Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[isostasy]

Given the good compliance with the target, it would be interesting to know how owners of the Stealth are EQing it if they feel the need? @Keith_W you've suggested you have tried EQ and maybe prefer the response with EQ, any others?

 

[Keened]

one last point that I'll make that isn't related to sound quality is that I did not find them comfortable either like any other people mentioned. the headband system has a lot of jaw clamping force on my head and for me personally was the worst of any that I had tried up till now.

I think the non-adjustable/"auto-adjusting" aspect of the Stealths was a mistake compared to it's predecessors. I now have a pair of Noires and I can definitely feel the pressure you're talking about and had to move them around on the wire bands and then crank down the screw (which should be Torx, what's the point of a carbon fiber, TiNi wire band, and custom drivers and connectors to just use Phillips/JIS? anywhere in the design) to hold them in place so they were tolerable. If I let them self-adjust at all they would bring the inside band too far down along the tracks and the clamping force would increase since the tracks curve inward as you go further down. The Stealth has them right on the bottom with an elastic band that controls the height of the inside band but not where they sit along the curve of the wire band.

I'd also like to see the final swivel on the band terminate into a screw mediated horizontal swivel rather than right into the cups so you could change the relative pressure front to back without changing the positioning front to back.

That said, with my limited time trying the Expanse I didn't notice anything but maybe I was too focused on how amazingly clean the sound was.

 

[Phoney]

Given the good compliance with the target, it would be interesting to know how owners of the Stealth are EQing it if they feel the need? @Keith_W you've suggested you have tried EQ and maybe prefer the response with EQ, any others?

Even harman curve fans might not like the tonality as discussed many times here, the response at eardrum on this can change drastically from person to person. Some people will actually not hear the harman tonality at all. No surprise that people disagree on the sound of this headphone, they may just be hearing completely different things.

 

[isostasy]

Even harman curve fans might not like the tonality as discussed many times here, the response at eardrum on this can change drastically from person to person. Some people will actually not hear the harman tonality at all. No surprise that people disagree on the sound of this headphone, they may just be hearing completely different things.

Yes indeed, this is why am I interested to see how people might adjust the response.

 

[markanini]

Yes indeed, this is why am I interested to see how people might adjust the response.

I own Shure SRH440 that measures very close to Harman. I boost 2-3dB centered around 150Hz over Harman, similar to DCA Expanse. 3-4kHz is 1-2 dB below touching the line. I let the bass roll of below 50Hz. YMMV due to unit and individual variation.

 

[lewdish]

I'm hoping Dan sends over the new Corina for measurement, looking forward to seeing how the metamaterial tuning improves electrostatic headphone performance.

 

[Lord Victor]

I agree about the “over damped “ sound and I can definitely hear it compared to other more lively headphones. A few years ago I bought a lightly used Aeon Closed in mint condition at 50% off. I was thrilled at getting a great deal but within 10 minutes of listening to it I found it boring compared to my HD650 and I sold it within 48 hours.

Yea, I hope some day in the near future we figure out the source of this effect or how to quantify it, is I think it’s the source of a lot of what makes the difference between what’s perceived as detailed, dynamic or the like.

 

[ribonucleic]

Enjoying music does not require high fidelity, I enjoy AM transistor radios as much as high quality headphones.

I was recently thinking about how frequently I've been grooving to the sound from my iPhone speaker - which can't be much above AM quality.

 

[milosz]

No, enjoying music does not require high fidelity. You're right about that.

A similar concept applies to food.

An ordinary apple is pretty nice.

But my life would be poorer if I had never eaten apple pie.

 

[PeteL]

I was recently thinking about how frequently I've been grooving to the sound from my iPhone speaker - which can't be much above AM quality.

Personally I litterally just cannot. Even songs I really like are just to me an annoyance. Not to say I need absolute fidelity I can do small Bluetooth speaker but a phone speaker is not possible for me, prefer silence.

 

[Yannick Willox]

Personally I litterally just cannot. Even songs I really like are just to me an annoyance. Not to say I need absolute fidelity I can do small Bluetooth speaker but a phone speaker is not possible for me, prefer silence.

Have you done double blind testing ?

 

[PeteL]

Have you done double blind testing ?

Funny.

 

[isostasy]

Personally I litterally just cannot. Even songs I really like are just to me an annoyance. Not to say I need absolute fidelity I can do small Bluetooth speaker but a phone speaker is not possible for me, prefer silence.

Genuinely most upsetting thing I've read on ASR

 

[PeteL]

Genuinely most upsetting thing I've read on ASR

Upsetting? Pardon me, how did I upset you? Is there a joke I don't get? You find music coming out of the 5 mm driver of your smartphone pleasing?

 

[Somafunk]

You find music coming out of the 5 mm driver of your smartphone pleasing?

I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say it’s pleasing for music but for podcasts/spoken word it’s perfectly acceptable, for occasional music listening to check out tracks I’m fine with listening to my iPhone or iPad speakers

 

[PeteL]

I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say it’s pleasing for music but for podcasts/spoken word it’s perfectly acceptable, for occasional music listening to check out tracks I’m fine with listening to my iPhone or iPad speakers

Sure, it allows to understand what someone says so it serves this purpose OK. If I need to listen something very short, for information purpose, It will be intelligible, but it's not about enjoyment, it's about capturing information. Now look at this beauty,.

 

[Jimster480]

Personally I litterally just cannot. Even songs I really like are just to me an annoyance. Not to say I need absolute fidelity I can do small Bluetooth speaker but a phone speaker is not possible for me, prefer silence.

I agree here, it's part of why I have an Xperia and before this a LG G8. Having the little phone speaker sound is honestly horrible, I also prefer silence.
I use my Xperia for watching videos in random spots, only informational ones where I am mostly listening.

 

[ribonucleic]

You find music coming out of the 5 mm driver of your smartphone pleasing?

What can I tell you? I have great taste in music.

 

[Adi777]

What? I'm music lover, not audiophile, but the claim that the sound from the phone can be pleasant sounds little bit funny.

 

[PeteL]

What can I tell you? I have great taste in music.

It's all good, but my response was to someone that find someone that dislike that "The most upsetting thing on ASR". It's ok to like that, but getting upset at someone who don't is a whole other level. Not you.