[zappazappazappa]

Any comparisons between Expanse and ETHER 2?

I am also interested to hear how much better/different Expanse is to Ether 2. I'd be surprised (but impressed) if anyone thinks Expanse is twice as good, which it should be for the price.

 

[RustyGates]

NOMAX

PS.lol

Damn, the two premier Electrodynamic and Planar Magnetic HPs to date side-by-side. Any comparison notes?

 

[DarginMahkum]

Damn, the two premier Electrodynamic and Planar Magnetic HPs to date side-by-side. Any comparison notes?

Oh, you have to wait... You are probably not used to never ending @Nomax teasers yet.

Is this Coffee some kind of internal joke or what? I don´t get it.

Drinking coffee and music experience or what?

I don't know. I am just trying to follow the joke.

 

[marcus2704]

I have a set of these on their way to me for a home trial. Really excited to receive them, I haven't felt this way for a while about headphones, not sure what it is but there is something so desirable about the Expanse to me!

I have an IFI Diablo, I hope it is able to do the headphone justice. I am open to looking to going up the chain in terms of DAC/Amp again, but I cant help but wonder if it would be worth it as the Diablo is pretty great for what it does.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Mine just arrived, unboxing experience was very pleasant.
I wish the clamping force was a little higher though. Very loose fit for me.

Listening impressions will follow later

 

[DarginMahkum]

Mine just arrived, unboxing experience was very pleasant.
I wish the clamping force was a little higher though. Very loose fit for me.

Listening impressions will follow later

Very excited to hear what you think, especially vs. Solitaire P. The comfort and the tuning were two points why I left the P and settled with Stealth. I think Expanse fixes both of these points with a similar but more balanced warmth.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Very excited to hear what you think, especially vs. Solitaire P. The comfort and the tuning were two points why I left the P and settled with Stealth. I think Expanse fixes both of these points with a similar but more balanced warmth.

Will let you know after I had some time with them.

A/B Tests will come in a few days.

 

[Toonartist]

Mine just arrived, unboxing experience was very pleasant.
I wish the clamping force was a little higher though. Very loose fit for me.

Listening impressions will follow later

Look forward to your thoughts on how it sounds compared to the Meze Elite and whether it isolates external sounds better!

 

[ThanatosVI]

Look forward to your thoughts on how it sounds compared to the Meze Elite and whether it isolates external sounds better!

It certainly Isolates external sounds better than the Elite (better than any open back actually)

For the sound I will keep you updated

 

[Toonartist]

It certainly Isolates external sounds better than the Elite (better than any open back actually)

For the sound I will keep you updated

Excellent, cheers.

I love the Elite but it would be nice to have something that did block out external noise more. I've considered the Stealth but as I can't demo it and I've been left a little concerned over whether I'd like it or not as it sounds like it would be quite different from the Elite.

 

[fm540i]

I am also interested to hear how much better/different Expanse is to Ether 2. I'd be surprised (but impressed) if anyone thinks Expanse is twice as good, which it should be for the price.

the Ether 2 is warmer sounding than the Expanse. It also bleeds a lot more sound. Great sound stage but the Expanse is in a different league. Still burning in but I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before in my music at both the bottom end and top end. It’s fully extended but extremely natural. No edginess at all. What’s fascinating is how similar yet different it is from the Stealth. Need to go back to the Stealth for a few nights adjust my thinking.

 

[mrspeakers]

Also, I want to mention that this is the first time I've listened to a headphone where I felt like I was listening to an actual instrument and vocals vs a speaker reproducing instruments and vocals. It's got a lot to do with the decay and reverb of the individual sounds, and being able to precisely locate them. Dan Clark did an amazing job with these, the realism is incredible. I'll likely try them on the WA5-LE and Leeloo tonight to see how tubes affect their sound. Still breaking in Expanse also... and having a hell of a lot of fun.

Thanks! We literally set out to create a "live" feel, that's been a goal for a while... I really love seeing that several people have posted this! Thanks for sharing your impressions!

the Ether 2 is warmer sounding than the Expanse. It also bleeds a lot more sound. Great sound stage but the Expanse is in a different league. Still burning in but I’m hearing things I’ve never heard before in my music at both the bottom end and top end. It’s fully extended but extremely natural. No edginess at all. What’s fascinating is how similar yet different it is from the Stealth. Need to go back to the Stealth for a few nights adjust my thinking.

Yeah, it's interesting that with so much in common on the frequency domain that the experience is so different. I think it's a great case-study in remembering that measurements can only tell us so much...

 

[HeadStrong]

I have a set of these on their way to me for a home trial. Really excited to receive them, I haven't felt this way for a while about headphones, not sure what it is but there is something so desirable about the Expanse to me!

I have an IFI Diablo, I hope it is able to do the headphone justice. I am open to looking to going up the chain in terms of DAC/Amp again, but I cant help but wonder if it would be worth it as the Diablo is pretty great for what it does.

I’m about to pull the trigger on the Expanse and have a iFi Pro iDSD (original) which I think is rated at 4000mW balanced (@ 16 Ohms). Please let us know how the Expanse pairs with the Diablo.

 

[Icenine2]

Any comparisons between the Expanse and a coffee can on a string?

String type is CRITICAL. I would absolutely spring for Rumplestilskin silver from Liechtenstein.

 

[Trance_Gott]

Unfortunately nothing for me at all. Like Stealth. Sorry @mrspeakers