[shafat777]

Looks like you have quite the ZMF stable, I (and surely others) would love to hear ZMF related impressions and comparisons.

Of course, Id love to share some. Right now, I am having my ZMF verite Silver cable re-terminated to DCA connectors and then will do some serious listening and A/B'ing. From what i can tell from my brief listening, these are really different from ZMF cans. Zmf cans have THE most natural timbre that i have ever heard. PERIOD. ZMF headphones sound natural. Plain and simple. Especailly with an OTL amp: that combination is just hard to beat. But thats not why i bought the Expanse.

Full disclosure, I traded for the Expanse. Of all the planar headphone i currently own (including the recently traded LCD-5), the he1000se and the Expanse are two of the most unique sound. The hifiman is airy, sparkly with details for days, accompanied buy a soundstage that is both vertical as well as horizontal. The Expanse takes on similar properties of the HeKse but adds tons and tons of depth with extremely clean, dynamic sound signature. Its very detailed, i guess i would compare it closely to the hifiman but the expanse throws you in the middle of the stage while the Hifiman presents the music in front of you. There are better instrument separation with the Expanse compared to the ZMFs, and I think being detail heavy sound signature definitely contributes to that. The Expanse does instrument separation better than both ZMF (Atrium, VC) and Hifiman HEKse. However, the instruments sound more organic and natural on the ZMFs. Vocals are a toss up between the Expanse and ZMF. Male vocals have more weight with the ZMF, while female vocals have more transparency and crispness on the Expanse. I am not yet sure about my feelings towards the Expanse bass. Going to listen to some hiphop/gangsta rap lol and check how the Expanse handles the low end.

Overall I am really happy with the Expanse. Much like most other DCA headphones, it is unique. It does certain things exceptionally well, while competing with TOTL headphones in other aspects of the sound.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

If you want to see both the Expanse and the Stealth feel free hop on my Twitch. I'll be more than happy to show them and my impressions of them both. My Twitch is Zenairis. I posted this to someone else who had questions about them. It's easier just for me to show you over web camera.

I'm almost always wearing the Stealth, working on selling the Expanse as much as I would love to keep them I have bills to pay down.

 

[xirxes]

Lots of chatter on here about expanse comparing to 1266 and Susvara.

I found Expanse to not only be on par with these technically, sonically, timbre and bass, also comfort, but surpassing in everything but bass quantity (1266) and treble/ airiness quantity (Susvara).

I listened for a few extended days with each on a PC roon-TT2-Enleum 23R chain that I also think beats the Ferrum stack for tube-likeness.

My taste is to the balance struck by the expanse in all of these fields, with the literal inability of Expanse to get sibilant, or to get overbassed imo. The 1266 by comparison (written in depth in previous post) definitely places bass-extended and foreword with a clear and obvious retraction to low level mids and lower range treble is every track with nuance. On the other end, Susvara emphasize treble and airiness that benefits some tracks but presents by and large as thinner reproduction of all voicings across audible spectrum and particular in strings and vocals as compared to Expanse.

In the end they are three top tier cans, with one obviously tailored to bass enthusiasts, one tailored to classical/treble/airiness enthusiasts, and the final tailored to balance between with emphasis on realistic live-like performance reproduction.

 

[fm540i]

I’m still struggling going back and forth between the Stealth and Expanse. With no equalization the Expanse has a giant wall of a soundstage. Big, expansive tall and wide. Bigger than the Stealth which is to be expected. The mid base bump is evident but on some music impacts overall clarity. Perhaps it’s the richness overall in comparison to the Stealth. I do know for me the sweet spot in -2.5 db around 150hz with a q2.5-2.6. This brings up overall clarity and yields both clarity and great sound stage.

 

[vonBaron]

Lots of chatter on here about expanse comparing to 1266 and Susvara.

I found Expanse to not only be on par with these technically, sonically, timbre and bass, also comfort, but surpassing in everything but bass quantity (1266) and treble/ airiness quantity (Susvara).

I listened for a few extended days with each on a PC roon-TT2-Enleum 23R chain that I also think beats the Ferrum stack for tube-likeness.

My taste is to the balance struck by the expanse in all of these fields, with the literal inability of Expanse to get sibilant, or to get overbassed imo. The 1266 by comparison (written in depth in previous post) definitely places bass-extended and foreword with a clear and obvious retraction to low level mids and lower range treble is every track with nuance. On the other end, Susvara emphasize treble and airiness that benefits some tracks but presents by and large as thinner reproduction of all voicings across audible spectrum and particular in strings and vocals as compared to Expanse.

In the end they are three top tier cans, with one obviously tailored to bass enthusiasts, one tailored to classical/treble/airiness enthusiasts, and the final tailored to balance between with emphasis on realistic live-like performance reproduction.

Sorry but Expanse is nowhere near 1266 or Susvara.

 

[SLC1966]

I’m still struggling going back and forth between the Stealth and Expanse. With no equalization the Expanse has a giant wall of a soundstage. Big, expansive tall and wide. Bigger than the Stealth which is to be expected. The mid base bump is evident but on some music impacts overall clarity. Perhaps it’s the richness overall in comparison to the Stealth. I do know for me the sweet spot in -2.5 db around 150hz with a q2.5-2.6. This brings up overall clarity and yields both clarity and great sound stage.

I posted earlier in the thread my take on the differences between Stealth and Expanse but the more I listen to the two the more the differences come out and are easy to discern and enjoy. Soundstage, mid-bass bump and richness with the expanse come even more to light with time. And the clarity/detail with the Stealth come to light more over time when comparing the two. I thought I would not be keeping both but here I am with both and enjoying both a lot!

 

[jlbrach]

Lots of chatter on here about expanse comparing to 1266 and Susvara.

I found Expanse to not only be on par with these technically, sonically, timbre and bass, also comfort, but surpassing in everything but bass quantity (1266) and treble/ airiness quantity (Susvara).

I listened for a few extended days with each on a PC roon-TT2-Enleum 23R chain that I also think beats the Ferrum stack for tube-likeness.

My taste is to the balance struck by the expanse in all of these fields, with the literal inability of Expanse to get sibilant, or to get overbassed imo. The 1266 by comparison (written in depth in previous post) definitely places bass-extended and foreword with a clear and obvious retraction to low level mids and lower range treble is every track with nuance. On the other end, Susvara emphasize treble and airiness that benefits some tracks but presents by and large as thinner reproduction of all voicings across audible spectrum and particular in strings and vocals as compared to Expanse.

In the end they are three top tier cans, with one obviously tailored to bass enthusiasts, one tailored to classical/treble/airiness enthusiasts, and the final tailored to balance between with emphasis on realistic live-like performance reproduction.

I really like my expanse very much but it is one rung down from my susvara and abyss tc...a very small rung down and a very different listening experience so I find it a compelling listen...also I love the comfort and carry case

 

[xirxes]

Sorry but Expanse is nowhere near 1266 or Susvara.

Sorry not sorry, definitely thinner sus and bass bloat 1266, and also, I do value your personal opinion, even though it happens to be wrong

I really like my expanse very much but it is one rung down from my susvara and abyss tc...a very small rung down and a very different listening experience so I find it a compelling listen...also I love the comfort and carry case

Here’s the crux of the difference in persuasion and personal taste in presentation. I never argued in last post that either is worse, (although I do actually believe there is a solid, separate argument as to why 1266 is objectively worse, not so with Susvara) but more one of flavor and sound preference, and I see the rungs down going to the others.

 

[xirxes]

I’m still struggling going back and forth between the Stealth and Expanse. With no equalization the Expanse has a giant wall of a soundstage. Big, expansive tall and wide. Bigger than the Stealth which is to be expected. The mid base bump is evident but on some music impacts overall clarity. Perhaps it’s the richness overall in comparison to the Stealth. I do know for me the sweet spot in -2.5 db around 150hz with a q2.5-2.6. This brings up overall clarity and yields both clarity and great sound stage.

For these reasons I will end up with both to capture, again my personal take, the best in class of closed and open back cans on market to date.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

Sorry but Expanse is nowhere near 1266 or Susvara.

I disagree being a previous Susvara owner. the Stealth and Expanse kill the Susvara in detail but close in timbre. There's a reason I ditched the Susvara for the Stealth/Expanse.

The only area where the Stealth contrast is the mid range being stronger than the Susvara. The Susvara is very relaxed unless you're driving it to the sky with a high powered amp like the Oor/Ferrum stack or speaker amps.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

I’m still struggling going back and forth between the Stealth and Expanse. With no equalization the Expanse has a giant wall of a soundstage. Big, expansive tall and wide. Bigger than the Stealth which is to be expected. The mid base bump is evident but on some music impacts overall clarity. Perhaps it’s the richness overall in comparison to the Stealth. I do know for me the sweet spot in -2.5 db around 150hz with a q2.5-2.6. This brings up overall clarity and yields both clarity and great sound stage.

It seems like missed the mark just barely because of the mid range tuning. The mid range sounds sharper/cleaner/more detailed on the Stealth.

The Stealth is the most detailed headphone I've ever put on my head and this is out of many Hifiman, Sennheiser, Focal headphones.

 

[jlbrach]

I disagree being a previous Susvara owner. the Stealth and Expanse kill the Susvara in detail but close in timbre. There's a reason I ditched the Susvara for the Stealth/Expanse.

The only area where the Stealth contrast is the mid range being stronger than the Susvara. The Susvara is very relaxed unless you're driving it to the sky with a high powered amp like the Oor/Ferrum stack or speaker amps.

I can assure you owning both the expanse and susvara that the expanse surely does NOT kill the susvara in detail

 

[johnwillmclean]

I can assure you owning both the expanse and susvara that the expanse surely does NOT kill the susvara in detail

How is CFA3 with Expanse?

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

I can assure you owning both the expanse and susvara that the expanse surely does NOT kill the susvara in detail

The Expanse is closer to the Susvara in detail but the Stealth does have more detail than both of them. That is one of the biggest gripes of the Expanse was the tuning took away from the detail the Stealth. I should have corrected my post.

 

[jlbrach]

How is CFA3 with Expanse?

outstanding