[ThanatosVI]

You can adjust the Stealth to fit smaller heads. It requires some bending of the nitinol, but others have done with with success. You are not alone in that regard.

Don't bent the Nitinol, there is a way easier and fully reversible way to increase clamp force for smaller heads

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Don't bent the Nitinol, there is a way easier and fully reversible way to increase clamp force for smaller heads

Direct that to to @lowlou. They are the ones that love the Stealth but hate the fitment. I don't remember all the ways that the Stealth fitment can be modified. If you know off hand, feel free to share. As long as you don't mar up the finish, Nitinol can be bent back, it's not like you're going to do it more than once.

I personally have no fitment issues. But I would certainly try to reasonably modify the Stealth since I personally love the sound and presentation.

 

[lowlou]

You can change the Stealth clamp with little screws I think, yes.
But the everchanging sound of the Stealth is still a deal-breaker for me I think.

I'm going back next thursday, to make my final choice.

So far it's probably the E3. I think the Composer is excellent too (The Composer reminds me of the Stealth somehow, don't ask me why).
I'd like to have both the E3 and the Composer.

The Heddphone is a specialized tool. More a luxury than a requisite. But what an experience !

 

[OneEyedHito]

The everchanging sound of the Stealth is still is a deal-breaker for me...

I'm going back next thursday, to make my final choice.

So far it's probably the E3. I think the Composer is excellent too (The Composer reminds me of the Stealth somehow, don't ask me why).
I'd like to have both the E3 and the Composer.

The Heddphone is a specialized tool. More a luxury than a requisite. But what an experience !

I have had the Stealth a few times and with very high end gear. It is a great headphone but at the end of the day unless I want to EQ to different genres of music it is a pass. Love the aesthetic though and wish the E3 copied its matte black aesthetic, but then again cup materials likely play a big part in sounds. E3 is a homerun so far for any sort of electronic music and is a triple for acoustic/folkish stuff to me.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Ok guys so I've listened to many headphones... DCA Stealth, DCA Expanse, DCA E3, Aeon closed, AA Composer, Heddphone Two, Final Audio D7000 et D8000.

The Stealth has a breathtaking sound. It has been a transformative experience, but I can't buy them. No way. Because of the fit. I have a little head, and the seal doesn't work correctly on my head. I need to push the headphones a bit for the sub to chime in. What a shame. And furthermore, the sound changes A L.O.T when you position the headphones up, down, left, right relative to the ears. It's not subtle at all for me, it's a constant (unpleasant) rollercoaster. What a ****ING SHAME my god. Because when I had them positioned just right, with a good seal (my hands applying a small pressure), the sound was just so immersive, so right, so resolving, so detailed but not overbearing. I heard things on the the Stealth I don't quite hear on all the other (except the Heddphone Two, that have a ridiculous amount of detail too). It's above all the rest to me. "The Stealth sound is just the plain truth", is what I thought.

Quickly, all the headphones :

Stealth : incredible sound, neutral, resolving, but impossible fit for my small head, and the AMTS makes the sound change too much. The most beautiful HPs I've seen in my life. These are just incredibly beautiful and solid... It's like there's made for space travel with the Harkonnens. Wow.
A Stealth mk2 that corrects all the bad things I've said about them ? I'd buy that.

Expanse : Very good sound, lots of details too, even more spacial than the Stealth, yes, you have a few more meters of depht in the global presentation compared to the Stealth (I don't find that necessarily useful, I prefer the Stealth). But the tuning is not to my taste. I find it slightly "muddy" and it's weird to say that, because appart from the "mud" tuned in, all the rest is spot on, Stealth-like. Nice headphones. Almost but not quite closed. Some passive attenuation. "Semi-open" ?

E3 : Very good sound, indeed... more Slam, that's weird. The voices are pushed forward, upper mid are there, and incredible. Good bass (100hz bump is there, you feel it).

But I have a problem with the unit I tried sadly ... I heard a bass port sound on this track : Max Cooper - Resynthesis. On the kick in the intro. I hear something that craps out at low level. I think it has been documented already, some have heard it. It was there on the unit I tried. If someone has a E3 at home, I'd be curious to know if you hear it on your E3.

The E3 is the improved version of my DT770. It improves on all aspects. It share the same tuning (the slightly hot upper-mids are useful in the studio), but it kills it ten times on details, shear speed, sound fidelity, everything...

I really like the E3. But I can't stand the bass port farts.

Super confortable, excellent seal, stable sound, no matter the fit.

Aeon closed : very good sound too, it's a less mesmerizing E3. Very nice HPs for the price, yes. And no bass port sound I think...?
I've heard it quickly, it's a better DT770, again.

The Composer : very well executed sound. Clean tuning. Balanced. The curve doesn't say everything : this thing has bass. It's hard to fault it to be honest. It's a perfectly balanced, familiar "dynamic driver" sound. Very different from the glassy sounds of the DCA planars.

Heddphone Two : wow, this thing has so much details... I've never heard something like this. And again, the curve doesn't say everything, it has bass too. Not as much as the E3, but yeah... Super impressed. Not confortable at all. Heavy, strong clamp, won't work if you have big ears, as I felt restricted, and I have very small ears. When on the Stealth I said the details were not overbearing, I think it could become overbearing on the Heddphone 2. Too much sollicitations, almost. If I buy it, I'll use it as an unconfortable mix magnifying glass. Not a daily driver. A specialized tool.

I find that the Heddphone are quite complimentary to the E3. The Yin and the Yang. The bass of the E3, the fine granularity of the Hedd (E3 has details too, but on the Hedd, it's on steroid).

Final Audio D7000/D8000 : very pleasant sound, but warm. Tilted. Still, lots of qualities.

The good thing about the Composer is the efficiency. You can easily drive it with a dongle or directly out of your laptop with no issues and still a decent sound. You can use pretty much any DAP out there and don't worry about the power.

For the Expanse, I would not recommend testing Stealth and Expanse back to back. Stealth has light, very sharply focused, distinctly tuned mids - that will stick to your ears easily. When you switch to Expanse, it will immediately sound thick and muddy to you, as it is thicker tuned in the lower mids region. It will tell you the difference but less of the absolute sound. Especially if you are listening to vocals. You can think of it as trying perfumes. Sometimes you need a "coffee break".

 

[lowlou]

I am listening to this now for you, I am at around 85db peak (guesstimate based on my listening experience), and I don't hear any farts or Bass port chuffing noise. Resynthesis is a great track btw, love MC.

A few notes:
Listening with DCA 4.4mm premium cable through Xduoo XD05 Pro on Turbo Mode with volume on 50% via USB-C from Mac Studio/Apple Music 16/44.1 but I have THIN wire frame glasses on (which the Stealth actually caused me to change my computer glasses all to so I could get a good seal) and the E3 fit my head VERY WELL from a clamp perspective, as I mentioned some posts ago, I wish the cups could be a round shape vs oblong but..........I don't really wish for silly stuff.

yep entire song through and not any chuffing, nor with Binaural version.

Hope this helps.

Thanks man, this is very helpful. I'll send that to my dealer so that he can test the headphones further. It was so pronounced on the one I tried... On each kick, a different chuffing. Very distracting.

 

[OneEyedHito]

Thanks man, this is very helpful. I'll send that to my dealer so that he can test the headphones further. It was so pronounced on the one I tried... On each kick, a different chuffing. Very distracting.

Could the amp be dropping current on those notes? Have him listen to Tchaikovsky’s Overture of 1812 on Mid volume. If it’s the amp he should notice a lack of dynamics on the cannons.

 

[Vyyy]

Hi everyone,

I need some recommendations, what would be the thickiest and weigtiest sounding aftermarket cable for Stealths?

Thanks!

 

[rlawry]

Yes, I am new to the DCA thread after recently buying a used pair of Stealths and wondering about headphone cables as well. With all of my other cans I found aftermarket cables made a discernable sonic difference. I have read the first 200 pages of this thread and found, at least to that point, very little on aftermarket cables other than they need to have low capacitance and impedance like the stock VIVO cable. Could those who have tried this route weigh in on the importance of aftermarket cables? Is the stock cable so close sonically that it might be advisable to go another route to achieve sonic improvements? Thanks to all who have posted their thoughts on this thread.

 

[plumpudding2]

Most people that like the Stealth seem to be the more objectivist kind as far as I can tell so less inclined to cable rolling. Plus, the stock cable is really good.

I saw a good deal on a Lavricables Grand pure silver cable and not only is it a looker the top-end transparency is a great match for the Stealths smooth treble.

I believe Nomax really enjoys his Crystal Cable Double Duet but that's quite the investment.

 

[Spawn300Z]

Hi everyone,

I need some recommendations, what would be the thickiest and weigtiest sounding aftermarket cable for Stealths?

Thanks!

Go with the Danacable Lazuli Reference Plus or the Rhapsody.

 

[Nomax]

Good tips from my side....you should only invest in a cable if you are sure that the headphones will stay with you for a long time
And another one from me....the unwieldy thick snakes have no place on any model
(For the sake of ergonomics,handling and weight distribution )


NOMAX

PS.lol

 

[rlawry]

I have had a chance to listen to the Stealth with Qobuz hi-rez files using my Bricasti M1SE DAC feeding my Benchmark HPA4 amp and I find the sound glorious. No, it doesn't have quite the speed, detail, transparency, and spaciousness of my RAAL SR-1b nor the bass and dynamics of my JM Audio Editions XTC-Closed Euphoric Xtreme Trip 2.5 with their beryllium dynamic drivers. However, they blend most of these positive attributes into one phone. I had a pair of Kennerton Rognir Planar phones and I just could never get used to their tonal balance and enjoy the more natural-sounding tonality of the Stealth, so I sold the RP.

Regarding headphone cables, I sent my Synergistic Research Foundation cables to be re-terminated for use with the Stealth. I will report back how the sound compares with the stock VIVO cable.

 

[plumpudding2]

I have had a chance to listen to the Stealth with Qobuz hi-rez files using my Bricasti M1SE DAC feeding my Benchmark HPA4 amp and I find the sound glorious. No, it doesn't have quite the speed, detail, transparency, and spaciousness of my RAAL SR-1b nor the bass and dynamics of my JM Audio Editions XTC-Closed Euphoric Xtreme Trip 2.5 with their beryllium dynamic drivers. However, they blend most of these positive attributes into one phone. I had a pair of Kennerton Rognir Planar phones and I just could never get used to their tonal balance and enjoy the more natural-sounding tonality of the Stealth, so I sold the RP.

Regarding headphone cables, I sent my Synergistic Research Foundation cables to be re-terminated for use with the Stealth. I will report back how the sound compares with the stock VIVO cable.

I've proclaimed a few times the HPA4 and Stealth make a wonderful pairing, glad to hear you think so too!

 

[rlawry]

As promised, I am posting about my trial on the Stealth with an aftermarket headphone cable, the Synergistic Research Foundation headphone cable, comparing the sound using it versus that using the stock VIVO cable. Since there has been so little information on alternative cables I thought I would try getting my SR Foundation cable re-terminated with 4-pin Hirose connectors to fit the Stealth.

First, let me say that the stock VIVO cable is probably one of the nicest stock cables around, much more compliant than the SR Foundation cable, and whose sound is stellar indeed. It does have some microphonics when tapped or rubbed on clothing but nothing obtrusive. I can see why there has been so little activity on this thread with Stealth replacement cables as the VIVO cable is a pretty good cable already.

The SR Foundation cable costs $500 and uses some "silver string" conductors, which to my limited knowledge designates silver conductors deposited on some type of small tubing before being insulated. It has been my experience when using the Foundation cables on other headphones, the Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50 and Rognir Planar phones that they are the best headphone cable I have heard in every case. I haven't heard a lot of headphone cables but have been the owner of some upscale OFC and UPOCC copper cables, along with the silver-plated OHFC copper VIVO cable. And the Foundation cable did not disappoint on the Stealth, clearly better in most areas, more so with a faster and more extended bass and what I will call for the lack of a better term, more "aliveness" or immediacy. You could hear instruments more proud of the mix and hear more clearly how they are played on recordings. I listened to Qobuz high-rez files of Ry Cooder Jazz and Suzanne Vega Solitude Standing, two nice recordings of which I am quite familiar.

So am I advocating rushing right out and getting a SR Foundation cable as it totally transforms the Stealth? Actually, no. Yes, there is a noticeable improvement, but it is an evolutionary and not revolutionary change. If you like what the Stealth does, and I do, it will enhance its sound and make for a more vivid sonic experience and increase your love for your favorite recordings.