[dmagnan]

Haven't commented in a while because I've just been busy enjoying my setup!
I wound up getting the Wilsenton tube amps I was planning, and looooove the Expanse with the R800i.
Current chain is PC > USB > Bifrost 2 > R800i 8ohm taps > Hifiman adapter box > Expanse. I think I'm going to give the Denafrips Pontus II + Iris a try and see if I like better than the Bifrost 2 but damn, I can't see (hear?) it getting much better than this.

.................
..... there's certainly enough presence to rumble my ears a bit, it (the bass) goes very low and is always tight, I haven't been able to get the bass to "fail" where it just comes up flat on this setup, the bass is always there exactly how the track calls for it. Having 45W(!) on tap with the R800i made a difference in bass over the already very powerful (by headphone amp standards) Jotunheim 2. As for treble, the background is so black and open, notes just seem to appear out of the void. It causes a lot of those "wait, is someone in my room?" moments, I hear people whispering in the studio on some tracks, fingers on strings, etc. Cymbals clash so clearly and decay so nicely, it's somehow a sharp detail machine and also so rich and full.

I really have nothing bad to say about this setup and think I'm at that point where it would take me being shown something better to even realize I'm missing anything, the point where there's no faults, it's just degrees of improvement/personal taste if that makes sense. It's just so enjoyable and passionate to listen to, I can sit and analyze details if I want and the details are very much there but usually I just get lost in the music. Hell, I even find myself enjoying songs I didn't like before just because they become so pleasant on this setup. Many nights going to bed at 2am because I get stuck in the "one more song" loop.

I'll close with a story, this was with the same chain but with my Buchardt S400MkII speakers, not the Expanse, but the experience is comparable. I was sitting at my PC, setting it up to test after putting in the new tubes, threw on a random track (Lo Vas A Olvidar - Billy Eilish), it was playing for 30 seconds, I turn around to see my girlfriend on the couch behind me with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was a bit embarrassed but I was like no, don't be! That's the best review this setup could get! That's the kind of experience we strive for.

This is a good description of the superb sound of a powerful and well designed triode vacuum tube amplifier using excellent tubes. Presumably, measurement-wise, with high levels of harmonic distortion, limited bandwidth, significant noise levels, and low amounts of feedback (this last a good feature).

Interestingly enough, I have a headphone amplifier for my DCA Expanse that is radically different in design, technology and measurements, the Sparkos Labs Aries discrete transistor op-amp design, and I would describe it's sound with my Expanse almost in the same words.

 

[iamoneagain]

So sadly I exited team Expanse today. I got caught up in the ZMF sale and bought a beautiful Caldera. I even got the colors to match my headphone station. I know it seems weird picking out a headphone just for looks but I never came around to liking the looks of the Expanse. It feels expensive in your hands and is unique looking but not my taste. I used to own a lovely brown leather AT L3000 and really missed its looks. Replaced with the Utopia and wasn’t a big fan of its modern style. The ZMF stuff had really caught my eye but never got a chance to hear any of them but seem to have rabid fans.

 

[davesa]

Funny reading this as I went the opposite direction - I have a couple ZMF headphones ( VC Stabilized, and Auteur) which I like, as well as an Ether 2. Was looking at the Caldera with interest and excitement but went Expanse instead. I thought the Kingwood Ltd was a big bump at $600 over the standard. You can get a LOT of exotic wood for $600 - and if it was like the stabilized releases where you could see the set you were getting that might be worth it. I have seen lots of ZMF pictures on the different threads here and some are awesome, but on some sets the wood does not look as great to me... if you are paying a premium for a LTD wood it should be awesome. I did like that oak finish that was $200 more - that looked sharp.

Caldera is also their first planar offering and wondered about how they would tune it to be a ZMF, while also fitting it in an expanding range. For me the technology behind Expanse seemed like something I would be excited to try. There were some great reviews that talked about how the Expanse technology comes together, and the tuning that gave it some great sound stage and awesome bass.

I picked up a used set, so I felt like I was getting a good value on a slightly used set, with only about 5 weeks of usage by that first owner.

I have been LOVING the Expanse - I do have two powerful amps - the LTA Z10e on the tube side, and the Burson 3X GT - the LTA always sounded great with the Ether 2 and both amps work great with the Expanse - but I do have to turn the volume up higher than on my other headphones. As I flip between genres of music the Expanse has been handling them all well.

I will be keeping an eye on the Caldera thread for an update once you get yours and have some time listening to them.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I agree that Expanse is great in soundstage quality, imaging/placement each notes is very sharp and structured. However, while Expanse definitely not perform small/crumpled soundstage, it's still smaller than other typical open back TOTL in this price range.

 

[iamoneagain]

Funny reading this as I went the opposite direction - I have a couple ZMF headphones ( VC Stabilized, and Auteur) which I like, as well as an Ether 2. Was looking at the Caldera with interest and excitement but went Expanse instead. I thought the Kingwood Ltd was a big bump at $600 over the standard. You can get a LOT of exotic wood for $600 - and if it was like the stabilized releases where you could see the set you were getting that might be worth it. I have seen lots of ZMF pictures on the different threads here and some are awesome, but on some sets the wood does not look as great to me... if you are paying a premium for a LTD wood it should be awesome. I did like that oak finish that was $200 more - that looked sharp.

Caldera is also their first planar offering and wondered about how they would tune it to be a ZMF, while also fitting it in an expanding range. For me the technology behind Expanse seemed like something I would be excited to try. There were some great reviews that talked about how the Expanse technology comes together, and the tuning that gave it some great sound stage and awesome bass.

I picked up a used set, so I felt like I was getting a good value on a slightly used set, with only about 5 weeks of usage by that first owner.

I have been LOVING the Expanse - I do have two powerful amps - the LTA Z10e on the tube side, and the Burson 3X GT - the LTA always sounded great with the Ether 2 and both amps work great with the Expanse - but I do have to turn the volume up higher than on my other headphones. As I flip between genres of music the Expanse has been handling them all well.

I will be keeping an eye on the Caldera thread for an update once you get yours and have some time listening to them.

So I haven’t heard the Caldera or any other ZMF headphone yet, so I can’t comment on their sound.

I bought the Expanse from headphones.com knowing I could return them within a year but hoping that wouldn’t be the case. My main issue I was having with the Expanse, which can also be seen as a positive, is the sound isolation. When you put them on, it’s a lot like a closed headphone. I liked that because it blocks sound but lately it was really bothering me. It was sort of giving me a head cold type feeling or that feeling you can sometimes get from noise canceling headphones. This was with the no music playing. For most part this mostly goes away once the music starts but that closed feeling stayed with me. And then didn’t help with the soundstage starting right next to your ears.

But really is that they don’t breath at all. It’s a semi open headphone where the back is open but believe it’s actually sealed between the ears and the headphone. So no air gets in or out and that’s what’s bothering. And I’ve been sick last few days and the feels was much worse. Didn’t even want to listen to them. I have now been using my cheap Grado SR-60, and while huge jump down in sound quality, I can keep them on my head.

I haven’t really changed my mind on the tuning of the Expanse themselves. Much better than the Stealth. Slightly warm, impactful, clear mids, plenty of resolution. I have found some songs that on the Utopia, the bass had this tighter bounce to it that the Expanse misses that excitement. And mentioned before where I heard the bass of the Expanse felt slightly boosted but not to the benefit of the song. Don’t remember hearing that on the Utopia.

 

[iamoneagain]

This guy seems to have problems with making up his mind.

I finally got around to watching this update. Passion for Sound wasn’t changing his mind as much as further refining what he said in the original comparison. He ended up with the Elite and Expanse and then got to try them on more setups after his original post. Based on further listening, he liked the Elite more for his tastes. His only real complaint was the Expanse didn’t show a much difference between dacs. He still highly recommended them.

I think I ended up flipping my opinion from liking the semi closed nature to wanting to go back to a fully opened headphone. But that’s just me. I see I’m getting likes for my past statements and still stand by those comments. Only other thing that changed over time is finding more tracks that sounded better with the Utopia. But this mostly comes down to fun vs technical. Felt the Expanse gets the balance right most of the time but some music does shine better on the Utopia. And my personal taste has always learned more fun vs technical.

 

[xirxes]

So sadly I exited team Expanse today. I got caught up in the ZMF sale and bought a beautiful Caldera. I even got the colors to match my headphone station. I know it seems weird picking out a headphone just for looks but I never came around to liking the looks of the Expanse. It feels expensive in your hands and is unique looking but not my taste. I used to own a lovely brown leather AT L3000 and really missed its looks. Replaced with the Utopia and wasn’t a big fan of its modern style. The ZMF stuff had really caught my eye but never got a chance to hear any of them but seem to have rabid fans.

It’s like, exactly what the return policy is for man! No explanation necessary! Enjoy the ZMF who are made by another cool as hell enthusiast sound engineer and see how that flavor of ice cream hits you. There is no possible argument against trying out what’s out there, because the argument for cost-affordability was never on offer for summit-fi gear.

Get it all, find what you love, report back in a year and let us know what is tapping your toes then.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

 

[theveterans]

Nice perspective! 85mm @ f/1.2?

 

[BournePerfect]

I have an ether 2. I like this headphone but in my opinion lacks in terms of resolution and air between instruments. Someone tried ether 2 and expanse? I ask because i like the sound signature given with the ether 2 but i need more definition. So expanse is an improvement of ether 2 or something completely different?

Hope you're using the suedes on the E2s vs stock or perf pads. Considerably more open, airy, with loads more detail. Perf pads had em sounding like HD555s, ugh. Stock weren't bad, but lost loads of detail and ss compared to the suede pads. Sold my Elites because they were then inferior the E2s in every aspect other than ss size, although they had more in common than not. Chain was Rockna Wavedream>Eddie Current Studio B. Haven't heard the Expanse yet.

 

[jlbrach]

Nice perspective! 85mm @ f/1.2?

I used to own that lens and the 50/1.2

 

[alota]

Hope you're using the suedes on the E2s vs stock or perf pads. Considerably more open, airy, with loads more detail. Perf pads had em sounding like HD555s, ugh. Stock weren't bad, but lost loads of detail and ss compared to the suede pads. Sold my Elites because they were then inferior the E2s in every aspect other than ss size, although they had more in common than not. Chain was Rockna Wavedream>Eddie Current Studio B. Haven't heard the Expanse yet.

Only tried perforated. But i sold the ether with some regret

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Nice perspective! 85mm @ f/1.2?

Thanks!

Nope, actually my lens allow me to shot a bit close. That one was from 35mm at f/2 (Apsc). I tried with f/1.4 but the depth was too narrow.

 

[SLC1966]

I enjoy both of these a lot. I love the detail retrieval and engagement of both. They scale up extremely well. Goosebump inducing!

As I have stated before the differences of the two come out more, the more time spent with each.

 

[thePhones]

DCA Expanse review and comparison

I really like to share my experience with the Expanse but I did not really know how to put it into words so I just made a list of stuff that is most important to me and compared it to the rest of my collection.
I will just give some explanations to what I mean by some categories.
All listening was done with the Chord Dave and M Scaler. Expanse got at least 100 hours of burn in with moderately high volumes. Please ask if you want me to explain further on what I mean exactly.

Tonality: good tonality to me means that a headphone needs no or few eq to sound natural/neutral.
Timbre variation and accuracy: Instruments and voices are presented in their character, saxophones sound rich and warm, violins have some bite and resonance…so on
Dynamics: at first I wanted to make two categories for micro and macro dynamics but the differences where to small to matter really, for example the HD800 has a tiny bit more macro- than microdynamics and the Edition 5 the other way around.
Treble realism: Are cymbals sharp but not too sharp? Do female voices sound a bit more breathy but not harsh?
Instrument separation: this is a bit more complicated than I want, but it is not only about placement on the stage and space between them but also about the differences in timbre and layering that help to hear through the recording. So it seems that categories overlap each other a bit here.
Live feeling: How much time does it take to loose myself in the music and feel like I am really there? Also does it stay that way after a longer period of listening?
Comfort: Yeah I think this one is obvious. Most comfortable will still be the Hifimans.
Layering: I did not want to give soundstage a score as I think it is too subjective and has just different feelings to it. The HD800 sounds wider the Utopia/Expanse closer, Edition 5 somewhere in the middle. But what is not subjective is the ability to hear the distances in depth between instruments.
Detail: I tried to keep the force with which the detail is presented out of the equation. The Expanse is really layed back in detail presentation while the Edition 5 is more direct but the Expanse is the headphone that allows me to hear the most detail if I listen for it.
trails of notes/no „one note effekt“: With drums there is the initial stick hit, the drum timbre, even the timbre of the stick and then the boom of the drum itself, same for piano. Basically how many layers of each note am I able to hear.

Score: I took the weighting percentage for each category into account. What’s interesting to me is that the the final score is also representative for the order in which I like to spend time with each headphone.
I like to ad that I really enjoy each of those headphones regardless of age. New means not always better in every category. I also do not tend to have honeymoon phases. I am a bit more of a sceptic when it comes to new gear and expect nothing special, but if I enjoy a headphone even after years and years my respect to the developers grows. I am amazed that the HD800 (although now heavily modded) is still one of my go to headphones.
The Expanse is definitely doing something special with it’s AMTS system and in some ways it could be a new standard.