[woof37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do not think you are being very objective let alone fair. The mods that Mark sells are not proprietary. He wrote a very lengthy post with plenty of pictures to show all of us how to go about implementing the mods. Perhaps you should get one of each and post your impressions.

I think I'm being very objective and fair. Does MarkL not stand to make a good bit of money by promoting his mods over an unmodded model? The vast majority of Head-Fi-ers are not going to feel comfortable doing the recabling and earpad tuning, etc, and therefore they'll ship them off to MarkL rather than implement those mods themselves.

I'm sure he's an honorable guy...that's never been even questioned. But to be objective towards a comparison review is to take into account the self-interests of the reviewer. In this case, it's in his financial self-interest to promote one he frequently mods for $$$ over one he doesn't.

If you're asking me to compare a D5000 and D7000, I owned the former and own the latter. (somewhere on Head-Fi I posted my thoughts in as literal terms as I could muster...I forget where)

 

[markl]

I'd be skeptical, too, I am a biased observer.

However, what's so often missing in these D7000 threads is a direct A/B comparison against the D5000. I keep reading things like how the D7000 "fits" so much better than the D5000 (even though in terms of build, they are 100% identical, exacty the same) and many other apparently magical qualities that seem to me to be a by-product of the placebo of spending $500 extra dollars on a D7000 (YMMV). In so many ways the D7000 is a slightly EQ-tweaked D5000. Looking at graphs alone (on Headroom's site), it would appear the D5000 is the more desirable phone if you are looking for a flatter response, or a phone with less bass roll-off.

FWIW, I do (slightly) prefer the D7000 over the D5000. It's smoother, and a tad more refined. Beyond that, I don't hear the same alleged radical differences others claim. However, in a world where there are people who claim to prefer the D2000 over the D5000, there will also be people who like the D2000 over the D7000...

 

[SBD]

Just something I noticed but Headroom says on the product page that d7000 has pleather pads, I don't recall it being confirmed in the other threads.


What I don't understand about the MarkL mod is that denon shows off the magnesium frame for not vibrating and the cups for having somewhat ideal acoustic properties.

 

[woof37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd be skeptical, too, I am a biased observer. However, what's so often missing in these D7000 threads is a direct A/B comparison against the D5000. I keep reading things like how the D7000 "fits" so much better than the D5000 (even though in terms of build, they are 100% identical, exacty the same) and many other apparently magical qualities that seem to me to be a by-product of the placebo of spending $500 extra dollars on a D7000 (YMMV). In so many ways the D7000 is a slightly EQ-tweaked D5000. Looking at graphs alone (on Headroom's site), it would appear the D5000 is the more desirable phone if you are looking for a flatter response, or a phone with less bass roll-off. FWIW, I do (slightly) prefer the D7000 over the D5000. It's smoother, and a tad more refined. Beyond that, I don't hear the same alleged radical differences others claim. However, in a world where there are people who claim to prefer the D2000 over the D5000, there will also be people who like the D2000 over the D7000...

I am torn as to my personal preference...if Denon could have slightly (as opposed to completely) flattened out the bass hump in the D5000 while keeping the slightly rolled off top end, I'd prefer that to all of them. The D7000 has a tad bit too much up top for me, but I'm hoping break-in and time will remove that.

The price differential, though, is fairly insane. There's no way the D7000 is $500 better than the D5000. I had to go through a military B/X to even get them at a reasonable price.

 

[boomy3555]

I emailed Denon a while back and in thier response I was told that the 5k's have pleather and the 7k's have leather. But Until I have my 7k's in hand (under Nose) I won't know for sure. I also remember a picture of the 5k and 7k pads side by side with no appreciable visual difference between the thickness of the two. Considering that Markl literaly lives with these cans, I'd pretty much believe him when he say's "Identical"

 

[scytheavatar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by woof07 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am torn as to my personal preference...if Denon could have slightly (as opposed to completely) flattened out the bass hump in the D5000 while keeping the slightly rolled off top end, I'd prefer that to all of them. The D7000 has a tad bit too much up top for me, but I'm hoping break-in and time will remove that. The price differential, though, is fairly insane. There's no way the D7000 is $500 better than the D5000. I had to go through a military B/X to even get them at a reasonable price.

Yes, the D7000 is certainly not $500 better than the D5000... but at the moment you can find them at at bit more than $600. And to be they are certainly $200 better than the D5000.

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd be skeptical, too, I am a biased observer. However, what's so often missing in these D7000 threads is a direct A/B comparison against the D5000. I keep reading things like how the D7000 "fits" so much better than the D5000 (even though in terms of build, they are 100% identical, exacty the same) and many other apparently magical qualities that seem to me to be a by-product of the placebo of spending $500 extra dollars on a D7000 (YMMV). In so many ways the D7000 is a slightly EQ-tweaked D5000. Looking at graphs alone (on Headroom's site), it would appear the D5000 is the more desirable phone if you are looking for a flatter response, or a phone with less bass roll-off.

*Facepalm*. Less bass roll off than the D5000? I hate to say this, but that proves that you have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Taikero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif *Facepalm*. Less bass roll off than the D5000? I hate to say this, but that proves that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Read a bit closer. He was saying the D5000 has *less* bass roll off than the other two, which would make it more desirable to the bassheads.

 

[woof37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, the D7000 is certainly not $500 better than the D5000... but at the moment you can find them at at bit more than $600. And to be they are certainly $200 better than the D5000. *Facepalm*. Less bass roll off than the D5000? I hate to say this, but that proves that you have no idea what you are talking about.

I have no idea where you guys are actually buying the D7000 for $600. I looked everywhere, and nobody had them in stock. I was in a backorder with Beach Audio for almost three months and finally gave up.

I think you misunderstood him. He's saying (unless *I* misunderstood him) that the D5000 has more bass than the D7000.

 

[Taikero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by woof07 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have no idea where you guys are actually buying the D7000 for $600. I looked everywhere, and nobody had them in stock. I was in a backorder with Beach Audio for almost three months and finally gave up. I think you misunderstood him. He's saying (unless *I* misunderstood him) that the D5000 has more bass than the D7000.

Well, $643 isn't bad, and I just looked on Amazon.

Amazon.com: Denon AHD-7000 Ultra Reference Over-Ear Headphones: Electronics

I've heard of a few other places with $615 and others close to that. $600 wouldn't be a stretch. I think J&R was having a sale of sorts?

 

[boomy3555]

J&R has them for 560.00 ish but are currently on B/O. They are an authorized Denon retailer and are expected to be among the first retailers to get some in stock.

 

[ferraro25]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd be skeptical, too, I am a biased observer. However, what's so often missing in these D7000 threads is a direct A/B comparison against the D5000. I keep reading things like how the D7000 "fits" so much better than the D5000 (even though in terms of build, they are 100% identical, exacty the same) and many other apparently magical qualities that seem to me to be a by-product of the placebo of spending $500 extra dollars on a D7000 (YMMV).

You could possibly be correct (although your price difference is about 4 months behind), but I, myself, will never mod any headphone costing over $20 (I put holes in my KSC-35 covers a while back), so I'll just stick with the D7000 (assuming I like it a lot when it gets here). I don't want to mess with my headphones and potentially ruin the sound.

 

[SBD]

J&R has them in stock again but for the full thousand. Also regarding the pads, I'm just guessing here but, I think the d7000 pads are different, just different from the d2000 pads in size but identical to d5000 pads.


-edit: this could explain it

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5294791-post21.html

 

[KevM2]

I guess I got VERY lucky by ordering them last night at J&R. Saved $100 minimum over amazon.com, and $450 if I bought them today at jr.com. It still says that they are out of stock though.

 

[markl]

Quote:

*Facepalm*. Less bass roll off than the D5000? I hate to say this, but that proves that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Reading comprehension apparently not his strong suit.

 

[fzman]

one of the things that seems to me to be missing from lots of these 'face-off' comparisons, besides listener taste and associated equipment, is the fact that beyond a certain $$ amount, you are buying refinement, and, as we all know, refinement cost-diminishing returns-money. (anpother pet peeve is the fact that people have to have an arsenal of cans, each 'suited' to a different genre of music-- seems to me that means that these folks fail to recognize that the reality is that each of their cans has at least one serious FLAW that prevents it from being able to play music correctly-- proper headphones should not 'care' what genre they are playing-- they should jusy play it properly)

i bought the 7000s after an audition of a manufacturer's sample. my love for them surprised me, because i found the 5000s, overall, to be a muddy mess. bass has pitch, and i want to hear it.

the 7000s allow me to get lost in the music, and when they are just sitting on my desk playing, they sound like speakers, not tinny approximations of what you hear from the bleed-thru when some moron walks by you with open cans playing at what must be ear-splitting volume.

so, my long-winded point is that the 7000s are truer to the music in significant ways qualitatively, even if they are not necessarily quantitatively enough better to justify the difference in street price.

i say enjoy what you enjoy!