hi guys, this is my first post so be kind,
 
i currently have some beats studio but i'm fed up with the too much bass on those and looking for some neutral cans,
my current power source is an ipod touch and iphone (not ideal i know) so would be unamped and the beats are louder enough for me through the ipod so must be as loud
 
i'm considering buying the AKG K550 or the Dennon AHD2000 from what i read the akg k550 is 32ohm and the dennon is roughly 25 ohm is that correct?
i'm going to be using these with my ipod touch and iphone so must be quite loud hence why i'm looking for low ohms headphones because of unamped source
 
i got a couple of question on these i'm looking for a Neutral sound headphones with bass as they should be not overpowering  and clear mids and highs, off topic i currently own a little akg pair Q460 and i like the sound of those but heard good things about the dennons as well if anyone has any experience with either headphones i would like your verdicts
also must not clamp on head too tight like some headphone and must be comfortable to wear
 
also is the ohms what make the headphones loud or what is it? both are quite low ohm's so should be okay with ipod i know the sound will be improved with an amp but maybe later on, but for now it will be unamped
 
any help would be welcome
 

Heya,
 
There's one big stark difference between the two. The Denon has neutral sub-bass (ie, it can hit you with 30hz at the same volume as basically everything up to 1,000hz, very linear, which is what neutrality is... linear response). The K550 does not have this down to 30hz. It drops off. It's not bassless, mind you, but it doesn't have the impact and deep end that the Denon has. It other wise has a great sound stage, great mids, and good detailed treble. But, so does the Denon. If you favor drastically more the mids, the K550 might be for you. If you are willing to lose a hair, a minutia, amount of mids for the ability to have linear bass to 30hz, then it's the Denon.
 
Both are low impedance and don't need an amp at all. Will play find with your ipod.
 
Very best,

 
Quote:

malveaux said:

Heya,
 
There's one big stark difference between the two. The Denon has neutral sub-bass (ie, it can hit you with 30hz at the same volume as basically everything up to 1,000hz, very linear, which is what neutrality is... linear response). The K550 does not have this down to 30hz. It drops off. It's not bassless, mind you, but it doesn't have the impact and deep end that the Denon has. It other wise has a great sound stage, great mids, and good detailed treble. But, so does the Denon. If you favor drastically more the mids, the K550 might be for you. If you are willing to lose a hair, a minutia, amount of mids for the ability to have linear bass to 30hz, then it's the Denon.
 
Both are low impedance and don't need an amp at all. Will play find with your ipod.
 
Very best,

Click to expand...

thanks for the reply,
so would you say for mids and highs and treble the akg would be better detailed sound and more crisp then the dennon's if i was to sacrifice a bit of bass then the denno's have and go for the akg k550? i own a little akg pair q460 and the sound is very good but hoping the k550 would be an improvement as i like the sound signature off the akg

Quote:

movieman said:

 


thanks for the reply,
so would you say for mids and highs and treble the akg would be better detailed sound and more crisp then the dennon's if i was to sacrifice a bit of bass then the denno's have and go for the akg k550? i own a little akg pair q460 and the sound is very good but hoping the k550 would be an improvement as i like the sound signature off the akg

Click to expand...

Heya,
 
The AKG K550 is going to have better mids. Treble is similar. Bass is the big difference factor, K550 being lighter on bass and the Denon being being authoritative with sub-bass. I'd suggest you try and listen to a Denon before making a choice if you can. It's not a bit of bass, it's a ton of bass that you're losing.
 
Very best,
 

Quote:

malveaux said:

If you are willing to lose a hair, a minutia, amount of mids for the ability to have linear bass to 30hz, then it's the Denon.
 

Click to expand...

 
The mids on the D2000 make the headphone sound thin, no body to the sound. When I had them, and I had them for a while, I tried them out of various amps/sources. When I got my K701's (which are also sold now) I sold the D2000 because of the mids that I had been missing out on. For this reason I cannot agree that its just a hair of mids that are lost, they just don't have the presence that they should. 

unfortunately i dont have anystores to test these out near me but a friend has heard the dennon's and weren't that impressed at all by them, i know akg seems to lack the bass but i heard this model has better bass then other models is that right?
so has the 550 got no bass whatsoever or is it just not overproducing bass like some headphones like the beats studio for example and is natural sorry for so many questions but i'm looking for some realy good closed headphones and these two are around the same price at £250 i heard the dennon's weren't that well made around the ear pivots and are known to break?

Quote:

movieman said:

unfortunately i dont have anystores to test these out near me but a friend has heard the dennon's and weren't that impressed at all by them, i know akg seems to lack the bass but i heard this model has better bass then other models is that right?
so has the 550 got no bass whatsoever or is it just not overproducing bass like some headphones like the beats studio for example and is natural sorry for so many questions but i'm looking for some realy good closed headphones and these two are around the same price at £250 i heard the dennon's weren't that well made around the ear pivots and are known to break?

Click to expand...

The K550 has bass, it has more bass than some of the more popular AKG's. But it still doesn't have the sub-bass presence of a headphone that is fully capable of neutrality from top to bottom, as it lacks sub-bass. So again, it comes down to what you're after. I love the look of the K550, it's so sleek looking for an AKG and closed which I adore. But when something can't slam me with 30hz when I want it to, it's just incomplete to me. But that's my preference. Gotta go with what you really prefer.
 
Very best,

Quote:

malveaux said:

a headphone that is fully capable of neutrality from top to bottom

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The Denon's are anything but neutral, they're a bass head headphone, but if that's what the OP's looking for then perfect.

thats the thing i'm not a bass head but like bass thats there like it should be but not overpowering i heard the dennons were very bassy? also which out of the two would you say would be clearer and nicer to listen to, i apprecitte what you guys are saying though,

Coming from the Beats you're going to find most headphones clean and accurate in comparison. The Denons bass is above neutral but if you're listening to bass-heavy genres like electronica then they should suit you fine, they are not a headphone for classical, folk etc. I haven't heard the AKG K550 to comment.

I own a pair of AKG k550s and love them. Very solid construction with excellent quality across the board and awesome comfort. The AHD2000s are also pretty good headphones, I currently don't own a pair but I did demo a few (both burnt in and not) and borrowed a friend's pair for a few days before I purchased my AKGs. Whichever pair you buy it is highly likely you will be very happy, especially coming up from beats. Although don't expect them to be perfect coming out of the box, they improve immensely with a nice burn in.
 
In my short experience with the AHD2000s I did notice that they did not stand out nearly as much in the mids or highs and the build quality left something to be desired. However, Since I don't actually own or have much experience with a pair of Denon AHD2000s I cant accurately/reliably advise you on them.
 
 Here is a little pros and cons for the k550s.
 
Note: I love these headphones. They are my daily go to pair and I don't see much wrong with them so I may have some bias. I am not a professional, just a lover of high-fi equipment who spends way too much time and money fiddling with audio equipment.
 
AKG k550s
 
 - Pros
 

1. Very comfortable, and if your head is too small you can bend the headband a little (don't worry its easy and not nearly as bad as it sounds) or this will make it fit, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00862522A/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i01 (yes it will fit, pull it on tightly and it will conform to the wide headband perfectly. Within a day it will hold that size when you take it off, no problems to report and I have been using my extra pad for 4-5 months very happily.)
2. Wide sound stage especially due to the wide, circular earcups and deep earpads
3. (In my opinion) The bass from the AKGs is excellent. At least better than most other headphones and (Again in my opinion) they felt somewhat close to the Denons 
4. Easily driven by most music players (IPod included) and sound great with most amps, personally I prefer to use my Fiio E17 Alpen but most things will do the job just fine
5. Articulate, clear and enjoyable sound, especially with FLAC or other lossy formats and well above expectations for $300 headphones
6. Durable metal build with high quality earpads and a strong cable (both the cable itself and the connection to the headphones, A+)

 
 - Cons
 

1. Somewhat larger than most headphones so they can be annoying to travel with 
2. 9ft cable (I braided it, which worked perfectly)

Quote:

movieman said:

thats the thing i'm not a bass head but like bass thats there like it should be but not overpowering i heard the dennons were very bassy? also which out of the two would you say would be clearer and nicer to listen to, i apprecitte what you guys are saying though,

Click to expand...

 
I recently sold my K550's, though I thought highly enough of them to keep them in my avatar .
I still have my Denon 2000's, and have no intention at all of selling them.
 
They are not basshead phones as far as I'm concerned.
They do put out more bass than the AKG's.
To me, the overly light bass was the AKG's biggest weakness.
Second biggest issue was overly sensitive ear placement - move them only slightly
this way or another, and the sound would change markedly.  But when placed well,
the sound was very, very good.
 
I'll answer your question by saying that the AKG's are probably slightly "clearer",
but to my ears the Denon 2000's are nicer to listen to. 

I noticed the opposite with the AKG K550's ... I was running around on forums looking around to see if anyone else agreed with me on the excellent accurate bass of these, and everyone was saying 'Nah, it's got no bass...' Whaaat? The frequency graphs show bass, my ears feel bass, I found someone eventually who agreed and had actually measured it properly, the graph that shows a lot of roll-off in all the typical graphs was measured right down to the under 30's and they've actually heavily peaked it down that low.

I'm no a crazy bass person, like I must have bass or anything, I went out looking for the most neutral headphones I could get, so I was really surprised when I plugged these in and got great sub bass. If you load up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6wrZ6P6-wU ... when it gets to 3:27, ... Head shaker, what's even more surprising is that sub bass continues through the entire track, but when the mid comes back in, it's all still crystal clear both the sub bass and the middle, and highs. Some massive hits start at 3:49 and the sub still continues strong throughout it all, and it's not subtle or not deep enough at all.
 
Although I have not actually heard the Denon's to say anything about them at all, I do enjoy these K550's a hell of a lot. They're getting even more bass in them every day. I'm only on about 4 hours of use, so ... it's they're not really there yet.