[ronin22]

Due to how linear the E3 is and how low its distortion is, I'd say it nails the reproduction of everything. No major frequency response oddities to emphasize or deemphasize anything, generally low distortion to avoid things like bloated sounding bass or perhaps exaggerated sense of detail. If you want to hear the music as it is, the E3 is pretty much as good as it gets.




Interesting, did you A/B test them side by side? I wonder if that review also did this. Going off of memory is very unreliable. Amir from ASR found the differences to be minimal when A/B testing them which all the measurements imply. Maybe I'll get to A/B test them one day.

Yes it was from memory and I do agree memory is not reliable but I do know what I like and don't like.

 

[SlothRock]

Curious if anyone has compared the E3 to the Atrium Closed? AC is my current closed back and I love it but have always been interested in a closed planar and obviously E3 looks stellar for the price in particular

 

[gonintendo]

Curious if anyone has compared the E3 to the Atrium Closed? AC is my current closed back and I love it but have always been interested in a closed planar and obviously E3 looks stellar for the price in particular

They're quite different, E3 is more neutral while AC with the stock pads is more v shaped. AC is definitely more dynamic in the subbbass while E3 is a bit more articulate. E3 mids are more prominent though leaner than AC. AC has a more spherical stage while E3 is more speaker like.
From a pure enjoyability perspective, I enjoy the top end on the E3 more than AC, but I enjoy the low mids and low end of the AC more than E3. They do complement each other quite well IMO

 

[Rhamnetin]

That's the problem with looking at graphs and then listening to them... Bias from seeing nearly the same response and hearing what you see.

Generally that is a good point, as there's an almost uncountable amount of biases when it comes to comparing headphones and this is one of them. However, he listened to the E3 before measuring so it doesn't apply here. Ultimately the Stealth and E3 are just unsurprisingly similar headphones - same manufacturer, very similar technology.

When Dan sent the E3 to me, he asked that I not measure it and just listen and that is what I did.

 

[gonintendo]

One thing I really appreciate about E3 is how good it sounds at low volumes. Makes it a great headphone to use for long periods while working.

 

[BassicScience]

Running stereo pair bridged to be sure to have enough juice?
Its amazing how low the noise floor on the good D designs can be, power on dead quiet with high efficiency, I think it’s just great tech.
I have 4x 2KW Hypex amps for the tops on my MEH speaker setup for Burning Man, they have superb clarity yet we can run it off one 2800W with the PA at 130db and the amps just get warm… and you can’t hear any noise until head is right up to the horn.

Sorry to get OT but it didn’t occur to me before how good a choice a D amp at that level is with the noise floor…

True, ~200W/channel is certainly never going to be tapped by any headphone, but nonetheless every planar I've ever seriously auditioned has sounded notably better to me from a (class D) speaker amp (vs. a SS headphone amp). Perhaps it's partly attributable to those amps' very high damping factors, which results in great clarity and bass grip?

Beyond the sound, the best feature of my Vera Audio amp is its switchable gain (12-30 dB, in discrete 3 dB steps), which means I can use the same comfortable volume range on my preamp for headphones of widely varying sensitivity. In case anyone is curious, I run the E3 at 12 dB gain, Susvara at 21 dB, and my Shang Jr. estat (via iESL) at 27-30 dB.

So yeah, it's fantastic to have an amp that will never run out of power for any headphone (or virtually any speaker, for that matter), while simultaneously having an imperceptible noise floor even through higher sensitivity cans.

Getting back on-topic, my wife and I have just embarked on a two-week vacation. I've packed the E3 along with the Benchmark DAC3, and will be reporting back soon on how I'm liking the combo as a travel system. I'm definitely already loving how little suitcase space these components take up!

 

[chargedcapacitor]

True, ~200W/channel is certainly never going to be tapped by any headphone, but nonetheless every planar I've ever seriously auditioned has sounded notably better to me from a (class D) speaker amp (vs. a SS headphone amp). Perhaps it's partly attributable to those amps' very high damping factors, which results in great clarity and bass grip?

Beyond the sound, the best feature of my Vera Audio amp is its switchable gain (12-30 dB, in discrete 3 dB steps), which means I can use the same comfortable volume range on my preamp for headphones of widely varying sensitivity. In case anyone is curious, I run the E3 at 12 dB gain, Susvara at 21 dB, and my Shang Jr. estat (via iESL) at 27-30 dB.

So yeah, it's fantastic to have an amp that will never run out of power for any headphone (or virtually any speaker, for that matter), while simultaneously having an imperceptible noise floor even through higher sensitivity cans.

Getting back on-topic, my wife and I have just embarked on a two-week vacation. I've packed the E3 along with the Benchmark DAC3, and will be reporting back soon on how I'm liking the combo as a travel system. I'm definitely already loving how little suitcase space these components take up!

I've had similar results with the NC400 monoblocks and the susvara/LCD-5s; there's just an extra but of clarity and control from those speaker amps when used with planars.

 

[BlankName]

I was concerned about this as well since I did have a listen to the Stealth and while it sounded good it wasn't to my overall liking. The E3 on the other hand I love which made me wonder why since the frequency curves are similar, but I guess those different nuances between the two were all that mattered.

Probably due to the extra bass ports, no midbass bump, livelier upper mids and treble, and new diaphragm/heavier driver.

 

[zolom]

Yesterday I had a short opportunity to compare the E3 against my Focal stellia. Sonic wise, they are not far apart. Low end and mids had sounded, to me, with similar quality. Voices on both are slightly forwarded, as should be. E3 provided slightly better details and a wider / deeper stage. It certainly requires an amp, while the Stellia is much easier to drive.
All together I might have chosen them over the Stellia, but the show stopper for me is the (much) higher sound leakage out of the caps. It's much noticier and since I also listen in bed, next to my wife, I cannot use them there (unless I start divorce procedures ).

 

[headpfizer]

I am seriously considering the E3. I have the Noire and it is a great closed back. Very excited at the prospect of an improvement on it. One thing that gives me pause is the self adjusting headband. I have never found one that I liked. Could just be my head but I always prefer manually adjustable headband.

@mrspeakers would the Aeon headband fit the E3?

 

[jarnopp]

Yesterday I had a short opportunity to compare the E3 against my Focal stellia. Sonic wise, they are not far apart. Low end and mids had sounded, to me, with similar quality. Voices on both are slightly forwarded, as should be. E3 provided slightly better details and a wider / deeper stage. It certainly requires an amp, while the Stellia is much easier to drive.
All together I might have chosen them over the Stellia, but the show stopper for me is the (much) higher sound leakage out of the caps. It's much noticier and since I also listen in bed, next to my wife, I cannot use them there (unless I start divorce procedures ).

E3 has higher sound leakage than Aeon, but you really have to be cranking it to notice meaningfully. At normal in bed listening at night when it’s quiet and your wife is sleeping (~75 dB?), you can hear some leakage with your ear against the bass ports, but not really a couple feet away. Otherwise, my god man, go in another room!

I am seriously considering the E3. I have the Noire and it is a great closed back. Very excited at the prospect of an improvement on it. One thing that gives me pause is the self adjusting headband. I have never found one that I liked. Could just be my head but I always prefer manually adjustable headband.

@mrspeakers would the Aeon headband fit the E3?

I have a very small head, I guess. The stealth headband was too loose on me and the E3 headband I am still trying to decide if I can ask for more clamp. Due to the lighter design, I also feel like the Aeon headband was perfect for me.

 

[ronin22]

Probably due to the extra bass ports, no midbass bump, livelier upper mids and treble, and new diaphragm/heavier driver.

Could be- it's funny you mention that midbass bump, it didn't bother me with the Stealth but it did when I had the Expanse for a bit.

 

[plakat]

Could be- it's funny you mention that midbass bump, it didn't bother me with the Stealth but it did when I had the Expanse for a bit.

I think the Stealth has less of that midbass bump than both the Expanse and the E3, which in turn has it less than the Expanse as well

 

[ronin22]

I think the Stealth has less of that midbass bump than both the Expanse and the E3, which in turn has it less than the Expanse as well

According to this Head Fi graph the E3 has slightly more midbass hump than the Stealth but yeah the Expanse is greater than both.

 

[plakat]

According to this Head Fi graph the E3 has slightly more midbass hump than the Stealth but yeah the Expanse is greater than both.

I think the sound impression is not only due to that 1dB around 100Hz — those measurements seem to close to support that… maybe the impulse response was changed as well…
But anyway… the E3 feels a little more engaged, while the Stealth gravitates more towards deep bass.