Official Denon AH-C700 Comparisons/Impressions - Page 26 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

antonyfirst · #**376** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 12:23 AM

Ok, I've made a friend of mine buy the C700, and I have been able to listen to them tonight.
These are my first impressions. I'll be able to "hire" them some other times when needed. My first, obvious impression is that the C700 sound warm and full. Bass is very nice and hard-hitting, and midrange is quite forward. I can understand soozieq saying that the midrange is what she was looking for, since it may be the best peculiarity of the Denons. Coupled with their good bass presence, it gives prominent vocals.
Vocals sound better than what I recall to be the Shure E500 presentation (artificial, in my opinon), while the bass may be superior on the E500. I recall the Shures to have good quality, flat bass. The C700 seem more midbass oriented. To be honest, the Shure have two woofer drivers that make them able to create that bass, while the Denon are single dynamic driver IEMs. I've always thought that the main problem with the E500 weren't the "rolled off" highs, but it was the midrange, that sounded distant and uninvolving. This is what made me sell them and keep the Etys at that time. The Denon don't have this issue, and to my ears vocals sound natural and pleasant.

Highs on the Denon seem to be subdued, especially in comparison to the ER4P and the Altec Lansing iM716. Sadly, my Altec have been sent to EFN for a recable, so i can't AB them this time.
Vocals are very forward on the Altec iM716, while retaining typical Etymotic presentation. Midrange (but actually all the spectrum) is more detailed with the Altec Lansing than with the Denon. Detail crispness goes to the Altec, while the Denon are thicker. Again, this is very pleasant, especially with some singers (like David Bowie). The Denon aren't as sharp as the Etys, and I don't think sibilance is a problem with them. To be fair, Etys with Shure black foam tips are hardly sibilant. I don't feel like the Denon need to be equalized, while both the Altec and the Etys can grow a lot with the right equalization/amping.

The Denon's soundstage isn't worse than E500 and ER4P's. I'm still waiting for a pair of IEMs that will expand this soundstage to get closer to full size cans. Hopefully, the Triple.fi 10 Pro and Westone 3 will be able to do this.

So, for now:

Denon C700 vs Shure E500
Bass: E500
Midrange: C700
Highs: prolly a tie (can't remember the E500 for an accurate comparison)
Details: E500 (slightly)

Denon C700 vs Altec Lansing iM716
Bass: too different (detailed and deep with the Altec, thicker with the Denon)
Vocals: Altec (for my taste)
Highs: Altec
Details: Altec

In my opinion (for my taste!) the Altec and Etymotic stand on the top of this brief comparison. I would say the Denon and the E500 serve different purposes, but if you are like me and care for close vocals, you may prefer the Denons, that make of warmth and midrange their main strengths.

Last but not least, my impression is that IEMs' average quality is growing more and more. We are able to get good IEMs such as the Denon, or the Altec, that can easily compare to higher priced models. My opinion is that this trend will keep going, and in the medium run IEMs will easily compete with full size headphones for the price... without the need of buying an expensive amp. IEMs are a growing technology that is getting better and cheaper, so we can expect good surprires in the future.

athenaesword · #**377** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 02:37 AM

can't wait to get my hands on em from our dear friend antony here =]

anyway, may i know if the pair u tested was after burn-in or pre-burnin?

HeadphoneAddict · #**378** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by athenaesword

can't wait to get my hands on em from our dear friend antony here =]

anyway, may i know if the pair u tested was after burn-in or pre-burnin?

Sounds like pre-burn-in to me.

antonyfirst · #**379** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 11:04 AM

These are basically out of the box impressions (some hours of use). I've told my friend to let them play alone at higher volumes than normal.

P.s. since I am able to try the Denon whenever I want, and my own pair hasn't left the US yet, it will go directly to Athenaesword, who was also interested in getting a pair.

soozieq · #**380** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyfirst

Ok, I've made a friend of mine buy the C700, and I have been able to listen to them tonight.
Highs on the Denon seem to be subdued, especially in comparison to the ER4P and the Altec Lansing iM716.
In my opinion (for my taste!) the Altec and Etymotic stand on the top of this brief comparison.

Wow Tony, I am really surprised that the Altec has more detail than the C700. Was this comparison made with your 'modded' Altecs? Did you ever try them straight out of the box or were they modded when you bought them? That's pretty relevant because I imagine most people would use the Altecs as they come with no modification at all.

I am not surprised that you thought the C700 vocals/midrange were preferable to the E500, as we both agreed we weren't keen on the distant E500 midrange, so that's a matter of personal preference.

I did expect the Etys to be more detailed (which you've confirmed). So are you going to put yours up for sale when they arrive? I sense vultures hovering as I type. . .

soozieq · #**381** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyfirst

These are basically out of the box impressions (some hours of use). I've told my friend to let them play alone at higher volumes than normal.

OK, I see your reply crossed with mine. . . leave some more impressions (if they change) later

antonyfirst · #**382** (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq

Wow Tony, I am really surprised that the Altec has more detail than the C700. Was this comparison made with your 'modded' Altecs? Did you ever try them straight out of the box or were they modded when you bought them? That's pretty relevant because I imagine most people would use the Altecs as they come with no modification at all.

I am not surprised that you thought the C700 vocals/midrange were preferable to the E500, as we both agreed we weren't keen on the distant E500 midrange, so that's a matter of personal preference.

Hey Julie,

I didn't try the Altec out of the box, since I've bought them used. They are modded at 41 Ohm. It has to be said that the Altec are not dynamic drivers, so they shouldn't need any burn in.

Quote:

I did expect the Etys to be more detailed (which you've confirmed). So are you going to put yours up for sale when they arrive? I sense vultures hovering as I type. . .

I've done something crazy: I've bought the Triple fi 10 Pro

In order to fund them, I contacted athenaesword about a week ago. He agreed to buy my pair after I had listened to them. In the end, my university mate received his Denon before me, and my Denons weren't still shipped, so my pair will ship directly to the buyer (right today).

MrFaust · #**383** (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 05:10 AM

I need to know where to get a couple sets of foam tips both for my c700's and marshmellows.Any ideas?

soloz2 · #**384** (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 07:33 PM

I just bought a pair from a fellow Head-Fi'er. I can't wait to get them!

athenaesword · #**385** (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 03:54 AM

so did i! should be getting them any day now. been 5 days since it shipped.

athenaesword · #**386** (**permalink**) 10-20-2007, 12:24 PM

like i announce that i just received my pair! thanks tony

edit: aright just after about 7 hours of burning in they sound alot better than when i first opened them up, at least i think so. when i first opened up the package i had to listen to 30/40 of the volume on my clix 2 to get the vocals up to a listenable level. now i'm listening at 24/40. i'll post more impressions after further burning in by tmr. it's 2am here and i can't bear to take em out of my ears, which's why i'm making myself type something here so i don't go to bed =s

soozieq · #**387** (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 03:56 AM

Well, as Denon haven't bothered to get back to me about possible replacement tips in the distant future - I took desperate measures and bought the much-cheaper AH-C350 for $50 shipped in the hope they have the same tips! I guess $50 for one pair of medium silicon tips is a little extravagant. . . (and insane!) but I'm not having any luck with any other tips

The headphones look smaller, sort of Sennheiser CX300 size - and I couldn't see the nozzle size, but I'm just assuming they fit. If they don't, I'll give them to any friend who still uses stock buds as I'm sure they'll be better than any of those.

The other idea I had was to ask any users with either gorilla ears, or teeny-tiny ears - if they wanted to swap some medium tips for the small or large. We can't all have the same size ears so it's a good way of getting the size we want without being forced to sink to the pitiful depths I've been 'forced' to sink to

. . . so I'll start - if anyone wants the gorilla or teeny size, you can have mine.

I just want medium

sinner6 · #**388** (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 04:21 AM

The Sony tips that came with my NW-A818 work perfect, in fact I prefer them over the Denon tips.

soozieq · #**389** (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sinner6

The Sony tips that came with my NW-A818 work perfect, in fact I prefer them over the Denon tips.

I tried the Sony tips, but the soundstage seemed smaller and the bass weakened slightly. . . hey, if you prefer them, you can have my Sony mediums and I can have your Denon mediums

HeadphoneAddict · #**390** (**permalink**) 10-22-2007, 07:49 AM

I am kinda stuck between medium and small, which is why I use the Shure foamies instead. But, the mediums are the first ones I go to when not using foams, it's just that they can fall out more easily.