Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Jimster480]

Its not. you arent missing anything imho

I guess one day I will find out! Eventually they will be at some audio show or something that I am able to attend.

 

[PointyFox]

Depends on the user, the pads, and how they're held against the head. The headphone should get more consistent as the pads get broken in. I just got a Stealth. Tons of bass and bass extension for me. Pretty close to my TH900.

 

[JanesJr1]

And...

And...?

And what?

I gave a wordy reply to the post that made a comparison between Noire and Closed X, sharing what I had found using both headphones for a couple of months.

If you don't need a soundstage, the Closed X is a much better deal, and no need to upgrade. If you listen to a lot of acoustic sources, don't want a linear, ear-to-ear soundstage much of the time, and tend to be a perfectionist even at a cost, then consider the Noire.

 

[Jimster480]

And what?

I gave a wordy reply to the post that made a comparison between Noire and Closed X, sharing what I had found using both headphones for a couple of months.

Very helpful tbh. Thank you for your contribution.
One of my friends tried both headphones and he had a few similar conclusions (although he didn't have them for months, I think it was a week).

 

[Dogcoop]

Just wondering if anyone is using the Stealth with a Topping A90 Discrete?

If so, would you share what volume level you are comfortable using?

Thnx

 

[Jimbob54]

Just wondering if anyone is using the Stealth with a Topping A90 Discrete?

If so, would you share what volume level you are comfortable using?

Thnx

Im pretty sure @amirm is when listening to music on headphones for pleasure (as opposed to testing devices).

 

[Dogcoop]

Im pretty sure @amirm is when listening to music on headphones for pleasure (as opposed to testing devices).

Thnx for the reply.

@amirm mentions that he listened at level 80 in high gain and it was ‘loud.’ (his quotes) I’m feeding the a90d from a topping e50 bal out, hp bal out, and level 80 is ear bleed territory for me. I was just wondering what level was comfortable for others.

 

[Snoopy]

I'm still hoping there will be a aeon 3 or ether 3 with some of the Stealth technology at a more affordable price

 

[lovesegfault]

Just wondering if anyone is using the Stealth with a Topping A90 Discrete?

If so, would you share what volume level you are comfortable using?

Thnx

I do.

I'm usually floating around the 60s in high gain. I haven't found any music that the A90D's couldn't drive the Stealth's with, but there is one album in my collection that will make them clip before reaching "pain" levels of volume. Since I don't like bleeding from my ears, it's not an issue.

It's a great pairing

 

[Dogcoop]

I do.

I'm usually floating around the 60s in high gain. I haven't found any music that the A90D's couldn't drive the Stealth's with, but there is one album in my collection that will make them clip before reaching "pain" levels of volume. Since I don't like bleeding from my ears, it's not an issue.

It's a great pairing

Thnx for the reply. The music is wonderful through this system. I just couldn’t get anywhere near a volume level of 80. Clipping or distortion has never been a problem with these great headphones. Enjoy your listening!

 

[lovesegfault]

Thnx for the reply. The music is wonderful through this system. I just couldn’t get anywhere near a volume level of 80. Clipping or distortion has never been a problem with these great headphones. Enjoy your listening!

If you're interested, this is the album/song I have that's the only thing I found where the A90D can't drive the Stealths to the pain-level:

 

[Jimster480]

I'm still hoping there will be a aeon 3 or ether 3 with some of the Stealth technology at a more affordable price

Well if you read up in this thread a little bit more it looks like the Aeon II is somewhat close already.

 

[Dogcoop]

If you're interested, this is the album/song I have that's the only thing I found where the A90D can't drive the Stealths to the pain-level:
View attachment 220975

Thnx!
I will try it later tonight.
Cheers

 

[AlephAlpha001]

If you're interested, this is the album/song I have that's the only thing I found where the A90D can't drive the Stealths to the pain-level:
View attachment 220975

Just listened. Would be headphone amp headroom for the ages if it could blow one's ears out on such a quiet, introspective piece on Stealths or Susvaras. I found about 2 o'clock on regular A90 on medium gain to be plenty for this track. And then I remembered that I've got -6dB headroom dialled in globally in Roon for cross feed and PEQ allowance (I don't EQ DCA Stealth but do so for my other headphones).

 

[majingotan]

If you're interested, this is the album/song I have that's the only thing I found where the A90D can't drive the Stealths to the pain-level:

I find that exorbitant amount of headroom is very important as well

Any Blu-Ray movie that were mastered with very wide dynamic range would be an unsatisfying listening if the amp does not have ample of headroom. When I was listening to music, I only needed less than 9 am on the pot (max is 4 pm) with my Single Ended amp with the Dan Clark Aeon X Open to get 80-90dB+ SPLs. However, when I put my Blu-Ray Sci-Fi movie flick, I had to put my amp to close to 12 pm just to get the dialogue be at 70-80 dB SPL, and when the scene goes explosive, the SPL would easily rise to over 100+ dB SPL with earlobe shaking deep bass. That plenty headroom made me feel that I'm listening to movie theater due to lack of clipping at those SPLs, and as such I get the idea of some people using speaker taps to drive the Stealth for that reason

 

[Jimster480]

I find that exorbitant amount of headroom is very important as well

Any Blu-Ray movie that were mastered with very wide dynamic range would be an unsatisfying listening if the amp does not have ample of headroom. When I was listening to music, I only needed less than 9 am on the pot (max is 4 pm) with my Single Ended amp with the Dan Clark Aeon X Open to get 80-90dB+ SPLs. However, when I put my Blu-Ray Sci-Fi movie flick, I had to put my amp to close to 12 pm just to get the dialogue be at 70-80 dB SPL, and when the scene goes explosive, the SPL would easily rise to over 100+ dB SPL with earlobe shaking deep bass. That plenty headroom made me feel that I'm listening to movie theater due to lack of clipping at those SPLs, and as such I get the idea of some people using speaker taps to drive the Stealth for that reason

It's true that it does really depend on what you are listening to. I only use about 12:00 on my t h x 789 to drive my aeon. A little bit less for my Ananda unless there are things going on around me that I need the extra volume for. However if I am watching specific YouTube videos or watching some kind of talk show then I often have to turn the volume up much higher.

Ironically when playing most video games I must actually turn the volume lower.

 

[Pandemonium]

I find that exorbitant amount of headroom is very important as well

Any Blu-Ray movie that were mastered with very wide dynamic range would be an unsatisfying listening if the amp does not have ample of headroom. When I was listening to music, I only needed less than 9 am on the pot (max is 4 pm) with my Single Ended amp with the Dan Clark Aeon X Open to get 80-90dB+ SPLs. However, when I put my Blu-Ray Sci-Fi movie flick, I had to put my amp to close to 12 pm just to get the dialogue be at 70-80 dB SPL, and when the scene goes explosive, the SPL would easily rise to over 100+ dB SPL with earlobe shaking deep bass. That plenty headroom made me feel that I'm listening to movie theater due to lack of clipping at those SPLs, and as such I get the idea of some people using speaker taps to drive the Stealth for that reason

I would love to know what movie you are referring to.

 

[majingotan]

I would love to know what movie you are referring to.

I rented Moonfall which has Dolby Atmos feature. However, my Schiit DAC is only PCM so I configured my Blu-ray player to do the decoding internally and down-mix to 2 channels at 24/96 rate out of digital coaxial

 

[Dogcoop]

If you're interested, this is the album/song I have that's the only thing I found where the A90D can't drive the Stealths to the pain-level:
View attachment 220975

Great guitarist!
Listening via Roon/Qobuz at 96/24 (no eq/default), a volume of 80 is fine…..loud but realistic. I tried pushing it to 90 (way too loud) and there was no clipping/distortion. The mix definitely allows you to listen at a high level, but listening to other music with different mastering it is impossible for me to listen at such levels. It seems the 60’s is the right level for most music. I might push it a bit for some classical or jazz selections.
Thanx again for your input and recommendation.
Happy trails!

 

[Jimster480]

I rented Moonfall which has Dolby Atmos feature. However, my Schiit DAC is only PCM so I configured my Blu-ray player to do the decoding internally and down-mix to 2 channels at 24/96 rate out of digital coaxial

Same thing happens to me with PCM output on my Sony Master series into my Klipsch R15-PM + K100SW. Many of those movies have really low volume for vocals and then super high bass.... sucks really which is why I want to build a home theater now.