Gurra1980
1000+ Head-Fier
First I did my review after about 70h of burn in, now I have had my Denons for almost a month and I don't notice any changes anymore, so I have done some changes in my review, between my HD-650 and my D2000.
The equipment used is my Rotel Rcd-06 and Musical fidelity X-can v3.
So let’s start then.
DENON AH -D2000
Treble:
The first thing I noticed when I got them was that they sounded harsh and sibilant, a little like my previous Dt990, but with just about 10h of burn in it got away. Now the treble is smooth, but a little bit more in quantity compared to HD650, this makes them a little more involving when I'm listening to anything with guitars especially electrical guitar. I can't hear any irritating tsss or kssss sounds with vocalists, which is very important to me. They got the right amount of treble IMO not as recessed as 650 but not as extremely exaggerated as dt990, which is good for my sensitive ears.
Midrange:
Not so much to write about here, quite sweet, neutral, I think as I see it they are a little recessed compared to 650 but I think 650 is a little forward, it's hard to say which headphone that is neutral, I guess it depends on amp and source and ears.
Bass:
Now this is the place where the D2000 stands out, they got quite a lot of bass. The character of it is smooth, not as textured as 650s and as I see it Denons bass reaches lower, I guess this is the reason I got the feeling it is a lot of it. But it has impact and attack that the 650 just can dream about, which makes them quite fun to listen to.
PRaT, Speed:
Excellent! it's just wonderful to follow a bass guitar or a kick drum with these headphones, especially kick drums sounds amazing, like machine guns!! I have done some intensive testing and I have not found any recordings that I own that they can't handle. It was when I was listening back and fourth on Panteras -****ing hostile and Rise that I noticed that 650 did not really have the speed in the lower register, where the D2000 just keep on hammering without problems. Before I thought that the 650 does bass guitars better with a more natural flow, I guess that this depends on the texture of the 650s bass not really the speed. So D2000 is a little step ahead of the 650 for speed. The D2000 also feels a little more rhythmic and dynamic for jazz and such.
Soundstage/instrument separation:
Soundstage is good, but not really as good as 650 but it has opened up a lot after 100h of burn in. I also think that instrument separation is good, about the same as 650, but 650 is still a little better for classical due to a little bigger soundstage and not as pronounced bass.
Detail:
It's hard to say, quite good detail, like the senns but better in the low bass and treble.
Balance/neutrality/naturality
Quite neutral, a little more bass than neutral, depends on how the pads are adjusted, the rest of the frequency is very balanced. The sound is clear and has a natural sense to it.
Sennheiser HD-650
Treble:
A little recessed, no sparkle, this is one of the reasons why I did look for a complement headphone. While this character is not so engaging the good thing with it is that it is very easy on the ears and I can use a higher sound pressure level without it getting fatiguing, this also makes vocals sound very sweet and soft.
Midrange:
Very good, to my ears the midrange is just a little more extended than neutral but this is subtle and I love it, vocalists has an organic flow that I have never heard in another headphone before, I guess this is the magic of these headphones. But it is not only good, they clearly have a coloration they are to "smooth" and I tend to like my D2000 better for vocals, after 100h of burn in and my brain has adjusted to the sound.
Bass:
Good bass, with very good texture, neutral to my ears, reaches low, not as low as D2000 though, and it does not have the impact of D2000 therefore not as involving. Wonderful to follow bass lines.
PRaT, Speed:
Very good, very musical, they feel slow but don't let it fool you, they are not, it's just there smooth nature that fools you. Look what I wrote for D2000.
Soundstage/instrument separation:
Good, the soundstage can, depending on the recording, extract from in my head to up to two meters around and in front of me. Good instrument separation.
Detail:
Look what I wrote for the Deonons.
Balance/neutrality/naturality
Bass is neutral, maybe the midrange is a little more pronounced than neutral, highs are a little recessed, a little to smooth sound that colors them a little bit. The D2000 has a little bit more clarity to for example voices, strings, makes them sound a little bit more natural.
So when do I use Denon and when do I use Sennheiser:
The reason I bought the Denons was to complement my sennheiser, I needed a can that had better treble and that was not so relaxed, to use mainly for metal and I think I have found what I was looking for, though the Denons are very relaxed on some music, like singer songwriter and acoustical, it can be just as energetic when needed, the 650 does not. It seems like the harder and more energetic the music gets the better the Denons get, I have actually rediscovered most of my metal music, I have never really liked the most aggressive and fastest stuff, but playing In Flames, At the gates and music like that on these are just plain wonderful, such impact, speed, and energetic sound that It almost makes me cry. So everything from Rock to Death metal is where I have found the Denons to be the best, they really have something special going on. I also like them with jazz just because the groove. I can use them from my headphone out on my iriver with better result and higher volume than my senns due to the lower Ohm.
The thing with the senns is the organic flow they have, voices just seems to flow like water and a lot of instruments also have this kind of sound signature in those headphones, very addictive.
Which is best:
So which is the best, it's impossible to say, depends on the music you listen to and what you like, but I do not think the Denons will start to beat the senns in reviews in magazines and such because what the senns do good they do incredibly good, the organic sound with that big soundstage and the body they give to the instruments and vocals seems to be the magic that the senns have, compared to other headphones. I personaly have turned to like the D2000 more for most music except classical. I like the more uncolored sound that my Denons have, they make different music sound different where the 650 always have it's coloration. D2000 is a bit colored to, but I think 650 has a more colored sound and they are a little bit to laid back. The D2000 is more comfy to. So sorry senn you have to go!
Edit:
I forgot to say that you can adjust the ear pads on D2000 for a better fit, this also changes the amount of bass from relatively neutral to very bass heavy I have quite big ears so it can have to do with that, because depending on how I turn them the drivers gets longer or shorter away from my ears, at some angles they are more like supra aural headphones, very nice to be able to do this.
And BTW both have a dark sound signature
The equipment used is my Rotel Rcd-06 and Musical fidelity X-can v3.
So let’s start then.
DENON AH -D2000
Treble:
The first thing I noticed when I got them was that they sounded harsh and sibilant, a little like my previous Dt990, but with just about 10h of burn in it got away. Now the treble is smooth, but a little bit more in quantity compared to HD650, this makes them a little more involving when I'm listening to anything with guitars especially electrical guitar. I can't hear any irritating tsss or kssss sounds with vocalists, which is very important to me. They got the right amount of treble IMO not as recessed as 650 but not as extremely exaggerated as dt990, which is good for my sensitive ears.
Midrange:
Not so much to write about here, quite sweet, neutral, I think as I see it they are a little recessed compared to 650 but I think 650 is a little forward, it's hard to say which headphone that is neutral, I guess it depends on amp and source and ears.
Bass:
Now this is the place where the D2000 stands out, they got quite a lot of bass. The character of it is smooth, not as textured as 650s and as I see it Denons bass reaches lower, I guess this is the reason I got the feeling it is a lot of it. But it has impact and attack that the 650 just can dream about, which makes them quite fun to listen to.
PRaT, Speed:
Excellent! it's just wonderful to follow a bass guitar or a kick drum with these headphones, especially kick drums sounds amazing, like machine guns!! I have done some intensive testing and I have not found any recordings that I own that they can't handle. It was when I was listening back and fourth on Panteras -****ing hostile and Rise that I noticed that 650 did not really have the speed in the lower register, where the D2000 just keep on hammering without problems. Before I thought that the 650 does bass guitars better with a more natural flow, I guess that this depends on the texture of the 650s bass not really the speed. So D2000 is a little step ahead of the 650 for speed. The D2000 also feels a little more rhythmic and dynamic for jazz and such.
Soundstage/instrument separation:
Soundstage is good, but not really as good as 650 but it has opened up a lot after 100h of burn in. I also think that instrument separation is good, about the same as 650, but 650 is still a little better for classical due to a little bigger soundstage and not as pronounced bass.
Detail:
It's hard to say, quite good detail, like the senns but better in the low bass and treble.
Balance/neutrality/naturality
Quite neutral, a little more bass than neutral, depends on how the pads are adjusted, the rest of the frequency is very balanced. The sound is clear and has a natural sense to it.
Sennheiser HD-650
Treble:
A little recessed, no sparkle, this is one of the reasons why I did look for a complement headphone. While this character is not so engaging the good thing with it is that it is very easy on the ears and I can use a higher sound pressure level without it getting fatiguing, this also makes vocals sound very sweet and soft.
Midrange:
Very good, to my ears the midrange is just a little more extended than neutral but this is subtle and I love it, vocalists has an organic flow that I have never heard in another headphone before, I guess this is the magic of these headphones. But it is not only good, they clearly have a coloration they are to "smooth" and I tend to like my D2000 better for vocals, after 100h of burn in and my brain has adjusted to the sound.
Bass:
Good bass, with very good texture, neutral to my ears, reaches low, not as low as D2000 though, and it does not have the impact of D2000 therefore not as involving. Wonderful to follow bass lines.
PRaT, Speed:
Very good, very musical, they feel slow but don't let it fool you, they are not, it's just there smooth nature that fools you. Look what I wrote for D2000.
Soundstage/instrument separation:
Good, the soundstage can, depending on the recording, extract from in my head to up to two meters around and in front of me. Good instrument separation.
Detail:
Look what I wrote for the Deonons.
Balance/neutrality/naturality
Bass is neutral, maybe the midrange is a little more pronounced than neutral, highs are a little recessed, a little to smooth sound that colors them a little bit. The D2000 has a little bit more clarity to for example voices, strings, makes them sound a little bit more natural.
So when do I use Denon and when do I use Sennheiser:
The reason I bought the Denons was to complement my sennheiser, I needed a can that had better treble and that was not so relaxed, to use mainly for metal and I think I have found what I was looking for, though the Denons are very relaxed on some music, like singer songwriter and acoustical, it can be just as energetic when needed, the 650 does not. It seems like the harder and more energetic the music gets the better the Denons get, I have actually rediscovered most of my metal music, I have never really liked the most aggressive and fastest stuff, but playing In Flames, At the gates and music like that on these are just plain wonderful, such impact, speed, and energetic sound that It almost makes me cry. So everything from Rock to Death metal is where I have found the Denons to be the best, they really have something special going on. I also like them with jazz just because the groove. I can use them from my headphone out on my iriver with better result and higher volume than my senns due to the lower Ohm.
The thing with the senns is the organic flow they have, voices just seems to flow like water and a lot of instruments also have this kind of sound signature in those headphones, very addictive.
Which is best:
So which is the best, it's impossible to say, depends on the music you listen to and what you like, but I do not think the Denons will start to beat the senns in reviews in magazines and such because what the senns do good they do incredibly good, the organic sound with that big soundstage and the body they give to the instruments and vocals seems to be the magic that the senns have, compared to other headphones. I personaly have turned to like the D2000 more for most music except classical. I like the more uncolored sound that my Denons have, they make different music sound different where the 650 always have it's coloration. D2000 is a bit colored to, but I think 650 has a more colored sound and they are a little bit to laid back. The D2000 is more comfy to. So sorry senn you have to go!
Edit:
I forgot to say that you can adjust the ear pads on D2000 for a better fit, this also changes the amount of bass from relatively neutral to very bass heavy I have quite big ears so it can have to do with that, because depending on how I turn them the drivers gets longer or shorter away from my ears, at some angles they are more like supra aural headphones, very nice to be able to do this.
And BTW both have a dark sound signature
