Dan Clark Audio’s New Closed Back Headphone, the E3, is Available for Purchase!
danclarkaudio.com/e3.html
danclarkaudio.comPosted Dec 1, 2023, 10:04 PM UTC
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danclarkaudio.comSomething on the list to try @ CanJam NYC.
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Hifiman should so something like this. Not the audivina
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https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/dan-clark-e3-headphone-review.50062/
ASR’s got some measurements up.
Looks like a baby Stealth
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"I should have noted that fitment on the GRAS fixture was so good on the first try that I didn't try to optimize and match channels." - Amir
How scientific of him
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"I should have noted that fitment on the GRAS fixture was so good on the first try that I didn't try to optimize and match channels." - Amir
At least he mentioned it I guess...
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What an absolutely damning remark, if you care to draw other conclusions from it, that is.
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I’m not going to definitively say it’s similar in sound until I actually hear it, but yeah I’d assume it sounds somewhat similar to the Stealth/Expanse
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Some initial reviews say it's "more lively", but I'll believe it when I hear it because all of the Dan Clark headphones I've heard (I own the Noire and have demoed the Stealth twice, the Expanse once, the Ether 2 once briefly, and the Corina 3 times) are among the least-lively headphones I've encountered. Anyways, price isn't that bad, and I will give it a try at the next expo or demo where it's available. Hopefully it does well on the market.
Random story: I was at HeadAmp yesterday demoing some headphones when I overheard one guy saying "It's 3 now. You can put it up". A few minutes later, my friend messages me with the announcement link. Then I connect the dots and ask the employee, "Was 3pm about the new Dan Clark headphone?" He says "Yup, we had put the page up 5 minutes too early and got a call from DCA asking us to take it down". Apparently a whole bunch of retailers sent out the announcement emails like 5 minutes too early, just before 3pm US Eastern Time.
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waits for an open version
Have been pondering an upgrade path from my Drop/Open Aeon X's which I love. Aeon 2's were an option, maybe wait to time...
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Every open DCA headphones up until this point has been worse than it's closed counterpart.
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The idea with something like these, or the Stealth, is that you can get all the benefits of a closed back without any real downsides.
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I am probably not going to like the tonality based on DCAs past headphone and DMS review/measurements. Too Harman target focused for me. Also the increased upper mids is not a good thing to me. But overall I really hope they improved the Dynamics. The lack of dynamics on the Expanse and Stealth really made their sound feel lifeless and a lot less natural than they could have been.
I do want to get both of those headphones for more longterm hearing since I only heard them both for a short time.
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They're supposedly better at dynamics this time and Dan said they deviated from Harman target this time with less focus on upper mids and more on midbass.
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Damn, that means that they could be very good for metal. Now Im interested.
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This is super interesting! Really excited to try these at some point. Based on the reviews so far they have the potential to be the best headphones out there around that price point.
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It looks like an open-back but it's a closed-back.
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This must be their worst looking headphones so far.
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I'm not too keen on the design either. It feels a bit, hmm, I guess it's just kind of boring to look at. I think all of their other cans look pretty good and then there's the Stealth which is easily the best looking headphone ever.
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I wouldn't say worst. I actually have been using them for a week. They are not the best looking for sure. In hand though and in person they do look better. They do have excellent build quality. Perfect weight and feel and using them is top tier.. I don't wear headphones to look good so it's OK in my book as long as they feel premium.
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Ah yes.. "midrange". For only 2k.. lmao.
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Do bass ports on closed backs leak sound?
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No, not sure why but they don't.
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OK thanks, that's helpful. I did hear from a couple sources that the DCA headphones can leak a fair bit of sound regardless so I'm not sure how good they are for travel.
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I've used my DCA Stealth in noisy environments, like a public street, without issues and I use them almost daily at the office without disturbing anyone. So in my experience there's not really any issues there.
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Thanks, that's good to know. Do you carry the Topping G5 with you or do you use something easier to carry around? I'm interested in maybe the Noire due to being lighter and slightly easier to drive. I think it might be acceptable to use with a Zorloo Ztella which is very compact and easy to travel with. I figure it could reach 102.42 dBSPL (I calculate the Stealth as 98.85 dBSPL and E3 as 99.51 dBSPL) which should be enough for me as I don't need to listen particularly loud.
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Pricing is pretty rough. Used Stealth, Expanse prices are coming down to ~ $2500. So the E3 has to sound better than the "TOTLs"
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That makes no sense whatsoever…
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What doesn't make sense? From a pricing perspective, it's almost as expensive as a used Stealth, Expanse, which is the top offerings from DCA?
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Because you are comparing used and new prices as if that is remotely the same.
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Sorry, I'm gonna have to disagree. Unless you're filthy rich, most people aren't going to be buying at MSRP. In fact, you hear all the time advice from r/audiophile and similar subs to "buy used". So from a consumer perspective, I'm going to be comparing dollar-for-dollar what I can get for $2000 new and used. If I'm going to buy a supercar for $200,000, sure, I'll see what new cars are available for $200,000, but I'm going to also be looking for used cars.
No point in comparing the Sony IER-Z1R at $1700 MSRP when you know it is regularly available used at $900 - $1250. Same as the old Campfire Andromeda which was $1000 "MSRP", when in fact used prices were just $300 - $400.
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$2K?? How many units do you think they move realistically
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Dan Clark is a pretty popular brand, and pretty sure US based. They have quite a following, this will do fine i imagine.
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Yup they’re based in San Diego
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I’d say plenty. Dan Clark Audio is a pretty popular brand.
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Thousands of units, easily.
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Nah
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And what makes you think that?
Just look at the Stealth, it's 4000$ in the US and here in Europe I had to pay almost 5000$ for it. They've sold plenty of those because it is such a great headphone so if the E3 is like a baby Stealth at half the price it's going to be very popular.
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Ah yes DCA's mid-range priced headphone... at $2,000
Mid range in terms of their lineup I guess
Guess so, just found it a little funny lol
Yeah I’m really interested in how the MH Tungsten will do compared to other High end cans. Because from what I read they rival 3-4K cans at half the price.
I really like my noirs but why the F are the pads GLUED to the cups?!
I don’t know about expanse or stealth but if my 3k cans have glued pads they will go back
Are they glued? Thought it was more of a sticker. You peel the pads off and you just press new pads on and you’re good to go
It’s Double sided tape and it sucks.
Had to rip of the pads and after that remove leftover glue from the tape.
It’s 900$ headphones and they could not come up with a better system than double sided tape? Bruh
Oh wow didn’t realize that. Definitely seems like a design oversight
It's not glue, it's some sort of adhesive that can be re-used. So you can rip the pads off and put them back on.
I think it's a nice way of doing it instead of some complicated and unnecessary mounting system.
130 a month for 18 months !