[Trance_Gott]

Were you expecting different. Now focus on 300B.

That it will be more warmer no thanks lol

 

[ThanatosVI]

3 hours maybe. I don't believe burnin. 2022 Utopia is singing from minute 1 for me!

Wow only 3h on them, what an amazing deal, thx again

 

[Trance_Gott]

Wow only 3h on them, what an amazing deal, thx again

I'm happy when you are happy!

 

[DarginMahkum]

I need 10min for every headphone.
Are you y DCA headphone fanboy? Good for you when you found your heaven.

It is not about whether you liked it or not. You made positive posts, immediately sold it and then started bashing. So your positive posts were for a quick sell. It is just something to keep in mind when reading your positive posts.

 

[Trance_Gott]

It is not about whether you liked it or not. You made positive posts, immediately sold it and then started bashing. So your positive posts were for a quick sell. It is just something to keep in mind when reading your positive posts.

Bashing? Huh?
Bleib cool Junge.
It's my last post here. Annoying.

 

[EMINENT]

After about 125 hours, I think I have a good idea about these. Played with them with eq and without for the past 4 hours today.
Whether brain burn in or just burn in, experience at 24 hours vs. now is different.
I noticed this also with the R26 for what it's worth.
Tuning is really good, minimal eq to desired tonality even now. Meaning, less/different eq from the first day.
It does really well as stated at presenting a live effect like you would be at a concert or festival about 5 rows back. I noticed that lower volumes seemed deeper or had more depth effect vs louder that decreased depth.

That's it for now.

 

[paradoxper]

That it will be more warmer no thanks lol

You do 300B right with Elrogs.

 

[Terriero]

Easy, it's cable powered, while the others are powerless

That's the importance of cables Sound Science subforum tries to deny

 

[dleblanc343]

The main reason I think I prefer these to the Susvara is that they somehow make the Susvara come across as more diffused. There’s a bit more midrange prominence on the DCA headphones and they are placed a bit more forward in the soundstage. Despite the increased space in the Expanse is doesn’t come across as too diffused. However, one area I still think the Susvara wins is the way it shows details in a very natural way. I can imagine if this instrument is playing in front of me then that’s the way the sound will reach my ears. All the headphones above are natural sounding to me, but Susvaras I suspect are slightly ahead here.

If you have Susvara try HE6 pads on it. Brings sound into focus and kills upper treble a ton and brings a substantial amount of midbass to it. To be honest, it sounds more like HE6 this way and despite becoming less linear/ neutral, it becomes more musically accurate and fun.

That being said, Expanse tuning out of box is graphically better, though to achieve this some sacrifices were made. Always a matter of picking your poison

 

[dmagnan]

Will a Sparkos Labs Aries amp have enough juice for the Expanse? It's a discrete op amp design with specs of 2.8 watts into 32 ohms. On my system I can't get it to clip with my highly EQ'd Monoprice AMTs no matter how hard I drive them. The AMT headphones have a lowish sensitivity of 90 dB, and my EQ includes +4 dB bass boost below 60 Hz.

 

[mrspeakers]

Will a Sparkos Labs Aries amp have enough juice for the Expanse? It's a discrete op amp design with specs of 2.8 watts into 32 ohms. On my system I can't get it to clip with my highly EQ'd Monoprice AMTs no matter how hard I drive them. The AMT headphones have a lowish sensitivity of 90 dB, and my EQ includes +4 dB bass boost below 60 Hz.

That's more than enough headroom to EQ and still go deaf...

 

[jlbrach]

I am also interested to hear how much better/different Expanse is to Ether 2. I'd be surprised (but impressed) if anyone thinks Expanse is twice as good, which it should be for the price.

nothing is ever twice as good for the price, simply doesnt exist plus it is all subjective anyway

 

[Currawong]

If anyone owns GSX Mini amp and Expanse, please post thoughts on synergy (or not) between the two? I suspect the mini will drive Expanse just fine, would like confirmation if possible. Thanks

I'm listening now, with the R-27HE as the source. It's a touch mellow for preference. The Mini doesn't sound as open as the larger amps I have or have had here (ALO, Luxman etc.)

Have you tried the Meze Elite? It has this quality that you describe. I haven't gotten my Expanse yet, but I would expect them to be quite a bit more technical than the Elite, judging by my experience with the Stealth. But, to your point...technicalities, while impressive, can sometimes be distracting from the music.

Noting that I've only compared my pairs, and there seems to be a bit of individual unit variance, but the Expanse sounds like a slightly technically better Elite to me. A bit more low bass, a bit less mid-bass, and slightly better clarity. I wouldn't tell someone who has an Elite to sell theirs for the Expanse though on that alone.

Excited to hear your take on these vs. The LCD-5, Currawong!

My pair of LCD-5s sound very closed-in now compared to the Expanse. I hope to shoot a more detailed comparison though.

It has a tastefully elevated bass but it’s heard more so than felt - dynamics leave much to be desired in my humble opinion.

I haven't found dynamics lacking, but I don't just consider the bass there, and some of it is probably a reflection of my gear. More detail on what you experienced, such as the music and gear used would be interesting.

Interesting comment on the Hugo2, when I was using that for dac until it quit working, then went to a ladder dac DENAFRIPS the sound was substantially more "organic" sounding and natural etc. So in spite of some bad-mouthing the GSX Mini, I thought it would be a real synergistic match for the Expanse. It would do OK for some time before I could acquire a Wells Audio amp or similar I reckon.

I was mostly using the Hugo 2/2go on the weekend at the Tokyo show, but at a friend's place afterwards, they were fantastic with a Holo May (with HQPlayer) and a DNA Stratus.

Any impressions of the Expanse vs Susvara?

In my video review I mentioned them a bit. More or less I found the Susvara to be a bit wider-sounding, and a bit more exciting, but a bit more fatiguing for longer listening sessions. This out of a R-27HE.

any impression of the Expanse vs the HE1000se or HE1000V2 ?? would love to hear these side by side...

I may be wrong, but the Arya Stealth is more a less a HEK V2, so comparisons with that might give you an idea. The Expanse doesn't have that peaky treble the HFM headphones have and I hear noticeably more detail.

I have an IFI Diablo, I hope it is able to do the headphone justice. I am open to looking to going up the chain in terms of DAC/Amp again, but I cant help but wonder if it would be worth it as the Diablo is pretty great for what it does.

It was pretty decent. I'm cautious about recommending it now, as the stated power output has been measured at <1/10th the stated specifications, and I got mine to clip with the Expanse at around 80dB (unweighted, using a movie soundtrack with low bass so as to hit a higher SPL without endangering my ears).

It's just too boring for me, and overall I don't see where it comes close to upsetting a Susvara. Or maybe I'm just not compatible with the DCA sound. Already the Stealth was an even bigger bore for me.
It's very coherent, nothing stands out, but thus also unspectacular. However, the stage disappointed me. Neither precision nor size are his strengths. It doesn't seem to be really open to me. Slightly more than the Stealth, but it doesn't come close to the airiness of the top open ones. But you can even listen to it in front of the TV, because it isolates a bit better than its open counterparts.
It is also difficult to drive. It was fine on the M8, but if you switch to the Niimbus, it's a bit fuller.

Centrance M8? I think both headphones work best with an optimised set-up. I may have been lucky in that my system works very well with the Expanse.

 

[Terco]

Is my second day with them and I feel like my first impressions are pretty good, it sounds awesome out the box, mids are forward and present, bass is precise doesn't slam like the Abyss or LCD 4 but just the right amount and is not really fast bass but not boomy also... is like in between lol, treble its a lot of details and not fatiguing at all.

I used it with the Mojo 2 at work, I just adjust the mid bass a bit on the Mojo and It sounds perfect for my library mostly Jazz and Acoustic but also a lot of extreme Metal and a different from other TOTL headphones (at exception of TC 1266 and LCD 4) the treble is not killing me with these busy tracks, I just wish a bit more bass/slam but the Mojo fix to almost perfect for me with the EQ.




On my Desk with the Gustard X26 Pro and the iFi iCan and using Audirvana I feel more separations and holographic sound, probably because the DAC, soundstage also improve, I enjoy the music more with out focus on the character of the headphones.

Sound, comfort and looks The Expanse looks awesome! and I love the comfort and weight.... well coming from the LCD 4

My only complain is that the split on the cable keep getting stock on the edge of my desk and is a bit annoyed but I don't think is a bad design probably is just me.
A difference with my other TOTL headphones in the past, this is the first one that I like it a lot since the first minute, good job DC!

My 2 cents.

 

[zappazappazappa]

nothing is ever twice as good for the price, simply doesnt exist plus it is all subjective anyway

The law of diminishing returns certainly applies with a vengeance when it comes to hi end hifi. It is still possible to express an opinion on how much better a user thinks one model of headphone is versus another model and why. Some (though not all) users may be able to express this in quantitative value for money terms. These are the responses I was hoping to get from those Expanse owners who also own or have heard the Ether 2.
With regard to your statement that nothing is ever twice as good, how do you know that if 'it is all subjective anyway'? There may be someone out there who does regard the Expanse as twice as good as the Ether 2.