Some help on headphones to purchase for home use - Denon AH-D2000 or something else?

Hi there

Recently I have started listening to a lot of music in my living room, either from my laptop or else from my iPod Classic.  I currently use a set of AKG K480 NC (with the NC swiitched off) plugged straight into the source, but I would like to upgrade to something better, plus a decent D/A converter/amplifier.  

I listen to a variety of music - rock and blues (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana etc etc), electric jazz (Miles Davis, Pat Metheny) Acoustic Jazz (Miles, Dave Holland, Steps), whether vocal based or instrumental - pretty much all styles bar classical actually.  Mostly I love music that has "edge" - a good and dynamic live recording is for me usually better than the studio equivalent. I''m not a "basshead" but I like a deep, tight and "swinging" sound - analytical abilities are less important to me then musicality.

Given that I listen in our family room the TV is often on and while I had started looking at open back phones but quickly changed to closed ones for this reason - but I am not concerned about sound leaking OUT of the phones as much as I am concerned about sound leaking IN.

I read a load of great reviews on the Denon AH-D2000 and these seemed like the ones to buy until I read that in spite of being closed, they do not provide lot of sound isolation and this worried me for the above reason. I've also seen good reviews of other 'phones in the same price bracket ($250-$350) such as the Shure SRH940.

Unfortunately I live in Malta and there is simply no opportunity to walk into a shop and try out various models to find one that suits me so I have to rely on web reviews and opinion before making the plunge.  Readers' opinions on the "ideal" headphone for me would be really welcome, most especially regarding the real sound isolating capability of the Denons.

By the way, I will most probably purchase the Fiio E17 once it it widely available (and once any initial bugs are ironed out!)

Many thanks in advance!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LimeANite 

Ok, sitting about 8 feet away from the TV, TV volume slightly above normal, I was able to block out most of the noise with the headphone volume slightly above my normal listening level.  It's pretty song-dependent though.  Music that has a lot going on in it is better at blocking TV noise while simpler songs still let a lot of sound in.  With nothing playing, TV volume is only reduced slightly, so they don't block all that much noise on their own.

 

Hope this helps - let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks very much LimeANite that's really valuable information.  Seems that the D2K is not for me - pity about that it seemed to check all the other boxes.  

It would be great to hear recommendations for 'phones with better inward isolation properties than the Denons, but which still suit my listening and budget requirements.  Basically musical and dynamic, decent and tight bass, musical as opposed to analytical, most types of music bar classical, but especially rock and electric jazz, and between $250-$350.

Many thanks!

Following an intense afternoon of research, mostly on this forum, I have pre-ordered the Fischer FA-003 from Frogbeats in UK.....can't wait until they get here!