Open-back headphones allow sound to flow through the ear cups into the room and vice-versa, which generally allows for a more natural sound. There’s only one problem: everyone around you hears what you hear. When I was at home jamming out with my open-back headphones, my wife could hear everything. We don’t exactly share the same taste in music, like The Talking Heads, and as I wanted to stay married I had to find an alternative. I tried out a number of closed-back headphones, but the sound just wasn’t the same. Without the air flowing in it felt “cuppy” and claustrophobic.  

I knew I had to figure out a solution, so I decided to apply my loudspeaker design skills for modifying headphones. I joined a community of enthusiasts who modify headphones where I both learned and shared a lot. In the process I noticed many people saying “sounds fun but I can’t modify it.” So I decided to start a business modifying headphones to fund the development of my own “ground up” designs.

After deciding to tackle the task of designing and building my ideal closed headphone I turned my sights to comfort — like eliminating those annoying “hot spots” on your ears or head that distracts from the music and limit listening time and on keeping the headphone set light. To me an uncomfortable and heavy headphone is like a terrible seat at a concert; it’s a barrier to enjoying the music. And of course, for people not requiring a closed headphone, we set out to set a new standard for open headphone performance, comfort and value.

On behalf of our team, I wanted to thank you for your attention and consideration.

Dan Clark, Founder, and CEO

Listening to music, playing games or enjoying video is an experience; we believe a headphone should not remind a user it’s on, allowing for an immersive experience that can last for hours.  Our strategy is to combine the best possible sound with the highest level of comfort so the headphone “disappears,” leaving only the content.  Every part of the design works in tandem to create a uniquely compelling and fun user experience.

To maximize reliability and sound quality while reducing weight we use carbon fiber, titanium, and aluminum for maximum rigidity and outstanding acoustic performance. In fact, our headphones are among the lightest in their price and performance class, in some cases weighing 60% less than competing planar magnetic headphones yet without compromising durability or sound quality.

To maximize sound quality, we have patented our V-planar(™) driver processing and TrueFlow(™) airflow management within the motor, eliminating numerous sources of distortion to create detailed, vivid, and natural-sounding music.

Our patented hinge-free headband design takes much of the weight out of the headband while delivering an incredibly comfortable experience with minimal “clamp” on the head. By using a nickel-titanium alloy called Nitinol (or “Memory Metal”) we have created possibly the lightest headband in the high-end headphone industry, yet it’s incredibly rugged.

The global earphones and headphones market is forecasted to reach a global revenue of $15.4B by 2024.

Ameri Research predicts bullish growth in the wireless market segment of the next few years, and we have already seen Apple’s move toward the wireless AirPods as an indicator of where the big players anticipate the future of the market.

One factor that is changing the audio market is the current pandemic. With people forced to stay home, traditional outlets like concerts or theaters for music and film are no longer available and consumers appear to be investing in upgraded gear to increase their at-home media enjoyment. 

Further, many people are now forced to work at home, where video and audio conferences have replaced traditional meetings and where enjoying music while working is now an option for more people. Some companies such as Twitter have already announced many employees will now be able to work from home once restrictions are eased, potentially representing a permanent increase in demand for home-office audio products. For obvious reasons no market research is yet available to validate these claims, but our recent business performance indicates this is a trend worth noting. 

We have secured five patents that are incorporated into our proprietary headphone designs. In addition we have recorded sales to more than 80 countries, and in 2019 posted $2M in revenues.

Our products have been awarded dozens of honors for top quality, from organizations as diverse as “hi-fi+” to“The absolute sound” and “HFN”.

We currently have a product offering of four proprietary headphone lines, ranging in price from our best-selling AEON 2 ($899.99) to our top-of-the-line VOCE Electrostatic Flagship($3299.99).

In addition, we recently launched an OEM design business and our first major partner (a large consumer electronics company) will be coming online in mid-2020.

Our headphones are designed to produce the absolute best quality sound. While you could put retread tires on a Porsche, most owners realize the best results require great tires. In the same way, while our headphones work perfectly with a normal iPhone or other mobile phones, to get the full experience we recommend a higher quality amplifier and DAC.

With the recent success of our bundles tailored for the home office we are pursuing additional curated product offerings to help ensure our customers have the best possible experience while providing an additional incremental revenue stream.

We sell directly to consumers online, as well as through US retailers and international distributors. 

Our margins vary by distribution channel but as a company our gross margin is 57%. We have made a strategic decision to increase margins in 2020 by eliminating non-performing retailers in the US market. Our international distribution is strong, particularly in Germany, the UK, and China.

Our AOV for direct sales is $740 and our typical COGS is 25-35% of retail. 

We have two main sectors of competitors, which can be roughly broken up into larger companies (Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Apple, etc.) and smaller boutique vendors (Audeze, Focal or HiFiMan).

When it comes to smaller companies, our competitive advantage lies in comfort and value and a totally unique design aesthetic. Sonically, our headphones have won many awards, validating that independent experts believe we truly deliver a best-in-class experience. We are also very proud of the light weight and ergonomic design of our headphones that allow users to enjoy our headphones all day without the normal discomfort caused by so many heavier, less comfortable products. And we’re particularly proud of our closed headphones that deliver a uniquely “outside of your head” experience. 

Relative to our larger competitors we are able to beat them on quality. By and large most of these large companies have price points far below ours and are focused on serving the mass market. We aren’t trying to outdo these vendors in the mass market, we’re addressing the market of owners who ask “how can I have a better experience.” 

When faced with the question of why our products are hundred of dollars more expensive, many consumers will come to the correct answer that it is due to our superior quality and craftsmanship and our built-in-the-USA quality.

We want to expand our product offerings to include wireless, in-ear, and other potential new markets in order to make our brand wider in scope and better serve our consumers and retail partners with a comprehensive line of innovative, fun products. 

In addition, we are developing curated product bundles designed to simplify the purchasing process for customers new to the high-end headphone experience, or experts looking for choice recommendations they can rely on to ensure an exceptional experience. 

Our first bundle was designed for the recent surge in home-office users, additional bundles will follow.

Dan Clark, Founder, Chairman and CEO

Dan has a BS in engineering from Swarthmore College and an MBA from San Jose State. Dan spent 30 years in high-tech managerial and executive roles, working in companies ranging from small startups to Apple Computer, Compaq and Sun Microsystems. 

Audio has been Dan’s passion since he was four years old and rocked out air-guitar to The Beatles on his dad’s McIntosh tube amp and Wharfedale speakers. During college he worked in a high-end retail audio boutique and focused his studies on analog power amplifiers for his senior thesis. 

As Dan entered the high-tech industry, his passion for audio kept him involved in media intensive projects, including working at Apple on early multimedia “Hypercard” projects and contributing to the specifications for Quicktime with requirements for the education market. Subsequently he worked at C-Cube micro-systems where he was a product manager for one of the first MPEG chipsets, and later at Sun where he led creation of a multimedia inter-application messaging service.

In the late 1990’s, Dan started  work as a loudspeaker design consultant for several high-end audio companies, developing several products including  the critically acclaimed Platinum Audio series 2 loudspeakers. He began working on modifying and improving headphones around 2008 before starting Dan Clark Audio in 2012. 

Andy Regan, President

Andy has been in the Audio Business for 40 years. He started his audio journey as a front of house and monitor Engineer for large scale touring acts and across a span of  13 years toured with legendary acts  such as Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, Aerosmith, The Commodores, and many more. 

In 1984 he transitioned to the world of High End Audio and became National Sales Manager for Threshold Audio, one of the pioneering Amplifier companies. Over the next 20 years Andy held executive positions at Meridian Audio, AudioQuest, Snell Acoustics, and Cardas Audio.

Andy served as one of the leads of the “Beats” by Dre project at Monster Cable.  After Beats sold to Apple (for $3 Billion)  Andy became the President of Jerry Harvey Audio, the leading provider of custom in-ear monitors for the large scale  touring industry.  With Andy at the helm, JH Audio grew from $2.5 million to $13 million per year in sales  in under 5 years.

Andy met Dan at Audio industry shows and became an admirer of the headphones Dan designed, seeing the possibilities to accelerate  the company’s growth and actively pursued Dan to join the team.

Robert Jason Egger, Chief Engineer 

Jason has been in the headphone business for 7 years, first as a consultant for MrSpeakers before joining as the Chief Engineer in 2014. Like Dan and Andy, Jason has had a lifelong enthusiasm for audio, and has a house full of homemade speakers and electronics to show for it. 

In addition, Jason has 11 years of experience designing, prototyping and producing products for the cinema and broadcasting market including underwater housings, user interfaces, accessories and optics used in high-end commercial and education production. 

Jason’s an engineering jack of all trades. With deep expertise in mechanical and electromechanical design, CAM programming, machine operation, PCB designer, as well as the design of fully custom CNC, doohikeys and gizmos used in all aspects of R&D and production. 

Jason is a lifelong creator, maker and purveyor of speakers, abstract sculpture art and life-size fiberglass animals.  

We believe the success of a company like ours hinges on two things: The quality of the product, and having a mission well-matched to a market. 

We believe our balanced blend of quality, comfort, and value is second-to-none. And our mission is to provide the best listening experience for users. It’s that simple. 

Invest in Dan Clark Audio if you believe people want the best possible listening experience for their music, games, and video and are willing to pay a premium for it. We have proven over the last eight years that thousands of people agree.