these are smoother on the top end, not as much sparkle. this will be a plus for some and a negative for others. if you have the denon and like them, i would not recommend the upgrade as they do different things better and worse.
i feel that the biggest strengths of these like the atrio are that they do not need a proper portable internal amp to sound very good and detailed in the bass. from my nano and touch, they are extremely good. the mids too seem a little sweeter - that is up to opinion whether to it being good or bad.
personally, i have never heard a canalphone sound as good with faithless' music. for trance, i am sort of stuck. what is better? denon have a bigger soundstage and no matter the placement, it is good. but these have less sibilance in the highs which it hit very often with trance.
the kenwood i would suggest for the person who would like a more mature sounding denon. it has less bass boom - in face very controlled and better highs. the stage is not as big but it places things excellently. i would put the kenwood ahead of the victor for that.
it also does very well for amping like the denon.
i would recommend the victor for those who just want portable fi without an amp. it is perfect for that and makes me enjoy the size of the ipod nano even more. they are all good choices but the most mature of the bunch as for sound concerns i think is the kenwood.
but... im glad i have the victor. by the way, my gf has the kenwood (there seems to be some fakes out now or some others who have had the oem design licensed) they may be cheaper. in the states, they are more rare than the denon so they may be more expensive. here, they are virtually the same price.
if i were to liken them to headphones, perhaps the
denon would be
beyerdynammic dt990 - big soundstage, a sibilance for some people (does not bother me) and large boomy bass that can be controlled but needs amplification.
the
kenwood are the
dt880 - except that they don't have the soundstage to back that up. some people still find these sibilant but they are the most mature of the major beyer phones. sweet sweet mids.
the
victor are the
hd650 with a huge bass and probably curve there but not boomy. Still though, they respond quickly, are faster and great companion to even the demands of electronic. they have emotion and great mids. they are darker than either the kenwood or the denon and have less sparkle in the treble.
if i were to only consider sound and nothing else (cable design, microphonics, ergonomics etc) i would choose the kenwood as my favourite. heaps of people here too love the kenwood for sq alone - it is as far as i know on the top of the list for sq alone in
‰¿Ši.com - u”ƒ‚Á‚Ä‚æ‚©‚Á‚½v‚ð‚·‚×‚Ä‚Ì‚Ð‚Æ‚ÉB but it has many detractors that the denon nor the victor have. actually it looks as if the fx500 is taking over the charts now. it is still 1 on the list and as more reviewers are getting product, its sq ratings are even 4.5 and 4.5 on the charts. the kenwood is 5.0 for treble and 4.0 for base.
victor if you like hd650 over the dt990. i prefer it to the dt990 so i am with the victor - plus the nice aditions of the nice case, the low noise cable etc.
i will not say one is better as there will always be someone who likes the other, but i am glad i own now the kenwood and the victor - my heart lies there.