[j2rock]

FWIW, I have listened now to 5 pairs of brand new MM400's, with different 3rd party cables as well, as the stock cable doesn't do enough for me.

I'm not the firmest believer in burn in either but I could hear differences between all 5 sets and luckily kept my favorite pair. To say the least, not every pair of this model is going to sound the same but this is my first multi-listening experience with any one model of headphones.. so results will clearly vary.

 

[Romani]

   
What I mean is, male vocals sound strained at times. Female vocals sound okay. Listening to Rap, Hip Hop, Lorde, Lana Del Rey and everything in between.
 
Not really a believer of "burn in" if I am honest. I'll give it a shot though.
 
 
The Beyers are more congested, however fuller, forward, better mids and do not lack details thanks to tesla drivers. Also, the mid bass hits harder.
 
The Denons have mids a row or two back compared to the Beyers, have better soundstage, same detail, better low bass, not as much mid bass.
 
As frodeni states, I guess the Denon's are just not what I am looking for. How sad.

I never believed in burn in till i bought these. What i hear now is nothing like what came out of the box. Give them time, they really do open up. There is no vocal strain to be heard, to my ears anyway, as natural sounding as headphones get.

 

[frodeni]

   
What I mean is, male vocals sound strained at times. Female vocals sound okay. Listening to Rap, Hip Hop, Lorde, Lana Del Rey and everything in between.
 
Not really a believer of "burn in" if I am honest. I'll give it a shot though.
 
 
The Beyers are more congested, however fuller, forward, better mids and do not lack details thanks to tesla drivers. Also, the mid bass hits harder.
 
The Denons have mids a row or two back compared to the Beyers, have better soundstage, same detail, better low bass, not as much mid bass.
 
As frodeni states, I guess the Denon's are just not what I am looking for. How sad.

 
Compared to the HD800, vocals can be described in many ways. Some would say wrapped in haze, lacking clarity, etc. "strained" was new to me, but knowing this set, I sort of get how you could say that. Personally, I would describe this a bit lacking in separation. They also lack articulation and attack. The finer details are simply not rendered, and it is harder to separate the voices.
 
This set is clearly not for you, if you look for "hard hitting bass". Actually it would be nice to also have a hard hitting can. One that works great with raw music like rock. What would that be? One that makes perk hurt to ear, if ramping up.
 
I did add that Heimdal cable to HD800, and it helped a lot. Plenty of people feel that cable is too stressfull, because of the attack it introduces. I actually sought that particular trait, as I am more of an up temp guy. Adding the Heimdal or its smaller sibling to the mm400, seems like the only option for totally replacing all wiring, but it is both super expensive, and results are far from a given. A tiny wire is needed to replace the one running from the left to the right can.

 

[DanMUC]

So I'm new to head-fi but I've followed it over the years for researching different headphones.. now as I am a happy customer of the AH-MM400's.. I wanted to share some info about replacing the stock cable.

I sifted through some older pages referring to Audioquest Big Sur as a recommendation.. and have since bought it and listened.

What a letdown.

For a $108 cable, it does not outperform GE (General Electric)'s Ultra Pro Audio cable costing 1/10th the price. I originally bought this cable for my phone into my car but thought I'd try it with the Denon's.

It has a thicker sound than the stock cable and even made the Big Sur sound thin and bright.. though that typically means "clear".. but not in a desirable way in this instance.

I highly recommend the MobilePal 4 pole adapter for the headphone-side connection as it has no short extension cable on it like some other similar adapters.

Target is the only place I can find that sells the GE cable:

http://m.target.com/p/ge-ultra-pro-audio-3-5mm-cable-black-10517/-/A-15077075

It's worth $20 to try this combination instead of the stock cable.. and let me know what you think.

 
Without wanting to blame you (!), I ordered this cable on the back of your post but now that it's arrived and been unpacked to the point where the packaging is of course destroyed and probably unreturnable, I found that I cannot use this cable with my MM 400s as the jack won't fit - being round rather than oval.
 
How did you get it to fit??

 

[j2rock]

I mention in that same post to try the MobilePal 4 pole adapter.. but I ended up liking how this one sounds better, even though it has a thin cable extension on it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EHL7OFM/ref=sr_ph_1?qid=1455288511&sr=sr-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=ip-ad08k

 

[007shark76]

If you are willing to build your own cable, I found a couple adaptors that look like they will fit.
 
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5230
 
http://www.norneaudio.com/litzheim/Furutech-Valab-Oyaide-Shure-Denon-diy-headphone-cable-connector/oppo-pm-3-balanced-trrs-4-pole-diy-replacement-cable-connector-plug
 
I have ordered both and awaiting arrival. I will let everyone know how they fit.

 

[n05ey]

Please do, it would be great to see what the options are.

I just got a pair of these a week ago and am seriously enjoying them. They are hard to put down, not like some others where you spend time finding things in songs I hasn't heard before but rather enjoying the songs themselves which is really nice...

 

[cascriptor]

  If you are willing to build your own cable, I found a couple adaptors that look like they will fit.
 
http://www.lunashops.com/goods.php?id=5230
 
http://www.norneaudio.com/litzheim/Furutech-Valab-Oyaide-Shure-Denon-diy-headphone-cable-connector/oppo-pm-3-balanced-trrs-4-pole-diy-replacement-cable-connector-plug
 
I have ordered both and awaiting arrival. I will let everyone know how they fit.

First is 2.5mm, second is about 1-2mm too short. At this moment im afraid there is no 3.5mm plug which will fit to this headphones. Same thing with meze 99. 

 

[k1n0n3]

First is 2.5mm, second is about 1-2mm too short. At this moment im afraid tere is no 3.5mm plug which will fit to this headphones. Same thing with meze 99. 

The vmoda cable fits this headphone just fine. Its a bit of a squeeze as the rubber around the termination is haxagonal and the opening on the headphone is oval.

I will post a pic when I have a moment

 

[007shark76]

  First is 2.5mm, second is about 1-2mm too short. At this moment im afraid there is no 3.5mm plug which will fit to this headphones. Same thing with meze 99. 

 
I received the 3.5mm trrs from norneaudio and it DOES fit with a smidge to spare. 
 
Note: smidge is my technical term for seeing a very slight gap. (approx. 1/32")
 
I also metered out the connection points to ensure it was making contact on all pins. Now to order some cable. 

 

 

[cascriptor]

Yes, there is small gap, but only on one side (headphone socket is curved). I bought couple of these plugs and they all are too short to make a proper contact.
 
 

 

[007shark76]

Are you sure? I am reading the driver resistance between tip and ring and ring to sleeve (32 Ohms). Is it just barely making contact then which would cause static? 
 
Maybe there is a manufacturing variance. I just re-examined mine and mine doesn't bottom out. Mine looks like your picture with a bigger gap on the one side and a very tiny gap on the other. Have you tried it yet wired up?

 

[cascriptor]

Yes and there was no sound at all. When i pulled out the plug just a little, both channels were playing, but the sound was weird, unbalanced. These plugs are made in China so there might be a difference between length of the pin (19mm in my plug).

 

[007shark76]

When I get my cable in, I will try on mine. Rats! Thought I had the solution. This connector looks like it might also work:
 
http://www.doublehelixcables.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=190

 

[djenkov]

Hey,
 
I was about to buy these, but I read several comments and complaints that their clamp force is not so good. Will their clamping force be a nuisance for an outdoor use?