Stealth

I just wrote this comment about a week ago on another post: Off the top of my head, the best headphones I've heard are: 1. Stax x9000 2. Hifiman Shangri-la Sr (After these 2, it's in no particular order) 3. Focal Utopia 4. LCD-5 5. DCA E3 (I prefer it over the stealth and expanse, my current dream headphone.) Other favorites: ZMF Atrium Open, Hifiman HEKSE (not a fan of the Susvara line), RAAL Magna (prefer over Immanis), Austrian Audio Composer I've been to Axpona 4 times so I've tested a lot. Still have not tried the HE-1 though.

I have a bias for closed back for low level details & micro dynamics that get lost in open backs unless you really crank the volume. Also sub bass roll off unless you EQ heavy. For me, the dca stealth + hugo2 has been perfect at conveying the entire mix as clean as possible. Unlike other closed backs(stellia) it presents objects in the mix as small & therefore occupying less space in the mix and hence creating a sense of space / openness. It kinda quells my need for an open back. The stellia on the other hand is more dynamic with bigger objects & more defined boundaries that occlude other tracks in a mix. It's intense & tiring, makes me want something that breathes. That said, i have been itching for an open back purely for technicalities that presents the stage in front of my face like the LCD X did. I wish audeze would drop a LCD 5 that isn't tuned as a hearing aid.

There's no such thing as a perfect headphone, just the one you feel most inclined to reach for. Each pair is its own experience, especially if you're not huge on EQing as you mentioned in another comment. With that said, have you had a chance to try the DCA Stealth? It's the only non-electrostat summit-fi headphone that's really wowed me so far. It's slightly warm with incredible detail retrieval, and comfortable enough to wear for hours. A good seal is extremely important for them though, so definitely try them first and make sure they fit your head well. Edit: Also these totl headphones retain value pretty well. You'll probably lose a little bit of money on the LCDs, but there's always someone on headfi looking to buy or trade for a high-end pair.

I use an HD 800, and it’s elite. I disagree with people that say “no bass,” it actually has a fair bit of impact and crisp attack due to almost no resonance or mud, and the huge driver creates plenty of air displacement (you’ll feel it on your skin too!) but it is tuned to have “studio bass” and not the stronger reverberant bass most of us are used to. And, most $100 amps or DAC/amp combo units hamstring its performance, it scales well with good amps (and responds well to EQ). The cheapest After the HD 800, most other headphones feel veiled or muddy or resonant by comparison. It’s like… hyper awareness, easier to separate and pick up on little details than it would be in real life. The earcups are HUGE: no issues with my ears touching anything, heat vents well, they’re surprisingly light but the cups are almost too big for me.

I use an HD 800, and it’s elite. I disagree with people that say “no bass,” it actually has a fair bit of impact and crisp attack due to almost no resonance or mud, and the huge driver creates plenty of air displacement (you’ll feel it on your skin too!) but it is tuned to have “studio bass” and not the stronger reverberant bass most of us are used to. And, most $100 amps or DAC/amp combo units hamstring its performance, it scales well with good amps (and responds well to EQ). After the HD 800, most other headphones feel veiled or muddy or resonant by comparison. It’s like… hyper awareness, easier to separate and pick up on little details than it would be in real life. The earcups are HUGE: no issues with my ears touching anything, heat vents well, they’re surprisingly light but the cups are almost too big for me.

Yeah, I got to borrow the HD 800S for an extensive period, and I have an HD 820 and HD 8xx too 😅 Things find their way to me, but I also try to attend CanJam trade shows. I respect Audeze, but even the LCD5 feels distant and a bit softer impact than the HD 800, so it’s more cozy and really fun as a warm headphone but doesn’t put me on the edge of my seat like the Sennheiser’s. I actually liked the Meze Elite and Empyrean quite a bit, warm but with quite a bit of that snap I like about the HD 800(S), but… price? And it’s more of a different flavor in a side grade. Stax L700 Mk II, it’s extremely airy and light, handling all audio with delicate finesse, but electrostats are kind of a pain to live with. Amazing in the right setup. Surprisingly comfortable too. There’s a bit of an excursion limit you might run into with bass, but this takes that “more clear than real” feeling to the extreme… if you’ll excuse the foolish subjective metaphor, it’s like watching a ballerina twirling an 18-wheeler truck in the air. It’s impossible, no way should something that delicate be performing those feats of strength, but already she caught the truck and before you’re ready the freight is flung back into the air again, both bodies pirouetting in sync 😂 No doubt it would be amazing for gaming, but I might wish for more foundational bass, and like I said estat setups are kind of a pain. First time I heard the Dan Clark Audio (then Mr. Speakers) Ether was right after the first time I heard the HD 800. While I didn’t have quite the same body response as the HD 800, honestly I think for music I preferred the timbre of the Ether. Future Ethers also sounded great with small FR changes, bit more clarity from the airflow control, but the closed versions just don’t do it for me… I’ll do low fat mayo, no problem, but the Ether C’s are fat free and just sound too thin in the midbass and it sounds weird in timbre too. The DCA Stealth was an improvement over former closed back models, but I’d still stick with open back ones. First time I heard the HD 800, I could FEEL the air pushing the tiny hairs on the surface of my skin, and could feel chills and goosebumps prickling down my spine. ASMR! That’s only happened for me with the HD 800, HE-1, the first 64 Audio IEM with the Apex module I heard (I forget which one, but honestly I’ve been back and I loved them all), and the Fostex TH-900 when it was hooked up to Fostex’s extreme and now discontinued HP-V8 tube amp. If anyone finds a modern amp that sounds like that HP-V8, I NEED it, holy grail tbh, transforms any headphone connected to it 😁 But, for the price, HD 800 + Liquid Cavalli Carbon + Mojo 2 (would like Qutest some day), I’m really happy, and sub out the DAC for a usb audio class 1 DAC that works with PlayStation and I’m in bliss, wanting nothing. At the end of the day, the HD 800 won out for me due to price, and that whole body response that I can’t tie to a specific trait of the sound. It kind of walks the knife’s edge of being sparkly and being too much, but with the right amps it’s no problem, just honest. If I could, I’d rather have the HD 800S than the 800. The 800 has the last word in detail and sharpness, but I’d trade a bit of that edge for the bit of less dry bass in the HD 800S, also the HD 800S is a bit kinder on the ears for longer sessions. The tradeoffs are minimal for better comfort, and I think the performance is still very high (and priced lower than summit fi from other companies, feels weird to say but a good value for people shopping the high end).

Ok, so on a whim I looked at the RME ADI-2 product page to see what I could see. Obviously you could use a TV’s optical return channel to at least get digital sound to the RME, and that might also be a nice option if you want to leave the USB or coax inputs plugged into something else. But ideally, we want to use USB, because the PlayStation 5 has awesome HEADPHONE SURROUND processing that is enabled through USB or the controller (bleh!), but last I checked Sony had not responded to requests to enable headphone surround on the HDMI output (which the TV would then passthrough to the RME by optical, or those HDMI to optical audio extractors). What does seem promising is the RME ADI-2 page advertising a “Class Compliant Mode.” I think you’d have to read the manual to learn how to enable that mode –probably a long manual, due to so many features, but maybe there’s an index in the back? It could be a dead end though. Sometimes manufacturers promise a load of features that they’ll eventually add via firmware update, and then never feel it’s important to actually follow through on. Not everyone realizes what the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 4/5 want to work with USB. I guess another solution, if needed: the FiiO E12K can act as a DDC, connecting to the PS5 with usb and outputting digital audio via coax. Anyway, I hope my curiosity sparks your curiosity 😂. Nice DAC/amps do wonders for the effect of Spatial Audio! Sony’s DSP, called “Tempest 3D Audio” if you want to search the web for mentions of it, has very little reverb for the sensation of greater distance, but that also means it’s a rather clean DSP, and there’s even a little personalization activity you can do to help it adapt to the variations in how each of us perceive audio directions. The modern Hitman series and Hunt: Showdown are some impressive examples, and naughty dog put a pretty good headphone HRTF in earlier versions of The Last of Us (I haven’t purchased the latest remasters, so I don’t know LOL). If Halo Reach comes to PlayStation, that will be amazing as well! The CoD games have distinct directionality, but it doesn’t change the audio “direction” to differentiate between sounds above and below, sometimes leading me to think someone was around the corner when actually they were on a different floor 😂 It’s really cool though, immersive and competitive. Once you get used to headphone surround, playing WITHOUT it feels like you’re wearing stereo blinders and games sound much less realistic.

I have the CC but the DCA Stealth is better.

Went to an audio store to try out the 3 planars that I short listed after lots of trial and error. Tried everything from ZMF cans to Meze to Fostex and beyond. Ended up with head to head of LCD-X vs Arya Unveiled vs HE1000 Unveiled LCD-X Pros \- Great impactful bass (reminds me of my Audeze Maxwell 2 post EQ) \- Surprisingly vocals didn’t feel as recessed as FR would have you believe \- Sparkle up top \- Good low end, never felt muddy or boomy \- Planar that felt it was in between Planar and Dynamics \- Organic sound with body Cons \- Those 612 g destroyed my neck within half hour. And I already daily an Audeze Maxwell 2 which is 560 g almost \- Pads got hot \- Can be shouty for some higher pitched vocals \- Layering and separation was less than what I expected; I felt Audeze Maxwell 2 does it better \- Small soundstage Arya Unveiled Pros \- Amazing organic smooth sound \- Great warm vocals \- Beautiful timbre \- Bass is clean and fast \- Top end is fantastic and never fatiguing \- No comfort issues Cons \- Some tracks can get shouty \- Soundstage smaller than HE1000 Unveiled \- Piano black plastic \- Exposed driver (though not bad like Susvara Unveiled) HE1000 Unveiled Pros \- Amazing organic smooth sound \- Most resolving and (hot take) felt even better than Susvara to my ears \- Best timbre \- Vocals are lush and smooth \- Holographic stage \- Best imaging I have heard \- No comfort issues \- Mid was never shouty \- Top end is ethereal Cons \- Exposed driver \- Bass impact was slightly lower than Arya Unveiled (might be source also as it was Astell & Kern DAP) \- Price At the end of the day, I wish someone would make a can with bass of LCD-X, weight of Unveiled, price of Arya Unveiled, Mids and top end of HE1000 Unveiled and resolution of HE1000 Unveiled. Here are some pictures of the planar wars.

I tried Dan Clark products. I have tried E3 which I liked. But it didn’t have the detail, separation and layering I enjoy. I also tried Aeon 2 Flow Open which was OK. Felt overpriced for its offer. I tried Stealth. I liked it but it was not worth the money they are asking. In that money I would prefer other products to it - from Meze or ZMF. Had a treble peak as well for me. I also tried Noire XO and it was fine. Generally was too smooth. And bass was anemic.

I don't know man. Bathy's makes a pretty tight seal. I've taken them to many trips with my family and my wife can't hear a peep out of them. I have a Sony XM5 and that leaks more. Is it a volume problem or a seal problem? There is one headphone that doesn't leak sound at all from my experience and it's the DCA Stealth. It's not wireless but it is pretty portable for a closed back headphone.