# Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE - Flagship Open-Back Planar Headphones - Official Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Official Headphone Model Discussion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/dan-clark-audio-expanse-flagship-open-back-planar-headphones-official-discussion-thread/18715 "2022-09-12T19:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 10
**Author:** ![netforce](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/netforce/32/22745_2.png) [@netforce](https://forum.headphones.com/u/netforce)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/dan-clark-audio-expanse-flagship-open-back-planar-headphones-official-discussion-thread/18715/10 "2022-09-15T03:10:59Z")
Few hours listening so far, giving the gold ole a/b with the Ether 2. Ether 2 I personally liked the Perforated Ether 2 pads the best and have them on my pair. And Ether 2 I am hovering around 9-10 o’clock so certainly Expanse is the harder cans to drive. Impressions so far: Going back and forth between the two its quite obvious the improvements, Expanse is wider and airier sounding. The Expanse bass has a similar boosted mid bass but it is well controlled and tight, hard hitting so not a slouch in the bass. Techs really are a step up and next level in comparison. Timbre is improved and instruments are notably more precise sounding. Ether 2 timbre comes off slightly dull especially in the treble in contrast. Threw the EQ on for a giggle, hit the bass knob to max, turned on a low shelf at 80Hz, slapped on some EDM and we rocking. Ether 2 didn’t seem to extend as deep or hard in contrast so the difference between the headphones really starts becoming quite a bit more apparent. Tried using my test track of Lights Out by Dustvoxx Transient response, the Expanse is notably quick and effortless for a planar so hats off to Dan for that. Slapped Dream House by Deafheaven since there is just so much happening I like using this song as a reference. The Ether 2 in contrast comes off little smeared in contrast. Overall I want to say the Expanse is probably the best cans Dan has come out with so far. Don’t have a Stealth here to contrast, just my personal Ether 2. Can’t wait for CanJam this weekend for some more folks to get their impressions in. --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.headphones.com/t/dan-clark-audio-expanse-flagship-open-back-planar-headphones-official-discussion-thread/18715)._