Packgrog
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2006
- Posts
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- 34
I pulled the trigger on these after yearning for them for nearly a year. They arrived yesterday, and I've been noticing some significant changes as I've been running them on burn-in, so I figured I'd share my experiences.
Initial impressions (0 hours): Very pleased. Sound seems very similar to the Future Sonics Atrio, as I had hoped, though a touch crisper in the highs. Feels more spacious due to the physical differences.
4 hours: The highs seem to have settled somewhat, and the music is just pleasant! Is this all it needs?
24 hours: ******** OUCH! Guess not. Highs have become extremely strident and fatiguing. It's like Jeff Buckley has become needles in my ears! Is this normal, or simply a factor of the low volume I'm using for the burn-in? Due to the size of the drivers, I have to keep the volume low for non-listening burn-in, or it disturbs my office mates. I assume this will settle with time. The Atrio did something similar.
50 hours: Remains disturbingly sibilant with certain recordings, though not as painful. Jeff Buckley - Grace (original CD release, NOT the remaster) is one of them, as is the DCC version of Queensryche - Empire. Others are stunning listening, such as the Jean-Michel Jarre MFSL UDCD release, or Pbthal's vinyl rip of Peter Gabriel 1 (Car). It's interesting how much more evident the background hiss is with the D2000 than it was with the Future Sonics Atrio. Definitely an example of the Atrio's rolled-off highs. Mixed blessing either way at this point. The DCC Empire is pretty much unlistenable at the moment with the D2000. Hopefully this will change upon reaching one of the target burn-in lengths (I've seen 200 hours and 400 hours).
130 hours (or so): Part of the sibilance issue seems to be the iBasso D1. I'm also wondering if there's a slight balance issue with either the headphones or amp. I don't really have a scientific way of measuring this. What's strange, though, is that the AH-D2000 actually seems more enjoyable to listen to directly out of my HP DV9000 laptop. The highs aren't as sharp, and the sound is more relaxed, and the balance issues SEEM to go away. Strange. The volume level out of my laptop doesn't as high as the iBasso, though. Not that I really need to turn it up much louder than the DV9000 reaches. Heh.
200+ hours: Yep, 200 hours seems to be about the right target. The highs have mellowed considerably. They remain crisp and clear, but no longer have the harshness that mad listening so unpleasant. Everything is smoother and more pleasant.
That said, I see (hear) where the criticism on the lows comes from. It's definitely excessive, even a little punishing. I'm definitely contemplating the markl mod already. The bass is thunderous with some forms of music, in a way that is just way overblown. Sharpening this up while maintaining the bass depth would most certainly be preferable. In the meantime, I'm quite happy with the results of the burn-in.
Initial impressions (0 hours): Very pleased. Sound seems very similar to the Future Sonics Atrio, as I had hoped, though a touch crisper in the highs. Feels more spacious due to the physical differences.
4 hours: The highs seem to have settled somewhat, and the music is just pleasant! Is this all it needs?
24 hours: ******** OUCH! Guess not. Highs have become extremely strident and fatiguing. It's like Jeff Buckley has become needles in my ears! Is this normal, or simply a factor of the low volume I'm using for the burn-in? Due to the size of the drivers, I have to keep the volume low for non-listening burn-in, or it disturbs my office mates. I assume this will settle with time. The Atrio did something similar.
50 hours: Remains disturbingly sibilant with certain recordings, though not as painful. Jeff Buckley - Grace (original CD release, NOT the remaster) is one of them, as is the DCC version of Queensryche - Empire. Others are stunning listening, such as the Jean-Michel Jarre MFSL UDCD release, or Pbthal's vinyl rip of Peter Gabriel 1 (Car). It's interesting how much more evident the background hiss is with the D2000 than it was with the Future Sonics Atrio. Definitely an example of the Atrio's rolled-off highs. Mixed blessing either way at this point. The DCC Empire is pretty much unlistenable at the moment with the D2000. Hopefully this will change upon reaching one of the target burn-in lengths (I've seen 200 hours and 400 hours).
130 hours (or so): Part of the sibilance issue seems to be the iBasso D1. I'm also wondering if there's a slight balance issue with either the headphones or amp. I don't really have a scientific way of measuring this. What's strange, though, is that the AH-D2000 actually seems more enjoyable to listen to directly out of my HP DV9000 laptop. The highs aren't as sharp, and the sound is more relaxed, and the balance issues SEEM to go away. Strange. The volume level out of my laptop doesn't as high as the iBasso, though. Not that I really need to turn it up much louder than the DV9000 reaches. Heh.
200+ hours: Yep, 200 hours seems to be about the right target. The highs have mellowed considerably. They remain crisp and clear, but no longer have the harshness that mad listening so unpleasant. Everything is smoother and more pleasant.
That said, I see (hear) where the criticism on the lows comes from. It's definitely excessive, even a little punishing. I'm definitely contemplating the markl mod already. The bass is thunderous with some forms of music, in a way that is just way overblown. Sharpening this up while maintaining the bass depth would most certainly be preferable. In the meantime, I'm quite happy with the results of the burn-in.
