Nausea from Dan Clark Stealth

[mackman]

I picked up a used pair of Stealths and while I love the sense of space I become almost immediately motion sick after starting to listen to music with them on. Even doing basic editing on my own recordings. I thought it might be psychological but I didn't use them for 3 months, forgot about this entirely, and picked them back up for an editing project and then immediately felt bad again.

I've had some issues with that feeling of pressure from some headphones (Denon AH-D5000 for example) but never felt motion sick before. Anyone else experience or heard of this before?

 

[egellings]

If you put the 'phones on but don't play any sound through them, do you still feel the same effect? Also, if you play mono sound through them (identical sound through both ear cups) do you get the same effect?

 

[mackman]

Doesn't seem like wearing them without sound causes any issues. Will try mono audio sometime soon.

 

[mc.god]

It seems some users complain about it using TWS, probably due to noise cancelling feature, I don't know if it is more like a myth or can have a scientific basis. I'm not remotely informed on the matter but since Stealth are not NC headphones and without sound they don't cause you sickness, could be something related to how they irradiate sound waves to your vestibular system, generating a fake sensation of imbalance and causing nausea.
I see they have this AMTS system:

AMTS is a patent pending inline device placed between the transducer and ear. It integrates waveguides, diffusion control, quarter-wave, and Helmholtz resonators into one compact structure.

who knows , maybe it interacts very badly with your specific ears anatomy.

But honestly I suggest you to talk about this with your doctor.

 

[tashmoo]

This is a long shot but did you purchase these headphones from crutchfield? I bought a used pair of stealths in September of 2024 and had the exact same issue you described. Motion sickness almost immediately after listening to music. It would last for hours after also. I sent them back in October and let crutchfield know they seemed defective. I haven’t tried out another pair of stealths since so no idea if it’s the headphone or you got the same exact pair I sent back. I have the noire x and it’s perfectly fine.

 

[frix]

planars rely on a strong front volume seal. Especially the DCA headphones. Maybe that's an issue for you?

 

[solderdude]

planars rely on a strong front volume seal. Especially the DCA headphones. Maybe that's an issue for you?

One might have the same issues with Audeze headphones.
These act like 'suction cups' when a good seal is reached.

I suggest to ensure there is a small leakage by allowing some air to get in between the pad and skin and see if that helps.

 

[Talisman]

This thing happens to me when I activate the ANC in the headphones, the advice I can give you is simply to change headphones, it's not worth feeling bad.

 

[tashmoo]

planars rely on a strong front volume seal. Especially the DCA headphones. Maybe that's an issue for you?

I have the DCA noire x and aeon noire. Both are not a problem for me.

 

[EERecordist]

Suggest talking to your doctor, and maybe get a referral to a university auditory medicine research group.

I know a lot of display and visual systems researchers. A small number of people were having similar problems with 3D movies, so a lab was funded to study it. In that case, it was sometimes due to conflicting sensory cues in the brain. Each brain is unique.

 

[Madlop26]

Very peculiar thing, scratching my head how this could happen, it must be some effect in the vestibular system, the semicircular canals or utricle, although it is a close system, changes in internal pressure can lead to many types of dizziness. If this headphone are tight sealed, we are talking a wider powerful area of suction (comparing with IEMs) that could be transmitted in the subcutaneous tissue of the auditory canal and somehow reaches the vestibular system. If you allow and small exhaust point while using the headphone and dizziness goes away that will support the theory.

 

[mc.god]

If it's something related to pressure in ear canals it should still happen when op is wearing the headphones with no audio playing, but he is saying it's not the case.
He is having issues only when playing audio.

 

[Talisman]

If it's something related to pressure in ear canals it should still happen when op is wearing the headphones with no audio playing, but he is saying it's not the case.
He is having issues only when playing audio.

Closed headphones resting on the ear cups create a static balance, which is simply compensated, when the headphones play, the movement of air and pressure occurs which can create discomfort.

 

[DualTriode]

Break the "seal" between the ear cup and your head, you know an intentional leak.
With the seal broken you can tell if it is a pressure thing or not.

Otherwise the Stealths are just too good at realism.