[TMRaven]

Bitrate has nothing to do with the song's recording.  If the song was recorded or mastered poorly to begin with, a higher bitrate will only make the flaws in the song more apparent.
 
I gave super girl a quick run-through.  While I've heard worse, the recording definitely is a bit shrill and bright, and also a bit compressed sounding overall.  A lot of higher end headphones have liberal treble spikes to give everything the illusion of more detail and a crystalline attack to make them seem more crisp-- beyers are a good example of this.  It will make lots of recordings sound real good, but it will make the wrong recordings sound really bad.
 
I've compared supergirl between my iMac's onboard (intel hd audio-- not half bad) and running through my HRT Music Streamer II and Little Dot MKII with Mullard Driver Tubes, and the dedicated dac/amp definitely make the shrill recording less apparent and the sibilance becomes more tamed-- it's overall more smooth and warm.
 
Try a warm recording like Corinne Bailey Rae's Like a Star, and see if you're getting as much sibilance issues.  Also note that a lot of times when you push a lesser amp, it will cause unwanted treble spikes in the sound, so you might be experiencing some of that as well.  Regardless, you may want to consider a dac and tube amp, a warm solid state amp, or a headphone with deliberately rolled off treble, like one from Sennheiser.  

 

[MarketMarksman]

Then why were hundreds of people saying these were the best, best bang for the buck and praised them? The only reason I bought these was cause of the great reviews. Do yours produce sibilance aswell?

 

[MarketMarksman]

Quote:

Bitrate has nothing to do with the song's recording.  If the song was recorded or mastered poorly to begin with, a higher bitrate will only make the flaws in the song more apparent.
 
I gave super girl a quick run-through.  While I've heard worse, the recording definitely is a bit shrill and bright, and also a bit compressed sounding overall.  A lot of higher end headphones have liberal treble spikes to give everything the illusion of more detail and a crystalline attack to make them seem more crisp-- beyers are a good example of this.  It will make lots of recordings sound real good, but it will make the wrong recordings sound really bad.
 
I've compared supergirl between my iMac's onboard (intel hd audio-- not half bad) and running through my HRT Music Streamer II and Little Dot MKII with Mullard Driver Tubes, and the dedicated dac/amp definitely make the shrill recording less apparent and the sibilance becomes more tamed-- it's overall more smooth and warm.
 
Try a warm recording like Corinne Bailey Rae's Like a Star, and see if you're getting as much sibilance issues.  Also note that a lot of times when you push a lesser amp, it will cause unwanted treble spikes in the sound, so you might be experiencing some of that as well.  Regardless, you may want to consider a dac and tube amp, a warm solid state amp, or a headphone with deliberately rolled off treble, like one from Sennheiser.  

Its a bit sibilant so whats causing this is my laptop sound card? What DAC/AMP do you suggest at 250$ max.

 

[TMRaven]

They are a really good bang for their buck and a very good pair of cans, but you have to give them a fair chance by giving them a proper source and recordings.  Likewise, there are a good amount of people who report the same sibilance issues with them and eventually sell them off, but bear in mind they're about middle of the line when it comes to treble.  Such headphones from the likes of Beyerdynamic, AKG, Grado and Ultrasone tend to have more aggressive treble still, while headphones like Sennheiser and a lot of the Electrostats have less aggressive treble.
 
Now, I don't want to be guilty of making you waste money on sources for it, so it might be best to find something that accepts returns when looking for sources.

 

[MarketMarksman]

I dont find the treble too much, its just sibilant, an S isnt that high in frequency. Ive played tracks with higher frequencys and they sound fantastic, idk what to think anymore.

 

[Croozer]

Then why were hundreds of people saying these were the best, best bang for the buck and praised them? The only reason I bought these was cause of the great reviews.

Everybody hears things differently, there are many variables in audio reproduction, I had the Denon D2K powered by the FiiO E7/E9 combo and they performed to my expectations quite well.

If you hook up some good headphones to a flawed source you are not gonna be a happy camper no matter what brand you use, is it possible for you to try another set of cans with your current source?

 

[TMRaven]

Sibilance occurs in the frequency of around 8khz, so it's pretty much up there in the treble.  I personally can't recommend much in the area of dacs and amps as I havn't much experience with a wide variety of them, but it might do well to start out with just a Fiio E7 and make sure it's returnable, and then if it's still too sibilant, look for a dedicated dac and tube amp.  You should probably consult the amp section for this inquiry. 

 

[TobaccoRoad]

OP seems to be a huge vocal fan. Instead of focusing on sources for headphones that are known for sibilance (let's face it D2000 aren't that great for vocals), I think he's better off getting a different headphone and go from there. I much prefer Sennheiser to Denon especially when it comes to vocals. Weird thing about D2000 is that they're actually recessed in the upper midrange but that's where the sibilant is most apparent. I was never also to successfully EQ the Denon because of this.

 

[TMRaven]

If you think you can live without the bass of the D2000, then the sennheisers would definitely be a consideration, although the popular mid-tier ones like HD650 require their own amp as well.

 

[MarketMarksman]

my skullcandy skullcrushers arent so sibilant but they arent very clear either and my Klipse Image S4s arent sibilant but they got lots of line noise. Also the image s4 dont need high volume to power them (volume 60-70 on my laptop opposed to 80-90 for the Denons). could it b the laptop amp? When the denons are at lower volume (60-70) the sibilance isnt as high, is it my amp straining for volume?

 

[TMRaven]

As I said before, it's often common for amps to distort the entire sound signature when being strained and pushed to percentages higher than 70-80%.  Peaky and shrill treble is often one of them.  

 

[MarketMarksman]

So whats the best amp/DAC I can get for 250$ max?

 

[tdockweiler]

For the D2000, probably look into a used Schiit Asgard. It might run you about $200. You may need to save up a little more for an ultra cheap budget DAC like the E7.
Or you could get the E9 + E7, but I don't know how well it does with the D2000, so you'll have to check into this. The E9 is a good amp for the price, but is still a budget amp.
 
There is also a small chance that even an amp might not fix the problem.

 

[TobaccoRoad]

Quote:

 
There is also a big chance that even an amp might not fix the problem.

Fixed. It seems OP is convinced to keep his D2000, but if he expects the sibilance to just disappear I think he's in for a disappointment.
 

 

[MarketMarksman]

What about the Audiotrak Prodigy Cube, nuForce uDAC 2, AUNE Mini USB DAC and ianYun DAC Headphone AMP? Which are best withing these?