[Majuto]

congratulations!

Thanks!

Quite high taxes have made the base for Nordic wellfare states. Unfortunately state can't anyhow offer free headphones for people. I think the european prices are very similar for DCA E3 for example. About 2500€.

 

[jlbrach]

But you eat tar ice cream that's scraped from the bottom of a boat too!!!!

not sure what you mean here lol

 

[hanumanbob]

not sure what you mean here lol

Sorry the Finns eat tar ice cream.

 

[Majuto]

But you eat tar ice cream that's scraped from the bottom of a boat too!!!!

Yes, this is very true. The smell of tar is fantastic imo. Tar burning was important as processing wood in historic times in Finland. But with icecream, irresistable.

 

[Luckyleo]

The Head-Fi very own official gate keeping wet blanket.

Personally, a year or so ago when I first started reading posts from @chesebert , I probably felt like you do now. I even blocked him for a short while. However, in the last 6 months or so, I've unblocked him, and to be honest appreciate his often contrarian viewpoint. Too many threads just regurgitate the same old, same old. There is no voice of reason, just people saying how much they like this or that, and frequently have zero support for their superlatives. Having been a member of head-fi since 2008, I can understand his reluctance to get caught-up in the flavor of the month and FOMO. Over the years the same cycles seem to repeat over and over again. It can make one a bit jaded. Anyway, it's only headphones and headphone related gear. All good!

Leo

 

[Tachyon88]

Personally, a year or so ago when I first started reading posts from @chesebert , I probably felt like you do now. I even blocked him for a short while. However, in the last 6 months or so, I've unblocked him, and to be honest appreciate his often contrarian viewpoint. Too many threads just regurgitate the same old, same old. There is no voice of reason, just people saying how much they like this or that, and frequently have zero support for their superlatives. Having been a member of head-fi since 2008, I can understand his reluctance to get caught-up in the flavor of the month and FOMO. Over the years the same cycles seem to repeat over and over again. It can make one a bit jaded. Anyway, it's only headphones and headphone related gear. All good!

Leo

I never block out of principle. I understand your position, and have no problem with contrarian anything. In my opinion it seems like its constant nitpicking about everything, some people are just like this. Contrarian for the sake of it.. I noticed the FOMO too and realized that people justify wants into needs and create shopping addictions. You will never stop the onslaught of new people coming in or even veterans who want to endlessly buy the "new" thing depending on your audio worldview.

To be clear, nothing personal either, no animosity to anyone here as well. You're right and I agree and have expressed this before, these are just headphones and electronics after all. I have topping and I don't care at all when people trash it from their perspective even if I disagree and my disagreements that I express are not based on a sense of pride of ownership, brand loyalty or a team sport.

 

[dougq]

Personally, a year or so ago when I first started reading posts from @chesebert , I probably felt like you do now. I even blocked him for a short while. However, in the last 6 months or so, I've unblocked him, and to be honest appreciate his often contrarian viewpoint. Too many threads just regurgitate the same old, same old. There is no voice of reason, just people saying how much they like this or that, and frequently have zero support for their superlatives. Having been a member of head-fi since 2008, I can understand his reluctance to get caught-up in the flavor of the month and FOMO. Over the years the same cycles seem to repeat over and over again. It can make one a bit jaded. Anyway, it's only headphones and headphone related gear. All good!

Leo

To some extent you are correct yet he also parrots fabricated and false information about needing to spend X amount on source gear if your headphones are X amount to get the “full potential” which is completely baseless. So on one hand, I don’t really care if he gets more enjoyment out of a specific combination of gear… but the arrogance that he thinks his viewpoint is the right one is toxic. And he’s still caught up in the fomo grind.

 

[Currawong]

It's just easy to become cynical and angry after losing the feeling of excitement about the hobby. If I hadn't met many of the people behind products in person, or at least talked to them, I would have bailed out of the hobby long ago. Dan is someone who is working hard to genuinely innovate and progress what can be done with headphones. That, to me, is one of the things that makes the hobby interesting.
I've turned down a lot of product reviews where the product is, simply, boring. Yet another ESS-based DAC with 3-4 zeros after the decimal point SINAD? So what? Another pair of $300-600 planars with drivers from the same Chinese OEM as the last pair I was offered? No thanks. People will forget about those by next year (except that the DAC will be shilled by the Church of SINAD). Products such as the E3, Mjolnir, and Chord gear will be recommended for a long time to come.

First post, but I thought I would chime in regarding the comfort of the DCA E3 headphones. When I first unboxed and started to use the headphones I initially experienced a pressure point at the very top of my head, in the center of the headband.

I tried removing the headband and breaking it in with my hands, but the E3's automatic size-adjusting elastic band is housed within the outer portion of the headband and these regions can only be broken in so much (I was hesitant about bending or placing pressure on these attachment points). As a result, breaking in the headband eliminated the pressure point at the top but introduced two pressure points closer to the side.

I also own the DCA AEON 2 Noire headphones, so I then experimented with using the DCA AEON 2 Noire headband with the DCA E3. I experienced the following issues:

1) The wire frame chassis of the DCA AEON 2 Noire is separated by a consistent gap (like train tracks), but the gap between the wires on the E3 becomes wider as you move away from their attachment point. This means that moving the headband from the DCA AEON 2 Noire over to the E3 requires clamping down on the wire chassis, bending them, and making the chassis-headband attachment points (black plastic pieces) less mobile. If you have a small head, I do not think it would be feasible to clamp down on the wire chassis to degree required to attached the headband close to the origin point of each wire.
2) You cannot transplant the arms (and wire chassis) from the AEON 2 Noire to the E3 because the ear cups have different dimensions and, as a result, so do the arms and yokes.
3) The DCA AEON 2 Noire has two attachment points (black plastic pieces) for the headband that can move freely to adjust the fit of the headphones. If you remove the two black plastic pieces by unscrewing the screw used to attach them to each other, you will find a smooth plastic washers on each wire that is used to help the attachment points move along the wire chassis. This is attached to the wire chassis and cannot be migrated, introducing friction and making the AEON 2 Noire headband less mobile if migrated over to the E3 wires.
4) The E3 ear cups are relatively heavy and this additional weight is supported by the upward force provided by the elastic material used to attach the headband to the chassis. As the AEON 2 Noire headband is just a static piece of leather, using the AEON 2 Noire headband resulted in the heavier ear cups drooping lower without the necessary upward support, reducing comfort somewhat.

In light of these issues, I reached out to ZMF and asked them if they had an recommendations for an aftermarket pad to go with the latest DCA headphones (including the E3). The ZMF employee that responded to me mentioned that the Co-Pilot and Crescent Snap headband would probably work well, but I was not able to purchase the Crescent strap in my region and decided on the Co-Pilot pad for the time being.

I can say that the ZMF Co-Pilot pad works very well with the DCA E3! The added thickness of the pad does increase the tension in the E3's elastic bands somewhat, which does make the ear cups ride a little higher and might not be great for the longevity of the elastic band itself (though this probably is not a big deal unless your head is very, very large to begin with).

Ultimately, I was feeling pressure points after one hour and now I can wear the E3 headphones all day without issue.

Here's a link to the products I mentioned:
1) ZMF Crescent Snap - https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/pads/products/crescent-snap
2) ZMF Co-Pilot Pad - https://shop.zmfheadphones.com/collections/pads/products/copilot

I hope this helps somewhat.

I wonder if my hanging the headphones on a stand helped here. I hadn't noticed any discomfort with the headband, but maybe my hair was longer at the time, and provided more padding. Hi from Japan BTW.

Because I don't like pump and dump - bad for hobbyists and bad for manufacturers; the only winners are the reviewers, YTbers, creators, shills, marketers, person doing the pumping and dumping. I have been here 20 years and I have seen everything.

It's what people enjoy. If it makes you angry, best to stay off the internet. I've vastly cut down what I read on the 'net as I don't find it good for my health to be angry all the time.

 

[lowlou]

I love your reviews of the DCA headphones, Currawong. Thank you. I think I watched them three or four times already. They're just great. Good evening !

 

[ThEvil0nE]

It's what people enjoy. If it makes you angry, best to stay off the internet. I've vastly cut down what I read on the 'net as I don't find it good for my health to be angry all the time.

Totally a different scenario for reviewers and the buying population. Most reviewers couldn't care less and won't involve themselves in an open forum discussion as soon as their piece is done. For the majority of the consumer they use forums to cross reference reviews with actual users feedback and experience. Of course there are some who take reviews from specific reviewers as gospel but there are some who takes it as a grain of salt. I'm the latter, I like gathering salts

 

[Lohb]

Any particular amazing DAC/amp combos churning up now as more get E3 ...tube amps ?
How you guys doing with R2R and E3 combo vs ESS/Chord gear ?

 

[Lohb]

I really like the comfort. It is really good. Too bad the sound is too sibilant for me

Sibilance = That is usually traced to DACs. You mean a bit of brightness in upper region perhaps to your ears ?

 

[lowlou]

I definitely heard emphasized trebles in this review at 6:50, when compared to the Stealth more polite trebles and original audio material :

 

[hanumanbob]

Sibilance = That is usually traced to DACs. You mean a bit of brightness in upper region perhaps to your ears ?

The E3 is not sibilant by any means. Many comments however find it more alive than the stealth.

 

[ahmonge]

Sibilance = That is usually traced to DACs. You mean a bit of brightness in upper region perhaps to your ears ?

Sibilance (the hissing or sharp "s," "sh," "ch," and "z" sounds produced by human speecch) is primarily a recording and mixing issue. Bright loudspeakers and headphones make sibilance more noticeable, but it must be dealt with at the source