[spike33]

I just got these today. Unfortunately, the seller sent the ugly silver ones, I had ordered the sexy black version. These are impressions with no burn in. Packaging is cheap and crap. Once it's opened, it'll be a hassle to repack it. It comes with a 1/4" adapter and a really long extension. I guess the extension is to compensate for the rather short cord, which is about 2 feet. I found this length to be perfect for me. The cans are very light, the leather (not sure real or pleather) earpads are soft and comfortable, and there's barely any clamp. One important thing is point out is the earcups are small. They are over-the-ear for me but for someone with big ears, they might be on-the-ear. The isolation is not as bad as other have said. I put it on par with DT770 (06). The problem is getting a good fit might be harder for people with big ears. On to the sound...

First thing that stood out was the bass. It's VERY deep yet lacks a bloated midbass. Very impressive. Next was the crisp sparkling highs. I am extremely sensitive to treble but I have not noticed any fatigue... yet. It's about on the borderline at the moment, any more and I couldn't handle it. The mids are uncolored and neutral. It doesn't really stand out but it is not lacking in any way. Soundstage is small as to be expected. I tried it out briefly in gaming and the positioning is extremely accurate. Gamers will be not be disappointed.

Overall, I'd say it is most similar in sound to the DT770 (06) but with less bass/treble and more present mids. A nice trade off I'd say. I'm very satisfied with this purchase. This is easily the best closed headphone I've heard. DT770 was too fatiguing, K271 sounded unnatural and lacked deep bass. Now, I'll try to exchange these for the black version.

 

[denl82]

Good impressions! Even though I'm quite satisfied with my headphones right now, your impressions have made me curious enough to want to try these. Ahhh the head-fi bug

 

[spike33]

After ~24 hrs of burn in, the D1000 have improved significantly. The bass is alot fuller yet still tight. The mids have become more involving and the highs are no longer borderline fatiguing. Vocals are breathy and airy without being sibilant. Take the bass of HD650, the mids of K501 and highs of DT880, give it a more upfront soundstage and make it easier to drive and you got D1000 in a nutshell. If I had to use one word to describe it, it'd be balanced... yet fun. Ok, that's more than one word

 

[spike33]

After ~100 hours, I think it has finally stopped changing its sound. Final review:

COMFORT
Lightweight and very little clamp, it would dethrone HD595 and DT880 for the kings of comfort if the earcups were slightly bigger.

ISOLATION
You can hear people talking in the next room if no music was playing. Although someone sitting next to you won't hear what you're listening to. It is better at cutting down the high frequencies than totally blocking out noise. It is about on par with DT770. Both don't clamp enough to really isolate.

BASS
It has huge amount of deep bass and there's no mid-bass hump to speak of. This is the first headphone I've heard that has more sub-bass than mid-bass. K701 and DT770 had a large amount of sub-bass but the mid-bass were on par or stronger.

MIDS
There's a definate gain in the upper mids ala K701 and grados. This makes the vocals sound more upfront. Presentation is closer to K701 in that it sounds neutral rather than sweet.

TREBLE
Clean, crisp, and airy. No fatigue. No sibilance. Nothing to complain about here.

SOUNDSTAGE
Small and upfront. Halfway between grado and a circumaural headphone. Positioning is deadly accurate in games. I did not feel at a disadvantage compared to HD595, my regular gaming cans. It's much better than DT770 (too much bloated bass, masks the details).

CONCLUSION
D1000 has a nice balanced sound. Overall balance is shifted towards the bass with the treble not far behind and the mids just showing enough of itself so you don't forget it's there. While it is not in the same league as K701/HD650/DT880 in terms of detail/resolution, at the price point of ~$125, I don't think you can go wrong. In fact, I dare say it's the best closed headphone and one of the best headphones under $200.

 

[fierce_freak]

Thanks for the impressions, Spike. Looks like they sound quite nice.

 

[epithetless]

spike33, how well would you say these cans work from an unamped portable source?

 

[holland]

I'm interested in a comparison with RP-21.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

I use the D1000 with my portable radio that has a 5 m/w out put and the D1000 sounded great. The D1000 is a great headphone with a very nice size to it. Great to use in my high back lounge chair. Well worth the 119.00 I paid for it.
Compared to the RP-21.
The 21 has a bigger sound with the 50 mm drivers but the 1000 has tighter and better bass. I also like the highs better on the 1000 but they sound good on the 21 but the 1000 just seems to have more highs over the 21. The 21 sounds great and I really like it but the 1000 just seems to better the 21 in all respects and with the small size makes it a winner over the 21. IMO.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Pics, even if they are ugly silver?

 

[spike33]

They sound fantastic unamped, but an amp will really bring out the authority in the bass.

Update:

Boy, was I wrong when I said the sound stopped changing. I have over 200 hours on my sexy black version and I couldn't be happier. My biggest gripe earlier was the peak at 2.5khz. Somewhere between 100-200 hours, it disappeared. I can turn it up now without fatigue. The mids really came out, they sound beautiful. It's no longer one of its weaknesses, maybe even one of its strengths. More people need to give these baby HD650s a try

They're so good, I'm even selling my precious HD595s! Madness!

 

[epithetless]

Thanks, spike33. On the unamped front, is the bass disctinctly lacking, or just not as fully realized as it would be with an amp?

 

[Deftoned]

How do you/they look when you're wearing them? I'm seriously tempted by these after reading you're comments! You wrote in you're post that the cable is 2 feet, but that cant be right, can it? Audiocubes says 1,5 meters, thats 5 feet. I certainly hope its 1,5 meters and not 0,6 because that wouldn't be no good.

Cheers!

 

[kuden]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deftoned /img/forum/go_quote.gif How do you/they look when you're wearing them? I'm seriously tempted by these after reading you're comments! You wrote in you're post that the cable is 2 feet, but that cant be right, can it? Audiocubes says 1,5 meters, thats 5 feet. I certainly hope its 1,5 meters and not 0,6 because that wouldn't be no good. Cheers!

it's 1.5meter and comes with a 3.5meter extension cable (from the denon website)

 

[spike33]

Unamped, the bass is lacking in comparison to amped. On it's own, I was surprised how well balanced it sounded.

The cable is about 5 feet total, still relatively short compared to the standard.

Looks wise, these are one of the few headphones I'd feel comfortable wearing in the public. You'll still get some glances since it's not exactly low profile, but it won't be same kind as the ones you'd get wearing an audio technica

 

[kamal007]

have you tried comparing them with a its big brother, the d2000?