Dan Clark Stealth Review (State of the Art Headphone)

[jae]

An open version will be an instant buy for me

@Dan Clark And if you ever consider some type of open variant, make sure it is something like monotone black or gun metal OK, I'm done making my demands... for now.

Okay, I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here with @amirm.

AKG K371 EQ'd $149
Sennheiser HD600/650 EQ'd $400
This product (no ED necessary) $4,000

Please compare and contrast.

Obviously, if you have the money (if you're rich) and you're a headphone lover, $4,000 is probably not that much. If I won the lottery, I'd buy a pair.

But can the extra expense genuinely be justified for people with 'normal' bank balances?

Just how close do those other two, cheaper headphone come to this?

Senn 650 are only really $200 (Drop 6XX).

Here you're paying for things like top comfort, relatively low weight, build quality, solid materials, driver type/implementation (flat imp., ultra low distortion), driver size (soundstage), harman target ootb (soundstage/accuracy), good time domain characteristics, good eq-ability etc. Many of these characteristics may be found in other headphones but as far as what's available now this is the only headphone with almost all of them in one package.

It could still have potential deal-breaking flaws in your case, for example many people find DCA headphones very strict with fitting (wearing glasses, facial hair etc may not result in the best seal) and thus may have a sonic impact if that affects your enjoyment. They are also closed, which personally does not work well for me because I don't like the sensation of my ears being hot/blocked and it also exacerbates my inner ear disease. So a headphone that I cannot be comfortable wearing for more than 20-60 minutes is not a good purchase for me, since my usage almost always exceeds that time. There could be deal breaking things like this for you even if it is on-paper perfect.

FR is still the greatest parameter when it comes to enjoyment but any of these other factors this could be the "last 5-30%" you're missing of your subjective enjoyment and some of that could be objective gain. It can be a significant difference but whether or not that's justified will always be a personal decision. Almost any luxury purchase will never justify the price premium for what you get and it is your subjective desire that ultimate decision maker. No different from buying $50k+ speakers or a Lambourghini. Some people think $4000 headphones that may last for years and have some resell value is an absolutely ridiculous purchase, but will happily spend that in just 1 year to shorten their lifespan drinking weekly at the bar. With headphones I definitely think 99.9% of people can satisfy at least 80%+ of their theoretical max enjoyment with an existing model under $500, or even less if they use EQ.

I'd say the best way to know for sure is simply trying/auditioning a multitude of highly rated headphones from various brands (especially other DCA ones), playing with EQ on them an seeing what features increase your enjoyment or the usability the most. Then you can use the common denominators to find what will most likely suit you.

 

[JJB70]

The price is what it is. All audio gear is a discretionary purchase. People need access to potable water and food meeting our nutritional needs and a few other things like somewhere to sleep. Nobody needs audio gear, it is something we want. Even as an audio enthusiast I have to say that gear really doesn't make that much difference to my enjoyment of music. Do I like nice gear? Yes, but I can listen to, and enjoy, the music I like on just about anything.
Once you accept that then how much people spend is largely about how much value they see in a product and disposable income. You might perceive something to be highly desirable and to have a lot of value but low disposable income, so you can save up (personally I am not a fan of getting into debt for stuff like audio gear). Alternatively you may have more than enough disposable income but see no value in the product.
Which is a very long winded way of saying if you can afford it and want it then there's nothing wrong with that. Equally if you would not spend that much on a pair of headphones that is also fine. As with many things it's a subjective choice.

 

[Koeitje]

It's made for cars, it's tough. The foam will probably fail before the suede. The headphones come with a pad spacer to protect the foam when stored.

Ok, good stuff . Just get worried when I see stuff that isn't leather since my Oppo PM3's PU leather just fell apart.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

Really?
If it doesn't sound at least decent I don't care what's playing. I even get annoyed when the sound isn't at least of some quality. It can be the best song in the world, I wouldn't enjoy it.

I started a thread a while ago about what constitutes an audiophile.

Would you prefer to listen to Led Zep IV (or whatever your choice is for best album ever) on a transistor radio, or some record company, lowest common denominator, boy band pap music on these headphones?

For me the music ALWAYS comes first, but I’d still like the best sound possible.

Each to their own, there’s no right or wrong.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

One more thing to note. In his video review Amir notes that most of the semi-decent headphone amps he’s reviewed will drive these phones.

To think, you can buy a basic Topping DAC & headphone amp for a combined total of $250, and that’ll be transparent to the source, then you’re stuck with a choice of $150 to $4,000 for the headphones.

These are interesting times, folks.

 

[MCH]

Very entertainig thread sorry to disturb but does anyone know what the metamaterial pad is made of? Can't find it in the product website

 

[FrantzM]

This is a superlative headphones. The King of the Hill at this point in time.

ASR has taught me there are always less expensive alternatives. A few years ago, I would have bought this headphones, based on this review sight unseen ... I have the suspicion that my EQ'd HifiMan HE-6 provides similar results. I am good. I am set.



Peace.

 

[PeteL]

I started a thread a while ago about what constitutes an audiophile.

Would you prefer to listen to Led Zep IV (or whatever your choice is for best album ever) on a transistor radio, or some record company, lowest common denominator, boy band pap music on these headphones?

For me the music ALWAYS comes first, but I’d still like the best sound possible.

Each to their own, there’s no right or wrong.

I love Led Zep's music, but IMO they are quite a good exemple of something to not care much if it's a cheap radio or hi end system. I believe this band could have been so much more with nice production. I think Jimmy page should have stick to being a composer and guitar player, and not try to be a producer. OK sure Bonham have this big drum sound but all those great albums are quite dull sounding (IMO). Some like the raw aspect of them and it's OK, I don't get it when I hear Led Zep in Audio Trade shows. All their albums sound like demo tapes to me. Yep Each to their own.

 

[Martin]

I hope someone brings a pair to next years Florida Audio Expo.

Martin

 

[_thelaughingman]

All this talk about these headphones being expensive and unattainable to common folk is redundant. Pushing the envelope of technology is always expensive and as history suggests, most technology evolves and you see the incorporation of advancement in technology in further iterations and generations of products. What does need to be said and highlighted about this product is the fact that these headphones are reference grade for their FR and matching a targeted standard for headphones.

Lets focus on the fact that these headphones will bring about conversation and a push to the industry in general to create headphones that have good quality and sound and not pander to a price point to sell more units. Ultimately this is about enjoying your music and not drab on about the cost and affordability of a piece of technology.

 

[audiopc2000]

Congratulations Dan, you have achieved a milestone in the audio industry, a headphones that has the ideal frequency curve, the slight emphasis on the bass area, low distortion, a careful design with a controlled weight and an impedance for high power and quality amplifiers.It is a miracle.. only if you could reduce the price as Amirm suggested, Stealth would be a game changer

 

[london_r]

+1 on thinking it looks like something a gamer would have… lol.
On a more serious note, great to see that this is pushing the limits of what state of the art headphones can achieve - Well done to the manufacturer for putting the effort in to achieve this. Differentiation at this level can only last so long, and competition will ultimately serve the interest of the consumer, therefore will need to be patient until we see close to this level of performance at a more affordable price point.

 

[Zensō]

Headphones are unique in the fact that we wear them on our heads. This makes a purchasing decision on this level risky and much more difficult than choosing an equally expensive set of speakers. I’ve owned a number of pricey headphones that were either too heavy, had an overly high clamp force, wouldn’t seal properly, etc., that didn’t end up being keepers because of fit and comfort issues. None of these problems will be seen in measurements (of course), and some may not come out in subjective reviews due to our individual anatomies. This is all a long-winded way of saying I would need to try these in person before ever committing to spending this much on a headphone.

 

[bidn]

BTW, something very interesting about this thread.

Jude, the founder of Head- Fi, started a similar thread, also with some measurements, on the same day, a few hours ahead of Amir: this allows for comparison.

As of now ( the time before I started writing this post), Jude's thread has 282 replies and about 21 000 views.
Now the interesting thing:
Amir thread has 429 replies and about 38 000 views!

This means that:
- Not only has ASR caught up with Head-Fi.
- But it has largely passed it, leaving it in the dust!

This is extremely impressive given that:
- Head-Fi has been around for so long (several decades?) and was seen as the world major headphone forum. It has also a lot of financial resources (coming from companies paying for ads, showtime, right to post in threads, defense of their products...), and several paid staffers.
- ASR started only a few years ago.
- ASR started testing headphones even more recently (less than a year if I am correct).

I see this as a big victory for objectivity against subjectivity and against commercial reviews.
Many congratulations, Amir!

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

All this talk about these headphones being expensive and unattainable to common folk is redundant. Pushing the envelope of technology is always expensive and as history suggests, most technology evolves and you see the incorporation of advancement in technology in further iterations and generations of products. What does need to be said and highlighted about this product is the fact that these headphones are reference grade for their FR and matching a targeted standard for headphones.

Lets focus on the fact that these headphones will bring about conversation and a push to the industry in general to create headphones that have good quality and sound and not pander to a price point to sell more units. Ultimately this is about enjoying your music and not drab on about the cost and affordability of a piece of technology.

Those are interesting points, with a great deal of validity. I’m not saying I totally disagree, but I’ll offer a different perspective.

In the world of DACs and headphone amps, we now have ‘perfect’ (transparent) performance at budget prices. Only a few years ago you’d have to pay 4 figures for DACs you can now buy for $100, with the latter measuring better.

These phones appear to be pretty much ‘perfect’. The tonal balance follows Harman (EQ it if that’s not your thing), are not massively difficult to drive, and have distortion levels close to inaudible (we can debate that last bit).

That costs you $4K today. It won’t cost you $4k in 5 years’ time. Once R&D costs are recouped, the price lowers. When prices lower you sell more and get greater economies of scale, so the price lowers again.

These things aren’t made of gold or diamonds. I see little in the materials which looks like they couldn’t be made more cheaply, once the initial investment has been recouped, the design and production lessons learned, and the sales numbers increased.

I’m not saying that in 2025 we’ll be buying something like this for $100. But I’m guessing by 2030 we’ll see an awful lot of what makes these special trickle down to $200 models.

I might be wrong.

 

[jlb]

Okay, I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here with @amirm.

AKG K371 EQ'd $149
Sennheiser HD600/650 EQ'd $400
This product (no ED necessary) $4,000

Please compare and contrast.

Obviously, if you have the money (if you're rich) and you're a headphone lover, $4,000 is probably not that much. If I won the lottery, I'd buy a pair.

But can the extra expense genuinely be justified for people with 'normal' bank balances?

Just how close do those other two, cheaper headphone come to this?

who cares?...why complain about the cost?....buy the cheaper HP's you listed.....nobody forces you to buy anything

 

[PeteL]

Those are interesting points, with a great deal of validity. I’m not saying I totally disagree, but I’ll offer a different perspective.

In the world of DACs and headphone amps, we now have ‘perfect’ (transparent) performance at budget prices. Only a few years ago you’d have to pay 4 figures for DACs you can now buy for $100, with the latter measuring better.

These phones appear to be pretty much ‘perfect’. The tonal balance follows Harman (EQ it if that’s not your thing), are not massively difficult to drive, and have distortion levels close to inaudible (we can debate that last bit).

That costs you $4K today. It won’t cost you $4k in 5 years’ time. Once R&D costs are recouped, the price lowers. When prices lower you sell more and get greater economies of scale, so the price lowers again.

These things aren’t made of gold or diamonds. I see little in the materials which looks like they couldn’t be made more cheaply, once the initial investment has been recouped, the design and production lessons learned, and the sales numbers increased.

I’m not saying that in 2025 we’ll be buying something like this for $100. But I’m guessing by 2030 we’ll see an awful lot of what makes these special trickle down to $200 models.

I might be wrong.

It's still in the difficult to drive category. This is just me personally, but in an ideal world, I like the perfect headphone to allow to be plugged in anything. yes I have a good amp at my desk, but many time I like to plug straight into a portable device or laptop while on the couch, I understand this is obviously a house listening device, not really portable, but the included case suggest that you would travel with them. Amps are great, but they have to be plugged into a wall, they're not convenient to travel with and move around. the beauty of headphone is to be able to carry them anywhere. Sure it's obviously this is not something you would wear while working out at the gym. I understand that, but if you ask me, the "perfect" headphone is able to do it all and give you great fidelity out of anything. This will not give me that, and this is why, even If I had the money for it, personally I'm still going to stick to my sensitive Focal, but it's just me. I really do recognize the achievement tough and I also agree with the price, just not for me, I like to downsize my acquisitions count for versatility.

 

[_thelaughingman]

Those are interesting points, with a great deal of validity. I’m not saying I totally disagree, but I’ll offer a different perspective.

In the world of DACs and headphone amps, we now have ‘perfect’ (transparent) performance at budget prices. Only a few years ago you’d have to pay 4 figures for DACs you can now buy for $100, with the latter measuring better.

These phones appear to be pretty much ‘perfect’. The tonal balance follows Harman (EQ it if that’s not your thing), are not massively difficult to drive, and have distortion levels close to inaudible (we can debate that last bit).

That costs you $4K today. It won’t cost you $4k in 5 years’ time. Once R&D costs are recouped, the price lowers. When prices lower you sell more and get greater economies of scale, so the price lowers again.

These things aren’t made of gold or diamonds. I see little in the materials which looks like they couldn’t be made more cheaply, once the initial investment has been recouped, the design and production lessons learned, and the sales numbers increased.

I’m not saying that in 2025 we’ll be buying something like this for $100. But I’m guessing by 2030 we’ll see an awful lot of what makes these special trickle down to $200 models.

I might be wrong.

KEF LS50 Meta utilizes the same "meta" material that is being used with the Stealth. I bet KEF would not lower the price of the LS50 Meta to entry level after achieving the amount of engineering that they have put into that product. As for your analogy regarding transparent DAC's being available in the market at affordable price, there are still DAC' out there that sell for 4 figures because they're considered niche product. They don't measure the same as a $100 dac, but name brand and pedigree of a product warrants a higher cost (call it marketing). Just remember there are many people out there that don't necessarily think through the "what-ifs" prior to purchasing something expensive. Many just splurge because they have that cash flow and many just want it for their vanity and bragging rights.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

who cares?...why complain about the cost?....buy the cheaper HP's you listed.....nobody forces you to buy anything

Who's complaining?

You're posting like I was starting an argument, which I wasn't, but in doing so have been aggressive yourself.

 

[Chester]

BTW, something very interesting about this thread.

Jude, the founder of Head- Fi, started a similar thread, also with some measurements, on the same day, a few hours ahead of Amir: this allows for comparison.

As of now ( the time before I started writing this post), Jude's thread has 282 replies and about 21 000 views.
Now the interesting thing:
Amir thread has 429 replies and about 38 000 views!

This means that:
- Not only has ASR caught up with Head-Fi.
- But it has largely passed it, leaving it in the dust!

This is extremely impressive given that:
- Head-Fi has been around for so long (several decades?) and was seen as the world major headphone forum. It has also a lot of financial resources (coming from companies paying for ads, showtime, right to post in threads, defense of their products...), and several paid staffers.
- ASR started only a few years ago.
- ASR started testing headphones even more recently (less than a year if I am correct).

I see this as a big victory for objectivity against subjectivity and against commercial reviews.
Many congratulations, Amir!

Wow, great observations there. And you’re right, we should take a moment to celebrate that. It’s an incredible achievement in a very short space of time.

It has happened so quickly I believe because of trust. No ads, no ‘incentivised’ reviews, no monetisation at all, makes the information here incredibly trust worthy, and as that becomes rarer and rarer in the modern world, it’s value increases.

It takes a strong and moral character to stay the course and not compromise their original passion, when the opportunity to increase ones own personal wealth presents itself, which no doubt has happened a number of times over the years I’m sure. So hats off to you Amir, many would not have got this far without succumbing.

Having said that, we don’t want to give him a big head so back to discussing red stitching and the cost of assembling materials most of us know nothing about…..as you were