[jurumal]

I would not say, and i am not sure that ANY of the reviews out there are saying that the bass in Stealth is lacking... more that it is not slamming, and that others either have deeper, or more "thumping", "energetic" bass and mid experience. I would never categorize these headphones as bass light or lean at all, in fact they are mid-mid/high on bass scale, especially for electrostats. They are not 1266 TC's, but definitely DCA's bassiest offering so far.

COmpared to ether CX these stealth are much more bass, in fact even though i am historically more of a bass lover, i would tend to try to knock that slight bass peak above harman down in EQ, but even though i have high quality EQ in line, i love the presentation factory tuned, definitely plenty of bass.

Exactly. I’m not saying it was bass deficient per se, but relative to the headphones it was being compared with, the “slam”-factor didn’t seem to take priority over the aforementioned qualities (imaging, soundstage, detail retrieval, etc.).

 

[Icenine2]

My ULTIMATE TEST for any system is the last 1:42 of Beethoven's 9th w/Karajan conducting. Preferably the Blu-Ray issue in 24/192. If the DAC or headphones/speakers sound like a smeary mess look elsewhere. Its got everything to test a system.

 

[tgx78]

I would love to hear comparisons of Stealth vs speakers.

no comparison in terms of stage size, but detail retrieval and imaging quite comparable. Stealth has a better bass extension. Maggie’s ribbon tweeter has a bit more top end definition and sounds more ethereal. Micro dynamics noticeably better on my speakers. Both equally engaging.

 

[Frankie D]

A brief review on Headphone Guru: https://headphone.guru/dan-clark-audio-stealth-planar-magnetic-headphone-redefining-flagship/

I like the review, but he does not include direct comparisons to other headphones for the most part. I also do not know what else he has heard in general. But thanks for listing.

 

[Junglebook3]

I think that a comparison between the Noire and Stealth, equalizing the Noire using the Stealth as the target, would be a hugely educational review, @Resolve.

 

[Dixter]

I would love to hear comparisons of Stealth vs speakers.

that request would be an easy task... Just get a Smyth Realiser A16... it emulates any speaker you want... so the Stealth could easily sound like a set of speakers that would cost you in the store $100,000.... if you need a demo to hear the Stealth as a speaker then test the Stealth out with these demo tracks ... https://3dsoundshop.com/genelec-1518/ .... these sound amazing when you play back the new Apple Music Atmos...

 

[gearocdguy]

2 hours with the Stealth compared to Stellia on a Hugo 2, a few quick observations.

Grades are compared to each other not absolute

The Bad

Thumping - Stellia A+, Stealth B
Call it macro-dynamics, impact, or whatever. The only way to test for it is to listen to Take The Power Back by Rage Against The Machine and Tom Sawyer by Rush.

Stealth holds its own on Tom Sawyer. No contest on Take The Power Back. Stellia is god-tier when it comes to thumping.
Compare to other DCA headphones I have owned → A2C C-, Ether 2s C+, and Ether CXs B-.

Comfort - Stellia A-, Stealth D
Hugely disappointed with the comfort. This is really bumming me out as I love everything about the comfort of DCA headphones. Stealth is not heavy but has weak clamping force, so all the weight is carried by the strap. The elastic band system makes it feel like the Stealth is pushing against the top of my head as opposed to resting and the comfort strap is very stiff.

I have a big melon, so I am pushing the elastic band pretty hard, and I am super sensitive to weight on the top of my head, so YMMV.

The Good

Separation and Detail - Stealth A++, Stellia B
It’s hard for me to think about these two qualities separately. Don't get me wrong the Stellia has amazing detail, but when you combine separation and detail the Stealth kills the Stellia.

The separation is so good and the distortion is so low, the Stealth makes bad recordings sound good.

The studio version of Supper's Ready with Peter Gabriel is one of my favorite songs, but the recording is so bad, it’s like murder on the Stellia. It sounds better of the Stealth than I have ever heard it before. I need to go dig out all my bootleg tapes from the 80's and figure out how to digitize them.

Tunning - Stealth A++, Steallia B
I EQ the Stellia as I don’t love the Focal house sound. I take down the 150 Hz bump and increase everything above 5k to make them less mid-forward. The Stealth honestly sounds good no matter how much or little I EQ it.

Sound Stage, Stealth B, Stellia C-
I don’t think any headphones have a good sound stage. If you want sound stage listen to speakers. Stealth is as good as I have heard including the 800s. The Stellia are like injecting music directly into your head.


Initial Conclusion
Probably not the best headphones if you want to bang your head. But spending north of $1000 to listen to any head-banging stuff is probably a waste of money.

The stealth is the cleanest sounding anything I have ever heard. Trying to decide if that is a good thing or a great thing. But, may not keep them long enough to find out given my issues with the headband.

After another two days with the Stealth, I want to clarify my issues as a melon-headed person with the elastic comfort strap. The clamping force is not weak, it's perfect. The clamp takes most if not all the weight of the headphones. So I constantly feel the force of the elastic band trying to contract across the top of my head, which after about 30 minutes starts to get annoying. Feels like I am wearing a hat that is way too small.

I am really hoping that after the leather breaks in overtime it will be less of a problem, as this is the only bad thing I can say about these headphones.

@mrspeakers would the standard Aeon 2 confront strap mechanism fit on the Stealth?

 

[xirxes]

After another two days with the Stealth, I want to clarify my issues as a melon-headed person with the elastic comfort strap. The clamping force is not weak, it's perfect. The clamp takes most if not all the weight of the headphones. So I constantly feel the force of the elastic band trying to contract across the top of my head, which after about 30 minutes starts to get annoying. Feels like I am wearing a hat that is way too small.

I am really hoping that after the leather breaks in overtime it will be less of a problem, as this is the only bad thing I can say about these headphones.

@mrspeakers would the standard Aeon 2 confront strap mechanism fit on the Stealth?

Dan has stated that the tension bands are replaceable after removing only 2 screws each side as well, a possible fix

 

[mrspeakers]

After another two days with the Stealth, I want to clarify my issues as a melon-headed person with the elastic comfort strap. The clamping force is not weak, it's perfect. The clamp takes most if not all the weight of the headphones. So I constantly feel the force of the elastic band trying to contract across the top of my head, which after about 30 minutes starts to get annoying. Feels like I am wearing a hat that is way too small.

I am really hoping that after the leather breaks in overtime it will be less of a problem, as this is the only bad thing I can say about these headphones.

@mrspeakers would the standard Aeon 2 confront strap mechanism fit on the Stealth?

The leather will slowly conform to your head. The leather can take a bit of a set so you can form it a bit to follow your head contour for maximum contact, which may reduce pressure a bit. If you need additional fit support contact us at info@Dan clark audio.com…

 

[Brahmsian]

Comfort - Stellia A-, Stealth D
Hugely disappointed with the comfort. This is really bumming me out as I love everything about the comfort of DCA headphones. Stealth is not heavy but has weak clamping force, so all the weight is carried by the strap. The elastic band system makes it feel like the Stealth is pushing against the top of my head as opposed to resting and the comfort strap is very stiff.

I have a big melon, so I am pushing the elastic band pretty hard, and I am super sensitive to weight on the top of my head, so YMMV.

Surprised at the comfort rating, as the Ether 2 is supposed to be one of the most comfortable sets out there. Sound used to be all I cared about but comfort is becoming of equal importance. But the discomfort I feel with headphones is never on the top of my head; it's around my ears (particularly the left one for some reason). Weak clamping force is a plus for me as long as they don't slide back and forth too easily.

 

[elira]

Surprised at the comfort rating, as the Ether 2 is supposed to be one of the most comfortable sets out there. Sound used to be all I cared about but comfort is becoming of equal importance. But the discomfort I feel with headphones is never on the top of my head; it's around my ears (particularly the left one for some reason). Weak clamping force is a plus for me as long as they don't slide back and forth too easily.

I think they should be comfortable for most. But the headband is stiff it will need some time for it to change shape. I have no comfort issues, they feel very comfortable to me.

 

[xirxes]

Surprised at the comfort rating, as the Ether 2 is supposed to be one of the most comfortable sets out there. Sound used to be all I cared about but comfort is becoming of equal importance. But the discomfort I feel with headphones is never on the top of my head; it's around my ears (particularly the left one for some reason). Weak clamping force is a plus for me as long as they don't slide back and forth too easily.

My comfort rating is a B+, due to opposite issue of having a rather small head and the tension on the headband is so slight that it sags a bit low for me without positioning the band fairly in the rear behind the crown.

Comfort on my ether CX is A+ due to exact adjustment and zmf universe cushions doing more work to clamp

 

[jlbrach]

since everybody head is different is it very difficult to characterize a HP as comfortable or uncomfortable....

 

[jarnopp]

since everybody head is different is it very difficult to characterize a HP as comfortable or uncomfortable....

The Ether 2 headband is super-comfortable for me, and might work as a second option for the Stealth? I won’t get to try the Stealth for comfort until CanJam (hopefully).

 

[MatW]

since everybody head is different is it very difficult to characterize a HP as comfortable or uncomfortable....

A well designed headphone is comfortable for most heads. That seems to be the consensus around the Empyrean, for example. That headphone can definitely be characterized as comfortable, imo. But there will always be exceptions.