Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[markanini]

I have not tried the in-ear target curve. But most IEMs I've used sound too bright to me, especially Etymotics.

Etymotics are a unconventional IEMs in todays market, quite far from Haman IE, difficult/painful to insert for their advertised "flat" response:

http://rinchoi.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-deep-do-you-insert-you-er4.html

 

[MRC01]

Etymotics are a unconventional IEMs in todays market, quite far from Haman IE, difficult/painful to insert for their advertised "flat" response:

Here's how my ER-6 measured on the MiniDSP EARS

MiniDSP EARS: First Measurements

We have started a MiniDSP EARS on its way round-robin for people to try it out then mail to the next person. Details and sign-ups here: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wanted-minidsp-ears.26597/post-959400 I've shared my initial measurements of vintage Sennheiser HD-580...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[markanini]

Here's how my ER-6 measured on the MiniDSP EARS

MiniDSP EARS: First Measurements

We have started a MiniDSP EARS on its way round-robin for people to try it out then mail to the next person. Details and sign-ups here: https://audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wanted-minidsp-ears.26597/post-959400 I've shared my initial measurements of vintage Sennheiser HD-580...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Looks like the IEMs you have experience with are about 10 years old, a long time in the IEM space. Especially before Moondrop and Truthear disrupted the market.

 

[woofersus]

The DCA Stealths are $4000 headphones, just in case you posted to the wrong thread.

Nah, just brain-farted on the price. I'm not sure what I was remembering $1500 from.

 

[woofersus]

For $ 1500.- one can get a HIFIMAN headphone that has the word 'stealth' on the box and some people even refer to these as 'stealth'.
These headphones in general have some sharpness to it (8-10kHz region) that is not shown on specific and popular industry standard test fixtures so is not shown (at the actual levels).

So there is indeed a chance @woofersus did not listen the the DCA stealth (or remembered the price incorrectly) but to a HIFIMAN and remembered the price correctly but not the manufacturers name.

One look at the picture of the DCA Stealth (in post #1) should clear that up.

I also had that thought after the fact when I realized there were Hifiman models with the "stealth" designation and looked up pictures to make sure. They were definitely the DCA's. Admittedly it wasn't a full or extended audition with lots of different types of music, though. If I had more time and/or the music streaming was working better, I would like to have tried a few other things.

 

[woofersus]

It could be the recording. Sadly, squashing the dynamics and boosting the presence region is common especially with modern / pop / rock music. Not so much with classical, and to a lesser extent with jazz.

BTW, the Harman curve (and most headphones in general), sounds too bright to me. And too much bass. Like somebody EQed into a V shaped curve with a bit of midrange suck-out.

PS the way the Stealth uses a shaped insert to adjust the frequency response, suggests the possibility to fabricate that insert in slightly different shapes to suit different listeners personal HRTF and preferences.

Certainly possible. I think a fair amount of John Mayer's recordings sound at least okay, but I didn't source it from my own collection with knowledge of what version or anything like that. It was really my first experience with something close to the Harman curve so I was partially just curious about that as much as the headphones themselves. It wasn't the best track to evaluate bass with, but for the most part I thought that area was good. I may just prefer a muted version of the shape of that curve.

 

[PeteL]

It doesn't have to be custom, it could be for example just a small number of pre-engineered options, like Harman, diffuse, or other targets.

I think that Dan Clark in an other thread said that his company was moving away from the "tune your headphone to taste" (my words) model that they did with the Aeon line, to offer one stock frequency response with no modification options for their current and future releases.

 

[Grobbelboy]

After >200 hours of listening to and enjoying the Expanse I have recently decided to exchange them for the Stealth. The particular EQ profile that I settled on for the Expanse in the end matched so closely with the stock tuning of the Stealth, that it made the most sense to just trade them around. Without EQ the Expanse sounds good/great with lots of music, but the moments/tracks/mixes where it sounded "off" for me was just too big a percentage to ignore. My main problems with the FR are the excessive bump in the mid bass, the slightly recessed upper mids and the slightly too high peak around 3kHz.

The Stealth "fixes" all of this. After about 15 hours with them so far, I can describe them as pretty much the perfect headphone. The restrained bump above Harman in the bass region is perfectly applied here; it boosts the bass sensation tastefully without adding any bloat or muddiness, whatever you're listening to. Any sensation of sharpness in the upper areas of the FR is practically non-existent without resulting in dullness or lack of "detail" (the treble extents a bit further than the Expanse too).

Really couldn't be happier with the switch, so much so that it seems strange that the Expanse came after the Stealth instead of the other way around, because the latter truly feels as a refinement of the former that takes on each and every (minor) flaw of the Expanse. It's a great feeling to have absolutely no desire to look or save up for anything better than this.

 

[Robbo99999]

After >200 hours of listening to and enjoying the Expanse I have recently decided to exchange them for the Stealth. The particular EQ profile that I settled on for the Expanse in the end matched so closely with the stock tuning of the Stealth, that it made the most sense to just trade them around. Without EQ the Expanse sounds good/great with lots of music, but the moments/tracks/mixes where it sounded "off" for me was just too big a percentage to ignore. My main problems with the FR are the excessive bump in the mid bass, the slightly recessed upper mids and the slightly too high peak around 3kHz.

The Stealth "fixes" all of this. After about 15 hours with them so far, I can describe them as pretty much the perfect headphone. The restrained bump above Harman in the bass region is perfectly applied here; it boosts the bass sensation tastefully without adding any bloat or muddiness, whatever you're listening to. Any sensation of sharpness in the upper areas of the FR is practically non-existent without resulting in dullness or lack of "detail" (the treble extents a bit further than the Expanse too).

Really couldn't be happier with the switch, so much so that it seems strange that the Expanse came after the Stealth instead of the other way around, because the latter truly feels as a refinement of the former that takes on each and every (minor) flaw of the Expanse. It's a great feeling to have absolutely no desire to look or save up for anything better than this.

I agree that it's a headphone that measures so well! What does worry me is the on-head measurements that have been done with this headphone that is showing quite a lot of variation on people's heads, so I myself if I had a pair may doubt whether I'm getting something close to how it measured. With my varying experience of different headphones EQ'd to Harman Curve, then I'd probably have a good idea if it was close though, but it would sow a bit of doubt in my mind. Unquestionably a very good headphone though!

 

[markanini]

What does worry me is the on-head measurements that have been done with this headphone that is showing quite a lot of variation on people's heads

How about the sets there the on-head variation is unknown. Would that make you worry less or more?

 

[Robbo99999]

How about the sets there the on-head variation is unknown. Would that make you worry less or more?

Open backed headphones suffer less from this problem, so a person could choose that type of headphone. And large cupped headphones also suffer less from that apparently. So a combination of open back & large cups would be a good start if you want to try to minimise that variable. I don't really know what point you're making though?, but you're known for such posts in my experience.

 

[markanini]

Personally I'm more worried about limited data making me overgeneralize about less relevant attributes, such as brand or construction. For example in the past people seemed biased toward Beyerdynamic for using pads that were possibly more suspectable to wear, changing the FR. They missed the bigger picture that Beyerdynamic are simply better at providing replacement parts, which makes comparisons of pad wear more accessible. A consequently was a unfair rep for pad wear, for actually doing the right thing in providing replacement parts, which is rare.

Open backed headphones suffer less from this problem, so a person could choose that type of headphone. And large cupped headphones also suffer less from that apparently. So a combination of open back & large cups would be a good start if you want to try to minimise that variable. I don't really know what point you're making though?, but you're known for such posts in my experience.

You give me no reason to adress your question then. You have a history being uncivil toward me. Basic psychology dictates you're in a weaker position, since I don't have to resort to uncivil language.

 

[Keith_W]

I agree that it's a headphone that measures so well! What does worry me is the on-head measurements that have been done with this headphone that is showing quite a lot of variation on people's heads, so I myself if I had a pair may doubt whether I'm getting something close to how it measured. With my varying experience of different headphones EQ'd to Harman Curve, then I'd probably have a good idea if it was close though, but it would sow a bit of doubt in my mind. Unquestionably a very good headphone though!

This is the nature of headphone measurements. They measure differently on different test rigs, and even on the same test rig if not properly positioned. This is why Amir includes this statement in every headphone review, including this one:

Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!

In short, there is no way to predict how the headphone will perform on your head. It may comply with the measured response, or it may not. For sure, egregious discrepancies in frequency response which are confirmed by multiple measurements across multiple test rigs and different reviewers which show the same thing should be believed (for example, the lack of bass in Sennheiser HD800's which have been confirmed many times both objectively and subjectively). But I would not nitpick over a few dB of discrepancy here and there, especially in the frequency extremes. It may be real, it may not be, but even if it was, it may or may not be there when you put those headphones on your head.

So it is my view that some EQ is always necessary with headphones. Some aspects of the performance (like distortion) will remain consistent head to head, so for me it is important to get a low distortion headphone so that I can EQ it to my taste.

 

[SDC]

With my head and in ear mic it measures like

The resonance is incredibly well controlled so for tonal balance you can eq to add some taste to it.

I use it for hrir and EQed with Susvara as target it works good both ways

Btw this is Susvra with my in ear mic measurement.

 

[DualTriode]

I've come to the conclusion that the idea of an endgame is utter rubbish.

Each day you might like something else.

 

[IAtaman]

I've come to the conclusion that the idea of an endgame is utter rubbish.

I came to the conclusion that in a world where you can easily tune any decent headphone with EQ, paying for tuning to a target is utter rubbish. Spending $4K on a pair of headphones whose tuning can change depending on how you combed your hair that day, doubly so. Needs might vary depending on the use case of course, but for hifi, sitting at home, music listening headphones, low distortion, low variability, comfort & durability are the four things that matter in my opinion. If you push me I can agree on serviceability as well.

If you want an endgame headphone, get yourself an EQ capable chain. (not you personally, you as in general)

 

[Robbo99999]

This is the nature of headphone measurements. They measure differently on different test rigs, and even on the same test rig if not properly positioned. This is why Amir includes this statement in every headphone review, including this one:



In short, there is no way to predict how the headphone will perform on your head. It may comply with the measured response, or it may not. For sure, egregious discrepancies in frequency response which are confirmed by multiple measurements across multiple test rigs and different reviewers which show the same thing should be believed (for example, the lack of bass in Sennheiser HD800's which have been confirmed many times both objectively and subjectively). But I would not nitpick over a few dB of discrepancy here and there, especially in the frequency extremes. It may be real, it may not be, but even if it was, it may or may not be there when you put those headphones on your head.

So it is my view that some EQ is always necessary with headphones. Some aspects of the performance (like distortion) will remain consistent head to head, so for me it is important to get a low distortion headphone so that I can EQ it to my taste.

It's true though that some headphones show more variation on people's heads vs other headphones, that's not a made up fact, so it could be quite wise to not ignore it when you're choosing a headphone. At the very least you can have it as an additional piece of information that may sway you one way or another before purchase when combined with everything else you know about a headphone. It's true though that people would have to weigh up all the pros & cons, I'm not saying people shouldn't buy The Stealth, I'm just making a point about the quite large variance that is seen when it's worn on people's heads, because of course all the other measurements are great!

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

I thoroughly understand the need for the disclaimer.

And, whilst I accept it at face value, I feel compelled to note the context of it in this thread.

Here we have a pair of expensive headphones (I feel confident I don’t leave myself open to an accusation of exaggeration when I say ‘expensive’), where the focus of the manufacturer is to spend every cent getting the frequency response to follow Harman as closely as possible. And indeed, it follows Harman very closely.

Subsequently, I don’t feel Amir’s measurements are down to blind luck.

Whilst no equipment can claim 100% accuracy, the method and kit Amir uses do appear to be pretty close.

 

[Robbo99999]

I thoroughly understand the need for the disclaimer.

And, whilst I accept it at face value, I feel compelled to note the context of it in this thread.

Here we have a pair of expensive headphones (I feel confident I don’t leave myself open to an accusation of exaggeration when I say ‘expensive’), where the focus of the manufacturer is to spend every cent getting the frequency response to follow Harman as closely as possible. And indeed, it follows Harman very closely.

Subsequently, I don’t feel Amir’s measurements are down to blind luck.

Whilst no equipment can claim 100% accuracy, the method and kit Amir uses do appear to be pretty close.

If you're referring to the on-head variability that has been discussed over the last posts then that's not quite the same thing, because it's the "same ear" that's used on the GRAS rigs that you're referring to, (and also Amir's flat cheek version is easier to measure on), but we're talking about measured variation when it's on real people's heads.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

If you're referring to the on-head variability that has been discussed over the last posts then that's not quite the same thing, because it's the "same ear" that's used on the GRAS rigs that you're referring to, (and also Amir's flat cheek version is easier to measure on), but we're talking about measured variation when it's on real people's heads.

Such is life. Maybe they can create a fake head-shaped cowl, the same shape as the GRAS rig for us to wear when headphone listening.