Official Denon AH-C700 Comparisons/Impressions

[Ihatepopupads]

well I just recieved the AH 700s yesterday, I'm not going to go into a lengthy review as thats been covered very good, and I know the sound will change with more burn in. When I first saw the cables I was amazed, all cables should be like this tangle free! The body of these looks very classy and well built ( I got the black ). On the first listen the bass seemed too boomy and they sounded a little rough, all though still pretty good. I pink noised them all last night and today they have smoothed out quite a bit, the bass is very deep but now much sharper ( geddys richenbacker sounds great). The highs are very sharp but still pretty smooth, the detail and soundstage are really good- I would say on par with my e500s.

I had to use the sony tips because the others were hurting my ears (I think the sonys are a little thinner). The sound sig. seems the same with the sony tips. I can also place seperate instruments in a 3-d space like I can with my e500s, very nice! I can say the highs seems to be a little more extended than my e500s which is a good thing as I like treble energy, just smooth treble energy which these already have and should get even better. As everybody else stated the mids are very nice and slightly up front, these have a really "full" sound yet seem to have great detail also.

They also seem very light and comfy (with the sony tips), and really isolate well for a canal phone. All in all, I am extremely pleased with these for 99.00 beans, I probaly will use these more than my shures because of the treble and ease of use. I must say these paired with the sony a818 is supreme, I played some bluetech prima materia ( lame 256- sans eq )and the level of detail was astonishing with these cans. I also listend to rush's power windows, a great bass album as with all rush, and the texture of the bass was amazing The sony is one little sonic powerhouse, great detail with that sony fullness- gotta love it!

Many thanks for your recommendation Soozieq, you were right on the money I consider these a hidden gem.- you should do P R for denon!

I guess I rambled on more than I thought lol. I eagerly await more "burn in" time with these!

[Straby]

Anyone knows whether there are any retailers in Toronto, NYC or DC that sell these beauties? I'm travelling to Canada and the US in a couple of weeks, so I figured I might as well try to pick them up there instead of buying them from Amazon and pay shipping and customs fees to Europe.

Only store I know of is the newly opened AudioCubes store in NYC, but they are pretty expensive there.

[neoufo51]

To replace my busted Atrios (no chance of warranty repair) I've bought myself these. I'm very interested in hearing almost as much bass but much improved mids. I'll let you guys know what I think after I've burned these in for about 50 hours w/ pink noise and I'll post some super high-res pictures to show potential buyers what they have in store.

[dura]

I think the sonys are a little thinner

I agree; I tried those on advice from Soozieq; they have the same size as the denons tips, but since they are thinner and more flexible they go a little bit deeper, giving a small improvement SQ-wise.

[Leroy Jenkems]

Methos1979, what volume do you have to keep your ZEN at? My zen with fx66 paired to it plays at a comfortable sound level at 10 out of 25.

[Methos1979]

Leroy - I'm assuming an fx66 is an amp? I don't amp my ZEN. I do have the smart volume on as it helps with the volume 'spikes' between older recorded songs and the newer, often times too-loudly recorded ones. I generally play the ZEN with the volume somewhere between 15 and 20, depending upon the song. An older Aerosmith record for instance that I would tend to listen to more cranked might creep up as high as 21. Something recorded in this century and more laid back and detailed might go down to 16. Lower if I need to hear what's going on around me. Most songs though are between 18 and 20 - with the Denon's. With the BOSE TriPorts norm is 20 - 23.

[acegazda]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Leroy - I'm assuming an fx66 is an amp? I don't amp my ZEN. I do have the smart volume on as it helps with the volume 'spikes' between older recorded songs and the newer, often times too-loudly recorded ones. I generally play the ZEN with the volume somewhere between 15 and 20, depending upon the song. An older Aerosmith record for instance that I would tend to listen to more cranked might creep up as high as 21. Something recorded in this century and more laid back and detailed might go down to 16. Lower if I need to hear what's going on around me. Most songs though are between 18 and 20 - with the Denon's. With the BOSE TriPorts norm is 20 - 23.

oooooh THAT is what it's for? I'm going to try that out.

[Leroy Jenkems]

Originally Posted by Methos1979

Leroy - I'm assuming an fx66 is an amp? I don't amp my ZEN. I do have the smart volume on as it helps with the volume 'spikes' between older recorded songs and the newer, often times too-loudly recorded ones. I generally play the ZEN with the volume somewhere between 15 and 20, depending upon the song. An older Aerosmith record for instance that I would tend to listen to more cranked might creep up as high as 21. Something recorded in this century and more laid back and detailed might go down to 16. Lower if I need to hear what's going on around me. Most songs though are between 18 and 20 - with the Denon's. With the BOSE TriPorts norm is 20 - 23.

HA-FX66 aka JVC Air Cushions. Canalphones.

I don't use smartvolume as most of my music is from at least 1989 and good quality. If there is an album that sounds quieter, I just pump up the volume a bit. According to your reports, they do seem to lower outside noise more then your old bose. Hopefully my volume stays around 10 or lower. I'm worried it might need an amp.

[Methos1979]

Ahh, I see. You should only need to amp phones if they have higher impedance values and were predominately made for stereo equipment - at least that's how I've come to understand it. Another reason that I was looking for lower end IEMs. I just want really good sounding IEM's for my ZEN - period. No amps.

The BOSE call for higher volumes to push them a little harder as the sound is not going straight into the ear but rather around it, so it's got to move more air to get the same volume. That's why they get played louder - to hear the music louder. The BOSE have excellent blocking and no music is heard outside of them. The same goes with the Denon IEM's though - no music is heard outside but at the same time, they don't need to be played quite as loud to be heard louder.

I'm running a 20 minute pink noise file and 20 second digital silence file on loop through them right now to see if I can accellerate burn-in, a concept I am on the fence about. I'm going to run it over night and see if the bass and treble has mellowed out at all. I'll let you know how it goes.

M.

[tstarn06]

In truth, using an amp isn't just about high-impedence IEMs. Amps don't just boost volume, they also bring out the best in many portable phones. I don't always use an amp, but when I do, the sound from my IEMs and DAPs just has a smoother, richer quality. Carrying an amp when walking can be a hassle, but if you are on a plane or train, it's nice to have one.

Even a cheap ($50) Penguin mint tin or CMOY can make in-ear phones sound better. Try it, you'll like it.

[thesupreme1]

Considering buying these, does anyone know how they would compare to V-Moda Vibes? I love the sound of my Vibes. I listen to pretty much everything except anything that has "hardcore" in front of it.

Would these work well with a wide variety of music? From RnB to Rock to Classical to Techno to Rap.

Do these have at least as much bass as the Vibe?
Currently use a Zen Vision:M as my audio source 192KCBR and up.

Since these are 99.99$ at Amazon right now would I be a fool to not buy them? Would it be an upgrade to my Vibes? Thanks =D

[shigzeo]

i love them, but even with excellent bass, they do not either go as low or pronounce low bass as well as the atrio. the atrio do not have as tight signature, probably due to the plastic housing versus the denon aluminium but for bass, there is not contest.

the denon go low and boom with some detail but the atrio thunder very low and then there is a dry feeling at the bottom that i have never heard in any portable phone, simply amazing.

the denons are better with time, but it could just be that i was not used to them at first.

[Inks]

The C700 are in a another level, it stomps all over vibes imo, no comparison. You should enjoy them with all the genres you mentioned btw and these have better bass than the vibes. Just make sure you get a good seal and let them burn in.

You'll probably would want to encode to higher bitrate, but that's just a general recommendation.

[thesupreme1]

Originally Posted by Inks

The C700 are in a another level, it stomps all over vibes imo, no comparison. You should enjoy them with all the genres you mentioned btw and these have better bass than the vibes. Just make sure you get a good seal and let them burn in.

You'll probably would want to encode to higher bitrate, but that's just a general recommendation.

192K is just a median of what I have. My music ranges from 56K to 320K so I just picked somewhere in the middle.

The seal from what I've been reading makes or brakes these headphones. Would you say these fit similar to the V-Moda Bass Freq?

[shigzeo]

fit is similar though they are heavier. bass and mid and everything is not comparable. these are very good especially for the price, if you got them for 99$. i think they are a bargain at the price i got them for: about us 130$.

don't worry about 192k, if you have used a good encoder like lame or ogg or itunes aac, you and most people probably cannot tell the diff between it and higher quality files even lossless. ive never sat through an audiophile claiming higher bitrates are best blind listening test with better than 50/50 chance of guessing which is the higher quality file. oh well.

enjoy the phones, they are very well made except maybe how the cable and the housing meet - it seems very hasty. of that type of phone, i think they are the best on the market.