Hey all,
So, as some of you may know from my recent posts, I've been on the hunt these last few weeks for a good headphone setup for use with my PS3 and PC (primarily gaming, then music, then movies/television).
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do it piece by piece, if I want to do it right. I just don't have the money to splurge on a $700-800 DAC-->Amp-->headphone setup right now ("starving college student" and all that jazz).
A couple days ago, however, I made the first step on my journey. Headphones! Woot! Mostly due to research I did on here, I came to the conclusion that the Denon D2000s would be a good fit for me. Thankfully, I was right (at least as far as I can tell so far)!
I've spent most of the last two days testing them out/burning them in, and I am mostly pleased. I say "mostly" because they are, at least right now, incredibly unforgiving. In some 320 kbps mp3s I have, I can clearly hear imperfections in the recordings which I couldn't hear before. It's only worse with YouTube videos and websites like Pandora. I think this is only exacerbated (maybe even caused) by the crappy quality of my hardware sources.
I'm listening to my PS3 via stock composite cable outputs degraded through two cheap Radio Shack adapters (in order to get a stereo input). I'm listening to my PC via the rear headphone output of a Realtek ALC889A integrated soundcard. Surprisingly, the PS3 sounds better than the Realtek, due to the fact that the Realtek outputs about 20% noise, 30% snaps, crackles, and pops, and 50% crappy sound.
Despite all these obstacles in the way of my listening experience, the D2000s are still extremely impressive. Compared to my previous set of cans (some overpriced Sony MDR-V700s I bought several years ago), they have way more detail.
The gunshot sounds in Team Fortress 2 sound totally different. And when I say totally different, I mean it. I started my own private server for testing purposes, and I honestly couldn't recognize the Scout's Scattergun by its sound. The D2000s totally changed the sound signature (in a good way). It's like I can hear each particle of shot exiting the barrel. It's really phenomenal.
I also played through the opening cinemas of Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. In L4D2's cinema, the survivors walk in front of a motel's front sign. The camera only shows them from the waist up. With the Sony's, I could hear their footsteps as they pass the camera. With the Denon's, I can tell that they're walking on gravel and sand. Fantastic!
Likewise, when watching The Dark Knight on my PS3 on Blu-Ray, in the scene at the beginning when Batman has the Batmobile crash through the wall and idle during the Scarecrow's drug deal, instead of just hearing the explosion, I could hear the wall breaking, the car's motor, the cars it crushes crunching underneath, and the debris from it all skittering about on the ground.
Because my sources are so bad, I'm not going to discuss my impressions of the D2000s in terms of highs, lows, and mids. I'll wait until I will have bought a decent DAC and Amp to do that (or until I see my dad for Christmas, he's got a pretty good system, although I don't remember the specific model numbers, and a number of SACDs). So far so good, though.
Anyway, thanks for all the help you all have given to me thus far in the process. I now know why you all say "Welcome to Head-Fi, and sorry about your wallet;" I'm dying to buy a good DAC and Amp now.
So, as some of you may know from my recent posts, I've been on the hunt these last few weeks for a good headphone setup for use with my PS3 and PC (primarily gaming, then music, then movies/television).
Unfortunately, I'm going to have to do it piece by piece, if I want to do it right. I just don't have the money to splurge on a $700-800 DAC-->Amp-->headphone setup right now ("starving college student" and all that jazz).
A couple days ago, however, I made the first step on my journey. Headphones! Woot! Mostly due to research I did on here, I came to the conclusion that the Denon D2000s would be a good fit for me. Thankfully, I was right (at least as far as I can tell so far)!
I've spent most of the last two days testing them out/burning them in, and I am mostly pleased. I say "mostly" because they are, at least right now, incredibly unforgiving. In some 320 kbps mp3s I have, I can clearly hear imperfections in the recordings which I couldn't hear before. It's only worse with YouTube videos and websites like Pandora. I think this is only exacerbated (maybe even caused) by the crappy quality of my hardware sources.
I'm listening to my PS3 via stock composite cable outputs degraded through two cheap Radio Shack adapters (in order to get a stereo input). I'm listening to my PC via the rear headphone output of a Realtek ALC889A integrated soundcard. Surprisingly, the PS3 sounds better than the Realtek, due to the fact that the Realtek outputs about 20% noise, 30% snaps, crackles, and pops, and 50% crappy sound.
Despite all these obstacles in the way of my listening experience, the D2000s are still extremely impressive. Compared to my previous set of cans (some overpriced Sony MDR-V700s I bought several years ago), they have way more detail.
The gunshot sounds in Team Fortress 2 sound totally different. And when I say totally different, I mean it. I started my own private server for testing purposes, and I honestly couldn't recognize the Scout's Scattergun by its sound. The D2000s totally changed the sound signature (in a good way). It's like I can hear each particle of shot exiting the barrel. It's really phenomenal.
I also played through the opening cinemas of Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. In L4D2's cinema, the survivors walk in front of a motel's front sign. The camera only shows them from the waist up. With the Sony's, I could hear their footsteps as they pass the camera. With the Denon's, I can tell that they're walking on gravel and sand. Fantastic!
Likewise, when watching The Dark Knight on my PS3 on Blu-Ray, in the scene at the beginning when Batman has the Batmobile crash through the wall and idle during the Scarecrow's drug deal, instead of just hearing the explosion, I could hear the wall breaking, the car's motor, the cars it crushes crunching underneath, and the debris from it all skittering about on the ground.
Because my sources are so bad, I'm not going to discuss my impressions of the D2000s in terms of highs, lows, and mids. I'll wait until I will have bought a decent DAC and Amp to do that (or until I see my dad for Christmas, he's got a pretty good system, although I don't remember the specific model numbers, and a number of SACDs). So far so good, though.
Anyway, thanks for all the help you all have given to me thus far in the process. I now know why you all say "Welcome to Head-Fi, and sorry about your wallet;" I'm dying to buy a good DAC and Amp now.
I can barely tell a diff between crappy headphones and The equipment on my sig. Sure I can tell a difference between soundstage. But not quality
); they have heavy bass (I'm a total basshead; I could even go for more bass than I'm getting with the D2000s); they're comfortable and can fit a big head (mine's HUGE).
.
