[kensan]

Hello all,

Unfortunately for my wallet, I have pretty much decided, that Hifi/Head-Fi and the whole she-bang is a good hobby to squander my money on

I am just about to put in an order for a Predator and now I am looking for a closed headphone to go with it... I am not particularly looking for portable cans since I already own a pair of Westone UM2's. I will mainly use them to listen at home. As source I will be using my computers via the Predator's DAC and my Ipods (Nano 1st Gen/Touch).

Here's for my music taste: I am listening to all kinds of music but more often to Rock/guitar stuff like The Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs, Foo Fighters, etc but also Soul (Joss Stone, Norah Jones) with a bit of Jazz and Hip-Hop for good measure. Oh and of course Radiohead and Björk.

As candidates I am thinking about the ATH-ESW9 and the Denon D2000. Are there other headphones I should consider in that pricerange (~300-400$)? If there's a considerable gain in SQ I am also willing to stretch my wallet. I want to restrain myself to spend no more than 1k (incl. Predator) at the moment.

My thoughts about the two candidates:
- The ESW9 look awesome (Wood is sexy!) and from what I gather they are really comfortable to wear.

- The Denon's seem to have decent sound quality and are supposed to be very comfortable as well.

I am not considering the Ultrasone HFI-780 at this stage because I fancy the ALO-780 but the price is a bit dauntig at the moment... same goes for Grados: I have read many great things about Grados and it seems they might be for me. Since I would opt for the RS-2/1 they too are a bit out of my target price range...

It would be really helpfull to me if some of you could comment on this.

-Kensan

 

[Robonaut]

Kensan,

I just purchased the D2000's big brother (the D5000s) and I am very impressed with them so far. Based on what I've heard, the D2000 is supposed to not be that different from the D5000 soundwise, so the D2000 would be my recommendation (I admit, though, that I have not heard the ATHs).

However, if isolation is very important, you might want to try the Beyerdynamic DT770s. If the D2000s are like the D5000s, they will not isolate very well. The DT770s, though, are superb in that regard, and are also close to the Denons in comfort.

 

[shleepy]

You could get yourself some DT770's (~$100 used) and then send them off to get Darth Beyer'ed. That should end up being around your price range, maybe a little higher.

 

[kensan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shleepy /img/forum/go_quote.gif You could get yourself some DT770's (~$100 used) and then send them off to get Darth Beyer'ed. That should end up being around your price range, maybe a little higher.

That sounds very tempting. I just checked out the Headphile website and it seems that the Darth Beyers indeed cost less than $400! I was not even thinking about them because I simply thought they were way more expensive!

That's awesome, because as mentioned in the original post I love wood! I know there's many posts about the Darth Beyers but could somebody that has listened to Darth Beyers, Dennon D2000 and the ATH-ESW9 give some comments about how they compare to eachother?

Thanks a bunch!
-Kensan

 

[Almoxil]

I have the ATH-ESW9 and am very pleased with the sound. Lush, with enough detail and bass slam. I enjoy a lot of my rock, metal, trip-hop and electronic music with them (paired with my Corda Move and Cowon D2). And yes, they're damn sexy looking.

 

[shleepy]

Bump because I'm interested in this, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensan /img/forum/go_quote.gif I know there's many posts about the Darth Beyers but could somebody that has listened to Darth Beyers, Dennon D2000 and the ATH-ESW9 give some comments about how they compare to eachother?

 

[Tiemen]

Are there people who listened to Darth Beyers, and disliked them?
And why?

 

[x-kevin]

what about the sennheiser hd595?? would they suffice?

 

[DKaz]

I think the Denon D2000 would be a great candidate. It is a great all around headphone. I love the Denon's for rock. The price has dropped to $209 shipped too!

Denon D2000

 

[shleepy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by x-kevin /img/forum/go_quote.gif what about the sennheiser hd595?? would they suffice?

They're open headphones, first of all, and for $350, you can go for something much, much better...

 

[redrich2000]

I recently listened to the ESW9s and the ATH-A900ti and they were quite similar sounding but the 900ti was a little more detailed with a little better soundstage. They are also circumaural, ultra comfortable and have better isolation. If you don't need portable I would go for the 900ti over the ESW9. They don't have wood though...

 

[uraflit]

the ESW9 is for portable use no? try to find something circumaural for better comfort!

 

[MaloS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiemen /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are there people who listened to Darth Beyers, and disliked them? And why?

Yes. They severely lack midrange, and the bass response is very overpowering. The driver is just not quite good enough to be considered high fidelity, although plenty of use for gaming...

 

[boomana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensan /img/forum/go_quote.gif That sounds very tempting. I just checked out the Headphile website and it seems that the Darth Beyers indeed cost less than $400! I was not even thinking about them because I simply thought they were way more expensive! That's awesome, because as mentioned in the original post I love wood! I know there's many posts about the Darth Beyers but could somebody that has listened to Darth Beyers, Dennon D2000 and the ATH-ESW9 give some comments about how they compare to eachother? Thanks a bunch! -Kensan

I owned Darth Beyers, own ESW9s, and had Moon Audio recabled D2000s in my home for a week. I'm not a fan of closed headphones, in general, when open are an option, so take anything I say with that in mind.

Darth Beyers were my fun phones: full sound, okay soundstage, detail, etc., but bassy goodness is their deal. They surprised me on how amp dependent they were in that they sounded gawd-awful with my Canamp, DV336, and PRII: congested and like subwoofers were strapped to your head; no room for music, just bass bloat. Yet, they sounded quite good, and far more balanced with a microamp and a bithead. They opened up considerably to become almost different headphones with my home amp, and a few tube changes later, they were wonderful headphones with separation, detail and no loss of bass, but not sloppy, and not overwhelming. I have no idea how they'd sound with the predator, but I'm sure someone has that combo around here by now. I sold them as I wasn't using them much at all, but I wish I still had them now and again.

D2000. I think they're okay headphones, but I really didn't like them, and think they're far better headphones out there, but again, all open headphones. I tried them out with multiple sources from ipod to fairly high-end sources, and a range of amps, and didn't experience any real change in presentation other than a very subtle improvement in definition and detail. Good all-rounders, I suppose, but not my cup of tea. I liked the D5000s better, thought they had better imaging and overall tone, but still wasn't overly impressed considering their price tag. I would like to hear a modded pair, as I thought they were good headphones, and if improved slightly (especially loose bass), might be worth an investment. Other people like them quite a lot, so, as always, it will all come down to your hearing and taste.

ATH-ESW9. These are not great headphones as compared to my home cans, but I really like them for what they offer. They are a touch warm with decent extension on both ends, no lack of bass and a bit congested, but not overwhelming or bothersome unless listening to bass-heavy music or orchestral works with a lot going on. They are wonderful with most music I listen to: acoustic, folky, bluesy, small combo jazz, chamber stuff. They should do well with most of what you've listed as your musical preferences. You hear a lot about headphones being great with female vocals, but I think these do very well with male vocals, better than many out there. There was some funkiness in the upper mid range that smoothed out after a week or so. The soundstage isn't the greatest, but they're otherwise so enjoyable, you kinda forget to care. I bought them as portable, closed headphones and they suit me fine for that purpose. One advantage is that they sound good straight out of an ipod but improve with an amp (I've used it with a pico, mini^3, Diablo, or MiniBox E+). They are very comfortable (but I have a small head) and I use them mostly kicked back on the sofa or in bed where their small size can't interfere with pillow comfort. I'm pretty sure they'd do well with the predator, which I've heard but not with these headphones, so I'm only guessing.

You're probably going to get recommendations for other closed headphones if this is like every other head-fi thread. I like the Audio Technicas I've heard, but they seem exceptionally amp dependent in my experience. You'll probably get the HFI-780s tossed out here, and I can only say be wary of FOTM recommendations. Everybody hears differently, but I couldn't stand these headphones (stock with a couple hundred hours on them). The highs were stupid shrill and the whole presentation was grainy and imbalanced....ugh.

Good luck. If I were you, I'd get the ESW9s and then some good open cans later on down the line.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kensan /img/forum/go_quote.gif As candidates I am thinking about the ATH-ESW9 and the Denon D2000.

I used to own D2000 and currently own ESW9, and prefer AKG-K271S over both.
It can be found well under $200 and you can spend the rest on comfortable velour pads and aftermaket cable, like Zu. They need an amplification, but Predator should probably fill that up just fine, the Pico does.