Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[John B]

Amir needs some interns ; )

 

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Thanks @Doodski, @Robbo99999, @RHO and @Jimbob54 for your impressions. Sounds like everybody here can hear some issues with this track.

View attachment 150263
The spectrum here looks like the 2-4 kHz region is significantly elevated compared to tracks that sound better to my ear, and coincidentally, lowering this region by 3 dB or so makes it a lot more pleasant to listen to. With our ears being the most sensitive in this region, having a local maximum there seems... questionable.

So what you’re saying is that the track would sound better with a BBC dip? You’re going to give the Harman curve worshippers a heart attack.

 

[Dro]

So what you’re saying is that the track would sound better with a BBC dip? You’re going to give the Harman curve worshippers a heart attack.

I am saying this is how Lateralus sounds much better to me:

I don't think it's a fault of the Harman curve per se, the spectrum clearly shows 2-4 kHz being elevated and combined with our ears being the most sensitive there, it seems plausible that accurate reproduction of this sounds wonky. I think a headphone with a dip in that area sounds much better on "properly" EQed tracks than a Harman target headphone does on a badly done one. Both are effectively off target, but being 3 dB low is much better than being 3 dB high there.

Spectrum as found on CD:

After EQ:

 

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I am saying this is how Lateralus sounds much better to me:
View attachment 150311
I don't think it's a fault of the Harman curve per se, the spectrum clearly shows 2-4 kHz being elevated and combined with our ears being the most sensitive there, it seems plausible that accurate reproduction of this sounds wonky. I think a headphone with a dip in that area sounds much better on "properly" EQed tracks than a Harman target headphone does on a badly done one. Both are effectively off target, but being 3 dB low is much better than being 3 dB high there.

Spectrum as found on CD:
View attachment 150314
After EQ:
View attachment 150313

It's never the fault of the Harman curve, per se. But a recording that was produced in a studio that made eq decisions based on a monitor that has a BBC dip, is going to sound harsh on a playback speaker that doesn't have that BBC dip (a la Harman curve). Which means, by definition, a home speaker that follows the Harman curve will sound less preferable compared to, say, a B&W with that BBC dip, when reproducing these recordings.

 

[amirm]

Amir needs some interns ; )

I do indeed. How easy is it to find ones that want to pull weeds, wash our van, help with canning a ton of fruit and vegetables, and finish the electrical wiring in the woodshop? Then, I will feel less guilty about continuing to test audio gear a the rate I have been doing!

 

[amirm]

@amirm does this track sound loud/annoying to you in the 2-4 kHz range when listening through the Stealth?

I find this one hard to listen to with the Stealth (the entire album really), particularly after the 8:00 mark. Much better if I drop that frequency range by 2-3 dB. However, I can see in the spectrum that this range is quite elevated in the track, so maybe it is badly EQed rather than my hearing or the Stealth off.

Sorry, just got a chance to listen to it. Yes, towards the end, the highs are a bit much. But wouldn't it be the same in a concert of theirs, sans the distortion that they live system tends to have?

And what do you think of the low frequency reproduction? I find it quite nice even on this track and the first track in the album.

 

[musicarcade]

I don't want to fix anything, just would like to see the open back DCA gear get looked at by Amir.
Believe me, even if it measures like crap, I will still enjoy it. I just like open back headphones and am curious how it measures up to Dan Clark's closed models.

I have the open back Aeon 2 and can hardly find a review on its well. Would to see that review, but alas...don't see that being requested at all so little chance of that happening.

 

[Robbo99999]

If I ever switch to software EQ, I will give this a try. For now I stored an extra profile in my ADI-2 DAC that drops 3 kHz by a bit in case I come across another very bright/"loud" recording. I am generally very tolerant when it comes to treble and have treble control on the DAC anyway.

For the Lateralus album, I tried setting up a dedicated PEQ that sounds way better and I might use to create a "fixed" copy in the future. Unprocessed Lateralus sounds much better with the Ether 2 than the Stealth, the Ether 2 is quite low around 3 kHz, which really fixes the guitar harmonics yelling at you. I think a slight weakness in this area might be desirable over being perfectly accurate, it is much more compatible with questionable sounding music.

Ah, I see, you've only got 5 parametric bands of EQ to play with when using the ADI-2 DAC, yes and my 3 High Shelf Filters would only leave you with 2 extra filters for headphone EQ. In that case, you'd be better off using my first iteration of the Tone Control Filter that @Jimbob54 mentioned, which is just one filter: High Shelf 982hz Q0.2 . That will actually be more effective (& legitimate) as a general tone control than your idea of using one of your filters for taking down 3kHz by a bit - afterall both options only take up one parametric filter slot so nothing lost from that point of view.

 

[Robbo99999]

I do indeed. How easy is it to find ones that want to pull weeds, wash our van, help with canning a ton of fruit and vegetables, and finish the electrical wiring in the woodshop? Then, I will feel less guilty about continuing to test audio gear a the rate I have been doing!

Don't sound too bad to be honest, there's worse jobs!

 

[Dro]

Sorry, just got a chance to listen to it. Yes, towards the end, the highs are a bit much. But wouldn't it be the same in a concert of theirs, sans the distortion that they live system tends to have?

And what do you think of the low frequency reproduction? I find it quite nice even on this track and the first track in the album.

Well I hope that is not quite how it sounds like in concert. This album sounds like it was made to sound "correct" with gear that has recessed upper mids and we're listening without recessed upper mids. Does it sound better to you when you EQ -3.0 dB at 3 kHz, Q 1.5 on your ADI-2 DAC? I find that listening as is, loud parts are dominated by random guitar harmonics that I cannot connect to a fundamental anymore.

I like the bass reproduction of the Stealth in general. Some very bassy tracks sound very bassy now, but I guess that is a "garbage in, garbage out" situation now. Tracks that are low in bass still sound low in bass. I think the Harman target only works because the bass is well balanced with mids, assuming a good recording. Many headphones come with recessed upper mids and just trying to copy Harman bass relative to 500-1000 Hz would sound silly there.

Ah, I see, you've only got 5 parametric bands of EQ to play with when using the ADI-2 DAC, yes and my 3 High Shelf Filters would only leave you with 2 extra filters for headphone EQ. In that case, you'd be better off using my first iteration of the Tone Control Filter that @Jimbob54 mentioned, which is just one filter: High Shelf 982hz Q0.2 . That will actually be more effective (& legitimate) as a general tone control than your idea of using one of your filters for taking down 3kHz by a bit - afterall both options only take up one parametric filter slot so nothing lost from that point of view.

I don't need a tone control as much as I need something to that undoes people undoing a BBC dip in their monitors, though. Treble > 5 kHz rarely bothers me.

 

[Robbo99999]

I don't need a tone control as much as I need something to that undoes people undoing a BBC dip in their monitors, though. Treble > 5 kHz rarely bothers me.

That's assuming that is indeed the problem (I've seen your graphs), but I'm not convinced of the interpretation. General tone control filter is gonna be better than relying on a 3kHz reduction when it comes to tuning headphones & speakers on an album by album basis in terms of solving "Circle of Confusion" issues.

 

[AdamG]

Don't sound too bad to be honest, there's worse jobs!

Yes there are

 

[Jimbob54]

Amir needs some interns ; )

The judge was quite clear. No interns

 

[Zensō]

@amirm does this track sound loud/annoying to you in the 2-4 kHz range when listening through the Stealth?

I find this one hard to listen to with the Stealth (the entire album really), particularly after the 8:00 mark. Much better if I drop that frequency range by 2-3 dB. However, I can see in the spectrum that this range is quite elevated in the track, so maybe it is badly EQed rather than my hearing or the Stealth off.

This track sounds harsh in the upper mids and lower treble. Listening on Focal Elex EQ'd to Harman from RME ADI-2 DAC FS, and Sennheiser 660S EQ'd to Sonarworks from JDS Labs Element II. I don't think it's your new headphones.

 

[John B]

pull weeds, wash our van, help with canning a ton of fruit and vegetables, and finish the electrical wiring in the woodshop?

This feels a lot like “Other duties as assigned.” would have you covered.

 

[Dro]

This track sounds harsh in the upper mids and lower treble. Listening on Focal Elex EQ'd to Harman from RME ADI-2 DAC FS, and Sennheiser 660S EQ'd to Sonarworks from JDS Labs Element II. I don't think it's your new headphones.

Thanks. I remember this album being problematic with my Focal Clear and Sonarworks TrueFi active.

That's assuming that is indeed the problem (I've seen your graphs), but I'm not convinced of the interpretation. General tone control filter is gonna be better than relying on a 3kHz reduction when it comes to tuning headphones & speakers on an album by album basis in terms of solving "Circle of Confusion" issues.

I'll give it a try tonight.

 

[Zensō]

Thanks. I remember this album being problematic with my Focal Clear and Sonarworks TrueFi active.


I'll give it a try tonight.

Do you still have the Clear and have you done any A/B with the Stealth?

 

[Dro]

Do you still have the Clear and have you done any A/B with the Stealth?

In a different continent, so not accessible. It fell a bit out of favor with me when it lost more and more lower bass. I would expect it to sound very different.

 

[Jimbob54]

Do you still have the Clear and have you done any A/B with the Stealth?

Im going full on subjective here but to my ears the Clear is pretty fragile/ brittle sounding. Great for detail but bass heavy (even with some EQ) it aint.

 

[Chyżwar]

@amirm does this track sound loud/annoying to you in the 2-4 kHz range when listening through the Stealth?
I find this one hard to listen to with the Stealth (the entire album really), particularly after the 8:00 mark. Much better if I drop that frequency range by 2-3 dB. However, I can see in the spectrum that this range is quite elevated in the track, so maybe it is badly EQed rather than my hearing or the Stealth off.

Typical thing for this band. This is a problem with mastering/equalization, not with headphones