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Denon AH-D2000, Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohm, Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm, AKG Q701, used...

Poll Results: Which to buy? Amp not an issue.

 
  • 40% (22)
    Denon AH-D2000
  • 7% (4)
    Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohm
  • 14% (8)
    Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm
  • 25% (14)
    AKG Q701
  • 12% (7)
    used Sennheiser HD580/600
  • 0% (0)
    save & wait (such as for a Smeggy Thunderpants or Koss ESP950 in the next few months)
55 Total Votes  
post #1 of 35
9/10/11 at 11:34am
Thread Starter 

By 'amp not an issue', I mean that will not be a problem for me.

 

The headphones currently in my possession and not in storage are...

 

ER4S (nearly perfect, though could be a touch more liquid),

 

modified isolating HD25 (liquid, but a little uneven and not super tight or resolved),

 

Fostex T50rp (muddy, too much midrange, not enough extension), and

 

Sporta Pros (glassy and hyped, but a good utility headphone).

 

*Since I can't make up my mind and there is insufficient tests on all these headphones in the poll, how you vote and your explaination below is very likely to have an influence on my decision.


Edited by Reticuli2 - 9/15/11 at 10:58am
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Etymotic Research ER4S MicroPro Reference Earphones
Sennheiser HD 580
Fostex T50RP Closed Ear Stereo Headphones
post #2 of 35
9/10/11 at 12:41pm

I chose the hd580/600 but I believe the akgs or the dt880s are also good choices. Get one of these based on your taste and you will start your journey into real hifi.

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post #3 of 35
9/10/11 at 1:00pm
Thread Starter 

 

NHT towers and ER4S aren't real hifi? Heh heh. My NHTs are in storage, so I'm stuck with cans now. If there was some place in Dayton Ohio I could try them all, then I'd know what my taste is. I like the ER4S a lot, but allergies have been leaving a lot of fluid behind my ear drums and I have to sleep with earplugs at night due to the noise, so I need to keep my ear canals aired out for most of the day to keep things from getting itchy.

Hmm… I like long walks on the beach. Errm, I mean…

And I like the Orleans casino's upstairs movie theater in Vegas when they're running SDDS in one of their auditoriums. And I loved the sound of Club Utopia on the balcony floor circa 1999.

I did find the ESP950 REALLY bright at the Koss booth during CES, but I suspect there was something wrong with it. And I thought the HD580 sounded very boring and veiled when driven out of a portable player when demoed for me at The Good Guys in Eugene, Oregon in 1999. Again, probably not very informative considering the circumstance. I thought the Grado SR60 sounded bad in the complete opposite way out of the same portable. And I've heard another low-end or mid-range Grado once that didn't impress me, though I was interested in trying the RS1 which wasn't around. The Denon AH-D950 sounded kind of hyped, dark, and fizzy. The MDR-600 was too warm and muddy. I recently tested the Sony 7506 which I owned for a while at one time. I found it flatter and more enjoyable than I remembered, but on some material still came off as hard. I need something higher end and more refined, though. In the same session, I loved the deep bass of the Sennheiser HD280, but missed the upper bass and had to finally pass on them due to the inconsistent mids and fizzy highs... and the fact I already have HD25s that give me that caliber of sound or better.

It almost sounds like you think I should just pick one and if I don’t like it, sell it and try something else. In that case, people can just keep voting and I will literally choose one based on that.

Probably.

Maybe.

Depends on how many votes and responses. 

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post #4 of 35
9/10/11 at 1:03pm

I owned a pair of DT880s and sold them off for a pair of D2000s. I was much happier with the D2000s - the DT880s were just too flat and sterile for me. The D2000's are more "fun" to listen to and have character.

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post #5 of 35
9/10/11 at 3:15pm

I'm going to order the DT880 (600 ohm) in a few days after a couple hours of auditioning at the local Audio Store. I loved them but they're as Corbet said flat and sterile but that's my thing (I call it transparent and neutral). I also listened to the HD600s and the DT990 (250 ohm).

 

I would say:

 

-If you want to hear instruments being played at the same time, go for the DT880s. A hyperbole of course but it is a very analytical sound with a soundstage that's wide enough so you hear every detail, but on some songs the instruments are too far apart and just too... non-musical. They can also be a tad sharp on the trebles but if you like it, it's great.

 

-If you want hear a more musical and less treble focused version of the DT880, the DT990 it is.

 

-I really don't think I spent enough time with the HD600s to comment so, going along with longstanding tradition of Head-fi, I will zip my lip on them and everything else in the poll.

 

Hope I narrowed it down for you a little.

 

Also, the save and wait will ALWAYS be there. Unless you've been waiting for just a specific pair of cans for months, there's no point. If you have the money, and feel the itch to upgrade or get another set, just do it. The worse you end up having to return/post it on the For Sale forums.

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post #6 of 35
9/10/11 at 3:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reticuli2 View Post

 

NHT towers and ER4S aren't real hifi? Heh heh. My NHTs are in storage, so I'm stuck with cans now.


 

Are your NHT's the big mofos with side firing woofers?  Those are nice speakers.  FWIW, the HD600's got my vote as a change of pace from your Ety's.

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post #7 of 35
9/10/11 at 3:53pm

The Denons are closed and I know among the Beyer pairs, one is open and the other is semi open. I have the Denons and they are great. They don't isolate that well, they block out a bit of sound but not too much, and don't seem to have that much of a closed sound to me. I love the D2000, I use them with an amp, but I've heard they are ok without one, just much better with one.

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post #8 of 35
9/10/11 at 8:30pm
Thread Starter 

Yeah, the NHTs are pretty big and heavy.  I biamp them with a 700watt harman kardon, but they're put away in storage right now.

 

Funny, both the Denon guys posted but didn't vote.


Edited by Reticuli2 - 9/10/11 at 8:31pm
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post #9 of 35
9/10/11 at 10:12pm

i had dt990 pro and now i have denon d2000, dt880pro is flat and analytical its not for everyone, denon d2000 is way better than dt990pro, its fun, revealing, quite balanced, has really good bass, not overpowering but with good impact and accuraccy and energetic treble, really good for rock and most genres, it has natural tonality not veiled like sennheisers hd580/ hd600 which arent good for rock and most genres, only for classical, jazz, blues...

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post #10 of 35
9/13/11 at 11:07am
Thread Starter 

bump

 

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post #11 of 35
9/13/11 at 1:44pm

At first I voted for D2000 because you said you wanted extension, but reading again, it looks as though you're after some very crisp sounding headphones.  When amped properly, Beyers are among the crispest.

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post #12 of 35
9/13/11 at 2:20pm

Got some D2000's in the mail today. Out of the box, they're really balanced sounding..so very strange considering most say they have bloated bass and recessed mids.

 

Gotta love Amazon Warehouse deals. It was listed as "Good" and it's more like "Poor". There's a whole 1" section of paint GONE. Not gray, but now white. Maybe they thought it was just a sticker?

Like these so much that I don't want to return them, but will anyway. If I ever resell them years from now nobody would buy them. At least it has screws still attached!

 

For the price I paid ($220) I could have gotten a new pair elsewhere for $200.

 

Definitely a nice upgrade from the M50. They do sound quite bright, but not burned in.

 

 

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post #13 of 35
9/13/11 at 2:31pm

Wait a bit longer on amazon.  From time to time there's used-like new D2000s for 190-200usd.  Very good deals.

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post #14 of 35
9/13/11 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 

$230 new seems like a good price on the Denons, but from the measurements they look to have the least-tight and sustained bass response, even worse than the HD600.  The best thing about the bass seems to be its neutrality and extension on the Denon.  Is the bass that flabby and lacking sustain (like on acoustic and electric bass)?

 

Which of the DT880 600ohm or Q701 would people say is most like the ER4S, forgetting the sound stage issues for a moment.

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post #15 of 35
9/15/11 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 

Wow, did not expect all the fans of the Denons.  How many of you other non-posting converted Denon peeps have experience with the other headphones in the poll, and which ones?  Or even if you have experience with the other headphone I have available to me right now; that might be a useful comparison, too.


Edited by Reticuli2 - 9/15/11 at 9:00am
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Etymotic Research ER4S MicroPro Reference Earphones
Sennheiser HD 580
Fostex T50RP Closed Ear Stereo Headphones
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Headphones (full-size) › Denon AH-D2000, Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250ohm, Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm, AKG Q701, used Sennheiser HD580/600, or save & wait?