[ThanatosVI]

Yesterday marked officially the 10th month with the Expanse.

It brings me joy with each song, and I never tire of it.

It is truly special to me.

Time flies. Considering I have ordered mine a week after release it should be 10 months for me as well.
Unfortunately it will go on a trip back to DCA for maintenance. The gimbals seem to have losened on my unit

Luckily the Corina arrived in the meanwhile to give me strength during its absence

 

[Rasuti]

Time flies. Considering I have ordered mine a week after release it should be 10 months for me as well.
Unfortunately it will go on a trip back to DCA for maintenance. The gimbals seem to have losened on my unit

Luckily the Corina arrived in the meanwhile to give me strength during its absence

Time flies indeed. Unfortunate to hear about yours, but fitting timing to be able to give majority attention to Corina in the meanwhile. Looking forward to a comparison once you get it back.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Time flies indeed. Unfortunate to hear about yours, but fitting timing to be able to give majority attention to Corina in the meanwhile. Looking forward to a comparison once you get it back.

Yeah looking forward to compare them once the Expanse is back.
However sending them internationally will probably take quite a few weeks.

 

[TDinCali]

My start with Expanse was not too smooth, especially after listening to one HP nearly exclusively for over a year: the Stealth. It was on classifieds for a few weeks, then I took it down, then put it back, then took it down again never to put it back. I didn't expect that it would overtake even the Stealth but it did eventually. But I value them both equally.

Would you mind sharing your observations on how the Expanse differs for you compared to the stealth on the chain your listening on?

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

Would you mind sharing your observations on how the Expanse differs for you compared to the stealth on the chain your listening on?

The Expanse is my favorite headphone sadly the Stealth and Expanse don't really out trade one another. They both have strengths and weaknesses.

I myself decided I wanted pure power with lots of current for mine. My end result was the Burson Conductor 3X GT (This is the highest I can afford to put them on in terms of power and quality.) Sadly it took months to burn both the Expanse and the C3X GT in. Sitting at Dual Mono with 10 watts of power works out really well for them.

I love the C3X GT although I obviously want a Holo May KTE with a Holo Bliss KTE the only real endgame above that might be the DCS set or some of Chords units on a M scaler.

 

[TDinCali]

I never heard your chain, is it neutral sounding? Would you describe the Expanse as warmer sounding versus the Stealth?

 

[DarginMahkum]

Would you mind sharing your observations on how the Expanse differs for you compared to the stealth on the chain your listening on?

For me the first difference is, moving Expanse back or forward changes the treble response. If it sits forward on your head, then the treble response is very similar to Stealth. If you move it back, meaning the drivers firing directly to your ears, the treble becomes more sparkly. I didn't notice such an effect with Stealth.

Second is, low mids down the frequency response is tilted counterclockwise. That gives slightly more midbass, slightly less subbass, again slightly thicker mids.

Other than that they are very similar. I use a very neutral source.

 

[Jonathan Crouch]

I never heard your chain, is it neutral sounding? Would you describe the Expanse as warmer sounding versus the Stealth?

Well from my own experience owning both in the past (I only own the Expanse currently) The Expanse isn't really warmer. It's more relaxed than the Stealth with a slightly stronger punch in the mid bass region while having a deeper sound stage.

This isn't to say that the Stealth lacks the traits listed above they are VERY close in almost all of their traits with the exception of listed above the Stealth is slightly "tighter" with all of its sound or sharper meaning everything is ever so slightly more clearer and while the Stealth has sound stage it isn't quite as deep as the Expanse is in terms of width the sound stage is similar.

They are very close in terms of both tonality and timbre to find out which one you like best you have to try both. Sadly I enjoyed both a lot, with the Expanse being the one I could relax more with so I went with the Expanse.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Today on Expanse... I couldn't stop listening in loop!

 

[gammi]

For me the first difference is, moving Expanse back or forward changes the treble response. If it sits forward on your head, then the treble response is very similar to Stealth. If you move it back, meaning the drivers firing directly to your ears, the treble becomes more sparkly. I didn't notice such an effect with Stealth.

A note on this, DCA recommends wearing the Expanse such that the back top of your ear is touching the back top of the earcup.
In other words wearing them all the way forward and down. Obviously place them wherever sounds best to you, this is just DCA's recommendation.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Listening to:

Volumio Primo ==> mScaler/TT2 ==> DSHA-3F ==> Expanse

Really enjoy the imaging — Rain and Snow by The Be Good Tanyas is great — instruments are very precisely positioned.

Honestly, very close to One Can to Rule Them All for my musical preferences. They go toe-to-toe w/ my Atrium, which also falls into the Do Everything Very Well bucket.

Of course, the fact that I enjoy my Ether 2 very much suggests there might be some bias

< edit > Cowboy Junkies One Soul Now double-plus good! < /edit >

 

[Hifivoice]

For me the first difference is, moving Expanse back or forward changes the treble response. If it sits forward on your head, then the treble response is very similar to Stealth. If you move it back, meaning the drivers firing directly to your ears, the treble becomes more sparkly. I didn't notice such an effect with Stealth.

Second is, low mids down the frequency response is tilted counterclockwise. That gives slightly more midbass, slightly less subbass, again slightly thicker mids.

Other than that they are very similar. I use a very neutral source.

This is also my experience, and in line with the measurements described in detail here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dan...nts-impressions.964852/page-129#post-17490651

Here you see somehow the relations. Due to the size of the miniDSP EARS you may not get a perfect seal in some positions, but that is also the case with the shape of your own head.

There is also another effect (related to the shape of my head, where sources that should be in the middle of the sound stage are shifted a bit to the right side of the sound stage if I wear the headphones pushed to the back on my head.

I therefore normally wear the headphones pushed a little bit forward and downward, in line with Dan's recommendation, but tilt it a bit so that the bass response is sufficient present as well. What helps to get a good seal is to push the phones from the sides to your head, compressing the cushions, and loosen them. I think it is a matter of trying this by yourself, and see what works for you.

I also EQ a bit, dampen the ~3kHz peak a bit (less nasal; side effect is "less presence"), lift the upper treble (to give it a bit more air especially when dampen the 3kHz region), dampen the overall treble (to not overdo things; I think the Harman target is pretty "hot" here) and give it a bit more harmonic content by lifting fundament area (in line with measurement results) and mid a bit (personal preference; I like to hear the wooden frameworks of guitars and pianos). Especially for acoustic and classical music these sort of settings give it a touch more ambience; instruments get more harmonic content, and orchestral outburst come with the sort of energy I'm used to in live concerts. Such settings depend on the exact position of the headphones, and also on personal preference. Every recording is mixed on certain equipment, and therefore will have a sonic signature embedded by the sound engineer making the final mix, so going for the perfect neutrality is a goal, but not necessarily bring you closer to the artists intent.

A headphone is more than just its frequency response. I think the Expanse is way more than just a good frequency response. It has some holographic touch, energetic homogeneity, and clarity (low distortion) that makes this thing pretty unique. I didn't hear that with the Stealth when listening to both of them, but I have to admit they were playing at different electronics, so my observation cannot be translated to a definitive conclusion.

#HappyWithMyExpanse

 

[number1sixerfan]

This is also my experience, and in line with the measurements described in detail here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dan...nts-impressions.964852/page-129#post-17490651

Here you see somehow the relations. Due to the size of the miniDSP EARS you may not get a perfect seal in some positions, but that is also the case with the shape of your own head.



There is also another effect (related to the shape of my head, where sources that should be in the middle of the sound stage are shifted a bit to the right side of the sound stage if I wear the headphones pushed to the back on my head.

I therefore normally wear the headphones pushed a little bit forward and downward, in line with Dan's recommendation, but tilt it a bit so that the bass response is sufficient present as well. What helps to get a good seal is to push the phones from the sides to your head, compressing the cushions, and loosen them. I think it is a matter of trying this by yourself, and see what works for you.

I also EQ a bit, dampen the ~3kHz peak a bit (less nasal; side effect is "less presence"), lift the upper treble (to give it a bit more air especially when dampen the 3kHz region), dampen the overall treble (to not overdo things; I think the Harman target is pretty "hot" here) and give it a bit more harmonic content by lifting fundament area (in line with measurement results) and mid a bit (personal preference; I like to hear the wooden frameworks of guitars and pianos). Especially for acoustic and classical music these sort of settings give it a touch more ambience; instruments get more harmonic content, and orchestral outburst come with the sort of energy I'm used to in live concerts. Such settings depend on the exact position of the headphones, and also on personal preference. Every recording is mixed on certain equipment, and therefore will have a sonic signature embedded by the sound engineer making the final mix, so going for the perfect neutrality is a goal, but not necessarily bring you closer to the artists intent.

A headphone is more than just its frequency response. I think the Expanse is way more than just a good frequency response. It has some holographic touch, energetic homogeneity, and clarity (low distortion) that makes this thing pretty unique. I didn't hear that with the Stealth when listening to both of them, but I have to admit they were playing at different electronics, so my observation cannot be translated to a definitive conclusion.

#HappyWithMyExpanse

Always enjoy your informative posts. For me, the clarity, particularly in the mid-range is pretty much unrivaled in today's headphones by anything in a similar price range imho. Just a rich, natural tone with a starphire ultra-clear glass like clarity. Really amazing.

 

[mrspeakers]

< edit > Cowboy Junkies One Soul Now double-plus good! < /edit >

I just saw them live last night, Margot's voice has held up beautifully, it was a really nice evening.

 

[qboogie]

This is also my experience, and in line with the measurements described in detail here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/dan...nts-impressions.964852/page-129#post-17490651

Here you see somehow the relations. Due to the size of the miniDSP EARS you may not get a perfect seal in some positions, but that is also the case with the shape of your own head.



There is also another effect (related to the shape of my head, where sources that should be in the middle of the sound stage are shifted a bit to the right side of the sound stage if I wear the headphones pushed to the back on my head.

I therefore normally wear the headphones pushed a little bit forward and downward, in line with Dan's recommendation, but tilt it a bit so that the bass response is sufficient present as well. What helps to get a good seal is to push the phones from the sides to your head, compressing the cushions, and loosen them. I think it is a matter of trying this by yourself, and see what works for you.

I also EQ a bit, dampen the ~3kHz peak a bit (less nasal; side effect is "less presence"), lift the upper treble (to give it a bit more air especially when dampen the 3kHz region), dampen the overall treble (to not overdo things; I think the Harman target is pretty "hot" here) and give it a bit more harmonic content by lifting fundament area (in line with measurement results) and mid a bit (personal preference; I like to hear the wooden frameworks of guitars and pianos). Especially for acoustic and classical music these sort of settings give it a touch more ambience; instruments get more harmonic content, and orchestral outburst come with the sort of energy I'm used to in live concerts. Such settings depend on the exact position of the headphones, and also on personal preference. Every recording is mixed on certain equipment, and therefore will have a sonic signature embedded by the sound engineer making the final mix, so going for the perfect neutrality is a goal, but not necessarily bring you closer to the artists intent.

A headphone is more than just its frequency response. I think the Expanse is way more than just a good frequency response. It has some holographic touch, energetic homogeneity, and clarity (low distortion) that makes this thing pretty unique. I didn't hear that with the Stealth when listening to both of them, but I have to admit they were playing at different electronics, so my observation cannot be translated to a definitive conclusion.

#HappyWithMyExpanse

Wow thanks for taking the time to share this information. Very cool to see it visualized