Official Denon AH-C700 Comparisons/Impressions

[dscans]

Originally Posted by shigzeo

hey mate, the denon are open phones, with a while called something sound something. if you can not hear banging plates and running water, which i could even with the best seal, you may be listening to a rather loud volume. please be careful as these along with any headphone will destroy your hearing if too loud.

they are wonderful phones, please enjoy them in a safe environment! cheers

LOL, the Denons are canal-phones, and sound isolation is one of the primary properties. You should still be able to hear a little environmental noise without music playing, but with music playing at a sane volume, you shouldn't be able to hear any external noise except for the louder ones

[meridius]

like a bus engine , lol mmm that sound totaly takes the quality of the music away its not untill i got home i could hear all that sound goodness but i am hoping the sony or these other flange do a better job but finding it hard to find the sony type

and still wating on what the other person says on the triflange tips

[shigzeo]

no, canal phones and iems deliver completely different isolation. especially as these canals are wide open. i think that our definition of 'sane' is very different. with these phones in their best isolation (using the at finefit parts) they were still completely open when no music is playing. i could snap my fingers outside and feel the sound. with any iem i have tried (have been using iems also for 2 years) there is no tangible sound from outside, only ghosts of it.

at 'sane' volumes (nothing over 1/4 or 1/3) ever, i could always hear the outside world very loud and very clear. these are open phones perhaps not as open as vibes or so, but they do not really block outside noise and should be treated as such. if you block outside noise with these the volume is probably way above safe levels. even iems at safe levesl should be enough to still hear the outside noise of traffic etc.

please be careful: your ears are not just blun instruments which can regrow or be retooled. i think that if you find these isolating, you have not used iems (ety, westone, shure, ue) - there is no comparison at all. iems are properly like earplugs... please be careful

edit: on the 3 flange pieces, they will only elongate the tube which means it has chance to bend. they may be very good but i think the observations of the poster were correct. the weight of the denons will counter the effectiveness of the 3 flanges as far as overall sq is concerned. if you were to use triple flanges with say... sennn cx300 or later small models, it mgiht just work as those are light small canalphones.

again, please do not look for these to block out noise even marginally more than partially.

[neoufo51]

Originally Posted by RAQemUP

A shame that you are getting a loss of clarity. For me when I compared the stock tips to the triflange, I only noticed better bass and better isolation. I have small ear canals, and the main reason I bought the triflange tips was for the 1st small flange part. It was just a added bonus that the tips were extremely soft from the get go.

If you are interested in biflange tips (without butchering the triflange tips!), I saw some on Amazon for $7 under the search of "double flange".

And btw, nice pics . Wish I knew where my camera went.

Yeah I think it was pinched too shut so I may have to cut them, unless I can put them in a position where the flanges don't pinch. Thanks for the tip. The ebay ones the other fellow just posted look good too. I might buy those as well.

@Meridius, when I pulled them out, they did NOT want to turn inside out. These are fairly good quality tri-flanges. Even better quality than the ones I got with my Atrio M5, which DID turn inside out at times.

@Shiqzeo, yes I think that is what is going on. The Tri-flange has an extended tube and thus putting it deep into your canal increases the chance of them bending, which would of course, without the narrow elongated tubing of a true IEM, result in degraded sound, as if you tried to play a flute that somebody bent out of shape.

EDIT: I figured out the issue. See my next post.

[bashot]

I dont understand how a tri-flange, which is meant to be an in-ear tip, could possibly work with a relatively shallow-fitting canal phone. Sure, it can probably be shoved into your canals, but that's not how these phones are designed to be worn. If isolation is a priority, the C700 is likely not a best choice. Try a proper IEM.

[neoufo51]

UPDATE: I just took a closer look at these tri-flanges, and I realized that the tubing is quite strong, and seems to be constructed in a particularly ingenious way.

The Tri-flanges are simply those taken from an older IEM of unknown origin, with the base cut off, and then replaced with a small piece of tubing which fits the Sony/Denon series perfectly. The result is that you get a base with wide hole for the Sony series to fit, but with a much narrower other end. It's basically a Frankenstein IEM. I toyed around with the fit, and I found that my ear canals were just more upwards than I thought, and if I put them in at a precise angle into my ears, they go in without any bending whatsoever (with a decent amount of effort to get them in) as I don't hear a loss in clarity any longer. The tubing is again, more rigid than I originally thought and it only takes a little bit of precise angling to get them in, and the solid, lengthy construction of the C700's allows me to get them into my ear more easily than a blunt, plastic canalphone.

I'm listening to them right now as I type, and I cannot distinguish a difference between them and the original Denon tips other than that bass impact is slightly improved and to get the same volume with the extended tubing of these tri-flanges, I have to listen to my music at one level higher than my Denon tips, which is hardly an inconvenience considering the improved isolation and bass impact.

Therefore, I can now definitely agree with RAQemup in that if you don't mind an elongated tubing going deep into your ear, these are highly recommended.

[neoufo51]

Originally Posted by bashot

I dont understand how a tri-flange, which is meant to be an in-ear tip, could possibly work with a relatively shallow-fitting canal phone. Sure, it can probably be shoved into your canals, but that's not how these phones are designed to be worn. If isolation is a priority, the C700 is likely not a best choice. Try a proper IEM.

I agree with you in theory, but my ears say differently at the moment. Sure, the volume has to be raised more, but the clarity is the same as it was before.

[warrior05]

Now, I'll be the first to admit this isn't quite an apples to apples comparison. First off, we are talking a canalphone vs IEM and there is quite a price difference. Regardless, I figured why the heck not especially since I really like the C700s... a lot.

I will summarize the below by saying I felt the SA6 bested the C700s pretty much across the board. If you want more detail, read on.

Isolation is crazy good with the SA6. Of course this comes at no surprise due to the differing formats but for those of you who also have experience with FS' Atrio M5s, the SA6s isolate more.

Soundstage is rather disorienting with the SA6. Where I find if listening to classical music with the C700s, I hear about 120 degree breadth of full orchestra sound which is pretty darn good. The SA6 are more like 160, maybe even 170. And the SA6 sound like headphones rather than earphones to me. Takes some getting used to actually.

Bass - at first it seemed like the Denons were favorable. And it was more pronounced. I then put in the Bass + port on the SA6 and the bass came forward. I found the SA6 to offer more controlled and defined bass. Not a night/day difference but certainly noticeable.

Midrange - this was probably the biggest difference between the two. And I think it really has to do with the lower mids. They are more present, richer with the SA6. In direct comparison, violas on the C700s sounded empty and hollow. And vocals lacked depth. It was rather surprising since I've always tagged the C700s as warm and musical sounding. But jumping between the two earphones, the difference was rather remarkable.

Highs - I installed the Treble + port on my SA6 which really gave them some sparkle with zero harshness. The Denons' rolled off highs were very apparent in direct comparison.

The C700s did pretty well in regards to instrument separation, placement and overall detail. I would give only a slight edge to the SA6.

The above was done using my Trekstor Vibez as a source which I have nothing but 320bps Lame encoded MP3s. Certainly not the ultimate in source but it is what I use with my earphones so...

Further disclosure: I have the genuine Sony EX tips on my Denons and I was using Sleek Audio's stock bi-flanges on the SA6.

And for those who may be interested, I'll be posting an Atrio M5 vs SA6 comparo over on that thread in the next day or two.

[shigzeo]

i am very interested in hearing an sa6 but knowing my type, the armatures would give me headache very soon. i could never blindly buy a pair of these - i would probably end up selling them straight the next day with a huge dose of tinnitus

[warrior05]

Originally Posted by shigzeo

i am very interested in hearing an sa6 but knowing my type, the armatures would give me headache very soon. i could never blindly buy a pair of these - i would probably end up selling them straight the next day with a huge dose of tinnitus

I would doubt it with the SA6. I first started with Shures a long time ago and could never get used to their sound. These however, sound more like a dynamic than anything. I'm currently listening to them through my iMod/Pico combo and man but they are sounding sweet!

[shigzeo]

well if a bloak like me who found the westone um2 harsh could find a softspot anywhere in the armature world, i would be quite surprised. honestly though, until my atrios wear out, i am just not interested in another iem. i hope they are wonderful and kick some tail as i hate seeing the multiplying driver game win out. good luck sa!

[meridius]

so does anyone know where i can get the true sony flange for the denons i have looked all over there must be a place you can get them from

[RAQemUP]

@neoufo51 I'm glad your sound issue worked out without cutting them up. I was wondering about the narrow exit hole and large tip hole and it didn't occur to me that it had to be the tip to something else but modded to fit Sony style IEMs. Especially considering how they were modded and yet aren't a bad feel.

[meridius]

where these the sony tips for the denons ???

Amazon.co.uk: Sony EPEX1B.AE spare earbuds for EX series headphones - black: Electronics & Photo

do you get better isolation with the sony tips ?

[soozieq]

Originally Posted by meridius

where these the sony tips for the denons ???

Amazon.co.uk: Sony EPEX1B.AE spare earbuds for EX series headphones - black: Electronics & Photo

Yes, those are the ones. See what a rip off they are? You only end up with one pair that you can use, but you have to pay for 3 pairs with postage on top.
That's why they get one-star reviews, because of the price.

If you look at 'used and new', they start at £2.50 (for new.) It might be worth contacting one of the marketplace sellers and asking if they're exactly the same ones that are shown in the picture - ie; 3 in a pack and genuine Sony tips.