Dan Clark NOIRE X Headphone Review

[Dan Clark]

I see @Dan Clark has posted on this thread so I would like to ask Mr Clark what he thinks makes his headphones worth their price when other cheaper headphones can be made to follow very closely the target curve it seems he his trying to conform to.

Do not take this as making mischief or doing down DC's products. I can see and have read a bit about the efforts DC has gone to to design and produce the headphones he makes and I think they look lovely and probably sound excellent. I have yet to hear a pair because the two headphones of the range I was interested in just aren't easily available in the UK.

Frequency response is just one variable, though acoustically probably the most important. That said, things like soundstage vary hugely among designs, particularly for closed headphones. There’s of course also distortion and time domain performance, which vary a lot, and qualitative differences in how bass is damped, or not, etc that change the feel.

Then of course is build quality, aesthetics, ergonomics, support, and all the other stuff that makes a product what it is… a BMW is more than 0-60 in a straight line.

Ive now heard from a few people that they dont love the comfort of the stitched leather straps, even though they look great. Mainly from the customers that buy my Aeon replacement strap who also own higher end DCA headphones. I will design one of my stretchy, breathable replacement strap for them like the one below, will help people that have comfort issues with the stock one. I just need to get my hands on a model with the stitched leather strap locally (Toronto), I only own the Drop X Closed and old Noir.

Mr Clark, any chance to get some assistance from you for my design?

View attachment 410156

Looks neat but the new headband relies on elastic to provide suspension, to make your design work you’d need to come up with a replacement for that… TBH a a few people don’t like the strap but the vast majority do, it’s in use on all our high end headphones and is very rarely an issue for people.

 

[Mauro]

Frequency response is just one variable, though acoustically probably the most important. That said, things like soundstage vary hugely among designs, particularly for closed headphones. There’s of course also distortion and time domain performance, which vary a lot, and qualitative differences in how bass is damped, or not, etc that change the feel.

Then of course is build quality, aesthetics, ergonomics, support, and all the other stuff that makes a product what it is… a BMW is more than 0-60 in a straight line.

Looks neat but the new headband relies on elastic to provide suspension, to make your design work you’d need to come up with a replacement for that… TBH a a few people don’t like the strap but the vast majority do, it’s in use on all our high end headphones and is very rarely an issue for people.

If this new headband allows to run a cable through it to have a new Noire X Bluetooth version using a dongle on one side, you will be more than forgiven by my “shaved” head

 

[maximit]

Looks neat but the new headband relies on elastic to provide suspension, to make your design work you’d need to come up with a replacement for that… TBH a a few people don’t like the strap but the vast majority do, it’s in use on all our high end headphones and is very rarely an issue for people.

Yes I saw the elastic inside in video reviews. I think my headband would be provided in 3 sizes S,M,L. It will have a lot of stretch in it as well from the polyurethane material plus the hex pattern. I will be happy to send you my Aeon strap if you want to try it out, its much better then stock leather one.

Im sure most are happy with the fit of the stock stitched one, for the few that have a problem I think it will be a good solution.

Any DCA owners in Toronto with that stitched strap? Need to get my hand on one for the design.

 

[Maxime]

Hello, I am French, sorry for my bad English. I am a beginner in the audiophile world and I am undecided about buying headphones. I only had one audiophile experience and it was with an HD800S which for a first experience made me very happy. I reluctantly sold it 3 years ago and I want to buy a new headset. In France we do not have the Dan Clark brand in stores. If I have to buy it, it is imported. So I cannot try in a store. Without taking into account the price of the headset. Is it better an HD800S or a Dan Clark Noire X? I like the open side and the wide soundstage of the HD800S. Will I find this wide soundstage and very good sound? To listen at home with my iPhone and a Fiio Q15 or Q7. What do you recommend without counting the price between the two, thank you all

 

[DEF]

Hello, I am French, sorry for my bad English. I am a beginner in the audiophile world and I am undecided about buying headphones. I only had one audiophile experience and it was with an HD800S which for a first experience made me very happy. I reluctantly sold it 3 years ago and I want to buy a new headset. In France we do not have the Dan Clark brand in stores. If I have to buy it, it is imported. So I cannot try in a store. Without taking into account the price of the headset. Is it better an HD800S or a Dan Clark Noire X? I like the open side and the wide soundstage of the HD800S. Will I find this wide soundstage and very good sound? To listen at home with my iPhone and a Fiio Q15 or Q7. What do you recommend without counting the price between the two, thank you all

Honestly. My best guess is that Dan Clark is more likely to make your Song feel just right.
I had HD800S and in some songs it just felt harsh and cold.
While some sounds suddenly went more in focus, I couldn't listen to it.
Treble so much that you could compare it to amplifying the water out of faucet sound threefold.

 

[Chagall]

Hello, I am French, sorry for my bad English. I am a beginner in the audiophile world and I am undecided about buying headphones. I only had one audiophile experience and it was with an HD800S which for a first experience made me very happy. I reluctantly sold it 3 years ago and I want to buy a new headset. In France we do not have the Dan Clark brand in stores. If I have to buy it, it is imported. So I cannot try in a store. Without taking into account the price of the headset. Is it better an HD800S or a Dan Clark Noire X? I like the open side and the wide soundstage of the HD800S. Will I find this wide soundstage and very good sound? To listen at home with my iPhone and a Fiio Q15 or Q7. What do you recommend without counting the price between the two, thank you all

Welcome to ASR

It's tough to recommend headphones. There are a lot of factors at play: comfort, weight, closed or open-back (do you need isolation?), tonal preference, and personal HRTF (headphones sound different on different heads no matter how they measure) beyond just sound quality or price. How do you value those factors or what's more important to you?

I have both DCA E3 and HD800s and compared them a lot. The sound presentation is very different and I like both.

All I can say is I don't regret buying either and will not sell any. They complement each other and I use both of them equally - although E3 more for music, while HD800s more for watching movies.

Some general opinions:

HD800s
+ more comfortable, lighter
+ wide stage - this is the unique thing about them
+ open-back so your ears don't sweat during summer, but no isolation
- don't sound good without EQ, tonally incorrect
- bass is so so

DCA E3
+ sound great without EQ, tonally correct if the seal is good
+ wide stage for a close back, but just OK in general
+ close-back headphones with fewer coupling issues than others, OK isolation
- difficult to wear them during summer
- have yet to stand the test of time

Someone else will have different opinions and that totally legitimate.

 

[Maxime]

Thank you for your help
I need an audiophile headset for home so I don't have to worry about noise. I listen when I'm resting and there's no one at home. Outside, the AirPods Pro 2 are enough for me. I wanted an audiophile headset to start listening to better quality files. My only headset that I currently have is the AirPods Pro Max. In any case, we agree that the sound quality will be better on the Dan Clark than the AirPods Max?. I don't use an equalizer and am looking for ease with iPhone and portable DAC. The Dan Clark seems easier to power. With a Fiio Q15 is that enough? While the HD800S I think it's just

 

[Maxime]

I like to listen to a bit of all styles of music. On the HD800S I was surprised in a good way when I listened to Eagles Hotel California. The guitars, the soundstage impressed me but on the other hand I have never listened to another headset so my opinion is not very good. I saw the Meze Pro 109 also in the same price range. On a French forum I was advised the Dan Clark because according to them it is a closed headset but which sounds like an open headset

On Noire X Can we change the pads if they are worn?

 

[Chagall]

Thank you for your help
I need an audiophile headset for home so I don't have to worry about noise. I listen when I'm resting and there's no one at home. Outside, the AirPods Pro 2 are enough for me. I wanted an audiophile headset to start listening to better quality files. My only headset that I currently have is the AirPods Pro Max. In any case, we agree that the sound quality will be better on the Dan Clark than the AirPods Max?. I don't use an equalizer and am looking for ease with iPhone and portable DAC. The Dan Clark seems easier to power. With a Fiio Q15 is that enough? While the HD800S I think it's just

I like to listen to a bit of all styles of music. On the HD800S I was surprised in a good way when I listened to Eagles Hotel California. The guitars, the soundstage impressed me but on the other hand I have never listened to another headset so my opinion is not very good. I saw the Meze Pro 109 also in the same price range.

If you don't EQ, then the Noire X should be the way to go, purely on tonal correctness. Again, take this with a grain of salt as not many people have Noire X - it's brand new, but DCAs latest offerings have been very popular.

Don't worry about powering them too much. If it is loud enough - it's loud enough, if not you can get a SOTA HP amp for $100 later.

Personally haven't heard Meze so can't comment.

On a French forum I was advised the Dan Clark because according to them it is a closed headset but which sounds like an open headset

When I first heard E3, I was wowed by the stage, but after the novelty wore off I've changed my mind or have gotten used to it, I guess. Wider than some open-back for sure, eg HD600, but still a closed headphone. It's all relative - HD800s are the widest headphones I've heard, but still very much headphones.

On Noire X Can we change the pads if they are worn?

Yes, search on YouTube for Dan Clark's video. It's a different system from other headphones brands as the pads are taped.

 

[RJO]

Thank you for your help
I need an audiophile headset for home so I don't have to worry about noise. I listen when I'm resting and there's no one at home. Outside, the AirPods Pro 2 are enough for me. I wanted an audiophile headset to start listening to better quality files. My only headset that I currently have is the AirPods Pro Max. In any case, we agree that the sound quality will be better on the Dan Clark than the AirPods Max?. I don't use an equalizer and am looking for ease with iPhone and portable DAC. The Dan Clark seems easier to power. With a Fiio Q15 is that enough? While the HD800S I think it's just

I strongly suggest that you demo listen a Focal Hadenys which should highly be available in your own country since it was manufactured there. I don't want to derail the thread by talking about it here but I think it's what you're looking for, and I own both the Send HD800s and Aeon Noire 2.

 

[Shadrach]

Frequency response is just one variable, though acoustically probably the most important. That said, things like soundstage vary hugely among designs, particularly for closed headphones. There’s of course also distortion and time domain performance, which vary a lot, and qualitative differences in how bass is damped, or not, etc that change the feel.

Then of course is build quality, aesthetics, ergonomics, support, and all the other stuff that makes a product what it is… a BMW is more than 0-60 in a straight line.

Thank you for the response.

 

[Maxime]

I strongly suggest that you demo listen a Focal Hadenys which should highly be available in your own country since it was manufactured there. I don't want to derail the thread by talking about it here but I think it's what you're looking for, and I own both the Send HD800s and Aeon Noire 2.

Thank you for your reply. Since you have both the DCA and HD800S. Do you still think that the DCA has a good soundstage? Is it a very good purchase for entering audiophile music?

 

[Mauro]

Derailing ... @Maxime could you open a dedicated thread?

 

[Mr Swing King]

I may have hit my head but nevertheless found myself this morning with an order for the Noire X…and I usually don’t even listen to closedback headphones.
Ohh well, yesterday I also sold off my LCD-2 so I guess it balances out in the end…and looking at Dan’s frequency response of the X certainly makes me think it’ll be an upgrade over the Audeze, which in all honesty sounds whack. I don’t equalise so headphones need to sound great out of the gate.
Can’t wait to get my hands on this black glass beauty!

 

[Mort]

I just got mine delivered. I'm no headphone expert but I spent a good deal of time chasing the HE6SE white whale.

This is a very satisfying planar experience.

Thank you DCA for tuning this conventionally. I really like not having to eq my headphones.

Price point/quality works for me.

 

[cheapmessiah]

Just when I thought I wanted nothing for christmas (because i cant afford the E3s atm).

Imagine working at any other headphone company and seeing this being released, my thoughts and prayers for them.

 

[DEF]

Just when I thought I wanted nothing for christmas (because i cant afford the E3s atm).

Imagine working at any other headphone company and seeing this being released, my thoughts and prayers for them.

it would be fun if your profile said 'Audio Company'

 

[Yevhen]

A couple of things to note about the headphone

Do you measure a temperature rise for the ears? If not, what would you expect it to be?

Is it realistic to get an open back version with comparable frequency response?

 

[Postlan]

What causes the excessive distortion? I always use EQ anyway, so I concern about distortion more than FR.

 

[RJO]

Thank you for your reply. Since you have both the DCA and HD800S. Do you still think that the DCA has a good soundstage? Is it a very good purchase for entering audiophile music?

IMO none of the DCA line comes close to Senn HD800s soundstage level, far from it. With Noire 2 you’re also going to need a powerful amp and some optimization to reach higher fidelity.
But the rise of recent portable DAC/Amps replacing desktops, such as the Fiio KA15, drove my Noire 2 with ease. That together with Amir’s EQ was the saving grace making it my third favorite HP at home.
From this review, X sounds quite an improvement I probably would’ve considered if it weren’t for the weight and power efficiency. Something tells me whatever comes next will be more to my liking.