Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[Keith_W]

Couldn't find much about Stealth - sound leakage

Sound leakage depends on you and your head. Headphones are like clothes which are "one size fits all" - it will fit some people better than others. Even the frequency response will be different the moment you put it on your head, unless your head and ears are exactly the same as the test dummy. Your pinna and ear canal will modify the upper frequency response > 3kHz. Anything <300Hz will be affected by fit issues, including sound leakage.

I will say that my Stealths have nice soft earpads and they fit my head, although I do get a poor seal if I wear my glasses. But my experience is not generalizable to you. I suggest you try them on and find out for yourself if there is sound leakage on your head.

 

[Mac Arthur]

Would the RME ADI - 2 DAC FS be okay ( enough power ) for Dan Clark Stealth ??

RME ADI-2 DAC FS

High-End DA Converter & Headphone Amplifier with ESS chip (from June 2021) Sample rates: 44.1 kHz up to 768 kHz, High-resolution playback of PCM, DXD and DSD at up to 768 kHz, SteadyClock FS, LCD, AutoDark function for lighting, Signal-to-noise...

www.thomann.de

Thank you

Definitely yes. I have both units and they perfectly match.

 

[Sphynxx]

I ordered E3, hopefully they won't disappoint me
If it would be the case, I have 30 days to send it back
Thank you so much for your help, guys

 

[Grobbelboy]

Unless you’re vehemently against Harman, I can’t imagine you will be!

 

[majingotan]

I ordered E3, hopefully they won't disappoint me
If it would be the case, I have 30 days to send it back
Thank you so much for your help, guys

I can attest to the E3 they're amazing both subjectively and objectively!

 

[Sphynxx]

They should arrive wednesday , just can't wait to have them
Out of curiosity, did someone here own the Denon D9200 and E3 ?

 

[tifune]

They should arrive wednesday , just can't wait to have them
Out of curiosity, did someone here own the Denon D9200 and E3 ?

I own the stealth and owned 9200. The 9200 was my favorite until I heard stealth. It seems like E3 is similar to stealth? So hopefully this is useful.

9200/stealth are not really similar, to my recollection. Cost no object, I would use 9200 as my on-the-go overear if they fit your ears ("fun" sound, very sensitive = easy to drive). My ears are too big for the pads square cutouts. FWIW There's a few ASR users who actually prefer the 5200 over the 9200, but I never tried it myself.

 

[Sphynxx]

I received the headphones, I listened for about 30 - 40 minutes, different music genres ( flac, from aimp player, Tidal, YouTube, etc)
My first impression is : I'M IN LOVE
I thought, Denon D9200 are best of the best, cream a la cream
Man, I was so wrong.
I can't even describe how much I like the E3. I'm speechless
Sound quality, generally speaking, 10 stars from 10
Confort, 9,5 from 10
Sound leakage, 8,5 from 10
Design : well, that's 100 % a question of taste. I like them. A lot
I'll still have to test it, try with some RME presets ( I'm not sure if it's necessary, tbh )
Guys, some off topic question, doesn't matter which headphones I use : whenever I listen music with Aimp player, I can't control the volume, with the Windows volume slider
That's not the case, when I watch some YouTube videos, music, etc
It doesn't really bother me but asked just out of curiosity
Thank you so much for your help, guys. I made a right decision when I purchased E3.
Here are the settings from Aimp player

 

[staticV3]

Guys, some off topic question, doesn't matter which headphones I use : whenever I listen music with Aimp player, I can't control the volume, with the Windows volume slider
That's not the case, when I watch some YouTube videos, music, etc
It doesn't really bother me but asked just out of curiosity

ASIO disables Windows' software volume control.

If your DAC supports UAC2 hardware volume control, then the volume slider will continue working even with ASIO output.

If your DAC does not support UAC2 hardware volume control, then the slider set to 0=Audio muted and 1-100=full volume.

 

[Zoide]

Yes, 9038S! Thanks for sharing this, I'll order the cable.

How did it go with the 9038S + DCA Stealth?

 

[ZgSTar]

How did it go with the 9038S + DCA Stealth?

Very well! Don't expect very high volume but it is good enough. I got the trrrs cable from aliexpress and it was the right choice. ir suggest you look into the new 9039s if you don't own the 9038s already.

 

[Shimrra Jamaane]

Undoubtedly stupid question that's likely been asked several times already but in terms of subjectivity (since we all can see the great objective measurement graphs) does the Stealth have anything going for it over the E3 other than the, in my opinion, superior look? I would genuinely like to hear from someone who has listened to both and prefers the Stealth and why.

 

[majingotan]

Without EQ, I prefer the Stealth in the mids to treble

With EQ to a specific target, those two will almost sound the same and buying Stealth would be just for looks and materials and not for sound since E3 would be just as good

 

[Shimrra Jamaane]

Without EQ, I prefer the Stealth in the mids to treble

With EQ to a specific target, those two will almost sound the same and buying Stealth would be just for looks and materials and not for sound since E3 would be just as good

View attachment 386987

This is really helpful thank you. I know the E3 is a tad bit more sensitive than the Stealth so it's a bit easier to drive but do you have experience with driving both of them with portable/transportable DAC/AMP combos and whether there is a material difference there? So for a basic example a generic dongle that has say 500mw output at 32ohms.

 

[majingotan]

This is really helpful thank you. I know the E3 is a tad bit more sensitive than the Stealth so it's a bit easier to drive but do you have experience with driving both of them with portable/transportable DAC/AMP combos and whether there is a material difference there? So for a basic example a generic dongle that has say 500mw output at 32ohms.

No problem!

Unfortunately, I haven't tried it the E3 with either I think something as powerful as Chord Mojo 2 should be enough. However, you need more headroom and significantly more power if you will use PEQ (with the negative preamp gain in effect) on your DAC and listen at party levels so that option on a portable setup is not ideal. Chord Mojo 2 is probably your best bet with its EQ presets if you wanted more or less bass

 

[Chagall]

I don't understand why so many people ask about portables with E3s.

E3s are closed-backs, I get that, but they are also big, heavy at 455 grams, and around 2000 euros. Not exactly a portable headphone for walking around.
Best to leave them at home, and have some wireless lifestyle headphones for the daily commute - who needs an E3 on a bus?

 

[Emlin]

I don't understand why so many people ask about portables with E3s.

E3s are closed-backs, I get that, but they are also big, heavy at 455 grams, and around 2000 euros. Not exactly a portable headphone for walking around.
Best to leave them at home, and have some wireless lifestyle headphones for the daily commute - who needs an E3 on a bus?

But if you travel a lot and want to use them in a hotel room, for example...

 

[Chagall]

But if you travel a lot and want to use them in a hotel room, for example...

Sure, I guess...but in that case Topping DX 5 lite or similar, no need for a battery.
I get that we are particular about sound but at the same time, we watch movies on a phone - especially while traveling.

I think people see E3/Stealth as foldable with a portable case and think that's my new travel/commute headphone.

 

[oceansize]

Sure, I guess...but in that case Topping DX 5 lite or similar, no need for a battery.
I get that we are particular about sound but at the same time, we watch movies on a phone - especially while traveling.

I think people see E3/Stealth as foldable with a portable case and think that's my new travel/commute headphone.

I very rarely watch movies at all - and never on a phone. But hey, everybody has their own set of compromises that they're willing to make.

 

[dougq]

The E3 has a better clamp IMO but you can contact DCA to get a better clamp / adjustment for the Stealth.