[Magick Man]

That song always reminds me of my first real GF in high school... for some reason that I can't discuss around here.

 

[MattTCG]

Off topic...I married my HS girlfriend just over two years ago. Best decision I ever made!!

 

[scud80]

thanks very much for this post.  it's really useful to have specific notes about test tracks with elements i can listen for in my own gear.  i'm just now getting into figuring out the specifics of the sound i like, and it's a little overwhelming trying to select tracks for testing from a library of 50000 songs.

 

[Taowolf51]

Well done, mate, review was pretty to look at and good to read.

 

[Cassadian]

Great job.  Makes me look forward to purchasing my Denon AH-D700's ( IN 5 MONTHS THAT IS T_T )

 

[westonelove]

Nice comparison. Anyone ever try the he300s? how does that compare with the d2000 and hd650

 

[mac336]

 
Quote:

That was a really long way of saying "I am wrong".

 

lol that was funny
 
 
 
I think the reviewer is biased given that the d2000 are his current favorite headphones. 
 
Review are subjective, but I dont understand how anyone could possibly consider the d2000 more comfortable, in any way, over the hd650.
 
And when your points system is random qualities you picked.  If your going to make bass a point of emphasis, ofcourse the D2000 is going to rack up points there however, you dont have a category for mids or highs (maybe your including those qualities in another group). 
 
anyway, I enjoyed the 650s alot more
 

 

[TMRaven]

The only thing remotely biased was my song choices.  If I had picked one or two less bass songs and an extra mid-centric jazz or orchestral song the HD650 would have won the face-off. In fact, even if you were to take into account only the sound qualities in my ratings you would see the HD650 barely edged the D2000 for me.  I think I even mention about the HD650 sonically being the better headphone.
 
Timbre, resolution and instrument separation are all largely qualities of mids and treble.  Just as bass impact  and extension are two very important categories that a closed and famously performing D2000 would excel in, the two soundstage categories are two qualities that almost every closed headphone would fall short in compared to an open headphone.  You could argue semantics, but realistically the categories I give are all arguably more applicable to real-world sound and technicalities.  
 
The D2000 went in as my favorite vs the HE-400 and came out losing by quite a margin.  There is no 'bias from current favorite' as you speak of.  It's more like 'HD650's overall performance is horribly overhyped and didn't satisfy my requirements.'  People like to argue that it truly shines with x high dollar fancy amplifier and equipment, but at that point anybody who's sane would be better off getting higher end headphones and achieve even better results.  There's a certain lore behind the HD650 on head-fi that I just don't understand, but that's not to stop me from saying that it's one of the best headphones on the market.
 
Reviews are subjective just as your opinion on the HD650's comfort is subjective.  I've overheard lots of people saying HD650 was either one of the most comfortable or lesser comfortable headphones they've put on their heads.  One thing I think you will never find however, is someone saying a Denon lacks in comfort.  It's almost universally agreed upon to be a top notch in the comfort department and my experience with the D2000 definitely parallels everybody's thoughts on the matter.
 
Let the 650 followers whine about it though, that's fine in my book.

 

[elbastardo]

I've never heard the HD650, but I do have and love the HD600. Even though it is technically a better headphone, I like the D2000's better. They are just a more fun can to listen to. The depth of the bass and just blows my mind....and I will say that the Denons are more comfortable than the HD600's. IMO, they are the most comfy cans I have ever put on my head.

 

[Eric_C]

Having demo'd HD600, 650 and D2000 a fair bit over the past month, I'd like to concur with TMRaven's statements on the relative comfort levels of each phone.
 
The HD600/650 is, initially, indeed clampy. The Denons aren't, at all. I can't comment on whether the lack of clamp makes the Denons uncomfortable over longer listening sessions, but at least in auditions, it's quite clear to my mind (and the noggin that contains it) which one I would pick for comfort.

 

[TMRaven]

I do admit I wish every headphone had a headband that left a void at the very top to avoid pressure buildup.  

 

[Sonic Defender]

Really nice review. One thing I did notice is that the majority of the material you used to audition the headphones with is heavily compressed, low - zero dynamics recordings, with some exceptions of course (Depeche Mode, Jethro Tull, Zuckerman). That said, you have to review what it is you like. I suffer with this dilemma all of the time; do I listen to music that I love even when poorly recorded/compressed, or explore other music that is actually well recorded? Point in proof, I am a huge Rush fan, but their new album which is full of fantastic music really it is, is so poorly recorded that I can barely tolerate listening to it. I have recently started exploring recordings from the 70s, 80s and early 90s that previously I would not have, and I am happy to be discovering dynamics. Without exception now when I find music that sounds rich and vibrant I take it into Adobe Audition and look at the waveform and do an amplitude analysis. No surprise to see the waveforms from properly mastered albums with plenty of dynamics and reasonable amplitudes. Then I take something like Adele into Audition and you find a huge block waveform with virtually zero dynamics left to speak of. Such a shame that so much fantastic music now no longer gets recorded well. Sorry, didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that... Cheers.

 

[TMRaven]

I like doing that with audacity as well.

There might've been a couple higher dr songs in there, but I really wanted to hear how the hd650s tackled bass-- specifically digitally generated low bass. Even the great sounding ones (trentemoller, infected mushroom etc) are rather compressed.

 

[twizzleraddict]

TMRaven, thanks for the review and comparisons. I've got a couple of the tracks/albums you mentioned and just recently got a pair of D2000s to compare with my HD650s. I'll be keeping both of them now, thank you. Each plays to its strengths in specific areas. The HD650s are GREAT on the jazz albums I play a lot of. But going down the dubstep/electronica kick for the past couple of weeks, the D2000s just make me shake my booty wayyyyyyy too much. MUCH more engaging than the HD650s due to obvious reasons.
 
Are your D2000s stock by the way or have you done some mods to them? And have you heard HE-500s compared to your HE-400s? What about the HE-5s? I'd be interested in your thoughts if you did.

 

[TMRaven]

I have not modded the denons nor have I heard the other hifimans.