[DarginMahkum]

I wanted to know what the Elite hype is all about and got a pair to compare to Expanse and Stealth. Firstly, oh gosh that pad rolling. Manufacturer telling you "sorry, I couldn't properly tune it, so give these pads a try. Maybe something will work for you". Feels ancient after getting used to out of the box precise tuning of Expanse. Second: I don't understand what the hype is all about. I couldn't get any accurate timbre with any of the pads. Either mids are lost, or they are hollow, or bass is gone, or the highs are shouty.

I can understand anyone not interested in any accurate mids and timbre (like EDM, rick, metal etc.) liking them, but everytime switching back to Expanse gave me relief with vocals and bowed instruments.

What is good is they are comfortable and well built, but for me against Expanse it feels like Elite belongs to an older generation of headphones.

I am not going to send this to the Elite thread as maybe some people might like the Elite and feel offended (I have absolutely no interest in a useless debate) but it is just to inform the fellow Expanse and Stealth lovers.

This is going to be an interesting post. Remember my posts about Elite? Especially what I said about it: "I couldn't get any accurate timbre with any of the pads. Either mids are lost, or they are hollow, or bass is gone, or the highs are shouty." Nothing helped, not manual EQing, not the PEQ profiles you can download.

In the end, I decided to let it go wondering how such a loved HP could be that uneven. Then there was a trade offer with another HeadFier. I accepted the offer and we did the deal. But as soon as he received it, he called me and said "there is something wrong with the HP, it is out of phase". Of course, we weren't sure if it was the HP itself or the cable. Also this unit was owned by someone for nearly two years and was even sent to Meze once for inspections. How could something like that could happen?

He contacted Meze and after providing the proof of purchase, Meze immediately asked to send it back. After the examination they found that the HP was indeed out of phase and one of the drivers was connected incorrectly!

I, of course. didn't expect this and was confused about how such a hyped HP sound so uneven. So I would like to take my words about Elite back, as I obviously didn't get to hear what Elite really sounds like (I will delete my posts). I will make sure to listen to it once again if I get to put my hands on one. But still this was a lesson to learn. I hope Meze improves its QC process to catch such issues, as this had to be caught during the initial QC or during the inspection.

 

[ThanatosVI]

This is going to be an interesting post. Remember my posts about Elite? Especially what I said about it: "I couldn't get any accurate timbre with any of the pads. Either mids are lost, or they are hollow, or bass is gone, or the highs are shouty." Nothing helped, not manual EQing, not the PEQ profiles you can download.

In the end, I decided to let it go wondering how such a loved HP could be that uneven. Then there was a trade offer with another HeadFier. I accepted the offer and we did the deal. But as soon as he received it, he called me and said "there is something wrong with the HP, it is out of phase". Of course, we weren't sure if it was the HP itself or the cable. Also this unit was owned by someone for nearly two years and was even sent to Meze once for inspections. How could something like that could happen?

He contacted Meze and after providing the proof of purchase, Meze immediately asked to send it back. After the examination they found that the HP was indeed out of phase and one of the drivers was connected incorrectly!

I, of course. didn't expect this and was confused about how such a hyped HP sound so uneven. So I would like to take my words about Elite back, as I obviously didn't get to hear what Elite really sounds like (I will delete my posts). I will make sure to listen to it once again if I get to put my hands on one. But still this was a lesson to learn. I hope Meze improves its QC process to catch such issues, as this had to be caught during the initial QC or during the inspection.

Very interesting development indeed.
Do you have plans to audition the Elite again?

 

[DarginMahkum]

Sure, when I find the chance, I will for sure do that. I will visit the CanJam London this year, so maybe I will have the chance to try it again.

 

[LCMusicLover]

This is going to be an interesting post. Remember my posts about Elite? Especially what I said about it: "I couldn't get any accurate timbre with any of the pads. Either mids are lost, or they are hollow, or bass is gone, or the highs are shouty." Nothing helped, not manual EQing, not the PEQ profiles you can download.

In the end, I decided to let it go wondering how such a loved HP could be that uneven. Then there was a trade offer with another HeadFier. I accepted the offer and we did the deal. But as soon as he received it, he called me and said "there is something wrong with the HP, it is out of phase". Of course, we weren't sure if it was the HP itself or the cable. Also this unit was owned by someone for nearly two years and was even sent to Meze once for inspections. How could something like that could happen?

He contacted Meze and after providing the proof of purchase, Meze immediately asked to send it back. After the examination they found that the HP was indeed out of phase and one of the drivers was connected incorrectly!

I, of course. didn't expect this and was confused about how such a hyped HP sound so uneven. So I would like to take my words about Elite back, as I obviously didn't get to hear what Elite really sounds like (I will delete my posts). I will make sure to listen to it once again if I get to put my hands on one. But still this was a lesson to learn. I hope Meze improves its QC process to catch such issues, as this had to be caught during the initial QC or during the inspection.

Yep, that is quite interesting.

Especially (to me) the whole ...and they were owned for over two years before this was discovered... bit!

I will say that Elites deserve a fair audition. I owned them, now own Expanse, and had a Caldera loaner in-between (no two of them in-hand concurrently). To my ears (and memory) they competed well in that crowd. In fact, the only negative I had about them was that they didn't synergize well with my Liquid Gold X.

But to my ears they're a significant upgrade from Empyrean for several reasons. Still in the same family, but ... better

 

[gammi]

Have some good news for you guys, Mitch at Accurate Sound sent me the preliminary results from making a filter using my Expanse (and Utopia) and he says it's one of the most perfect results he's gotten. Ruler flat frequency response and the lowest distortion he's measured (with a close tie being the Utopia interestingly). Attached is the FR with and without his preliminary filter.

Here's what he had to say:
"The DCA Expanse is a close 2nd with respect to distortion profile. It is also measures fairly flat, a bit up and down in the midrange and again a bit of upper midrange elevation. But still could use a filter that turns it into literally a perfect response. See attached. Ruler flat response from 15 Hz to 6 kHz. Really amazing, sounds amazing too. Does sound different than the Beryllium driver…"

And then followed up about distortion by saying this:
"Looking more closely at the 2020 and Expanse distortion, it is basically a tie. The 2020 does have a bit more in the 200 Hz to 1 kHz range, but both are so down in audibility, it effectively is a non-issue. I will have to listen again as there is something different between the planar and berylliums drivers. Both are excellent phones!"

When he says 2020 he's referring to the 2020 Utopia.
I attached the chart for the Utopia as a comparison. Even with the filter it just physically can't reach down as low as the Expanse can. 3-6k region is more stable than the Utopia as well.

 

[DarginMahkum]

I cannot stop listening to Oumou Sangare. Great groove...on Expanse...

 

[TDinCali]

A quick observation from today. I’ve been listening to the Expanse for the past few days and initially was really disappointed with the bass. I kept switching to different amps and swapping between headphones to see if it just didn’t like SS or whether they were just that weak. It even crossed my mind that maybe the pair I had were defective. Comparing them to the Susvara, it had no sub bass. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my Susvara are not impacted by not having a perfect seal but the expanse are. I was wearing a baseball cap and glasses. As soon as I removed the hat that bass immediately came in. When I took my glasses off it sounded great. Just goes to show you that some hp’s react differently to how they sit on your head.

Any doubts I had about the Expanse are gone. I like them much more than the Stealth. I just couldn’t enjoy the stealth for some reason but the tuning with the Expanse in my chain, sound great.

 

[Hifivoice]

Have some good news for you guys, Mitch at Accurate Sound sent me the preliminary results from making a filter using my Expanse (and Utopia) and he says it's one of the most perfect results he's gotten. Ruler flat frequency response and the lowest distortion he's measured (with a close tie being the Utopia interestingly). Attached is the FR with and without his preliminary filter.

I would suggest Accurate Sound plays a bit with positioning, because the bass fall-off indicates the seal is not fully tight. So depending on how you wear the headphones yourself, boosting that region may result in "elephant bass" response.

It's not so difficult to get a flat response (I left the 100Hz bump on purpose), but to me it is not necessarily the best sounding (red no EQ, blue with EQ).

These would be the settings for the above response:

Treble sounds way to zizzy this way. It's of course also highly dependent on the test jig used.

My current settings are much more moderate. I'm still finding out, but with the following settings I get more harmonic richness, without loosing the energetic response of the original response of the Expanse (which looks like it is more DF-tuned in the treble).

 

[vonBaron]

A quick observation from today. I’ve been listening to the Expanse for the past few days and initially was really disappointed with the bass. I kept switching to different amps and swapping between headphones to see if it just didn’t like SS or whether they were just that weak. It even crossed my mind that maybe the pair I had were defective. Comparing them to the Susvara, it had no sub bass. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my Susvara are not impacted by not having a perfect seal but the expanse are. I was wearing a baseball cap and glasses. As soon as I removed the hat that bass immediately came in. When I took my glasses off it sounded great. Just goes to show you that some hp’s react differently to how they sit on your head.

Any doubts I had about the Expanse are gone. I like them much more than the Stealth. I just couldn’t enjoy the stealth for some reason but the tuning with the Expanse in my chain, sound great.

Stealth just fail short in almost all category, they are only slightly better than Aeon 2 Noire and cost 3x more...

 

[HONEYBOY]

Stealth just fail short in almost all category, they are only slightly better than Aeon 2 Noire and cost 3x more...

I'm a stalwart defender of the Stealth . I haven't heard the Aeon 2 Noire, so I can't comment on its relative value. However, I'm curious what are these major categories that the Stealth fall short in? To my ears, the Stealth and Expanse are some of the most technically accomplished headphones. This would suggest that most headphones are only slightly better than the Aeon 2 Noire from your statement, assuming you're are referring to technical proficiency. Ultimately, I preferred the Stealth, but I will say that a little salt goes a long way to making spinach more palatable.

 

[DMITRIY R]

I'm a stalwart defender of the Stealth . I haven't heard the Aeon 2 Noire, so I can't comment on its relative value. However, I'm curious what are these major categories that the Stealth fall short in? To my ears, the Stealth and Expanse are some of the most technically accomplished headphones. This would suggest that most headphones are only slightly better than the Aeon 2 Noire from your statement, assuming you're are referring to technical proficiency. Ultimately, I preferred the Stealth, but I will say that a little salt goes a long way to making spinach more palatable.

Stealth easily puts the Abyss 1266 on the shoulder blades when voicing the sub bass. Abyss 1266 below 100 hertz are deaf. This problem can be slightly corrected by adding a tube amplifier and/or a tube DAC to the installation. Stealth has no such problem..perfectly plays the most thunderous sounds. Listening to Stealth, it sometimes seems to me that the walls of my house are falling off, the floor is crumbling and I will fall into hell. Scary...a terribly realistic presentation.

 

[ra990]

Stealth just fail short in almost all category, they are only slightly better than Aeon 2 Noire and cost 3x more...

I've owned both and greatly prefer the Stealth over the Expanse.

 

[AstroCEO]

Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE Review: Interview, Measurements, Impressions

​

As open-back headphones go, there’s nothing quite like the new Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE. While it was developed and built using the platform and technologies pioneered on the closed-back STEALTH, the EXPANSE brings entirely unique qualities to open-back headphone voicing and design. We talk with Dan Clark about the EXPANSE, show you measurements (and measurement comparisons), and provide subjective impressions and comparisons.

The headphone measurements in this video were made in our measurement lab at Head-Fi HQ using the following equipment:

---

• Brüel & Kjær High-frequency Head and Torso Simulator (HATS) Type 5128
• Audio Precision APx555 Audio Analyzer
• Audio Precision APx1701 Transducer Test Interface
• Benchmark HPA4 Headphone Amplifier
• Herzan custom-designed acoustic & vibration isolation enclosure

---

Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE Review: Interview, Measurements, Impressions
produced by Brian Murphy, Joe Cwik, and Jude Mansilla​

​

It probably sounds amazing

 

[ThanatosVI]

It probably sounds amazing

Oh it certainly does!

 

[rreynolds]

A quick observation from today. I’ve been listening to the Expanse for the past few days and initially was really disappointed with the bass. I kept switching to different amps and swapping between headphones to see if it just didn’t like SS or whether they were just that weak. It even crossed my mind that maybe the pair I had were defective. Comparing them to the Susvara, it had no sub bass. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my Susvara are not impacted by not having a perfect seal but the expanse are. I was wearing a baseball cap and glasses. As soon as I removed the hat that bass immediately came in. When I took my glasses off it sounded great. Just goes to show you that some hp’s react differently to how they sit on your head.

Any doubts I had about the Expanse are gone. I like them much more than the Stealth. I just couldn’t enjoy the stealth for some reason but the tuning with the Expanse in my chain, sound great.

Oddly enough, I had a friend over for a couple days who's quite passionate about music and was curious to see her reaction when listening to highly revealing planars. When she got to the Expanse, her first comment was ''the bass is a bit thin''. I noticed she was wearing a black headband and recommended she remove it and try the same song again. Instant lightbulb moment! haha. She smiled and nodded ''nevermind''.