In Quest Of Neutral Headphones [Reviews / Measurements]

So... from your work I gather that you liked them ?

 

Given additional pad rolling in recent months, I have revised the Susvara review significantly. My favourite ear pads on them are now ZMF Auteur Hybrid Solid (non-perforated) but Dekoni Susvara Elite Hybrid are a nice choice too.

FYI @Huhnkopf

The stock pads not so much. The ZMF Eikon Hybrids definitely!

 

DCA Stealth (stock)

NOTE: Despite no actual need for a closed-back headphone, I've been coming back and reading on Stealth repeatedly during the last months. The supposedly perfect representation of the Harman curve, the AMTS technology promising a breakthrough sonic accuracy in upper-mid to treble region, the claims of speakers-in-a-well-treated-room sound - that all naturally peaked my interest. Therefore, to challenge my current go-to headphones as well as my FR target curve (not fully compliant with Harman research), I've decided to get a brand new pair in for evaluation.



MEASUREMENT COMMENTARY:

• Let's start with the most important - this headphone is very dependent on fit and seal. (Indicators: closed-back design, tall pads, self-adjusting headband, low clamping force, angled AMTS inserts.) The graphs here assume generous subbass along with the best balance of upper-bass to upper-mid area, thus achieving a smooth tone absent of harshness. I fear many listeners might not be able to experience this consistently though.
• The quality of seal is mainly important for bass, moreso since Stealth needs to compensate for its relatively lower bass quality (lacking in tightness and punch) by higher quantity. Without a great seal, there is no subbass rumble and the bass-to-mid transition feels disjointed due to muted (aka thin-sounding) upper bass.
• The "Harman" bass (along with the angled AMTS inserts in closed earcups) does seem to help inducing an illusion of Stealth sounding like speakers in a treated room. (Even if the quantity of bass is a bit too much to my liking.) However, outside the unique context of the DCA headphone, I continue seeing the elevated bass as a matter of preference rather than something that should be strived for universally.
• Mids are overall very clean and uncoloured which can be heard well with male vocals. However, relatively to upper bass and upper mids, can come through as somewhat too forward/loud or - with worse seal - borderline shouty. (The elevation around 6kHz contributes to that.)
• AMTS definitely does its job by making Stealth the most clean and resonance-free closed-back headphone I heard. On the other hand, it's not been able to compensate for the small measured channel imbalance or to properly linearize the treble region. To my ears, cymbals (and treble as a whole) could use a bit more metallic zing and air to it, to mitigate the at times plastic timbre. Also, if I am to nitpick further, damping of Stealth drivers might be going overboard by restraining natural decay in music a bit too much.
• Interestingly, Stealth reminded me of the reviewed pair of Bose QC 35 II with its relatively similar tone, bass character and reserved dynamics. This is where the similarities end though, since the DCA flagship is on a much higher level overall.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Impressively spacious soundstage with accurate imaging and vibrant bass, quite often giving me an illusion of speaker-like sound.
2. Very clean and detailed character absent of cup resonances typical for closed-backs. (Surprisingly "uncoloured" sonic foreground and "black" sonic background.)
3. Excellent tonality for a passive closed-back.
4. Awesome build quality - feels sturdy, light and very comfortable to wear. (But please no pleather next time!)

WHAT TO COUNT WITH:

1. Requires tricky-to-achieve fit and seal to sound at its best.
2. Not competitive with high quality open-backs in terms of bass quality, natural decay and overall sense of transparency/vividness.
3. Tendency for artificial (plastic) timbre.
4. Poor price-performance ratio.

TOP CONTENDER (as of 2022-02-26): NO...

 

Thank you @Magnetostatic_Tubephile for all these reviews! Excellent thread!

 

I cannot recall how many of the MrSpeakers headphones you've heard before @Magnetostatic_Tubephile but based on the review it seems like the Stealth is every bit as dry and sterile sounding as previous cans e.g the Ether and Ether C/Flow? I guess it's more of the same for fans of their presentation, though the well-treated resonances is actually pretty damn exciting. Would you happen to have CSDs or spectrographs vs the other headphones you've measured to show? I think you're on MiniDSP EARS so those won't be perfect of course, but it'd be something.

(also: 200Hz scoop eww)

 

To be honest, I've been pleasantly surprised that it does NOT sound as overdamped or dynamically dead as I expected given the reputation DCA has. Yes, it's obviously not as naturally decaying as open backs and it does not have the dynamic liveliness of something like Utopia or HE-6... but it's far from a failure. I wouldn't exactly call it sterile either, since it does not sound anywhere anemic or papery like shitty 30$ phones from a grocery store and the elevated bass helps to warm Stealth up quite a bit. But, naturally, fans of wet/wooden sounding headphones such as ZMF or oldschool Audeze need not apply since Stealth is the antithesis of that approach.

I am unfortunately not into CSD/spectrogram measurements anymore. Over time I found that they are not much meaningful in the context of high quality headphones this thread is mostly focused on.

The 100-300Hz scoop is actually typical for closed-back headphones, hard to consistently tackle that one without DSP. It's hard to get bass right in a closed-back.

I could actually live with Stealth as is. It just has some drawbacks mostly streaming from the closed-back structure with quite loose headband.

 

Just for the record yep I'm poking fun about the 200Hz drop since most nice headphones I've tried are closed or semi-open at best (not ideal listening conditions where I live) and so display assorted levels of lower mid scooping. I think the X00 still has the nicest voicing of a sealed and mostly closed headphone with the ~500Hz scoop but as always that's as much preferences and the music I listen to.

Glad to hear that the DC Stealth addresses a lot of the issues with old MrSpeakers headphones, I'd actually be excited to try these if not for their pricetag.

Call it curiosity for its own sake WRT decay measurements; subjective impressions from known ears are still far more valuable, just rather curious at possible characteristics borne of their treating the inherent weirdnesses of closed backs. The Z1R for all its flaws did an exceptional job there too, just that the mid treble spike, grainy timbre, and the flooby bass tripped it over a bunch. CSDs on those were... interesting.

 

Inspired by the "Weighting" section of the Resolve's Headphone Ranking List, here is how my preferences are generally aligned from most to least important:

1. Tonal Balance
2. Timbre
3. Contrast/Punch
4. Detail/Resolution
5. Separation and sense of space

While my reviews here are mostly focused on 1. and 2., it's probably useful for you to understand that I am not so demanding e.g. on 5. For complete context, definition of each of the terms is included in the Resolve's List.

Will be linking this to the original post of the thread.

 

Would this be the ether angled pad that was used on the Verum 1? Thinking about grabbing a pair.

 

I've seen many positive comments on these pads and even more so in the recent year, so there has to be something there. It's time to ask my boss to get me a pair for my "internal evaluation"

I'd label OG LCD-2s as warm, thick and fluffy

 

Audeze LCD-5 (stock)

NOTE: Despite the well-known downsides in both sound and comfort, I've always been a fan of Audeze LCD headphone series. I feel that just like Hifiman nailed their "oldschool" house sound with HE-6, the original Audeze vision got accomplished years ago in the LCD-4 model. It's therefore only natural for me to be interested in what Audeze was able to produce lately to hopefully match the quite overwhelming success of Hifiman Susvara. And so, after noticing that multiple reviewers with similar opinions to mine actually digged LCD-5, I finally decided to loan a pair from a local store for evaluation. Please note that the pair has the original tighter headband installed.



MEASUREMENT COMMENTARY:

• Looking at the frequency response graph, channel balance from upper mids up could definitely be improved upon. However, since the response is closely matched in bass to middle mids (where it matters the most), I wasn't really bothered by it.
  
• Despite the slight dip in loudness from 55 Hz below, the bass is subjectively very linear and deep. Interestingly, the resonance around 40-60 Hz can actually be heard using sine sweeps. It adds a touch of extra lingering rumble to the sound.
• Lower mids here are classic Audeze aka not-much-to-complain-about. On the other hand, there is clearly too much energy above 700Hz which translates into pronounced warmth and nasality. Looking further, the even more pronounced upper mids yield artificial vocal forwardness to shoutiness not unlike Sennheiser HD600 with brand new pads. Ignore the peak around 4.5kHz caused by the measurement rig.
• Tonal accuracy of the headphone is further limited by quite muted low treble which accentuates the forward upper mids and yields impression of the sound reproduction being somewhat choked or muffled.
• To my ears, the lack of "breathing space" also seems to be caused by relatively dense outer grill/mesh design along with the tight headband intensively clamping pads to my head. LCD-5 does indeed sound quite closed-in.
• Overall, despite the indicated downsides, Audeze LCD-5 sounds very similar to my modded Hifiman Susvara and therefore represents a welcome improvement timbrally and bass-wise over stock Susvara.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Very deep, tight and hardhitting bass with the right amount of presence and clean transitioning to lower mids.
2. Smooth but impressively detailed, solidly imaged sound. Really good sonic purity.
3. Enjoyably flavoured yet reasonably accurate tonal balance.
4. Clear step up in weight and form factor compared to previous LCD models.

WHAT TO COUNT WITH:

1. Nasal and shouty mids.
2. Tendency to sound constrained and lacking in openness.
3. Compromised ergonomics. (Pads with small inner spacing and contact surface area, too clampy headband, glued tight connectors.)
4. Similarly to HD600, projects a quite in-your-face soundstage with upfront vocals.
   
5. Offers neither the "creamy" mids nor the rumbly dance club sensation of LCD-4s.
6. Poor price-performance ratio.

TOP CONTENDER (as of 2022-06-11): YES!
The headphone replaces Hifiman HE-6 as a Runner-up in TIMBRE category.

 

As long as DCA is still using real leather, these are the ones indeed.

 

Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC (stock)

NOTE: It might seem a little odd at first to include any of the Abyss headphones here, as they've never exactly been known for their tonal accuracy. Well, the motivation behind this was similar to the previous (Audeze LCD-5) review - checking latest advancements in planar magnetic driver technology that I typically incline to. Additionally, the Abyss brand is usually recommended for rock and metal music I listen to a lot. Anyway, it definitely took me some years but at last got my hands on a loaner pair of the flagship AB-1266 model for evaluation!



MEASUREMENT COMMENTARY:

• The headphone construction is dominated by an unusually wide and extendable rigid headband with a specific cup-angling mechanism. Moreover, the way earpad internal cavity is positioned against your ear can be altered freely thanks to a magnetic pad-mounting system. Therefore, different frequency responses in bass (extremely low seal) and upper mids to treble (pads rotated backwards) can be achieved. (Don't expect too dramatic differences though, as the overall sonic character remains the same.) The measurements here assume good seal, no headband extension, minimal cup angling and relatively standard pad positioning - basically a stable fit on your head alike other circumaural headphones.
• Given the specific construction and robust leather pads, measured channel balance is almost surprisingly good. I certainly didn't have any issues with it subjectively.
• As touched upon above, even a small gap between pads and your face delinearizes bass response significantly which some find desirable due to artificially enhanced bass punchiness in exchange of lessened bass depth. The behavior very much reminds of my past experiments with Hifiman HE-6 (photo, graph).
  
• When comparing bass loudness levels with those of mids and highs, a subjectively entertaining W-shaped profile is observed through boosted bass punch, mid/vocal glare and treble zinginess/sibilance - all at the same time. Or, looking from the opposite perspective, the muted upper bass to low mid region results in a lessened sense of warmth and the muted upper mid to low treble region injects some hollowness/boxiness into the AB-1266 character. Which is certainly fun and subjectively not too-far-away from neutral but simply not linear, as the "holes" in its frequency response can surely be heard. (NOTE: A tube amp is definitely recommendable for the Abyss.)
• Where the headphone might compromise tonally definitely does not technically. It can clearly be heard that all key parts of the headphone (drivers, pads, cups and headband) contribute to an excellent believable timbre reminding me of a "perfected HE-6". It really is hard to point out any technical deficiencies in the Abyss sound but should I have to, I could imagine a bit less artificially widened soundstage so that the left-right dimension does not dominate it so much.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Convincing, close-to-life timbre.
2. First-class bass tactility.
3. Susvara-level overall technical performance.
4. Spacious soundstage.
5. Premium materials put together into a very sturdy build. Like VERY sturdy.

WHAT TO COUNT WITH:

1. Compromised and quite often uninvolved (colder) vocals.
2. Metallic treble regularly overemphasizing cymbals.
3. Tonally non-linear bass lines.
4. Dominating left-right soundstage dimension.
5. Compromised ergonomics. (Big and heavy form factor; despite surprisingly great weight distribution can cause pressure spots on top of your head; strange "full split" stock cable.)
6. Poor price-performance ratio.

TOP CONTENDER (as of 2022-06-18): YES!
The headphone replaces Audio Zenith PMx2 rev2 as a First place in TIMBRE category.