From MrSpeakers to Dan Clark Audio: The History of the Company
Dan Clark Audio, formerly known as MrSpeakers, was founded by Dan Clark in 2012. Dan's passion for sound began at the age of four when he played air guitar to The Beatles, whose music played through his father’s McIntosh tube amplifier and Wharfedale speakers. During his college years, Dan worked at a high-end audio equipment boutique and focused his studies on analog power amplifiers.
Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering fr om Swarthmore College and a Master of Business Administration from San Jose State University and Apple Computer. He then spent 30 years holding leadership and executive positions in the high-tech industry across various companies, ranging from small startups to Apple Computer, Compaq, and Sun Microsystems. However, Dan's true passion remained music and audio equipment.
In the late 1990s, Dan started working as an acoustic system design consultant for several companies, developing products like the critically acclaimed Platinum Audio Series 2 loudspeakers.
High End headphones:
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather, microfiber
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: synthetic leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Headset type: stereo
Brand: Dan Clark Audio
Headphone type: wired
Headset type: stereo
Brand: Dan Clark Audio
Headphone type: wired
When the personal audio market experienced a boom with the advent of innovative devices like the Apple iPod and smartphones, Dan became interested in the related headphone market. In 2008, he began modifying and improving headphones for personal use. He joined a community of like-minded enthusiasts, wh ere he learned a great deal and shared his expertise.
“I was sharing a home office with my wife. At the time, I had high-end open-back headphones. I soon realized that if I wanted to keep my marriage intact, I needed headphones that wouldn’t force my wife to listen to Talking Heads along with me. I started looking into closed-back headphones, but what I heard didn’t impress me much. Fortunately, I came across a Head-Fi thread about orthodynamic headphones, which led me to the topic of Fostex T50RP mods. I decided to try my hand at modifications, and it was love at first mod."
— Dan Clark
In April 2012, Dan founded MrSpeakers to bring his ideas to the market. Initially, MrSpeakers modified other manufacturers' headphones for resale. This approach allowed Dan to fund his own developments without resorting to loans or seeking investment from investors.
Dan focused on a specific problem: how to make closed-back headphones sound more “open” while still providing the isolation that many listeners require. The result was the world’s first 3D-printed headphones, the Alpha Dog. The revenue from Alpha Dog sales funded the creation of MrSpeakers' first proprietary headphones, the ETHER. From that moment on, MrSpeakers became one of the leading manufacturers of planar magnetic headphones, garnering awards and praise worldwide.
At CAF 2019 — the "Capital Audiofest" in Washington, D.C., MrSpeakers announced its rebranding to Dan Clark Audio and introduced the new ÆON 2 headphones to the public. Dan initially chose the name MrSpeakers to highlight his focus at the time (he developed two loudspeakers for Platinum Audio: Studio 2 and Reference 2). The name was changed to Dan Clark Audio as it better reflected what Dan and his company do.
Over the years, Dan Clark Audio has been granted six patents for technologies and designs used in its headphones. The company's focus on balancing sound quality, comfort, and value while maintaining the "Made in the USA" standard has led to dozens of industry awards for excellence from a wide range of publications — from Hi-Fi+ to The Absolute Sound, HFN, and The New York Times Wirecutter.
California Innovations
At Dan Clark Audio, the belief is that great products require innovative technologies and intelligent industrial design. The company pays attention to every detail in its designs to ensure that its headphones are as enjoyable to wear as they are to listen to. After all, just as an uncomfortable seat can distract from a concert, uncomfortable headphones can distract from the music. Dan Clark Audio’s goal is to provide the ultimate enjoyment and immersion in music.
In addition to sound and comfort, ensuring high value is embedded in the company’s DNA: prices are based on the cost of production, so customers get the most for their money. Combining these design goals, DC Audio has developed some of the most innovative technologies on the market, truly advancing the level of headphone development.
V-Planar Technology
All ETHER and ÆON headphones feature the patented V-Planar technology. It is commonly believed that a planar driver moves like a flat surface. In reality, this is impossible because the driver is inelastic and fixed at the edges, so the diaphragm bends in motion rather than remaining flat. Since the surface movement is nonlinear, maximum deflection occurs only at the center of the diaphragm, but V-Planar technology changes this.
In developing V-Planar technology, the company collaborated with Bruce Thigpen of Eminent Technology. V-Planar deeply creases the diaphragm, providing the flexibility needed to move a larger volume of air. The area of the diaphragm that moves like a perfectly flat surface, rather than a parabola, increases. The driver moves more air, allowing for greater efficiency at smaller sizes. In turn, this reduces the size and weight of the drivers and headphones. Another advantage of the V-Planar driver is the reduction of standing wave modalities on the driver’s diaphragm.
TrueFlow Driver Optimization
The ETHER Flow and ÆON Flow headphones are created using the patented TrueFlow technology, which eliminates turbulence-causing right angles in the driver’s magnetic system design to reduce distortion, extend frequency response, and improve dynamics.
What is TrueFlow? All planar drivers use magnets. These magnets create rigid right angles that sound waves must pass through. The movement of the waves creates a diffraction effect (remember high school physics, when a wave encounters an object) and generates reflections that together increase entropy (noise and data loss) in the sound wave, reducing detail and increasing distortion. Loss of information in the sound wave deprives the listener of the most authentic and organic musical experience. DC Audio invented TrueFlow technology to address this issue. The technology was born from the company’s work on the design of an electrostatic stator. TrueFlow fills the space between the magnets with a perforated material, eliminating rigid right angles. The driver moves air through a flat perforated surface instead of a magnet array. The result is an almost perfect acoustic structure that provides significant increases in resolution and dynamics, as well as an extended frequency response.
Additional Patents and Technologies
Dan Clark Audio also holds a U.S. patent for its innovative titanium hinge-free headband used in ÆON, ETHER, and VOCE headphones.
In addition, the company has a U.S. patent relating to asymmetric multi-layer damping, which is used in some products to improve system linearity and fine-tune the sound of headphones. Dan Clark Audio has also filed a patent application for its unique ETHER 2 ear pad attachment system.
High End headphones:
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather, microfiber
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: synthetic leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Earpads material: leather
Headphone type: wired
Kind of headphones: over-ear
Headset type: stereo
Brand: Dan Clark Audio
Headphone type: wired
Headset type: stereo
Brand: Dan Clark Audio
Headphone type: wired
Finally, another U.S. patent covers dual-wall cups, 3D-printed for improved isolation, and a variable integrated bass tuning port to equalize low-frequency response between channels in closed-back headphones.
Together, these technologies combine with unique ergonomic designs, bringing the spirit of California innovation to every product the company produces.
