I think what you're hearing is right. A lot of people on head-fi who prefer nothing more than neutral bass are quick to dismiss the D2000 as having bloated and boomy bass. The reality of it is that it has a lesser quantity of bass compared to the M50. The M50's bass is more bloated and boomy if you will-- it has less impact compared to D2000's bass. I'm not quite sure what you mean by you're using the Music Streamer to listen to the Denon, but that's only a dac. I've no doubt it's able to drive headphones by itself because it has a powerful line-out signal, but you'd want a separate amp as well.
On an iPod, the Denon's bass is noticeably looser, but on an amp it tightens up and hits harder. So long story short: M50 has more bass quantity, the Denon has more bass impact. Also, the Denon's bass might as well be a straight line down to 30hz, while the M50's has a noticeable bass hump in the mid bass that eventually rolls off into the sub-bass. Even though it can produce a 30hz signal as authoritative as the Denon, it does so with a rolloff compared to its higher bass frequencies. This can make the Denon seem like it has deeper bass in songs, because it doesn't have to compensate with a midbass hump because of its lack of natural bass rolloff.
It could also be that you're listening to the wrong songs as well? Lossless doesn't mean much. If the original song doesn't have much bass in it then the Denons won't give you much bass. What songs in particular are you using?
Edited by TMRaven - 1/19/12 at 7:40am