that thread is mirrored at Home

Ahhh... "Pleathergate" lives to see another day. Hopefully, this is a last gasp, but I guess I am not helping that at all by bringing it up again.

It seems most likely some kind of oversight between the marketing dept and the production team or something like that. To me, it is a bit of a minor point and too easily caught to be a blatant case of intentional false-advertising.

It would be appropriate for such a refined, luxurious-sounding headphone to have fancy leather from something like an endangered Madagascarian six-toed spotted Lemur, but pleather works just fine too. If it is easier to care for and lasts long enough, then I am happy. I felt uncomfortable about the L3000's leather and kept worrying if I needed to apply special oils, store it in a custom-made humidor, and occasionally whisper to it like a houseplant. Also, I am sure real leather would add to the costs (and decimate the poor spotted Lemur population).

I have not commented on the appearance of the phones yet. When the photos started showing up, I did not like the piano gloss finish, but in person, I think they look great and prefer these cups to the D5000. They absolutely look high-end-- the grain, the finish, the gold lettering fit wonderfully with magnificent sound. Not quite up to the L3000/R10 standards but still very nice.

As for gaming and movies... My gaming days seem to be mostly in the past but I did pull out Far Cry and gave it test-drive. Very very good. I would prefer using surround speakers as I had trouble localizing enemies taking pot-shots at me, but the sound was not at all thin to me. I think these will work well for movies too. Certainly the soundtracks sound incredible, but the special effects shine as well. However, I do not have much experience using headphones for either, so anyone particularly interested in these two applications might wait until others with better insight can chime in.

Back to the mods again. There is still some slight resonance with the D7000, but nothing like the D5000 (I think I read once that someone actually had a filling jarred loose while listening to the canons at the end of a SACD version of the 1812 Overture ). At some point I probably will open them up and try adding stuffing just to see the difference. However, bass drum, tympani, and other deep bass items sound so darn good and that little bit of tactile stimulation just may be an important part of what I like about how they sound. Again, I will not rush to do it. I want to get very familiar with the stock presentation so that I can be clear about what changes are made by doing mods. I also concur with sweetben's that these have been the best out-of-the-box experience I have had with headphones. I absolutely love my GS1000's but I really want to fix those ear-needle highs. I find no such issues with the D7000. In fact, this is the first headphone I have tried that I can say has no significant issues sonic or otherwise that I would want to address to fit my particular tastes.

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I don't want to dig this up again, but I have to correct this. Though I don't know for certain, as a forum admin myself, there's no way that a manufacturer would ask that a thread be removed just because they didn't like what was written in it. Denon don't even sponsor head-fi for one, and two, there is nothing in there that wouldn't be all over Japanese web sites, in gross and in detail soon after they hit the shelves.

X2 on stuffing the cups of the D7000 at least. Reminds me that I'm due for re-cabling my MD5000s.

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How does the ESW10JPN compare against the D7000?

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I haven't heard the D7000 since the 11/1 Colorado meet, but I would say the ESW10 come close in pure enjoyment to my D2000 with APS V2 cable and markl woodies with stuffed earpads. The D2000 have stronger bass, and more depth to the soundstage while being just a little more laid back than the ESW10, while the ESW10 are nice and euphonic with great detail and frequency balance, but more forward in the soundstage due to being supra-aural. Both are nicely detailed and have extended bass and treble. The ESW10 are one of the 1st headphones I have owned that my first thought wasn't to wonder how they would sound with a better cable. I posted some thoughts about the modded D2000, ESW10 and AD2000 with cardas cable in Rednamalas1 review thread of ESW10 vs AD2000, so have a look there.

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In that case I apologize, and I hope to see some more D7000 reviews in the future.

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If it's a foul up between the marketing and production departments, is the marketing info wrong (in which case the info needs to get fixed), or did the headphones get manufactured incorrectly (in which case future units will come with the leather pads)?

For me, the difference between pleather and real leather ear pads is not a minor point. One of the things I don't like about the D2000 is the feel of the pad covers against my skin. Real leather breathes. Plastic does not.

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Sure, I can see that. Also, if it were a significant issue, it would be rather disappointing to drop nearly a grand on them and have them arrive with the pleather.

I guess I dont have any problems with the feel of the pleather as the pads themselves are quite comfy to me, but perhaps once summer rolls around...

Is the pleather a deal-breaker for you?

My GS1000s are quite comfortable in terms of the lightness, but I do not like the feel of the salad bowl pads; kinda scratchy. Still, nothing bad enough for me to get rid of them. Clamping is usually the biggest issue for me and a definite deal-breaker. I don't think I could use the 650's or Ed9s as my main can.

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You might be surprised by how comfortable they are.

I one of those fussy types when it comes to headphone comfort. For a long time (10 years or so) I thought that headphones = hot, stuffy, itchy, and sweaty around the ears. I even found some of the most popular phones around here to be very uncomfortable after 15-30 minutes or so.

Surprisingly, the D2000/D5000 are great. I can wear them for an hour and forget they are there. In summer it does get a little hot, but I think that's just a fact of life with most headphones.

I'll have to try real leather earpads someday to see how they compare.

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be careful -- the vendors with the 'too good to be true' prices are not authorized dealers. they try to get authorized dealers to send them iinvetory (tranship) after they take your money. that's whey they never have stock-- and they probably never will have.


yes, i work for a retailer, so interpret my remarks accordingly-- though they are true!

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+1

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For me personally, after listening with my Markl-mod D5000s just about everything else sounds boring, except STAX, but that's another matter.

Now my ears have attuned to new mulga cups on said modded cans, with a more mid-forward presentation than before, I could listen again to the ESW10s without immediately thinking they are dull as dishwater, as I did the first time. I'd put my Denons at least as being considerably more detailed and "fun" with their full-bodied sound than all the ATs I've tried. What I did like about the ESW10s was their overall very even presentation and wider soundstage than I had expected of them. If I wanted a very even-sounding portable supra-aural, I'd get them, with a re-cable. If I'm going to sit at home and listen in a comfy chair, I'd do again as I did and get Denons.

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CurraWong, how do your modded Denon headphones compare to the ATH-L3000? I remember reading about you listening to one before. Do your Denon headphones have a more full-bodied sound than that? Additionally, how do the Denon's bass signature compare to L3000's? No one has yet compared these two headphones head-to-head, but every review I read about them makes me think they sound similar. Most would simply think the L3000 is superior because of its price and exclusivity, but I would really like to know their specific differences.

Hi guys, I can answer why that thread was deleted, it's not a big conspiracy at all. I was repeatedly asked questions regarding the sound quality of the D7000 and to make comparisons which I had avoided answering until the end where I tried to word it in such a way as to (I hoped) comply with forum rules, though I knew no mater how I put it, I was skating on thin ice. An MOT is not allowed to comment on subjective matters regarding products they sell or modify, and my post crossed that line, so the thread was yanked, and in retrospect, I think correctly so. I certainly have no hard feelings about it whatsoever.

In any case, there is another place on the net that has been pointed out where you can see the pics and read the report anyway.

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The model I've listened to properly was the ATH-W10VTG, which I have no idea at all where it fits into the AT lineup, being a very fancy-looking woodied thing, but also quite expensive ($550 or so?). I wouldn't mind trying a few more ATs, but the shops in the city I'm in don't stock the high end models, and if they do, they don't allow you to demo them, which is useless. The D5000 is, ironically, the only model I could demo at one stage. I'll keep an eye out for an L3000 though and see if I can't try one.