D-7000s causing me pain, literally

Perhaps burn in (if you believe in it) will allow the highs to settle down. Good luck! Hope it works out.

The D7000 have decent highs but I would let these play music for a couple days and see if the treble gets better. Literally plug them in and set the volume to just above what you consider a comfortable listening level and leave them playing your play list for 24-48 hours and see what happens. Or if you want, use the two links in my signature to download some pink white brown noise based files. Since I find the D7000 pretty darn balanced I would download both and set them to loop. They both have a 1 hr play time and both have a 10 minute silence period to give your headphones a rest as they burnin. To use them play some regular music and set the volume to just a bit louder than comfortable, then switch to the burnin files. Again just start the files and then leave them playing 24-48 hours and see how the headphones sound afterwards. You can also check the sound as they burnin when ever you would like.

Hey rushupedge...

Would you please list your sources?

The type of files and their origin, playback software (if apt.), devices (soundboard, DAC, amp. etc.).

There could be one, or many things going on...

Thanks.

I don't blame you for saying the D7000 is sibilant.  When I had the stock cups and aftermarket mohagany cups on the highs were pretty piercing.  Actually that's what made me move to a softer more musical wood on my D7000's.  Luckily you can always either use subtractive eq, turn the volume down, or both.

Ditto on this recommendation. I didn't notice any sibilance in mine after a decent amount of burn-in.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by dweaver 

The D7000 have decent highs but I would let these play music for a couple days and see if the treble gets better. Literally plug them in and set the volume to just above what you consider a comfortable listening level and leave them playing your play list for 24-48 hours and see what happens. Or if you want, use the two links in my signature to download some pink white brown noise based files. Since I find the D7000 pretty darn balanced I would download both and set them to loop. They both have a 1 hr play time and both have a 10 minute silence period to give your headphones a rest as they burnin. To use them play some regular music and set the volume to just a bit louder than comfortable, then switch to the burnin files. Again just start the files and then leave them playing 24-48 hours and see how the headphones sound afterwards. You can also check the sound as they burnin when ever you would like.

By all accounts, the markl mods should end the sibilance if burn-in/eq/amp swapping doesn't help.

Also consider the replacement earpads for J$.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rushupedge 

At least 60 hours of burn in haven't solved the problem.

Have you been able to try any amp other than the macbook or Edirol?  My experience with the D2000 is they can get more sibilant when under-amped.  Generally onboard audio and USB powered dac/amps are not enough to power the Denon even if they manage to be able to get more than loud enough.

If you have a home stereo speaker amp that has a headphone out, or even a home CD player that has a headphone out, you should try it with the Denon.  Some of them can actually drive the Denon adequately.  If you get lucky and find a right match it will give you an idea of how the Denon can sound with suitable amplification.

Even burned-in, the Denon D7000 is sibilant on certain tracks. IMO, only the ATH W1000X can do what the D7000 does overall and surpass it. It's still a top headphone for what it does well. I suggest using an EQ to lower the highest frequency a little since you don't have something like a tube amp.

Don't consider the GS1000i. If the Denon is giving you sibilance on certain tracks, the GS1000i will most likely give you sibilance on the same tracks. The T1 should be better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rushupedge 

I just got my iBasso Mamba B4 today, and that didn't fix the problem either. Do the GS-1000i have this problem? What of the Tesla T1?

 

 

Is there any software that can help deal with this? I'm running Snow Leopard.

try Audio Hijack Pro + Soundflower.

http://hintsforums.macworld.com/showthread.php?t=67507

steps are there, more or less.  it will give you global control over your EQ and will affect everything making sound on your system, which is awesome of course.  you can then reduce the treble and be happy.

I'm surprised these have a sibilance and sharpness problem.  the D5000's did not.