Headphone, IEM and speaker pairing

Owning, choosing and caring for the products

Answers on this topic

Everything he said on this topic (78)

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2015-09-02Watts recommends the Nighthawks for a warm, smooth yet transparent sound and says adding external amps to Hugo will always degrade transparency. Head-Fi, Sep 2015
2016-03-01Watts says Dave was tested with HE1000 and all popular headphones and only one needed more power, no design suits every headphone, and he will stop answering a hostile poster. Head-Fi, Mar 2016
2016-03-29Watts says his favorite headphone is the AQ NightHawk, which many at Chord find too dark, and he is impressed by the Ether, with an Ether C coming. Head-Fi, Mar 2016
2016-03-30Watts doubts Dave has much physical break-in, describing improvement over 8 weeks after new code as possibly brain break-in, and says Dave makes headphone differences more pronounced. needs context Head-Fi, Mar 2016
2016-09-19Watts says headphone depth is suppressed versus loudspeakers, names AudioQuest NightHawks and a defunct German speaker brand as his own, and says Chord tests prototypes with many transducers. Head-Fi, Sep 2016
2016-10-01Watts says he loves the NightHawks for speaker-like tonal balance and low distortion, and found the Focal Utopia driven by DAVE very good in five minutes at the Tokyo show. Head-Fi, Oct 2016
2016-12-09Watts says HD800S gives 90dB SPL at 0.22v RMS, so 116 dB SPL from Hugo; much of external amps' supposed benefit is added distortion; he suggests EQ or Nighthawks. Head-Fi, Dec 2016
2017-06-14Watts says that with DAVE, and more so DAVE with the M scaler, differences between headphones grow and rankings shift unpredictably. Head-Fi, Jun 2017
2017-06-27Watts says with DAVE bad headphones became very bad and good ones much better, since greater transparency exposes transducer strengths and deficiencies. Head-Fi, Jun 2017
2017-07-04Watts recalls his first high-end system, his teacher's speakers with Decca ribbon tweeters, and says full-range Apogee ribbon speakers had the finest timbre variation he has heard. Head-Fi, Jul 2017
2017-07-09Watts says he has a production pair of Aeons, finds them exceptionally good, and calls them a good match for Mojo, Hugo 2 and DAVE. Head-Fi, Jul 2017
2017-08-18Watts describes a Tokyo show system (DAVE, SPM1200, B&W 803 D3) as the best outside his home, then reports buying 803 D3s to replace his Velour speakers and recommends them. Head-Fi, Aug 2017
2017-08-18Watts says the Aeon is more transparent and leaner than the NightHawk with better depth, without losing musicality, and is excellent on planes with good 8-hour comfort. Head-Fi, Aug 2017
2017-10-23Watts says he once heard Beats headphones sound rhythmic, fast and musical, driven by a Hugo 1 hidden under the counter. Head-Fi, Oct 2017
2017-11-30Watts says using Dave and Hugo 2 changed his headphone preferences: bright ones sound brighter, warm ones warmer, and some reputed high-end headphones distort with bass. Head-Fi, Nov 2017
2017-12-09Watts names MrSpeakers Aeon as his favorite for transparency and soundstage precision, then AudioQuest NightHawk as warmer but less transparent; he likes Noble IEMs but finds IEMs uncomfortable. article, Dec 2017
2017-12-31Watts reviews 2017: the M scaler (half-million taps Aug 2016, 1M Dec 2016, heard at CES 2017), Brilliant Classics and Oistrakh recordings, and his MrSpeakers Aeon closed. Head-Fi, Dec 2017
2018-01-25Watts explains AES dual data mode, says Hugo 2 and Qutest auto-assign channels while DAVE needs manual connection, and says a Mojo with Nighthawks or Aeons beats far costlier systems. Head-Fi, Jan 2018
2018-01-30Watts praises the Nighthawks' low bass distortion and rich dark sound, names the Aeon Closed his favorite flight headphone, and says poor headphones have rising bass distortion. Head-Fi, Jan 2018
2018-04-04Watts says all headphones improve further up the chain to Blu Dave, but each headphone's strengths and weaknesses become more exposed, so favorites may change. Head-Fi, Apr 2018
2018-11-01Watts says 320k MP3/AAC softness is more apparent via TT2 and M Scaler, single-driver speakers are transparent but flawed, and 7W SE suffices for his 803 D3. Head-Fi, Nov 2018
2018-12-06Watts says toggling pass-through on a flight with Hugo 2 and Aeons was a huge difference, smaller only with non-transparent transducers, and stress kills AB test sensitivity. Head-Fi, Dec 2018
2019-11-30Watts recounts November shows and reviews the Dan Clark Aeon 2 against the original Aeon, praising fuller bass, lower distortion and better depth, and recommends it to closed-headphone buyers. Head-Fi, Nov 2019
2019-12-25Watts says his ex-demo Aeon 2s came without pads; his Aeon 1s needed felt pads as too bright, but the Aeon 2s are warmer out of the box. Head-Fi, Dec 2019
2020-01-15Watts says he has not heard the open Aeon 2, prefers closed headphones, notes closed designs elevate images slightly, and suggests listening since open ones tend to sound leaner. Head-Fi, Jan 2020
2020-06-19Watts recalls the IEMs sounding detailed but refined, but says he does not get on with IEMs because his jaw and ears ache after an hour. needs context Head-Fi, Jun 2020
2021-03-11Watts says he was unaware of the Aeon 2 Noir because shows have stopped, thinks it looks good, and plans to try it at the next CanJam. Head-Fi, Mar 2021
2021-04-18Watts says he travels with small, light JBL speakers, not high end but warm sounding with great depth, and has not yet upgraded them. Head-Fi, Apr 2021
2021-04-24Watts says he does not get on with IEMs because custom units make his ears ache, though he liked Noble Kaiser IEMs. Head-Fi, Apr 2021
2021-04-26Watts says 2 ohms at 20k is fine but 0.5 ohms needs care; his travel headphones, closed Aeon 2, suit Dave, Hugo 2 or TT2 and beat Utopia. Head-Fi, Apr 2021
2021-04-30Watts says 1 ohm below 3kHz trips thermals, the Aeon 2 closed gives the best depth, MQA's -40dB aliasing is unacceptable, and FPGA timing closure rules out 112.896 MHz clocks. Head-Fi, Apr 2021
2021-06-13Watts says the pro version will have at least 8 channels and a word clock input, preferred Aeon over Ether 1 closed, and needs closed headphones for travel and tests. needs context Head-Fi, Jun 2021
2022-01-04Watts says Dave drives the Susvara to 92 dB SPL, voltage limited, and gives volume limits (+4 solo, +7 with M scaler); preferring an amp means preferring distortion. Head-Fi, Jan 2022
2022-03-03Watts says he bought a Stealth unheard with positive first impressions, now sees M Scalers feeding DACs for headphones and DX amps for speakers, and TT2 suffices for his speakers. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-03-27Watts says bi-amping via bi-wire ports with digital filtering makes sense, recalls stacked Quad ESL-57s, praises the DCA Stealth, and says the recording used a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 at 192k/24-bit. Head-Fi, Mar 2022
2022-04-29Watts says the DCA Stealth beat the Aeon 2 in a volume-matched AB test (Stealth +7 dB), with better depth, bass, separation and timbre variation from lower distortion and resonances. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
2022-06-21Watts says recording a small orchestra with ribbon mics, Focusrite ADC, Hugo 2 and Stealth confirmed for him that headphones are more accurate than loudspeakers in frequency response; he cautions that 'neutral' is relative. Head-Fi, Jun 2022
2022-08-06Watts says he owned several IEMs about six years ago but could not get on with them as his jaw ached, though the Noble Kaiser sounded very good. Head-Fi, Aug 2022
2022-08-09Watts says his IEMs were custom with traditional moulds, and planar headphones have improved so much since 2015 that his worries about LF distortion and depth no longer apply. Head-Fi, Aug 2022
2022-09-18Watts says people think of digital as hard and bright, and the Stealth is perhaps on the bright side of neutral. The Source AV 19:28
2022-09-18Watts says headphones are much brighter than loudspeakers, yet his recording on Stealth, DAVE and the scaler sounds darker, warmer and softer than the very bright reality. The Source AV 19:40
2022-09-18Watts says the closed-back Stealth shuts out noise on about 300 flying hours a year, and Stealth, Hugo 2 and M Scaler performance would have seemed unbelievable in the 1980s. The Source AV 31:18
2022-09-18Watts says what impresses him about Dan Clark is that his engineering is first rate. The Source AV 36:38
2022-09-18Watts says Dan solves problems that affect sound; his distortion is extraordinary, quoted as 0.0007 % at 80 dB at 1 kilohertz, unbelievably small for a headphone. The Source AV 36:43
2022-09-18Watts says that 10 or 20 years ago it was not possible, and at the factory he saw drive units matched from batches of 100 by measurement. needs context The Source AV 37:11
2023-01-22Watts says his travel speakers are generic 8 ohm 5-inch cubes costing about £20 that sound good, with depth and lateral imaging, unlike any laptop speakers. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
2023-01-23Watts says 8 ohm speakers above 90dB suit direct near-field drive, considers the Mixcube for his office, and credits full-range crossover-less design for its soundstage depth. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
2023-02-05Watts says his phone feeds USB straight into the M Scaler, then into Hugo, driving Dan Clark Audio Stealths, which he calls really good sounding closed-back headphones. Soundnews 1:40
2023-02-05Watts says closed-back headphones are needed on flights and that he tends to prefer the sound of closed backs, unlike most people who prefer open backs. Soundnews 1:58
2023-02-05Watts says closed backs give better precision and a better sense of depth, certainly Dan Clark's closed backs. Soundnews 2:12
2023-02-05Watts says the Stealths are special and much better than the Aeons, which he only fully appreciated after using them to play back his own recording sessions of acoustic instruments. Soundnews 2:23
2023-02-05Watts says the unprocessed recording went straight into the ADC; playback matched in frequency response but sounded warmer and softer than live, though he considered the Stealths slightly bright. Soundnews 3:27
2023-02-05Watts says no headphone at any price beats the Stealth for soundstage depth, lateral precision and staying uncongested in busy passages; he calls it very linear sounding. Soundnews 5:09
2023-03-23Watts says he bought B&W 803 D3s after a Japan show demo with M scaled Dave, and that open-back panel speakers need big rooms for depth. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
2023-03-23Watts says the DCA Stealth is now his serious listening choice: tonally closer to live, more detail, equal depth discrimination to speakers, and less external noise. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
2023-03-28Watts says he listens mostly to classical, lately modern composers such as Max Richter, and uses Dan Clark Stealth headphones, which sounded closer to live than expected during his recordings. The Headphone Show 56:30
2023-05-30Watts says Mojo 2's bass EQ range covers IEMs rolling off at 125 Hz, he sets +3 or +4 dB shelf on his Stealth, and a shutdown pop is harmless. Head-Fi, May 2023
2023-07-28Watts agrees Mojo 2 drives the Stealths perfectly and says he runs the 125 Hz shelf at +3 dB with other EQs at 0. Head-Fi, Jul 2023
2023-10-01Watts says ear coupling makes a huge difference, and that his memory caught something wrong from a 30-second listen months earlier. The Source AV 19:46
2023-10-01Watts says that as he improved products such as Hugo, Mojo 2, Hugo 2 and DAVE, headphones started to sound different. The Source AV 21:37
2023-10-01Watts says better DACs make headphone faults easier to hear, and some people plug a headphone into DAVE, find it sounds wrong, and blame DAVE. The Source AV 21:49
2023-10-01Watts says DAVE cannot fix a headphone's problems, so try another; asked by an Atlantic engineer about 'magic fairy dust', he said he had been grinding it out 40 years. The Source AV 22:11
2023-10-01Watts says he is a big fan of Dan Clark. The Source AV 24:45
2023-10-01Watts says he is a big Stealth fan and makes his own recordings partly to test the pulse array ADC he is developing for pro audio and domestic markets. The Source AV 24:59
2023-10-01Watts says he once thought the Stealths too bright next to his warmer B&W speakers, but they are closer to live unamplified sound with no loss of depth. The Source AV 25:35
2023-10-01Watts says he could then hear thickness and heaviness in his speakers' bass, finding the headphone more accurate than his loudspeakers. needs context The Source AV 26:10
2023-10-01Watts says he toured the headphone maker's factory, where each of a stack of 100 drive units is calibrated. needs context The Source AV 26:43
2023-10-01Watts says the drivers are then matched in pairs from the hundred. needs context The Source AV 26:53
2023-10-01Watts says driver matching makes a big difference to lateral accuracy, and on his recordings left-to-right placement on playback matched what he heard under the microphones. The Source AV 27:01
2023-10-01Watts says he is a bit of a Dan Clark fanboy. The Source AV 28:31
2023-10-01Watts says there are other really good headphones out there. The Source AV 28:35
2023-10-01Watts says there are also some really poor headphones with good reputations. The Source AV 28:40
2023-10-01Watts says he does like Dan Clark. The Source AV 28:44
2024-01-07Watts says the 10-minute warm-up he heard on flights was most likely his ears adjusting to cabin pressure or the headphones, not the DACs, and that Mojo 2 exposes headphones with poor LF distortion. Head-Fi, Jan 2024
2026-03-17Watts says his Dan Clark Stealth headphones are more accurate to the original sound than loudspeakers, which add low-frequency muddle and bloom, and digital sounds warmer than the real thing. ecoustics 1:15:12
2026-08-30Watts prompts Daniel about a really interesting IEM he listened to yesterday. The Source AV 14:40
2026-08-30Watts says they are taking 'the claw' (as transcribed) back for a long listen and he is intrigued; he adds that he does not like IEMs. needs context The Source AV 17:13
2026-08-30Watts says it reminded him of a valve amp, contrasted with the Stealth being solid ('100%' as transcribed); a nice romantic sound, not to his taste, though he enjoyed it. needs context The Source AV 22:36