Dan Clark Audio E3

The new Dan Clark Audio E3 closed-back headphone delivers a stunning level of performance and value, incorporating all the technological and ergonomic achievements of their flagship headphones, but at a more accessible price point. An all-new 5th generation driver and pioneering Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System, or AMTS, E3 delivers a true flagship performance, without the flagship cost.

On the outside the E3’s striking black and blue aesthetic, ergonomic shape, and Gorilla Glass 3 clad cups are just a preview to the exciting upgrades within. E3 combines meticulous tuning and state of the art engineering to achieve their legendary “open-back listening experience” in a closed headphone. Meticulous tuning and engineering integrate Dan Clark's patent-pending Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System (AMTS) with an all-new 5th generation planar-magnetic driver to achieve a listening experience that is not only incredibly musically accurate it’s also astoundingly fun!

Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System (AMTS)

A critical feature of E3 is the enhanced AMTS tuning system, previously found only in the flagship multi- award winning Stealth, Expanse, and Corina headphones. E3 not only brings this ground-breaking technology to a more affordable headphone, it does so with a new mode of implementation. All headphones are subject to high-frequency standing waves which can make treble sound harsh, fatiguing, or synthetic.

AMTS is a patent pending inline device placed between the transducer and ear that integrates waveguides, diffusion control, and resonators into one compact structure that eliminates standing waves while giving complete control of the high-frequency response profile. AMTS tuning architecture is “not one size fits all,” it is custom tuned for each headphone to deliver an optimized experience for each transducer.

Planar Driver Performance Revisited

E3’s all-new 5th generation planar-magnetic driver delivers the smoothest, richest, and most detailed experience Dan Clark Audio could create to date. Its innovative diaphragms are made on an all-new tensioning system for a more uniform and consistent performance, lower distortion, and enhanced consistency. Extensive R&D was spent optimizing E3’s planar driver. New diaphragm materials combined with highly optimized V-Planar knurling deliver a remarkably smooth frequency response with low distortion throughout the listening range for levels of detail heretofore found primarily in the top-of-the-line electrostatics, all with an exceptionally easy and fun tonal balance.

Unlike many headphones where “detail” is created through exaggerated high-frequency energy, E3’s new drivers coupled with AMTS deliver exceptionally high resolution without the fatiguing distortions and rough frequency response users may be used to.

Gorilla Glass – Bass Port Design

The E3 is a stunning looking headphone, from the stitched headband to the all new Gorilla Glass 3 finish on the cups. Gorilla Glass 3 is a thin sheet of alkali-aluminosilicate that makes the glass stiffer and more scratch and break resistant, and the styling of the pattern under the glass evokes the mesh of an open-back headphone, a design cue to highlight the exceptionally open-back listening experience E3 delivers.

If you look closer you would notes holes in the glass. These holes are part of the Dual-Mode Bass Port design, another Dan Clark Audio innovation for this headphone. While it’s not unusual to find a bass port on a closed headphone, this ingenious dual-mode port delivers unrivaled control of the bass frequency response, creating a superbly balanced, impactful bass experience that is full of power yet free of bloat or midrange creep.