Dan Clark Audio Stealth Review, Interview, Measurements

[ThanatosVI]

What makes you say that? I'm also in the process of selling the Elites soon.

Selling the Elite, what are these blasphemeous actions!?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

What makes you say that? I'm also in the process of selling the Elites soon.

Keep in mind that I've never tried Elites. But once I owned Empyrean (or I should rather say MUDDpyrean) so I guess that Elites is kinda like og Empys but with less of that MUDD - according to our lovely youtube gurus (but as we know they can be full of sh!t).

Anyway what I wanted to say that Expanse is more like Empys I mean more of that whoomp whoomp than Stealth.
Stealth can be whoomp whoomp when music calls for it, but Expanse even more so. Mid bass is more prominent which suits many genres of music. To me it was on the edge of being too bassy - it was heavily dependent on music.

What is definitively better with Expanse is the soundstage and keeping the soundstage/separation during very busy music passages. For example track 160bpm by city of prague philharmonic orchestra sounds clearer, especially during some very busy parts.
If you like clarity/separation with Stealth feel that Expanse takes it a notch up because of open nature as sound fades naturally into the outside of the cup as you don't have to dump it to fight against reflections.
Here are some of my thoughts of Expanse if you haven't seen it yet.

 

[adrianm]

Can you possibly compere D8000 PRO LE and oryginal D8000?

Sorry, I've never heard the Original or Pro

 

[adrianm]

Selling the Elite, what are these blasphemeous actions!?

Too many headphones, I needed a closed back with good technicalities, and the Stealth more than delivers. Too early to say if it actually beats the Elite, but I'm surprised it's this close. I will say that the D8k LE blew me away for the same reason people are blown away by the 1266, and the Stealth is blowing me away for the same reason some people are blown away by the Susvara.
Which I never cared for. I might wait for the HM1 to get here before I decide what stays and what goes, but the Elites seem to be the odd man out, halfway between the Stealth and LE in a sense.
Z1R are just a special thing that will always stay around, even if it can't keep up. Plus the resale value is terrible.

 

[skootb]

i've never understood the love for the Z1R. the bloated bass is horrible

 

[adrianm]

Keep in mind that I've never tried Elites. But once I owned Empyrean (or I should rather say MUDDpyrean) so I guess that Elites is kinda like og Empys but with less of that MUDD - according to our lovely youtube gurus (but as we know they can be full of sh!t).

Never heard the Empys, but rumors of Elites not being top tier are as exaggerated as the Stealth not having dynamics. I bought them over the Sus and LCD-5 and would do it again all over.

Anyway what I wanted to say that Expanse is more like Empys I mean more of that whoomp whoomp than Stealth.
Stealth can be whoomp whoomp when music calls for it, but Expanse even more so. Mid bass is more prominent which suits many genres of music. To me it was on the edge of being too bassy - it was heavily dependent on music.

i've never understood the love for the Z1R. the bloated bass is horrible

I actually find the Stealth to have a bit too much bass at times, even though I like the Z1R. Its bass might not be as technical, but it hits like a truck and it's extremely satisfying. Not to mention the soundstage is massive. Bigger than Stealth, and even Elites at times. Voices also sound really organic to me. Moreso than both at times.
Sure, tonal balance is...not great. It's hit and miss, but when it works, it's a unique experience. As opposed to everyone trying to get close to the Harman target as if it's some absolute truth. I got the Stealth because of its tuning and needing it in closed back form, but that's pretty much one and done for me.

What is definitively better with Expanse is the soundstage and keeping the soundstage/separation during very busy music passages. For example track 160bpm by city of prague philharmonic orchestra sounds clearer, especially during some very busy parts.
If you like clarity/separation with Stealth feel that Expanse takes it a notch up because of open nature as sound fades naturally into the outside of the cup as you don't have to dump it to fight against reflections.
Here are some of my thoughts of Expanse if you haven't seen it yet.

Expanse might be interesting as I do find voices a slight bit "thin" on Stealth at times, but I don't think I'd want any more bass. I would love A LOT more separation and soundstage though. Elites are clearly more open, and the Final are another tier beyond that. Not to mention the crazy physicality of the driver, where you can literally feel cymbal hits on some tracks. Not ruling out an Expanse just yet.
Stealth does have better dynamics than Susvara to my ears, but still not much slam. Though even that trumps Susvara . There's a lot to be said about having tactility not just in the bass, but even strings and cymbal hits at times. Which is why I settled on the D8k LE and Stealth, being complementary to each other.
To my ears, both of these are the most resolving headphones I've ever heard, but in different ways. Can't wait to compare them over the weekend. Either way, congrats @mrspeakers , they really are something else, and quickly becoming my favorite headphone.

 

[EMINENT]

Never heard the Empys, but rumors of Elites not being top tier are as exaggerated as the Stealth not having dynamics. I bought them over the Sus and LCD-5 and would do it again all over.


I actually find the Stealth to have a bit too much bass at times, even though I like the Z1R. Its bass might not be as technical, but it hits like a truck and it's extremely satisfying. Not to mention the soundstage is massive. Bigger than Stealth, and even Elites at times. Voices also sound really organic to me. Moreso than both at times.
Sure, tonal balance is...not great. It's hit and miss, but when it works, it's a unique experience. As opposed to everyone trying to get close to the Harman target as if it's some absolute truth. I got the Stealth because of its tuning and needing it in closed back form, but that's pretty much one and done for me.

Expanse might be interesting as I do find voices a slight bit "thin" on Stealth at times, but I don't think I'd want any more bass. I would love A LOT more separation and soundstage though. Elites are clearly more open, and the Final are another tier beyond that. Not to mention the crazy physicality of the driver, where you can literally feel cymbal hits on some tracks. Not ruling out an Expanse just yet.
Stealth does have better dynamics than Susvara to my ears, but still not much slam. Though even that trumps Susvara . There's a lot to be said about having tactility not just in the bass, but even strings and cymbal hits at times. Which is why I settled on the D8k LE and Stealth, being complementary to each other.
To my ears, both of these are the most resolving headphones I've ever heard, but in different ways. Can't wait to compare them over the weekend. Either way, congrats @mrspeakers , they really are something else, and quickly becoming my favorite headphone.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't it ages.. a dac and amp ago when you had LCD5?

 

[adrianm]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't it ages.. a dac and amp ago when you had LCD5?

You're right, it is a bit unfair towards the LCD5, as I've only heard it directly out of the Chord Dave M-scaler setup, back when I actually believed the "direct to Dave sounds best bs". The Susvara and the rest I've also tested with the Oor, and later with the Rossini as well. Massive improvements for sure with both the Elite and Susvara.
The reason I never went back to test the LCD-5 is that I found it to be the most uncomfortable headphone i've tried (Larger headband was not available when I tested it), as well as having basically no soundstage, as well as me not being a fan of EQ.

 

[adrianm]

If you like clarity/separation with Stealth feel that Expanse takes it a notch up because of open nature as sound fades naturally into the outside of the cup as you don't have to dump it to fight against reflections.

Well based on what I'm hearing, I can't rule out an Expanse. Or any other headphone @mrspeakers comes out with. What baffles me a bit though...I've waited for someone to use metamaterials in closed backs ever since Kef started doing it. AMTS came out, but used in a different way.
I assumed AMTS would be enough to take care of the cup reflections as well. If not, why not use metamaterials on the cup in a way similar to KEF to cancel out the reflections?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Well based on what I'm hearing, I can't rule out an Expanse. Or any other headphone @mrspeakers comes out with. What baffles me a bit though...I've waited for someone to use metamaterials in closed backs ever since Kef started doing it. AMTS came out, but used in a different way.
I assumed AMTS would be enough to take care of the cup reflections as well. If not, why not use metamaterials on the cup in a way similar to KEF to cancel out the reflections?

Space/size limitations.
Also AMTS is used to control high (er) frequencies above 4-5k I believe.
You cannot control whole spectrum with such small piece.
So rest of the tuning must be done via damping materials.
Still what would be the difference when you want to damp frequencies with AMTS instead of some "foam", I don't see how it would change your approach as you still have to cancel reflected sound. With open headphones you don't have to do that so the sound fade away in more "natural" manner hence probably more natural open sound.
AMTS is nothing magical it is another tool (kinda like more advanced 'foams') in achieveing goal.

 

[adrianm]

Still what would be the difference when you want to damp frequencies with AMTS instead of some "foam"

Well the KEF approach cancels like 99% of the sound, it doesn't just dampen it slightly. For specific frequencies ofc.

 

[plumpudding2]

I'm a soon-to-be Susvara owner, so naturally I've been reading the Sus thread and noticed more than 50% of the posts there are people raving about running the Sus on a speaker amp. I've been interested in the idea, I currently run the Oor in poweramp mode with HQP digital volume control so going to an actual power amp would not change much. The AHB2 for example has a 9.2 dB gain at it's lowest gain setting, which is only 3dB higher than the Oor so the "risk" would actually be quite similar.

However I started wondering, the insane current demands of the Stealth would make it quite suitable for running it on a speaker amp too. However I don't recall seeing a lot of power amp aficionado's in this thread. Has anyone tried the Stealth on a speaker amp and if so, what are your impressions?

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Well the KEF approach cancels like 99% of the sound, it doesn't just dampen it slightly. For specific frequencies ofc.

Ehhh... You are mixing things. Yes cancels because it is behind and it has to cancel only high frequencies. In headphones one driver is producing whole spectrum.
Still what would be the difference in case you want to cancel reflections? What's the difference between canceling with foam or amts? (Assuming both approaches cancels the same amount and same frequencies) it's the same thing, still you don't hear sound fading away as it's being canceled.

 

[adrianm]

Ehhh... You are mixing things. Yes cancels because it is behind and it has to cancel only high frequencies. In headphones one driver is producing whole spectrum.
Still what would be the difference in case you want to cancel reflections? What's the difference between canceling with foam or amts? (Assuming both approaches cancels the same amount and same frequencies) it's the same thing, still you don't hear sound fading away as it's being canceled.

Well you said the difference in between Stealth and Expanse is the reflections hitting the cup. I would expect those reflections to be filtered out by AMTS and not have much impact.

 

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

Well you said the difference in between Stealth and Expanse is the reflections hitting the cup. I would expect those reflections to be filtered out by AMTS and not have much impact.

Yes the difference is closed cup. In closed headphone you have to cancel it out.
With open no, so the sound fades away on a more natural manner that's probably why it sound more open as you hear that sound until it fades.

You want to use amts in back of the driver to make it sound even more open - which wont make the magic as there is no magic.