Funny question, but has anyone used the Expanse for gaming? I usually only have one closed and open back in my collection at a time (at the most) and so I always like to make sure my open back is great for gaming. Been considering the Expanse as a pair to my E3 and curious about this.
Love my Expanse for gaming, it's usually what I pick out of my whole collection.
Important note regarding using the Stealth (or any closed back) for gaming, if you're going to be playing a game with voice chat, closed back sucks for that. Causes that hearing your own voice thing when your ears are covered like that. Expanse is nice cause it's open enough for that not to happen but still blocks sounds like your keyboard.
I have not but it's on my list for a very long time. After I bought and loved the E3 it made me even more interested in the Expanse as an open back companion
I had the Expanse a year ago but gave it up in order to stay on the voyage of trying a lot of different headphones. I circled back around and have an Expanse again. I have always kept the Stealth since I need closed back over open back due to when and where I listen most.
Expanse really is impressive. It does so much differently than Stealth that it is fine to keep both. Expanse wins out in the mid bass area and overall musicality. Stealth wins out in the sub bass area and tonality/slightly more forward mids. Stealth has superior detail retrieval in my opinion but that does take away from musicality. Of course the Expanse has more of an open soundstage due to it being an open back. Stealth though IMHO is the most open sounding closed back that I have heard.
Overall they are both HUGE winners. I think both sound less "alive" with lower level systems i.e. they scale up extremely well.
With the Expanse it is important to note that it really is not an open back HP as compared to others like the LCD 5, Susvara, or Utopia for example. With those you hear everything in your environment. The Expanse to me is semi open. There is less sound leakage (I can actually wear it in bed at night without annoying my wife) and there is damping of the sounds around you.
The Stealth and Expanse are rather outstanding. I had the E3 for a bit and for the cost point they are phenomenal and are a combo of the Stealth and Expanse when it comes to sound signature. The E3 though in a direct comparison to Stealth is not at the same level of texture and layering. Nor should it be based on the cost difference of the two.
These three DCA offerings are extremely impressive!
So I have had the E3, Expanse, and Stealth. I have what most would consider a pretty modest array of setups (Element 3, Modius / Lyr+, A70 Pro (different rooms / areas of listening). I have a friend who is way more into source hardware than myself(Ferrum stack, Lina Stack). We spent a lot of time testing out different combinations and here are some of my observations:
The Element 3 is an amazing all in one. It drove all of them almost equal to the super high-end equipment. All of the headphones sounded fantastic. Don't worry about having to dump money in to upgrades. If you are happy with how they sound, they are working as intended. You don't need to go broke here.
I couldn't discern any difference in detail retrieval between the 3 headphones. Just different sound signatures. The E3 was the livliest. My favorite was the Expanse overall but it's close.
The build quality on all of them are stellar. My opinion in order would be: Expanse > Stealth > E3 for build quality. All have the same comfort once the headband has broken in and conforms to your head. My initial hotspot has gone away.
So I have had the E3, Expanse, and Stealth. I have what most would consider a pretty modest array of setups (Element 3, Modius / Lyr+, A70 Pro (different rooms / areas of listening). I have a friend who is way more into source hardware than myself(Ferrum stack, Lina Stack). We spent a lot of time testing out different combinations and here are some of my observations:
The Element 3 is an amazing all in one. It drove all of them almost equal to the super high-end equipment. All of the headphones sounded fantastic. Don't worry about having to dump money in to upgrades. If you are happy with how they sound, they are working as intended. You don't need to go broke here.
I couldn't discern any difference in detail retrieval between the 3 headphones. Just different sound signatures. The E3 was the livliest. My favorite was the Expanse overall but it's close.
The build quality on all of them are stellar. My opinion in order would be: Expanse > Stealth > E3 for build quality. All have the same comfort once the headband has broken in and conforms to your head. My initial hotspot has gone away.
I have not but it's on my list for a very long time. After I bought and loved the E3 it made me even more interested in the Expanse as an open back companion
The expanse is very isolated for an open back so you might want to try it before you buy it if you already have an e3. I enjoy mine but it isn't as open as other open backs.
I prefer my Caldera actually but I think I prefer a flatter bass response that the Caldera has
If you want to spend your Sunday appreciating the neutral characteristics of the Expanse, just have a listen to this one. No overwhelming stuff, just pure natural acoustic sound.
Meant to mention in this thread that I've been pretty impressed by the Expanse's ability to be so consistent across many amps. It isn't the most sensitive headphone, yet I've found it to be pretty consistent across amps. This includes the budget GSX Mini, to amps like the Bakoon AMP-13R, CFA3, EC Studio B, AIC-10 and integrated speaker amps such as the EVO 400 and Hegel H120. There are detectable differences across these, but nothing massive or groundbreaking imo. It's very enjoyable across all of these amps.
In many cases, we talk about headphones' ability to scale, but I think there's much to be said in consistency in performance across amps, which represents less dependency. To me, that's a considerable strength.
If you want to spend your Sunday appreciating the neutral characteristics of the Expanse, just have a listen to this one. No overwhelming stuff, just pure natural acoustic sound.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
