[slainte]

The struggle is real, I may start a GoFundMe...

I was sincere. That said...

Stay strong for what has proven to be a difficult time.

 

[VeeAndBobby]

I have a question for anyone who has a Stealth. The reason I ask this is because I have a Dan Clark Aeon2 Closed. If I wear my eyeglasses while using the Aeon2 Closed, the bass is reduced. I'm guessing that wearing glasses compromises the seal around the ear, and this affects the perceived bass. The Stealth has pads of similar shape to the Aeon2, so I would like to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in bass, when wearing eyeglasses with the Stealth.

 

[ericx85]

I have a question for anyone who has a Stealth. The reason I ask this is because I have a Dan Clark Aeon2 Closed. If I wear my eyeglasses while using the Aeon2 Closed, the bass is reduced. I'm guessing that wearing glasses compromises the seal around the ear, and this affects the perceived bass. The Stealth has pads of similar shape to the Aeon2, so I would like to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in bass, when wearing eyeglasses with the Stealth.

I specifically got myself frames that had very thin hooks to avoid breaking headphone seals. Had a lot more time with the Stealth while wearing my contacts, but at night when I swapped over to glasses the seal felt and sounded like it stayed intact. If you're wearing those thick black frame hipster glasses most people seem to wear lately, then I would suggest looking at new pair with very flat/thin hooks.

 

[xirxes]

As to customer support:

-Found that there was no way to enter receipt info for DCA club online, so called

-Sue answered and was super responsive, accommodating and helpful from this point on. She talked with me overlong answering questions and processed my DCA club membership right on the line real time.

-As I live in SD I called and both asked for accommodation to pick up direct from factory (which they never do) and was interested in paying cash. The actual president of the company agreed to meet me at their manufactory to accommodate both!


-We we’re having issues with online invoicing and in person payment processing, so I ended up PayPal payment, but still was given an early date for pickup. My day ran overlong and called very nearly at close to inform the DCA prez that I could be there about half an hour after close… and he WAITED FOR ME!!

-All that and then I misplaced my ear cup retention storage insert thing and called in to purchase another on Wednesday last week, Sue had one sent out, arrived Friday, no charge.

This company bent over backwards for me, made numerous custom requests work, then offered free part replacement.

I cannot recommend them highly enough 110% aces.

 

[xirxes]

I

I have a question for anyone who has a Stealth. The reason I ask this is because I have a Dan Clark Aeon2 Closed. If I wear my eyeglasses while using the Aeon2 Closed, the bass is reduced. I'm guessing that wearing glasses compromises the seal around the ear, and this affects the perceived bass. The Stealth has pads of similar shape to the Aeon2, so I would like to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in bass, when wearing eyeglasses with the Stealth.

I wear fairly thick sunglasses-esque blue-blockers for long stints at PC while listening with Stealth, and although when I move my head around a lot, the glasses themselves squeak, the sound/bass retention is full. No loss or deformation of music delivery noticed.

 

[DarginMahkum]

I'm curious about that; the portability is a bonus, true. And yet, in my experience, they felt like needing at least a trans-portable system to run effectively (I can't imagine running them without something like a C9 or a BX2 Plus), which would seem to limit their portability. How are they from the MAX?

MAX is good enough. I will actually get the FiiO M17 when it is out next month. Mainly because FiiO mentioned a system level EQ with it. Then I will see which one goes better with Stealth.

 

[PointyFox]

As to customer support:

-Found that there was no way to enter receipt info for DCA club online, so called

-Sue answered and was super responsive, accommodating and helpful from this point on. She talked with me overlong answering questions and processed my DCA club membership right on the line real time.

-As I live in SD I called and both asked for accommodation to pick up direct from factory (which they never do) and was interested in paying cash. The actual president of the company agreed to meet me at their manufactory to accommodate both!


-We we’re having issues with online invoicing and in person payment processing, so I ended up PayPal payment, but still was given an early date for pickup. My day ran overlong and called very nearly at close to inform the DCA prez that I could be there about half an hour after close… and he WAITED FOR ME!!

-All that and then I misplaced my ear cup retention storage insert thing and called in to purchase another on Wednesday last week, Sue had one sent out, arrived Friday, no charge.

This company bent over backwards for me, made numerous custom requests work, then offered free part replacement.

I cannot recommend them highly enough 110% aces.

Forget bending over backwards- I'd do backflips for you if you paid me $4000 for headphones

 

[newworld666]

MAX is good enough. I will actually get the FiiO M17 when it is out next month. Mainly because FiiO mentioned a system level EQ with it. Then I will see which one goes better with Stealth.

It sounds more or less like my personal target for Q4 with M17 and Stealth mainly to be free to move with the best portable sound available including modern streaming features (Android 10 with new advanced sound features)
.. but ... I am still wondering, if closed headphones can offer as much pleasure as open headphones like Solitaire P, Focal Utopia, HD800s .. or even Susvara, due to a too narrow stage inside the head with the DCA Stealth. It's like I already feel with my Ultrasone Ed15 Veritas which don't have as large and deep stage as my actual bulky HEDDphone?

 

[Alcophone]

November 99Manu KatchéNovember 99Manu KatchéI have a question for anyone who has a Stealth. The reason I ask this is because I have a Dan Clark Aeon2 Closed. If I wear my eyeglasses while using the Aeon2 Closed, the bass is reduced. I'm guessing that wearing glasses compromises the seal around the ear, and this affects the perceived bass. The Stealth has pads of similar shape to the Aeon2, so I would like to know if anyone has experienced a reduction in bass, when wearing eyeglasses with the Stealth.

Like @ericx85, I made sure to get glasses with thin temples, and that works, I'm struggling to hear a difference with or without glasses on.

why not use tidal if you dont like the qobuz selection

I mentioned that here:

Tidal uses MQA even with 16/44.1 content, I don't want any of that.

I enjoy Deezer HiFi aside from lossless tracks ripped from my library. Maybe another option you can trial 'till Spotify sorts out things on their end?

I should probably give Deezer a try at some point, I never did.


For now, I wanted to see what lossless / hi-res can do with the Stealth, but quickly got fed up with Amazon's incompetence when it comes to sample rates, so I decided to give Qobuz another shot. It's a huge relief to have an app that just sets the DAC to whatever it needs to be set to so you can focus on the music. The Windows app seems to have improved a lot as well, seems to be snappy and just works for the most part. Of course I didn't find everything I was looking for (still no Chesky? I thought this is targeting audiophiles), but enough to be useful.

Anyway, I had some fun with three tracks in particular that I wanted to mention:
Dave Brubeck - 40 Days (from "On Time") [Qobuz, Spotify]
Manu Katché - November 99 [Qobuz, Spotify]
Manu Katché - Number One [Qobuz, Spotify]

Setup: Qobuz Studio (highest quality, WASAPI exclusive mode) > Schiit Bifrost 2 > Wireworld Eclipse 8 XLR (0.5 m) > Gustard H20 with SparkoS SS3602 opamps > Lavricables Grand 20 Core Silver cable (4-pin XLR, 2 m) > DCA Stealth

Sound stage, timbre, decay, these instruments sound remarkably life like. Very immersive experience. Sounds great with the Ether C Flow as well, but the Stealth gives me much more of an "I'm there" feeling.

That same quality also translated to gaming, at least with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). I've always been impressed with how good the spatialization is in that game, you really have a good idea where around you things are happening. With the Stealth, it's more than just an intuitive location communication mechanism, but a more convincing representation. Not just "I know there's an opponent walking over there", but a more basic sense of presence, like there's actually someone there. Nicely done.
That was using the Aries, and a 6.35 mm DUM cable, I should mention.

Unfortunately, with music, I don't quite get that sense of realism with the SparkoS Aries. With the Ether C Flow, I tried XLR (Eclipse 8) and RCA (Equinox 8) into the Aries (I would have expected RCA to sound better because both the Bifrost 2 and the Aries are internally single ended, but XLR sounds better to me, level matched - XLR is ~2 dB louder with Bifrost 2 into the Aries) via a GAGACOCC DIY 6.35mm TRS to 4-pin XLR adapter cable, unfortunately the only adapter of this kind that I currently have, and the Lavricables cable. I then switched the XLR cables to the Gustard H20, and used its high impedance 6.35 mm output with the same adapter and cable. Sort of level matched, but there's a only a handful of usable volume levels with the H20 and the Ether C Flow, so I picked a level that was ~0.6 dB quieter than on the Aries. So the H20 had the disadvantage of slightly lower volume and using its single ended head headphone out despite it being balanced, but this still gave me a better sense of "someone's playing an instrument" vs. "I'm listening to a recording of someone playing an instrument". It was better yet with the 4-pin XLR out, ditching the adapter, though level matching is even harder there, it just was roughly in the same ball park. I enjoyed the heck out of the Ether C Flow this way the past few weeks, and today the Stealth as well.

I think burning it in 24/7 the past few days really helped. I used a cheap Samsung tablet for that. Based on the claims about the Stealth's power hungriness I expected to get nary a whisper out of them this way, but both my phone (Galaxy S10 Plus) and the tablet are able to get them quite loud, albeit with no headroom left and not enough fidelity to make this a sensible investment - but plenty good for burn-in, except occasionally the tablet decides that I need to see that warning about listening at too loud of a volume again. Typically I don't hear anything while my air purifier is running unless I get within ~5 ft or so, I had absolutely no trouble sleeping this way (further away). Sometimes I hear it during the day when nothing else is going on, and I'm ~18 ft away on the couch. This is just with the pads leaning against each other, no rubber band and T-Shirt covering it like I did in the past.

Isolation seems very good when I'm wearing it as well, I can't hear my cat meow at me or use the litter box, which is actually kind of a problem, heh.

They are certainly growing on me.

 

[slainte]

As to customer support:

-Found that there was no way to enter receipt info for DCA club online, so called

-Sue answered and was super responsive, accommodating and helpful from this point on. She talked with me overlong answering questions and processed my DCA club membership right on the line real time.

-As I live in SD I called and both asked for accommodation to pick up direct from factory (which they never do) and was interested in paying cash. The actual president of the company agreed to meet me at their manufactory to accommodate both!


-We we’re having issues with online invoicing and in person payment processing, so I ended up PayPal payment, but still was given an early date for pickup. My day ran overlong and called very nearly at close to inform the DCA prez that I could be there about half an hour after close… and he WAITED FOR ME!!

-All that and then I misplaced my ear cup retention storage insert thing and called in to purchase another on Wednesday last week, Sue had one sent out, arrived Friday, no charge.

This company bent over backwards for me, made numerous custom requests work, then offered free part replacement.

I cannot recommend them highly enough 110% aces.

Quite reassuring thus far. Thanks!

I should probably give Deezer a try at some point, I never did.

FYI - Deezer HiFi tops off at CD quality. Still better than lossy IMO. I do see a couple of user generated Chesky playlists FWIW.

 

[MikeLa]

Other than unfamiliar bass response, and the potentially “macrodynamics” difference, Do you enjoy them in their own rite, without any reference to Susvara?

and are you keeping them to full burn in period (200 hours) or returning?

I do enjoy the Stealths, but it hasn't been love at first listen. I find the headphones I love from the first listen are the ones that stick with me for a while. That's the way it was with the LCD-2, HE1000v1, and now the Clairvoyance and Susvara.

No, I haven't put 200 hours on the Stealth's. I still haven't decided if I'm keeping or returning.

 

[DarginMahkum]

Sunday morning audition time! Left to right: HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire P-SE and Stealth (MAX+C9, T+A HA200). As always, running JRiver Media Center on Linux via wine, to be able to use my ProQ3 VST equaliser (easier to tweak on screen than ADI-2).

I was actually mainly interested in comparing Stealth to P-SE (which is now my wife's studio headphone). Solitaire has less upper mids and but more highs and mid-bass.

Stealth is the hardest to drive and HEKse is the easiest. HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire, Stealth.

HEKse is the brightest and Stealth is the warmest. Again HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire, Stealth.

The music:

 

[slainte]

Sunday morning audition time! Left to right: HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire P-SE and Stealth (MAX+C9, T+A HA200). As always, running JRiver Media Center on Linux via wine, to be able to use my ProQ3 VST equaliser (easier to tweak on screen than ADI-2).

I was actually mainly interested in comparing Stealth to P-SE (which is now my wife's studio headphone). Solitaire has less upper mids and but more highs and mid-bass.

Stealth is the hardest to drive and HEKse is the easiest. HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire, Stealth.

HEKse is the brightest and Stealth is the warmest. Again HEKse, Rögnir, Solitaire, Stealth.

Looking forward to hearing your impressions. Enjoy!

 

[DarginMahkum]

Going to one of my favorite fusion albums and piece, things look hard for P-SE. When compared to Stealth, the recessed upper mids take away from the clarity of the keys and the buttery sound of the guitar. Also for the cymbals, there is this sharp peak somewhere on both Solitaire's (more on P than P-SE) that hurt my ears. Although the Stealth treble is "warmer", it has more natural sound and decay of cymbals than Solitaire.



HEKse: Man, it is bright! Has that "attack" on snare and toms, and is somewhat fun, but it gets really tiring. Most open sounding them all. Bass is good and probably more preferable to most than Stealth, as HEKse punches more often than Stealth, though it is open to discussion how many times it is the right place.

Rögnir is the best compromise of them all...as long as you don't want to hear anything with low mids weight. It has excellently tuned highs, very convincing upper mids, superb clarity (which is also a result of the dip in lower mids), great clean bass, but at times it sounds disconnected (I mentioned all these about Rögnir before Stealth, so no trying to bash it just because now I like Stealth).

It sounds more or less like my personal target for Q4 with M17 and Stealth mainly to be free to move with the best portable sound available including modern streaming features (Android 10 with new advanced sound features)
.. but ... I am still wondering, if closed headphones can offer as much pleasure as open headphones like Solitaire P, Focal Utopia, HD800s .. or even Susvara, due to a too narrow stage inside the head with the DCA Stealth. It's like I already feel with my Ultrasone Ed15 Veritas which don't have as large and deep stage as my actual bulky HEDDphone?

It sounds closed, in the end. But I also enjoy the tonal accuracy of instruments and the album.

 

[Barone Birra]

Hi Erhan. Someone previously mentioned the Stealth as inadequately technical (resolution, imaging) relative to the price. What is your opinion?