[Resolve]

I've seen some discussion here about perceived detail vs FR and where that stuff lands. My take on this is that it would be a mistake to correlate the subjective qualities that are being described as 'detail' with treble presence or emphasis - even though a boosted treble can often be mistaken for extra 'detail'. So while I have come across folks who do treat a treble emphasis as more detail, that's not at all the quality that myself and a number of other reviewers are typically talking about (certainly for me, I can't speak for everyone here). And, the reason we can be sure of this is because even if you compare the Stealth with other headphones of a similar type - like the Aeon Closed X, the Closed X has much more treble and upper treble in general than the Stealth, and the Stealth is in a completely different league for the qualities being described as 'detail'. There are also countless additional examples that sort of debunk that notion, even if there are times when people also happen to conflate the two.

Now, that's not to say that this stuff isn't captured by FR (it's likely not in THD since this has been demonstrated to not have any meaningful correlation with listener preference), merely that an analysis of a headphone's tonal balance - the way we typically evaluate frequency response - isn't sufficient to determine or predict these qualities in headphones. With that said, I completely understand the desire to suggest that a listener might be deceived or misunderstand what they're hearing when it comes to detail merely because they've confused extra treble (or lack thereof) with this quality, but I promise you that's not what reviewers like myself or others who are talking about 'resolution' or similar qualities are ideally referring to when describing aspects of the sound that are in addition to tonal balance. Of course, that doesn't make us immune from making these kinds of mistakes as well, but this is where EQ can really come in handy.

 

[Jimthecoffeeguy]

I've another question. I see a lot of comparisons with stealth here that appear to compare them to open back headphones.

I may have missed a few or be wrong as am noob, but if I'm not what are Stealth's non-open back competitors? Or is it basically at the top?

 

[xirxes]

I've another question. I see a lot of comparisons with stealth here that appear to compare them to open back headphones.

I may have missed a few or be wrong as am noob, but if I'm not what are Stealth's non-open back competitors? Or is it basically at the top?

Its closed competitors are only ZMF Verite closed, Kennerton Rognir, and some may argue Sony MDR Z1R but most consider that very colored and lacking the detail of stealth.

I Think general agreement for now at least is that for Closed cans Stealth is top by good margin in detail, but closely leading on other aspects.

Compared to TOTL open headphones, its being compared on pricepoint, and it seems to be a close second even to these, like the 1266TC, Susvara, both for different reasons, perhaps even coming out ahead of Empyrion Elite's in a few notable ways.

 

[Jimthecoffeeguy]

Its closed competitors are only ZMF Verite closed, Kennerton Rognir, and some may argue Sony MDR Z1R but most consider that very colored and lacking the detail of stealth.

I Think general agreement for now at least is that for Closed cans Stealth is top by good margin in detail, but closely leading on other aspects.

Compared to TOTL open headphones, its being compared on pricepoint, and it seems to be a close second even to these, like the 1266TC, Susvara, both for different reasons, perhaps even coming out ahead of Empyrion Elite's in a few notable ways.

Ok cool. Thanks for the clarification. Makes a lot more sense now!

 

[Jimthecoffeeguy]

Now I just need to wait for my pair to arrive, get used to them n burn them in and compare with aeon2 opens and spend some time figuring out what to upgrade to for a dac and amp. I like my schiit stack, but unsure how much better the more the expensive gear gets. am curious about topping and burson (although have heard mixed reviews on burson) any other suggestions on good quality desktop gear that won't require me to refinance my house would be appreciated.

 

[xirxes]

Now I just need to wait for my pair to arrive, get used to them n burn them in and compare with aeon2 opens and spend some time figuring out what to upgrade to for a dac and amp. I like my schiit stack, but unsure how much better the more the expensive gear gets. am curious about topping and burson (although have heard mixed reviews on burson) any other suggestions on good quality desktop gear that won't require me to refinance my house would be appreciated.

Couple of us here use the next step up, being RME ADI-2 (Or you could go Ares Denafrips if you want R2R), with a SS amp, like the XI audio Broadway, or something in this range.

 

[newworld666]

Its closed competitors are only ZMF Verite closed, Kennerton Rognir, and some may argue Sony MDR Z1R but most consider that very colored and lacking the detail of stealth.

I Think general agreement for now at least is that for Closed cans Stealth is top by good margin in detail, but closely leading on other aspects.

Compared to TOTL open headphones, its being compared on pricepoint, and it seems to be a close second even to these, like the 1266TC, Susvara, both for different reasons, perhaps even coming out ahead of Empyrion Elite's in a few notable ways.

Maybe some other reviewers from Asia or Europe would think Stellia, Ultrasone ED 15 Veritas or HD820 (probably all of these with some PEQ adjustments) are probably even closer or better .. Denon and Sony really in the race too...

But... around the Stealth most reviewers seems enjoying it a lot .. which can be a rather good sign that it is worth to give a real try.

 

[xirxes]

Maybe some other reviewers from Asia or Europe would think Stellia, Ultrasone ED 15 Veritas or HD820 (probably all of these with some PEQ adjustments) are probably even closer or better .. Denon and Sony really in the race too...



But... around the Stealth most reviewers seems enjoying it a lot .. which can be a rather good sign that it is worth to give a real try.

Pretty much all reviewers, amateur and professional who A/B against Stellia, HD820, Denon, and MDR-Z1R are uniformly handing the title of better headphone to Stealth.

The Ultrasone Victor and Crosszone i am utterly unfamilair with, and have not seen any reviews.

Only the VC and Rognir have been regularly given an edge, but mostly in flavor, not on Quality.

I am leaving PEQ out of the conversation, because many of these same reviewers give Stealth a win vs literally everything with the same PEQ advantage.

 

[newworld666]

Pretty much all reviewers, amateur and professional who A/B against Stellia, HD820, Denon, and MDR-Z1R are uniformly handing the title of better headphone to Stealth.

The Ultrasone Victor and Crosszone i am utterly unfamilair with, and have not seen any reviews.

Only the VC and Rognir have been regularly given an edge, but mostly in flavor, not on Quality.

I am leaving PEQ out of the conversation, because many of these same reviewers give Stealth a win vs literally everything with the same PEQ advantage.

This can be true if you are assuming you enjoy a more or less standard Harman curve ... which is less than 50% of users ..
Others will anyway have to adjust with some PEQ, like I would probably do to lower sub bass and bass to have a chance to get fast, clear and deep visceral impacts with some more presence in mid-frequencies and even higher volume than standard users.... let's say a globally more flat response frequencies.
and some will do the opposite of my preferences and probably increase low frequencies as they often enjoy some more rumble and muddier low frequencies.
I would think quite often some PEQ issued from Oratory1990 or even Crinacle inspire my own PEQ adjustments a bit => globally flatter low frequencies than Harman standard.

 

[adrianm]

Pretty much all reviewers, amateur and professional who A/B against Stellia, HD820, Denon, and MDR-Z1R are uniformly handing the title of better headphone to Stealth.

Unfortunately there are few reviewers who have heard them as of yet. And most of those who have consider the Meze Elite better than the Stealth...well i've had the Elite here for a weekend and it didn't blow me away vs the Z1R. A bit faster and more detailed ,sure. Tuning was pleasant but kind of weird house sound tbh. I feel like it's trying a bit too hard to be musical.
Impressions are Elite still has a wider soundstage than Stealth. It's closed back so it's expected, ok. But in my system the Z1R is just as wide as the Elite. Depth is much better on the Elite though, and separation is slightly better, though there's a weird effect that tries to add cohesion which makes it seem less separated.
While the Elite is a clear step up in all areas from the Z1R, it's definitely not 2k better. Sound wise it's not even 1k better, but i could easily justify 3k for the build quality and comfort. Maybe tuning as well. But from a technical perspective ... HEKSE is better (i couldn't get over the tuning though). I'd take the Utopias over them at 3k as well, but not the lcd-4z.
So i'm not sure where that leaves the Stealth, but from what i'm seeing...I doubt it will be worth 4k unless you really need closed back and can't live with slightly worse for half the price. I used to think i'm exactly that target audience, but if they really can't even match the Elite...i'd rather spend more on a Susvara or CRBN + amps, even if i would only use them occasionally.

 

[adrianm]

Maybe some other reviewers from Asia or Europe would think Stellia, Ultrasone ED 15 Veritas or HD820 (probably all of these with some PEQ adjustments) are probably even closer or better .. Denon and Sony really in the race too...

Not trying to sell Sonys here but even from the US, Josha Valour has them at #1 closed back, Steve Guttenberg did for many years, same with Stereophile guys . @jude also loved them when they came out before the whole Tyll debacle.
Hell i've even seen them recently on Jude's desk in the Stealth review video And they look like daily drivers since they're next to the keyboard, and not with the other test headphones.
Since he didn't mention any comparison to them i can only assume it's because of the hate they get on Head-fi. Or maybe they really are in another class, only he can confirm

 

[wazzupi]

I also play Apex almost exclusively (2.5k+ hours ), i have to say that my Sennheiser GSX 1000 is so much better for gaming regardless of the headset used.

you think the gsx 1000 is better for gaming with any headset vs the Stealth have you heard the stealth ?

 

[adrianm]

you think the gsx 1000 is better for gaming with any headset vs the Stealth have you heard the stealth ?

Well i'm focusing on competitive shooters here, where positional audio matters . If you want to hear menu clicks better in RTS games...sure, go with whatever gear you want. Whatever it's technical performance, what the gsx does is take actual 7.1 sound from games and mixes it into stereo sound using it's proprietary engine. It might sound better on the Stealth than a cheaper headphone, but at that point the sound quality is slightly degraded anyway so it kind of defeats the point of a 4k headphone.

 

[SCBob]

Has anyone who has heard the Stealth also heard the Traillii IEM? I have a Traillii and am interested in the comparison. Thanks.

 

[wazzupi]

Well i'm focusing on competitive shooters here, where positional audio matters . If you want to hear menu clicks better in RTS games...sure, go with whatever gear you want. Whatever it's technical performance, what the gsx does is take actual 7.1 sound from games and mixes it into stereo sound using it's proprietary engine. It might sound better on the Stealth than a cheaper headphone, but at that point the sound quality is slightly degraded anyway so it kind of defeats the point of a 4k headphone.

I owned the Mobius and I thought it sounded horrible for everything, yes I play competitive I've played counterstrike for 20 years and I play pubg competitive as of the last few years. How would you compare the gsx to something like the mobius ?