[MrRoderick]

I recently purchased a pair of Denon AH-D2000s, my first truly nice headphones after a pair of Superfi. 3s.
Anyway, they were doing great, even with no burn in and whatnot. I am powering them with just a Nuforce Icon Mobile, but it still seems pretty good. But a couple days in, i noticed that in small areas there was white thread fraying out of the black thread of the cables. Especially right near the long rubber ring of the jack.
Then, yesterday i was listening to the song Spies by coldplay, A flac file on my laptop, DAC'd on the Icon. This song gets a little... not loud but full. Lots of sound at the chorus part, the kind of flood of noise that would cause high end fuzzing on lesser headphones.
And started hearing that on my D2000s!
So i started doing a bunch of tests (heh) to try and locate the problem. I have the same file in ALAC on my iphone, and playing that through the Icon produced the same result. So i thought it might be the Amp. Or the song's file. But then i tried it with the old Superfi. 3s. The fuzzing wasn't there.
After alot of listening, and testing with other songs, its seems like the D2000's have a strange trouble with alot of loud noise at once. Either fuzzing or muddiness.

So i'm wondering what you're thoughts are, and also if maybe i hurt the drivers? Did i accidentally play them too loud or something? I was on a plane listening to them for a while and it might have been a wee bit louder volume to drown out the engines. Could the cable fraying be a problem?

UPDATE: I called Denon's service line, mentioned the cable and the high end fuzzing and they suggested returning them. so... i'm not sure if i need to.

UPDATE PT. 2: Heh, well i talked to amazon and was told, to my suprise, they would overnight me a replacement pair. They'll be here tomorrow! haha. so now i'll just box these up and send them out.

So i'd like to ask a question, pre-empting the arrival of the new pair. I looked around for a thread like this, but didn't.
I'm not sure about proper volume levels for the headphones, and i'm wondering about what's best and whether or not too high a volume might hurt the D2000's. Also, is it bad to roll up the cable often? (i have a repurposed camera bag that i carry the headphones it, but i have to wind the cable into a roll about as small as the headphones.)

 

[Ham Sandwich]

The cable fray is just a cosmetic issue. It is not a sign of any damage to to the cable itself.

The fuzzing sound could be due to under-amping the Denon. The Denon likes to get plenty of current and portable amps don't always like to deliver that current. When the Denon doesn't get enough current it can sound muddy and duller than it should. That's the sound you get when listening to the Denon directly from an iPod. There is just not enough juice there.

Look around for a mains powered headphone out somewhere. Maybe one in a home audio amp or a full size CD player. Try playing the same song and see if you hear the same sound problem. If you can find a headphone out with enough juice I think that sound problem you hear may go away.