[VandyMan]

I think that when reviewers talk about macro-dynamics they are generally listening to bass. This is why it corresponds to frequency response. If one headphone has say +3dB in bass over another, obviously the one with more bass will seem more dynamic, but it is really just louder in a specific frequency range. Macro-dynamics as used by reviewers has nothing to do with how the headphone handles voltage swings (which can be measured); it is an illusion caused by the frequency response.

 

[Draygonn]

explanation from the headphones.com thread:

jfx:
What do you mean by macro dynamics or macro contrast?

Resolve:

Yeah this is a quality that is maybe better expressed as the ‘liveliness’ of a headphone - or I think Tyll referred to it as ‘punchiness’. Importantly it also doesn’t seem to be correlated with anything measurable, so it’s not related to bass level as some people imagine. You can demonstrate this quite easily though by comparing something like an original HE-6, which has exceptional macro contrast, and one of these DCA’s, even though the DCA’s have a noticeably higher bass level.

Another great example of macro contrast is typically what you get from most Focal headphones.

Again, it’s not something I care that much about, because I’m more of a detailhead myself. But I know some people care about that quality more than detail. And I do agree that there’s a tendency for the absence of it to make things sound a bit compressed.

 

[Alcophone]

from the headphones.com thread:

So DCA headphones are not all lively or punchy. That is adorable.
But it makes me want to get an HE-6 to better understand him.

 

[mrspeakers]

For your enjoyment, headphone.guru just posted their review.

https://headphone.guru/dan-clark-audio-stealth-planar-magnetic-headphone-redefining-flagship/

 

[VandyMan]

explanation from the headphones.com thread:

I'd like to see a quote where Tyll referred to "punchiness" as something unmeasurable. I strongly doubt he saw that as anything other than frequency + transient response. Personally, I don't trust a reviewer who claims to be able to hear supposedly unmeasurable phenomenon, but to each his own.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

For your enjoyment, headphone.guru just posted their review.

https://headphone.guru/dan-clark-audio-stealth-planar-magnetic-headphone-redefining-flagship/

That read sounded rather good

 

[xenithon]

Personally, I don't trust a reviewer who claims to be able to hear supposedly unmeasurable phenomenon, but to each his own.

Can you measure soundstage width? Asking for a friend.

 

[Alcophone]

Personally, I don't trust a reviewer who claims to be able to hear supposedly unmeasurable phenomenon, but to each his own.

Being able to let me know more about an audio product than I can tell from looking at photos, specs and measurements is what distinguishes a reviewer from a technician if you ask me.

 

[xirxes]

Can you measure soundstage width? Asking for a friend.

**Holds arms wide with palms facing each other**
“It was THIS BIG”

 

[VandyMan]

Can you measure soundstage width? Asking for a friend.

Sound stage is not magic. Devices like the Smyth Realiser manipulate soundstage using HRTFs. Sound stage does not correspond to a single measurement and no researcher seems to have done the work to correlate the measurements back to listener experiences due to the complexity. But theoretically, yes.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/how-do-you-measure-sound-stage.515905/post-6973107

Let's please not argue about it here as it has been discussed before and is off topic.

Being able to let me know more about an audio product than I can tell from looking at photos, specs and measurements is what distinguishes a reviewer from a technician if you ask me.

I totally agree. The value of subjective impressions is weighing how all the parts (measurements, fit, etc) combine to create the listening experience. Measurements can't tell you that because each person values the different aspects of the sound, well, differently. I take issue with this specific reviewer claiming to hear (or rather not hear) something in these specific headphones that has a nebulous definition and supposedly can't be measured. I'm not telling anyone else what to believe, so there is no need to have a debate on it here. I'm just sharing my opinion like everyone else.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I'd like to see a quote where Tyll referred to "punchiness" as something unmeasurable. I strongly doubt he saw that as anything other than frequency + transient response. Personally, I don't trust a reviewer who claims to be able to hear supposedly unmeasurable phenomenon, but to each his own.

I've seen you around here for years, so I'm puzzled how you can ask a question as if you're new to the audio world? Because your statement here sounds ridiculous. Almost all planars have more speed and faster transients than dynamic drivers due to their technology. Something like the HEK V1/V2/SE also have nano thin drivers so they can stop and start extremely fast...and yet none of them are very punchy at all.

So staring at a graph that shows transient behavior will not tell you if a headphone has decent macrodynamics or not. So basically he's right. You have to actually hear a headphone for yourself to discern that quality.

You can disagree with him all you want, but it's disingenuous to question his audio knowledge. He's very smart, very technical, and one of the best reviewers around right now, if not the best.

 

[VandyMan]

You can disagree with him all you want, but it's disingenuous to question his audio knowledge. He's very smart, very technical, and one of the best reviewers around right now, if not the best.

I'm not being disingenuous. I do not believe there is some unmeasurable magical quality called macro-dynamics. I strongly doubt that experts like Toole or Olive believe that either, but please prove me wrong.

Interesting that one reviewer says the Stealth has "no macro-dynamics" and another says they have "exceptional dynamics." Which is correct? If we can't measure it and can't define it... And we really can't define it. I see three definitions above and on other audiophile sites it is described as "the ability to play loud without distortion and compression" which most high-end headphones can do, including all DCA models.

I believe that the vast majority of these types of criticisms of DCA phones like the Ether 2 are related to frequency response, as I said. When I EQ the Ether 2 (it takes EQ really well), the issue of it sounding a bit "lifeless" goes away.


(Sorry for all the edits.)

 

[FYFL]

Interesting that one reviewer says the Stealth has "no macro-dynamics" and another says they have "exceptional dynamics." Which is correct?

That's why I think it's very important to explain loosely used, and mostly made up audiophile jargon to minimize confusion. Like “dynamic contrast”. To this day, I have absolutely no idea what it implies.

 

[rsbrsvp]

For your enjoyment, headphone.guru just posted their review.

https://headphone.guru/dan-clark-audio-stealth-planar-magnetic-headphone-redefining-flagship/

I would call that an EXTREMELY positive review....

 

[VandyMan]

Almost all planars have more speed and faster transients than dynamic drivers due to their technology. Something like the HEK V1/V2/SE also have nano thin drivers so they can stop and start extremely fast...and yet none of them are very punchy at all.

"I love the dynamic punch of the LCD2C"

- Tyll in Stereophile (https://www.stereophile.com/content...nd-ear-open-planar-magnetic-headphones-page-2)