Stax SR007 and the SR009S and the CRBN bring something new to the table in terms of bass response and presentation. I think the sealed front volume is the reason. This makes it much more susceptible to ''stax fart'' but this is a price worth paying imho and it's not a problem when listening as long as you discharge the headphones once they are seated on your head.

 

[poxymoron]

Wow but Ouch!
That's (at least in part) the price of R&D I suppose. Great that amirm prefers the headphones without EQ 70% of the time. That's how it should be!

Ouch is right but with all the other similarly priced but objectively poor kit on the market, what can we say. At least the more budget friendly DC headphones still perform well so we can all have a small piece of it.
But, I've never even held a DC headphone so what do I know.
All these manufacturers have their own buzz words and marketing BS but this Metamaterial Tuning System is clearly delivering when it comes to sound. And the folding gimbal? DC had me at hello!

 

[_thelaughingman]

Is this more metamaterial engineering?

It has the same metamaterial as the Stealth.

 

[Rthomas]

DCA has come a long way! Look at the preference score of some of their earlier stuff!

MrSpeakers Aeon Open.pdf

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

 

[Oukkidoukki]

I tried Dan Clark Stealth with Ferrum oor amp couple of days ago. Great build quality, but really….6000€…difference is uber minimal to 500€ setup. I really urge to make real life comparison before throwing money in. Reading reviews here make you think that these multi thousand devices are from an another planet, but this is not the case. Far from it. Just saying. Same time, I want to engourage everyone who has the money buy them, because it is great that they exist anyhow.

 

[lewdish]

Cant wait for a meta material tuned Electrostatic from DCA~

 

[Doodski]

I tried Dan Clark Stealth with Ferrum oor amp couple of days ago. Great build quality, but really….6000€…difference is uber minimal to 500€ setup. I really urge to make real life comparison before throwing money in. Reading reviews here make you think that these multi thousand devices are from an another planet, but this is not the case. Far from it. Just saying. Same time, I want to engourage everyone who has the money buy them, because it is great that they exist anyhow.

What is your first language?

 

[Oukkidoukki]

What is your first language?

Finnish

 

[Doodski]

Finnish

I've been told that once an adult a English speaking person will never speak Finnish. Too difficult to make the required sounds.

 

[Robbo99999]

I tried Dan Clark Stealth with Ferrum oor amp couple of days ago. Great build quality, but really….6000€…difference is uber minimal to 500€ setup. I really urge to make real life comparison before throwing money in. Reading reviews here make you think that these multi thousand devices are from an another planet, but this is not the case. Far from it. Just saying. Same time, I want to engourage everyone who has the money buy them, because it is great that they exist anyhow.

That's interesting, and I don't not believe you....comparing headphones is difficult and fraught with pitfalls.........and to be fair I wouldn't expect an accurately EQ'd cheaper headphone (as long as you chose the right one with low unit to unit variation, etc) to sound appreciably worse than the perfect headphone being reviewed here. But the truth remains that this is the best measuring open back headphone that hits Harman Bass as well as the rest of the frequency bang on without EQ and producing super low distortion.....so no other headphone can claim that, and that's worth something.