Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Dro]

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

What exactly is this a screenshot of?

 

[Chyżwar]

What exactly is this a screenshot of?

The end of the song Lateralus. This boost around 2 - 3 kHz is typical for the Tool, it's here to add attack to guitars/drums, I guess, but this is too much.

 

[richard12511]

Another pet peeve on the topic of a $4k headphone is people talking about having the 'income' or 'wealth' to buy it. I would say you need 'funding' or a 'budget' to buy them, and you need to want them more than other stuff. Income is related to a budget for a pair of headphones, but it is far from the same thing and the correlation is far too weak to interchange the words.

I agree. Income does matter, but it's also about setting aside the budget for $4k to spend on headphones. Many spend more on speakers/headphones, by spending less elsewhere. Transportation/vehicles is a big one.

 

[Dro]

The end of the song Lateralus. This boost around 2 - 3 kHz is typical for the Tool, it's here to add attack to guitars/drums, I guess, but this is too much.

The other albums may have a tiny boost, but Lateralus is excessive:
Ticks & Leeches (Lateralus):


Vicarious (10,000 Days):


Brutal difference, considering 2 dB in this range are already highly audible. At this point I think the Stealth sounding off on Lateralus is not a headphone issue.

 

[goat76]

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

View attachment 150495

Not necessarily a problem with mastering or EQ. In this type of music the recorded guitar/bass usually have lot of energy in that particular area, it's probably the sound the artists have dialed in on their amps.

 

[maverickronin]

I agree. Income does matter, but it's also about setting aside the budget for $4k to spend on headphones. Many spend more on speakers/headphones, by spending less elsewhere.

It's also a question of what it's considered socially acceptable (or even expected) to spend money on.

Transportation/vehicles is a big one.

Possibly the biggest. Skip one trim level on your new car and it's paid for right away.

 

[EJH]

Great idea, let me add on the price of new glasses / contacts / surgery so I can wear my $4,000 pair of headphones at my desk.

A lot of users wear their both their headphones and glasses constantly, it's naïve to suggest that the performance of a headphone with imperfect seal is a "just get contacts lol" issue. Beyond glasses there are people oddly shaped faces, huge ears / jaws, deformities, and a range of other fit / seal issues. As humans vary pretty wildly in spec, it's important to know how consistent a headphone's performance is with different seals and fits

There's an example of how subjective experience can change the way I perceive the sound of a headphone. As a general rule, I close my eyes when listening to music, preferably in a pitch-black room. I can't listen to headphones while I'm reading or working at my computer. The sound totally changes. Music begins to sound harsh and fatiguing, even annoying. Others don't experience this?

 

[Doodski]

There's an example of how subjective experience can change the way I perceive the sound of a headphone. As a general rule, I close my eyes when listening to music, preferably in a pitch-black room. I can't listen to headphones while I'm reading or working at my computer. The sound totally changes. Music begins to sound harsh and fatiguing, even annoying. Others don't experience this?

I read, surf and make commentary at ASR all while wearing my Sennheisers and I don't experience harsh and fatiguing sound while doing those things.

 

[amirm]

I have to listen to right kind of music when working. Usually calmer, classical, smooth tracks. Exciting stuff does indeed wear on me after a while.

 

[EJH]

I read, surf and make commentary at ASR all while wearing my Sennheisers and I don't experience harsh and fatiguing sound while doing those things.

Interesting, but the point of my comment was to compare using your eyes versus not using them. If you only listen to music while using your eyes then there’s nothing to compare.

 

[EJH]

I have to listen to right kind of music when working. Usually calmer, classical, smooth tracks. Exciting stuff does indeed wear on me after a while.

I guess I’m encouraging people to turn off the light, close their eyes, and only listen to the music. Then again, I tend to listen at night after work. By the way, I just watched your video on (non)impact of AC distortion on audio equipment. Hopefully, you saved people some money.

 

[Doodski]

Interesting, but the point of my comment was to compare using your eyes versus not using them. If you only listen to music while using your eyes then there’s nothing to compare.

For sure... critical listening in a dark room after a pipe load of flower is always better.

 

[EJH]

For sure... critical listening in a dark room after a pipe load of flower is always better.

Ha ha there’s another subjective difference. Flower doesn’t relax me. Just the opposite!

 

[Robbo99999]

There's an example of how subjective experience can change the way I perceive the sound of a headphone. As a general rule, I close my eyes when listening to music, preferably in a pitch-black room. I can't listen to headphones while I'm reading or working at my computer. The sound totally changes. Music begins to sound harsh and fatiguing, even annoying. Others don't experience this?

I agree in terms of headphone listening (to music), I always close my eyes as it helps me to picture the physical layout of the music in terms of soundstage, as well as generally just enabling me to get more into the total experience and to notice some subtle elements in the music that I probably wouldn't otherwise if I had my eyes open (another distraction). If I'm doing something else and want to listen to music I'll put the music through my speakers.....I do think headphone listening requires more attention & imagination than speaker listening to get the best out of it. To be honest I also do the same sometimes when listening to music through my speakers (close my eyes), but it's far less critical for me to do that with speaker listening than it is for headphone listening.

 

[F1308]

Eyes wide shut...?

Very well, but keep mouth fairly open at times while smoooothly tasting Pedro Ximénez and Cabrales...

 

[tifune]

. I don't think any particular headphone clearly beats the Stealth for stuff like detail. There are a few that perhaps do marginally better, but it's not massive. Moreover, the Stealth has a better FR than any headphone I've heard yet. I also think this is a world class headphone, just like Amir does. I simply don't think it has one particular quality that some people look for.

Sorry if you've already been asked, this thread has become a bit overwhelming. In your opinion, what's the realistic competition to Stealth? Closed back, especially.

 

[doug2761]

Well it's taken me the better part of two weeks to get my feet back under me after this review. I've been poised over the buy button pretty much every day since this review; multiple times a day the first few days after. I'd love to have a pair of these. Diminishing returns being what they are, the value equation doesn't work for me when compared to EQ with more conventional headphones like HD6XX and Aeon RT. The Aeon Noire frequency response looks really close too and the 800S with EQ has gotten great reviews. If I get a chance to listen to it, the equation might change. I'll stay tuned to see how this technology impacts their lower cost offerings and future tunings. Really happy to see Dan Clark take new ground with this tech. Perhaps v2 or v3 will get me to push the buy button. Maybe it's a good thing that it's not easy to get a listen.

 

[Robbo99999]

Sorry if you've already been asked, this thread has become a bit overwhelming. In your opinion, what's the realistic competition to Stealth? Closed back, especially.

In terms of measurements, any headphone that you can EQ accurately to the Harman Curve (ie a lack of sharp difficult to EQ peaks & dips) combined with very low distortion from 200Hz upwards, and relatively low distortion in the bass. DCA Stealth excels in stock frequency response and distortion north of 200Hz, bass distortion is not particularly remarkably good, but it's good. The most remarkable thing about DCA Stealth is that it practically doesn't need any EQ to hug the Harman Curve and does so smoothly without hardly any "fine grass" little jagged deviations, and the very low distortion north of 200Hz.

EDIT: there's not many headphones that have a smooth totally EQ'able frequency response and very low distortion north of 200Hz whilst having good relatively low distortion in the bass....I'll have a little look now and suggest some alternatives. Ah, one more thought, it should have very good channel matching too, in order to equal the Stealth. (I know from some channel matching EQ's I've done based on specific units of headphones of mine measured by Oratory that channel matching makes a significant difference to clarity/imaging).

EDIT #2: so these are the headphones that might be able to equal the stealth with a good EQ in terms of measurements:
Hifiman HE6se
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/hifiman-he6se-review-headphone.23576/
a little bit of "fine grass" little jaggedness in the frequency response, but really good channel matching & low distortion (especially in bass) and no nasty sharp peaks or dips that can't be EQ'd....you also get angled pads which bodes well for soundstage experience.
Going through Amir's headphones reviews that's the only one I'd truly recommend as an equal re measurement wise (after EQ) for an equal to the DCA Stealth. And here's the measurement & EQ of the HE6se from Oratory:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/638c1dgypzw7eit/Hifiman HE6se.pdf?dl=0

EDIT #3: if you're not so critical re measured distortion, then there are plenty of headphones that can meet the DCA Stealth in terms of frequency response, so long as you EQ them. In my experience with my various headphones, my favourite headphones are not the ones with the least distortion, even after EQ - there's a soundstage quality that is unquantifiable in measurements which brings the K702 and HD560s to the front of my preference......so it might be wise to temper the importance of measured distortion, however I've not listened to the DCA Stealth so I'm not sure what I'm missing from that point of view, just I know that measured distortion is not the most important variable.....I'd list it like this in order of importance:
1) Frequency Response after EQ
2) Inherent soundstage ability of the headphone
3) Good Channel Matching through the whole frequency range
4) Distortion measurements (with the proviso that they're not pathetically bad).

 

[ExquirentibusVeritatem]

I guess I’m encouraging people to turn off the light, close their eyes, and only listen to the music. Then again, I tend to listen at night after work. By the way, I just watched your video on (non)impact of AC distortion on audio equipment. Hopefully, you saved people some money.

I tend to look at the frequency graph and Amir's reviews when listening to a headphone to make sure I'm listening accurately and don't fall into any subjective nonsense.

 

[ExquirentibusVeritatem]

No I believe YOU are in the wrong place. The correlation between measurements and subjective impressions IS "science."

I must have missed it. Where do we see the correlation between measurements and subjective impressions? AFAIK, there were no objective measurements linking the subjective spatial qualities of the Stealth.