[luckybaer]

 
I purchased these for my nearly-teen son to go with his iPod.  Of course, I had to try them out to see how they sounded.  I compared them to Shure E4C (cost about 4x as much as the Denons) and Audio Technica ATH-CK7 (cost about 2x as much as the Denons) using my iPhone 3G connected to my RSA Hornet headphone amplifier by a Fiio lineout adapter.
 
These earphones aren't as good as the Shure or the Audio Technicas, but they aren't too far away, either.  The biggest difference between these Denons and the other two is the Denon's bass.  It is impactful, but it is not tight/well-defined.  The Shures have tightly-defined bass with some punch, and the ATs have very punchy bass that is not as tight as the Shures, but in no way can they be described as bloated or flabby.  I would not say the Denons are bloated fart cannons like some of the Sonys I've tried, but the bass is moderately undefined and it does tend to smother some of the other frequencies.  When listening to songs that are not too bass-intensive, the mids are pretty good - somewhat smooth, but not as full and velvety as the ATs or the Shures.  The highs are fine - I think there is a bit of a high-end roll-off, but that is no big deal.  For me, the fact that they are not shrill or crackling is a good thing.
 
For my relatively large ear canals, I had to be careful not to push the earphones too firmly into my ear.  When I did, I didn't have a good seal, and the bass went almost completely away and the rest of the sounds were very thin and almost like iBuds or something really cheaply made.  So, although these aren't true in-ear monitors (IEMs) like the Shures, they do require (just like the ATs do) careful placement to ensure a good seal.
 
I grade them as follows (for reference, I'd say iBuds are 0/2/2 = 1.5 Bass/Mids/Highs =  overall and K601s are 8/9/8.5 = 8.5):
 
Bass:  4.5/10 - impactful, but slightly bloated and overbearing (ATs = 7.5/10 impactful and tight; Shures = 6.5/10 tight and clear, but not as much impact)
Mids:  5.5/10 - smooth, but not as sweet and lush as the ATs and definitely not in the same league as the Shures (ATs = 7.0/10 sweet and not jagged; Shures = 8.5/10 lush, smooth, robust)
Highs:  5.5/10 - not annoying or cheap sounding, better highs than KSC-75s from Koss (ATs = 6.5/10 nothing to complain about; Shures = 6.5/10 ditto as with the ATs)
 
Overall:  5.0/10 (ATs = 7.0/10; Shures 7.5/10)
Isolation:  3.0/10 (ATs = 5.0/10; Shures 8.5/10)
 
If I had to choose between the three headphones, I would pick the ATs, because although they cost me about $80 (2x the Denons), they are worth the extra $ vs. the Denons, and are so good that I wouldn't feel the need to spend $200 on the Shures.  The Shures are better overall, but not by much from a sound perspective - not $100 or so better, for sure IMHO.  If isolation were weighted heavily, the Shures are obviously the best solution, although the ATs are adequate for office work (less so on airplanes, etc., but not too wimpy).
 
These are a good step up for my son - his previous non-iBuds were JVC Marshmallows.  They should allow him to listen to his iPod on the bus with a little bit of the ambient sound blocked out, but with enough sound leaking through to make sure he can hear his friends calling over to him.