DUNU DN-2000J -- More Than Evolution?

I managed to try the DN2000j at lendmeurears shop yesterday but only had my phone running spotify as a source unfortunately. Impressions -
 
1. Enveloping sound stage with nice forward projection and left/right separation.
2. Impressive clarity. Definitely TOTL level here. 
3. Excellent bass and sub bass. Tone is also very nice.
4. Sound signature is bright - brighter than H8P.
 
So overall I was quite impressed except for one major problem - sibilance. The edginess in the upper mids / lower treble was just too much for me. My suspect is the source but it was much harsher than DN2000/1000 or even the Titan 1. 

Good impressions.  Agree on everything except the harshness - mind you I am not treble sensitive.  I wonder if it was a combo of the phone and Spotify. On the X3ii, and even iPhone 5S, it was clear but smooth.

omastic said:

  I managed to try the DN2000j at lendmeurears shop yesterday but only had my phone running spotify as a source unfortunately. Impressions -
 
1. Enveloping sound stage with nice forward projection and left/right separation.
2. Impressive clarity. Definitely TOTL level here. 
3. Excellent bass and sub bass. Tone is also very nice.
4. Sound signature is bright - brighter than H8P.
 
So overall I was quite impressed except for one major problem - sibilance. The edginess in the upper mids / lower treble was just too much for me. My suspect is the source but it was much harsher than DN2000/1000 or even the Titan 1. 

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Good impressions, I will also be going to demo it on Saturday with the Xperia Z3 vs X3 Classic with/out BSG Cmoy. Output impedance should be low enough and power shouldn't be an issue for the latter setup. May be able to tell if driving power affects the sound.

Its a little strange because how omastic described the upper mids - lower treble is reflective how I hear 2000J with DX50, including the sibilance, and DX50 has low output impedance. Using FiiO X1 or X3II shows very little issues in comparison.
 
I think already from the sources I've tried its going to be a sensitive IEM reacting to source differences.

omastic said:

  I managed to try the DN2000j at lendmeurears shop yesterday but only had my phone running spotify as a source unfortunately. Impressions -
 
1. Enveloping sound stage with nice forward projection and left/right separation.
2. Impressive clarity. Definitely TOTL level here. 
3. Excellent bass and sub bass. Tone is also very nice.
4. Sound signature is bright - brighter than H8P.
 
So overall I was quite impressed except for one major problem - sibilance. The edginess in the upper mids / lower treble was just too much for me. My suspect is the source but it was much harsher than DN2000/1000 or even the Titan 1. 

Click to expand...

 
Thanks for the impression!
 
Probably could check the smartphone headphone output. I had experience with ATH-IM02, where the treble level rises with output impedance. At that time, I was using old Galaxy S2. When I checked the headphone output impedance, it was close to 50 ohms, too high for IM02. I found some tablets and smartphone have quite high output impedance, around 40-50 ohms. But some, like my current Galaxy S4, quite low, around 1 ohm.
 
Multi driver IEM tonal balance sometime prone to high output impedance source.

Must be very revealing iem

Tonight I've switched some firmwares on DX50 and found a favorable pairing with 2000J.
 
The custom firmware is  SU1.3.3
 
I can't explain what these guys change in the firmware, adding hidden boot screen menus etc, but the sibilance has subsided considerably and that sheen between the upper mids - lower treble is settled compared to the stock v1.6.0 firmware.

Hi guys, so if I'm going for one of these Custom IEM (the ones that you have to take an impressions at the audiologist and send them in for your Custom IEM order).  Which company would finish your Custom IEM the fastest? 
I know JH Audio would take more than 4 months before they finished and ship it to you.

jincuteguy said:

Hi guys, so if I'm going for one of these Custom IEM (the ones that you have to take an impressions at the audiologist and send them in for your Custom IEM order).  Which company would finish your Custom IEM the fastest? 
I know JH Audio would take more than 4 months before they finished and ship it to you.

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Excellent post for a DN-2000J thread, so I'll provide an equally useful reply

jincuteguy said:

  Hi guys, so if I'm going for one of these Custom IEM (the ones that you have to take an impressions at the audiologist and send them in for your Custom IEM order).  Which company would finish your Custom IEM the fastest? 
I know JH Audio would take more than 4 months before they finished and ship it to you.

Click to expand...

aurisonics ...get the as1plus I think the customs are called

earfonia said:

Thanks for the impression!

Probably could check the smartphone headphone output. I had experience with ATH-IM02, where the treble level rises with output impedance. At that time, I was using old Galaxy S2. When I checked the headphone output impedance, it was close to 50 ohms, too high for IM02. I found some tablets and smartphone have quite high output impedance, around 40-50 ohms. But some, like my current Galaxy S4, quite low, around 1 ohm.

Multi driver IEM tonal balance sometime prone to high output impedance source.

Click to expand...

Something I'm worried about as ClieOS compared the low end to a GR07BE and brighter plus less bass isn't something that I'm specifically looking for. Tom said it sounds fine out of an iPhone 6 but fine could still be unliked if the unaltered sound sig doesn't touch base with me. Waiting for more impressions.

That wireless Aurisonics thread has had very little life in it, sadly.

Spent 6 hours or so today out of the box (well, 4 hours of shuffle + 2 of podcasts ) with A17 Walkman line-out through JDS C5D. C5D seems like a good source for these- straight out of the Walkman bass was kind of undefined/blurred, clip+ seemed a little harsh. laptop makes my ears bleed. Caveat: I am not the most discerning listener. Caveat: I have read 3 different glossaries on Head-Fi and still have no idea how to use words. Using the foam filled tips & fins*. Sound impressions are pretty consistent with what I've read so far, I think- Capable non-boomy bass that is there when its supposed to be- wouldn't mind a little more sub/low rumble, but responds well to amp's boost and EQ/DSP stuff without murking up the sig. Mids seem fairly flat/consistent in relation to the bass moving up to the high/treble (really like piano and harpsichord on these), which as reported is bright/detailed mostly on the safe side of harsh, maybe somewhat coarse/grainy compared to asg-2.5 and ath-im02 (reminds me a little bit of jvc fxt-90 'texture').
 
I don't usually bother with burn in if I like the sound out of box, but somewhere on this thread I read Dunu recommend 100+ hours? I wonder if that would help with sibilance, bit of a problem with certain stuff- On this John Foxx & Jori Hulkkonen track It got pretty ridiculous https://soundcloud.com/sugarcane/something-is-coming , (would love to hear if anyone with different sources finds it so terrible). Maybe to blame on the mixing, but was only slightly evident on even the notorious Sony ex1000. I found changing tips helped enormously with those, so hopefully some tip rolling with the 2000J will help me.*addendum* Have since found that the Sony hybrid tips (per brooko's review) do a pretty good job of smoothing over 2000J's sibilance, and foams to a lesser degree.

Soundstage/presentation stuff seemed good to me- though I am habituated to inears and closed-back on-ears. Very good imaging/separation, width/placement, if that makes any sense. A little closed sounding compared to the ex1000 and IM02, a little more open/distant than the asg-2.5 (at least in mids & treble).
 
Sounded good with just about everything that popped up on shuffle. A little rough on some old Duke Ellington tracks, as would be expected from bright cans, great with sludgy crunchy guitar stuff like The Melvins or Hum.
 
*PS I though the fins would be lame, but they are not. Every 'bullet' earphone should have fins. The fins are awesome. THIS awesome.

raketen said:

  Spent 6 hours or so today out of the box (well, 4 hours of shuffle + 2 of podcasts

) with A17 Walkman line-out through JDS C5D. C5D seems like a good source for these- straight out of the Walkman bass was kind of an indistinct blur, clip+ seemed a little harsh. laptop makes my ears bleed. Caveat: I am not the most discerning listener. Caveat: I have read 3 different glossaries on Head-Fi and still have no idea how to use words. Using the foam filled tips & fins*. Sound impressions are pretty consistent with what I've read so far, I think- Capable non-boomy bass that is there when its supposed to be- wouldn't mind a little more sub/low rumble, but responds well to amp's boost and EQ/DSP stuff without murking up the sig. Mids seem fairly flat/consistent in relation to the bass moving up to the high/treble (really like piano and harpsichord on these), which as reported is bright/detailed mostly on the safe side of harsh, maybe somewhat coarse/grainy compared to asg-2.5 and ath-im02 (reminds me a little bit of jvc fxt-90 'texture').
 
I don't usually bother with burn in if I like the sound out of box, but somewhere on this thread I read Dunu recommend 100+ hours? I wonder if that would help with sibilance, bit of a problem with certain stuff- On this John Foxx & Jori Hulkkonen track It got pretty ridiculous https://soundcloud.com/sugarcane/something-is-coming , (would love to hear if anyone with different sources finds it so terrible). Maybe to blame on the mixing, but was only slightly evident on even the notorious Sony ex1000. I found changing tips helped enormously with those, so hopefully some tip rolling with the 2000J will help me.

Soundstage/presentation stuff seemed good to me- though I am habituated to inears and closed-back on-ears. Very good imaging/separation, width/placement, if that makes any sense. A little closed sounding compared to the ex1000 and IM02, a little more open/distant than the asg-2.5 (at least in mids & treble).
 
Sounded good with just about everything that popped up on shuffle. A little rough on some old Duke Ellington tracks, as would be expected from bright cans, great with sludgy crunchy guitar stuff like The Melvins or Hum.
 
*PS I though the fins would be lame, but they are not. Every 'bullet' earphone should have fins. The fins are awesome. THIS awesome.

Click to expand...

 
 
Good assessment there.  I agree with the vocal sibilance, its a little touch and go atm. 
 
Like yourself I wondered letting them run for while will cure it, so far to no avail. With many sources its something we can't really ignore.
 
There's a limit where sibilance should roll-off without exaggeration , 2000J is not holding that back.
 
This will be reflected my upcoming review and has been on my mind.

raketen said:

 
I don't usually bother with burn in if I like the sound out of box, but somewhere on this thread I read Dunu recommend 100+ hours? I wonder if that would help with sibilance, bit of a problem with certain stuff- On this John Foxx & Jori Hulkkonen track It got pretty ridiculous https://soundcloud.com/sugarcane/something-is-coming , (would love to hear if anyone with different sources finds it so terrible). Maybe to blame on the mixing, but was only slightly evident on even the notorious Sony ex1000. I found changing tips helped enormously with those, so hopefully some tip rolling with the 2000J will help me.

Click to expand...

 
I think the sibilance is strong in that track because its the way it's recorded.  I just listened to it with the iDSD > 2000J, and yep it is pretty strong.  But I noticed very little sibilance with a lot of my testing with the Fiios.  Interestingly enough, I also tried the iDSD with the Alclair Curve (which is a pretty warm IEM), and the track was sibilant on those too.  So I think the actual track is a large part of the problem.
 
 

h20fidelity said:

 
Good assessment there.  I agree with the vocal sibilance, its a little touch and go atm. 
Like yourself I wondered letting them run for while will cure it, so far to no avail. With many sources its something we can't really ignore.
There's a limit where sibilance should roll-off without exaggeration , 2000J is not holding that back.
This will be reflected my upcoming review and has been on my mind.

Click to expand...

 
Luke - what sort of music are you using to get the sibilance, and which source?  Have you tried with the X3ii yet?

brooko said:

   

 
 
 
Luke - what sort of music are you using to get the sibilance, and which source?  Have you tried with the X3ii yet?

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 Mild/obvious example would be: Boy & Bear - My Only One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhkBh0ycsIk 
 
Stronger example would be Ane Brun - Changing the seasons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkgwkhEIldU
 
There's usually no avoiding small amounts in the Ane Brun single but its quite questionable with 2000J.
 
Its not only these tracks though, others where detection is commonly absent on other IEMs is showing some slight emphasis. This is using X1 and X3. I see more comments appearing and question source tolerances and actual stability of 2000J's lean mid-range in this regard.