Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[16BitAudiophile]

Carbon fibre is a fantastic material, no doubt. But the main reason it finds application in many high end devices across different product categories is none other than looks and marketing.

It's a stiff material that creates little to no resonances. And it's especially popular for headphones because it's lightweight.

The Stealth is a minimalistic headphone and puts 415g on the scale. If you'd take wood cups instead, I'm sure it would weigh twice as much.
D.C. probably made some estimations whether the Stealth will be a more attractive product at 700g for 2k (cough, HEDDphone) or 400g at 4k. Personally, I think he made the right decision.

 

[Kennyknetter]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the just announced Dan Clark Audio Stealth closed back planar magnetic headphone. Company was kind enough to share with me a couple of samples which I have been testing and playing with in the last couple of weeks. It costs US $3999.

The price made me think this was a giant headphone but I was shocked how it was packed in a very small case when folded:

View attachment 148478

Everything is soft touch and buttery smooth as you hold the headphone. Fit is very comfortable for me and I have no complaints to report.

The Stealth headphone uses a special “acoustic metamaterial” is placed after the driver to tune and optimize its performance.:
View attachment 148483

Metamaterial is usually a 3-D construct that has better properties than any solid base material. It can be designed to perform a number of acoustic functions from diffusion (to deal with standing waves for example) to resonances (acting as filters to tune the frequency response). We saw an example of such metamaterial in the KEF LS50 Meta speaker I recently reviewed where it was used to reduce reflections within the enclosure better than any normal acoustic material. The down side is cost which as you can imagine is contributing to the retail cost of Stealth.

Stealth weighs 415 grams:
View attachment 148481

The cup is asymmetrical and driver is mounted at a slant. It has an inside height of 74 mm and width of 50 mm. Maximum depth is 29 mm.

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!

Fitment on the fixture was somewhat variable. I spent quite a bit of time messing with them and what you see is the best I could get.

Dan Clark Stealth Measurements
Sit back and be prepared to be amazed:

View attachment 148482

Yes! We have the highest compliance to our target curve of any headphone we have ever tested! The bit of deviation is dependent on mounting the unit on the fixture. The only deviation is a small bump between 100 and 160 Hz which company feels is necessary to give balance to the headphone sound.

Here is the relative frequency response which gives you a better sense of how close we are to our target:
View attachment 148484

The first sample I received had stunningly low distortion measurements. Alas, a small tweak had to be made to it which bumped the distortion a bit in low frequencies. The result is still impressive especially if you look at the level of distortion higher in the range:

View attachment 148485

For kicks, I measured the distortion at 94 dBSPL at 2 kHz and converted it to SINAD. That produces 81 dB! It is incredible that a mechanical device is able to produce so little distortion especially when you consider that this value is the sum of the distortion in the headphone plus the measurement microphone and measurement noise.

Here is the same in absolute dB:
View attachment 148487

Notice the wide gap below our reference of 40 dB above 100 Hz. And how it is frequency independent hinting at lack of resonances. The Stealth is a league of its own here.

Group delay is very clean above low bass:
View attachment 148488

Company asked me to measure the impulse response and its fast settling so here it is:
View attachment 148489

Impedance is flat and low as you can expect from this type of technology:
View attachment 148490

You need a beefy headphone amplifier to drive the Stealth:
View attachment 148491

I was fine using my RME ADI-2 DAC so it doesn't have to be crazy power.

Dan Clark Stealth Listening Tests
I usually measure headphones before listening but this time I was first asked how it sounded so I decided to listen. That was a mistake as I could not stop listening to them to do the measurements! This is one of the most transformative experiences I have had in audio! What an incredibly clean, dynamic sound with absolute correctness in tonality. Naturally there was no need to apply any EQ.

On spatial qualities, it is also excellent which is surprising for a closed back headphone. The Sennheiser HD800S may be a tad better but I consider what that headphone provides to be artificial, albeit of the rare, nice kind. Not so with Stealth. Every bit of spatial quality when it comes to separation of instruments and left and right positioning sound natural and normal like the world's best audio system.

Conclusions
Both objectively and subjectively the Stealth makes a leap forward in headphone sound reproduction and possibly for any audio reproduction. It is that impressive of a product. You all know that I don't usually waste a lot of words praising products. Mostly because I get so many excellent products to test and have my dream stereo that not much impresses me. But the Stealth did just that. It changed my outlook on how much better your experience can be listening to these headphones.

In some ways the Stealth reminded me of OLED TVs. The first time you watch them and see the inky blacks and wonderful contrast, you have regret that all that time you didn't get to see what your content really looked like. Stealth does that for sound reproduction.

There is no getting around the high cost of the headphone though. I grilled the company left and right on why this headphone costs so much and whether the cost could come down. My wish and hope is that it does come down in price to make it more affordable to more people. For now, not only is this some you should buy if you can afford it, but if you are an audio company and want to know what best in class, "correct" sound reproduction is like, you need to buy this headphone. You will finally have a true reference for quality and tonality.

It is my pleasure to give the highest praise and recommendation I possibly can to Dan Clark Stealth Headphones.

P.S. A condition of sending this headphone to me for review was that it would have to be returned to the company. It would be a sad, sad day when that happens!

Edit: video review just posted:

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[phoenixsong]

It's a stiff material that creates little to no resonances. And it's especially popular for headphones because it's lightweight.

The Stealth is a minimalistic headphone and puts 415g on the scale. If you'd take wood cups instead, I'm sure it would weigh twice as much.
D.C. probably made some estimations whether the Stealth will be a more attractive product at 700g for 2k (cough, HEDDphone) or 400g at 4k. Personally, I think he made the right decision.

Yeah, different materials have different resonant frequencies and properties. I was unable to find a good article documenting that of CF though

 

[PeteL]

D.C. probably made some estimations whether the Stealth will be a more attractive product at 700g for 2k (cough, HEDDphone) or 400g at 4k. Personally, I think he made the right decision.

Personally, I do not think he made this estimation. That's the Idea of a statement product, you put cost consideration aside, with one goal, make the best you can whatever it cost. You have all the rest of your line to go trough cost saving and pricing strategy. It's the one time you can allow for cost no object. and that's what he came with. He offers plenty of other sets of headphone at more reasonable price, but this is really showing what you can achieve when you put these considerations to rest.

 

[MCH]

Carbon fibre is a fantastic material, no doubt. But the main reason it finds application in many high end devices across different product categories is none other than looks and marketing. People know carbon fibre gets used in F1 and planes, so it must be good, right? In the case of headphones, I don't believe there's any use case where carbon fibre would fare significantly better than good plastics or some metals, which are definitely cheaper than carbon.

that's what i thouht, but was curious if there was something else (related to acoustics)

 

[Luke]

Do you mean that the roll off is more pronounced with DCA than the other brands? Reduced bass always happen when headphone seal poorly in my experience. Did you mean to say DCA headphones in general is not a good match for the shape of your face?

Some headphones behave worse than others with a less than ideal seal, Keith Howard tests this over at headphonetestlab

Ether 2:

And the LCD-X for comparison:

 

[Rottmannash]

Sooo, any chance of a Drop version lol

Maybe in 2028...

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

I'm sure Mr. Clark would still turn a handsome profit if these sold for $400 - which is still an expensive headphone in my book.

Mr. Clark already sells a headphone for $499 that is great!

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

I strongly support the idea that Europeans need to have a better access to DCA headphones!

I'll bring 'em over in a false bottom suitcase!

 

[don'ttrustauthority]

Let's face it, the price is utterly ridiculous for a pair of headphones. It's beyond stupid and so out of step with reality, it's funny. But there are people who will pay the money because they want what is being touted and tested as a very respectable sounding "reference" headphone. They have money to burn and good on them.

I've spent what I considered high prices for gear in the distant past (when I had more money than wisdom). Equipment where the cost of R&D was NOT costed into the retail price as much as it appears here. Very large companies with huge R&D dollars could bring statement pieces to market, heavily subsidised and the audiophiles got true bargains. A small company can't use its halo products as loss leaders to get people in the door with their brand, they just don't have the breadth of products to offset the margins they compromise.

I would certainly be expecting a hell of a lot longer than 2 years warranty on US$4k headphones. Most loudspeakers, regardless of price offer 5 years. I'd also be wanting a committment to reasonably priced and consistently available spare parts. I see no mention of this.

 

[Morpheus]

om QUOTE="amirm, post: 885109, member: 2"]That's the key message I meant to put in the review. We have the first company to fully adopt research and engineering for headphones. All others are playing around but Dan Clark is committed and executing. So no wonder the results are so good.[/QUOTE]

Amir, you are becoming an expensive habit...Because of ASR I aqcquired a 2nd hand ADI 2 DAC , and recently a grade B Senn800s (lighly scuffed outer box, pristine phone) directly from Sennheiser wich I have for a week..just to know the goal posts have shifted.....This is a FOMO machine!

 

[ck42]

@amirm Understanding that your daily HP right now are the DC RT. Will you replace those now with the Stealth? Just curious.

 

[KiyPhi]

Do you mean that the roll off is more pronounced with DCA than the other brands? Reduced bass always happen when headphone seal poorly in my experience. Did you mean to say DCA headphones in general is not a good match for the shape of your face?

There are some headphones that don't roll off very high. DCA roll off very high. So far I've tried a hand full and they all had similar behavior to what was measured here. Compare to the HE6SE or Meze Empyrean which roll off only around 30Hz as shown here. Even the Sundara have better leakage behavior. It isn't uncommon in headphones with a high acoustic impedance though, which a lot of headphones are. It is a test that isn't performed enough in my opinion. I've tried many headphones only to be disappointed that I couldn't get them to seal for the life of me. DCA headphones were probably one if the biggest because they were otherwise great. Superb comfort.

 

[KiyPhi]

Get a haircut, have a shave, buy some contact lenses.

I wish that would solve it. Even freshly shaved, no glasses, hair out of the way, the gap behind my jaw is too large. I'd also need surgery. Might be worth it though, lol.

 

[kopczas]

Any chance for Dan Clark Audio AEON 2 Noire review?

 

[Morpheus]

Hopefully this metamaterial/3D acoustic contouring trickles down real quick, it seems suddendly a new avenue of tweaking/improving that wasn't available has been openned. Also, I hope/ think modders and 3rd party companies will come out with some aftermarket inserts/mods for existing staple models, and in that case I hope ASR gets to measure their effectiveness, aka, bumping other already excellent headphones to nearer Dan Clark perfection on the "cheap"..

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Very interesting headphone.
Original price in Germany will be 4099€.

To the review I would add the following:

there are glued / taped fake leather pads mounted...

 

[TheWalkman]

If I’m paying $4000 for a headphone, I want some carbon fibre in there somewhere, just in case

For $4K, I want some gold...

 

[Ear-Wax]

Impressive headphones but a bit out of my comfort zone price wise. My main takeaway here confirms that the RME AD-2 DAC is a fantastic headphone amp (and DAC) that can power most headphones with ease - despite what some over at SBAF claim.

 

[PeteL]

Hopefully this metamaterial/3D acoustic contouring trickles down real quick, it seems suddendly a new avenue of tweaking/improving that wasn't available has been openned. Also, I hope/ think modders and 3rd party companies will come out with some aftermarket inserts/mods for existing staple models, and in that case I hope ASR gets to measure their effectiveness, aka, bumping other already excellent headphones to nearer Dan Clark perfection on the "cheap"..

Looks like there is a patent linked to it tough, but I don't know the reach.