[Romani]

Would the jack fit into the headphone cup? Those jacks look like they'd be a little bit too bulky.


Interestingly enough denon seems to use a 4-pole connector in the headphone end as well. Even for the non-mic cable. Don't know if that would affect cable choices as well but it's something to note.

So that's what it's called, a 4 pole connector. This is why I will never label myself an audiophile

 

[Romani]

I would like to second (third?) this. Yeah, I'm very interested, but I think a lot of people (including myself) are going to be very hesitant about this can because 1) the price is higher than its competitors and 2) Denon hasn't been a name at the top of anyone's lists since the AH-D5000. The insight will help people get over those humps if it really is that amazing... and I really want it to be that amazing.

Ok, will try and do something with regards to a video. I am hoping someone will beat me to the punch. I personally think they're well priced and that's considering I paid a bit more relative to people who can pick one up in Japan without paying additional taxes etc. I felt the last bunch of Denons released were below par at least build and visual wise. They didn't even interest me enough to listen to them. I really think these MM400's puts them back in the game though, and I say this having previously owned the AH-D2000 which cost me the same as these.

 

[Rocco Khan]

I agree that cable on Amazon looks like it would be the perfect match but I question whether it would make it all the way in to the ear cup. If you get it and it works, let us know. Also note there are triple stripes on the connectors that go into the ear cups for both cables that come in the box.

Romani, I cannot believe this thread has disintegrated to talking about cables and in particular good old Audioquest which is present in alot of my Home AV entertainment system.
 
First let me respond to your original question of do I know any good 3.5mm to 3.5mm cables? Unfortunately not and I am unlikely to. Even with my D600s I did not purchase any upgrade cables because I ain't no mug no mo'.
 
Second is to dissuade you from this dangerous money-sucking / diminishing returns exercise, an article below (admittedly on speaker cables but the same principles apply to headphones on a smaller scale.) 
 
http://stereos.about.com/od/optimizingperformance/ss/Do-Speaker-Cables-Make-a-Difference-The-Scientific-Perspective-Part-2.htm
 
I am the first one to admit that I was guilty of buying and hogging lots of cables because in case of WW3, I needed something to hang myself. I don't know why you potentailly desire to upgrade but in the past for me it was to see if I could improve the sound signature for both speakers (fck you Nordost, I want my money back and I am too lazy to sell sht on ebay) and headphones (crystal piccolino is a bit taylor swift i.e. a bit sht). And indeed I thought for a while that the sound quality was improving because I could hear things that perhaps before I couldn't. Most of these cables have the enemy which is silver (I have heard all sorts of reasons why silver is used... because it's a better conductor hence treble travels faster on them hence clarity BLAH BLAH BLAH BS BS BS). At the end of this pointless exercise I realised the following: coherence is lost, sound as I mentioned before is thinned out, frequency response changes are not significant at all (see article but also note that FR graphs do not tell the whole story) and you lose what Denon intended the sound sig to be like. If I see another high end cable review say the word "ethereal", I am going to eat some curry then fart into a ziplock bag and FEDEX it to the reviewer.
 
Lastly I have alot of Audioquest interconnects etc... not because I think they give better sound quality or video quality (for the digital HDMI stuff). I use them because they have quite a good quality build. I used to have the higher end stuff like Carbon USB cables for linking up my DAC etc (WOW WOW WEE WOW 5% silver), I switched it all out to their lowest end range the Forest and Evergreen stuff (which has no or v little silver) because i found that with the higher end stuff, the sound got thinned out too much with the expensive stuff. If AQ 3.5mm cable fits the MM400, then I may go for the Audioquest Evergreen Audio the cheapest one in their range I think. However, i would probably look elsewhere TBH because those plugs look massive and clumsy.

 

[Rocco Khan]

Ok, will try and do something with regards to a video. I am hoping someone will beat me to the punch. I personally think they're well priced and that's considering I paid a bit more relative to people who can pick one up in Japan without paying additional taxes etc. I felt the last bunch of Denons released were below par at least build and visual wise. They didn't even interest me enough to listen to them. I really think these MM400's puts them back in the game though, and I say this having previously owned the AH-D2000 which cost me the same as these.

Do the video brotha!
 
Would love to hear about the sound signature if possible... sub-bass extension, bass and mid bass, mids/vocals and trebles (hi-hat emphasis etc) and treble extension, soundstage, instrument separation etc compared to your other cans (you have/had quite a few). 

 

[Romani]

Romani, I cannot believe this thread has disintegrated to talking about cables and in particular good old Audioquest which is present in alot of my Home AV entertainment system.

First let me respond to your original question of do I know any good 3.5mm to 3.5mm cables? Unfortunately not and I am unlikely to. Even with my D600s I did not purchase any upgrade cables because I ain't no mug no mo'.

Second is to dissuade you from this dangerous money-sucking / diminishing returns exercise, an article below (admittedly on speaker cables but the same principles apply to headphones on a smaller scale.) 

http://stereos.about.com/od/optimizingperformance/ss/Do-Speaker-Cables-Make-a-Difference-The-Scientific-Perspective-Part-2.htm

I am the first one to admit that I was guilty of buying and hogging lots of cables because in case of WW3, I needed something to hang myself. I don't know why you potentailly desire to upgrade but in the past for me it was to see if I could improve the sound signature for both speakers (fck you Nordost, I want my money back and I am too lazy to sell sht on ebay) and headphones (crystal piccolino is a bit taylor swift i.e. a bit sht). And indeed I thought for a while that the sound quality was improving because I could hear things that perhaps before I couldn't. Most of these cables have the enemy which is silver (I have heard all sorts of reasons why silver is used... because it's a better conductor hence treble travels faster on them hence clarity BLAH BLAH BLAH BS BS BS). At the end of this pointless exercise I realised the following: coherence is lost, sound as I mentioned before is thinned out, frequency response changes are not significant at all (see article but also note that FR graphs do not tell the whole story) and you lose what Denon intended the sound sig to be like. If I see another high end cable review say the word "ethereal", I am going to eat some curry then fart into a ziplock bag and FEDEX it to the reviewer.

Lastly [COLOR=333333]I have alot of Audioquest interconnects etc... not because I think they give better sound quality or video quality (for the digital HDMI stuff). I use them because they have quite a good quality build. I used to have the higher end stuff like Carbon USB cables for linking up my DAC etc (WOW WOW WEE WOW 5% silver), I switched it all out to their lowest end range the Forest and Evergreen stuff (which has no or v little silver) because i found that with the higher end stuff, the sound got thinned out too much with the expensive stuff. If AQ 3.5mm cable fits the MM400, then I may go for the [/COLOR]Audioquest Evergreen Audio the cheapest one in their range I think. However, i would probably look elsewhere TBH because those plugs look massive and clumsy.

Thanks for your insight. What a useful post! I wanted to replace the stock cable for one reason and one reason only, sturdiness. I feel the standard Denon cables in the box devalue these cans. I could get real and just wait for the stock cables to fail. I just think the one quoted here looks like the perfect add on.

 

[Romani]

Do the video brotha!

Would love to hear about the sound signature if possible... sub-bass extension, bass and mid bass, mids/vocals and trebles (hi-hat emphasis etc) and treble extension, soundstage, instrument separation etc compared to your other cans (you have/had quite a few). 

When I find the chance, I will attempt to do one. Not sure what else to add to the written review I already did. I think people just want to see these cans on video rather than resorting to the limited pro photos that are out there.

 

[Bark Snarly]

Thanks for your insight. What a useful post! I wanted to replace the stock cable for one reason and one reason only, sturdiness. I feel the standard Denon cables in the box devalue these cans. I could get real and just wait for the stock cables to fail. I just think the one quoted here looks like the perfect add on.

This is my reasoning for wanting another cable too, the current one just feels too flimsy for my personal tastes. Yes it's light and supple but I'd still prefer a sturdier cable if possible!

 

[Deanon]

replacing the original cable seems to be a bit tricky. if you look at the connection port it's oval shaped so the cable connector has to be really slim to fit into the port.
http://fs2.directupload.net/images/150304/czopcuun.jpg
 
http://fs1.directupload.net/images/150304/4ymebrlt.jpg
 
 
audioquest connectors seems to be too thick.
i looked at the v-moda page and the connector of the 'CoilPro' cable looks it could fit. but even it does - i really don't like spiral cables.
 
http://v-moda.com/content/images/coilpro/coilpro-screen-01.jpg
 
so still searching..

 

[DanMUC]

Regarding cables, I have to say that my main reason for wanting another cable is length. I want to be able to listen to music sitting on my sofa, but connected to my DAC or Amp, not just PC/Smartphone and portable DAC.
 
In this respect, the cables delivered with the Focal Classics was spot on, not only due to the 4m length (perfect) but the quality/thickness of the cable was top notch.
 
Given the likely fitting issues with the AH-MM 400s though, I have resorted to using the existing extension cable I had bought for my AE2s. Thin but long. I can't tell that there is any sound degradation, frankly.

 

[Oregonian]

  replace the original cable seems to be a bit tricky. if you look at the connection port it's oval shaped so the cable connector has to be really slim to fit into the port.
http://fs2.directupload.net/images/150304/czopcuun.jpg
 
http://fs1.directupload.net/images/150304/4ymebrlt.jpg
 
 
audioquest connectors seems to be too thick.
i looked at the v-moda page and the connector of the 'CoilPro' cable looks it could fit. but even it does - i really don't like spiral cables.
 
http://v-moda.com/content/images/coilpro/coilpro-screen-01.jpg
 
so still searching..

The V-Moda audio only cable is very slim so it appears it will fit. 
 
I'm thrilled that a cable swap can be made easily on these as I will be using these phones for exercise duty (mostly at home in my garage gym) and have a couple custom 22" cables that should allow me to use my armband iPod/Arrow 3G amp combo.  Sounds like what I've been wishing for - the V-Moda M100 just didn't do it for me tho the form factor was good. 

 

[musikaladin]

...this headphone is really AMAZING! Against my expectations, even between 120 and 200 hours of break-in, it still improves. More details here, in the latest update (5PS) at the bottom of my review.

 

[Rocco Khan]

  ...this headphone is really AMAZING! Against my expectations, even between 120 and 200 hours of break-in, it still improves. More details here, in the latest update (5PS) at the bottom of my review.

That is an encouraging progress report. 
 
Thanks for your answer to my previous question. I wonder how much time from now on you will spend with your MM400 vs D7100 as it seems that you love the MM400 so much!
 
Why do you use pink noise AND white noise to perform burn-in? I only use pink noise - thought pink was more comprehensive.

 

[musikaladin]

 

  ...this headphone is really AMAZING! Against my expectations, even between 120 and 200 hours of break-in, it still improves. More details here, in the latest update (5PS) at the bottom of my review.

That is an encouraging progress report. 
 
Thanks for your answer to my previous question. I wonder how much time from now on you will spend with your MM400 vs D7100 as it seems that you love the MM400 so much!
 
Why do you use pink noise AND white noise to perform burn-in? I only use pink noise - thought pink was more comprehensive.

 
..I do not think this makes a difference... Its just that I have a pink noise generator on my iPod touch and via my Cambridge dock and the HDVD800 I can break-in up to 4 phones simultaneously. Then I have another white noise generator on my PC which I use from time to time...

 

[Rocco Khan]

..I do not think this makes a difference... Its just that I have a pink noise generator on my iPod touch and via my Cambridge dock and the HDVD800 I can break-in up to 4 phones simultaneously. Then I have another white noise generator on my PC which I use from time to time...

Pro burn in master! I do the same with all my headphones. Leave overnight with pink noise intermittently (one hour on, 10 mins break etc) for first week or two. Unlike cables, I buy into this burn in methodology for dynamic driver headphones. For v shaped sound sig phones generally it tames the bass and trebles abit and brings about a tad more coherence. My experience with headphones is reinforced by full sized speaker manufacturers who recommend this or do this prior to shipping out the speakers.

Romani do you do this?

 

[Romani]

Pro burn in master! I do the same with all my headphones. Leave overnight with pink noise intermittently (one hour on, 10 mins break etc) for first week or two. Unlike cables, I buy into this burn in methodology for dynamic driver headphones. For v shaped sound sig phones generally it tames the bass and trebles abit and brings about a tad more coherence. My experience with headphones is reinforced by full sized speaker manufacturers who recommend this or do this prior to shipping out the speakers.

Romani do you do this?

I have never done this myself. I go down the old school route of playing as much music as I can of as many different genres as possible at reasonably high volumes. I find using this method (if you can even call it that) will tend to settle the headphones over time (within the first month). No idea where to get these white and pink noise files from and if they really achieve what is intended.