[azmodan79]

Bought these coupla weeks ago since I had to return a pair of B&W P7 (busted left can).
I must say I'm quite happy, been a fan of the Denon "sound" (own a pair of AHD-2000 and D-1001) and I must say they are much better than the P7 in the comfort aspect.

 

[Romani]

Bought these coupla weeks ago since I had to return a pair of B&W P7 (busted left can).
I must say I'm quite happy, been a fan of the Denon "sound" (own a pair of AHD-2000 and D-1001) and I must say they are much better than the P7 in the comfort aspect.

Wow, we've owned exactly the same cans previously and I feel the same way about these. My wife is even surprised I have not contemplated changing headphones for once since early last year

 

[Whitenoise61]

This is my first post, let me give you some back-story. I've currently got a pair of V-Moda Crossfade LPs which are my first pair of "real" headphones. I've had them about a year now but before that I was happy using $15 Sony clip-on earbuds with my ipod, and I generally listened to music through speakers at home in the evenings. But when the baby came along 2 years ago it changed everything. We kind of switched over to stealth mode by neccessity, at night when he's sleeping we found ourselves tiptoing around the house and talking in soft whispers, watching tv with the volume turned down as low as possible. Listening to music out loud in the open air became a thing of the past. I started using my earbuds at the computer then for comfort reasons decided to buy a pair of $25 Panasonic over-the-ear cheapo headphones because there were hundreds of idiots writing reviews on Amazon saying they sounded great. Why spend more?
 
I quickly realized I wanted better sound quality so back on Amazon I went and after reading tons of reviews ended up with my V-Modas. Spent $120 for them and thought that was a lot of money for headphones so surely they must be good. They're certainly built well I'll give them that. Actually they're really not that bad, they have plenty of low end which I like, drums sound good, and the midrange is pretty good and that's where the rythym guitars are so I figured I could live with that. But lately I've been starting to think I'd like to upgrade to something even better.
 
I recently found out from a friend on another forum about DACs, he posted his high end system in his signature and I asked him about it and we got into a whole convo about audio. Embarrassingly I had never even heard of a DAC 2 months ago. He of course has a high end Schiit Yggdrasil DAC costing a couple thousand dollars at home and a more reasonably priced one he uses at work. I'm going to start in the under $200 range for my first DAC/amp, looking at the Fiios and Fostex and the Audioengine D1 but I'm open to suggestions.
 
I've been doing internet research on headphones for a few weeks now. Don't want to make a hasty decision this time around, I want to get something that will sound good enough to satisfy me for awhile. Originally I was thinking I could get a $300 headphone but after reading so many reviews my eyes are blurry I'm thinking I might be willing to go to $400 if need be and I'm willing to buy used. I've changed my mind 100 times as to who the main contenders are. I've considered PSB M4U1, NAD Viso HP50, Meze 99 Classics, ADL H118, Fostex TH-600, AKGK545, Focal Spirit Classics, B&W P7, SRH 1540... even thought about trying one of the low end planars like OPPO PM-3 or HE400S.
 
 
Been reading through this thread for hours, since 2pm and now it's 4am. You guys have made these Denons sound really good. Could they be the ones? I know I need a closed can for sound leakage purposes but beyond that I'm just not sure which way to go. I keep reading words like "warm" and "bright" and "dark" and "sibilance" and "present" and "bloated" and while I think I can basically understand what they mean I wish I had a frame of reference to really know what they sound like. Tight bass. What exactly is tight? Do I want my bass to be tight? Or fast? Punchy? I want a HP that's a lot more neutralish than what I have now, but I'm not ready to go for a reference headphone that has a flat FR, giving up all that bass. I just don't want to order a $400 pair of headphones and be like "hey where's the bass?!?" I want some warmth and  I need bass that's north of neutral. But not bloated or muddy or sloppy or bleeding into the mids. Yes I have read a million reviews, I know the lingo, I can talk the talk but what I really want is to walk the walk.
 
I'm thinking these AH-MM400s might fit the bill. After 65 pages I know that they have bass, but it's not overpowering everything else and that's what I want. And I'm getting that the treble's not gonna kill my ears and that's very important to me too. Too "bright" would be the biggest dealbreaker for me. (Sorry for the long post but I'm almost done.) My big question is, how are these headphones for metal? Does anyone here listen to metal? This is the biggest concern for me reading hundreds of pages of reviews, I don't really know what kind of music the various reviewers are listening to when they describe the sound of a pair of headphones.I read through 34 pages of the PSB M4U1 thread yesterday just to get one page from the end and have someone post "no these wouldn't be any good with metal" at which point I deleted them from my cart. I used to think that a quality pair of headphones should sound good with any genre but I see now with the higher end HPs that's not neccessarily true. As a lifelong metalhead I have seen in my 54 years that most people who say stuff like "I listen to pretty much everything" usually mean everything except metal. So I have to come right out and specifically ask, can these awesome headphones handle metal? And I'm talking black and death metal, rapid-fire double kick drums and crunchy distorted guitars, with harsh vocals not 80's Priest/Maiden/Dio metal. It's not all I listen to but it's 90%.
 
Again sorry for the long first post, hopefully someone here has listened to some metal through these and can give me their thoughts. Thank you.

 

[jpvanirsel]

This is my first post, let me give you some back-story. I've currently got a pair of V-Moda Crossfade LPs which are my first pair of "real" headphones. I've had them about a year now but before that I was happy using $15 Sony clip-on earbuds with my ipod, and I generally listened to music through speakers at home in the evenings. But when the baby came along 2 years ago it changed everything. We kind of switched over to stealth mode by neccessity, at night when he's sleeping we found ourselves tiptoing around the house and talking in soft whispers, watching tv with the volume turned down as low as possible. Listening to music out loud in the open air became a thing of the past. I started using my earbuds at the computer then for comfort reasons decided to buy a pair of $25 Panasonic over-the-ear cheapo headphones because there were hundreds of idiots writing reviews on Amazon saying they sounded great. Why spend more?

I quickly realized I wanted better sound quality so back on Amazon I went and after reading tons of reviews ended up with my V-Modas. Spent $120 for them and thought that was a lot of money for headphones so surely they must be good. They're certainly built well I'll give them that. Actually they're really not that bad, they have plenty of low end which I like, drums sound good, and the midrange is pretty good and that's where the rythym guitars are so I figured I could live with that. But lately I've been starting to think I'd like to upgrade to something even better.

I recently found out from a friend on another forum about DACs, he posted his high end system in his signature and I asked him about it and we got into a whole convo about audio. Embarrassingly I had never even heard of a DAC 2 months ago. He of course has a high end Schiit Yggdrasil DAC costing a couple thousand dollars at home and a more reasonably priced one he uses at work. I'm going to start in the under $200 range for my first DAC/amp, looking at the Fiios and Fostex and the Audioengine D1 but I'm open to suggestions.

I've been doing internet research on headphones for a few weeks now. Don't want to make a hasty decision this time around, I want to get something that will sound good enough to satisfy me for awhile. Originally I was thinking I could get a $300 headphone but after reading so many reviews my eyes are blurry I'm thinking I might be willing to go to $400 if need be and I'm willing to buy used. I've changed my mind 100 times as to who the main contenders are. I've considered PSB M4U1, NAD Viso HP50, Meze 99 Classics, ADL H118, Fostex TH-600, AKGK545, Focal Spirit Classics, B&W P7, SRH 1540... even thought about trying one of the low end planars like OPPO PM-3 or HE400S.

 

Been reading through this thread for hours, since 2pm and now it's 4am. You guys have made these Denons sound really good. Could they be the ones? I know I need a closed can for sound leakage purposes but beyond that I'm just not sure which way to go. I keep reading words like "warm" and "bright" and "dark" and "sibilance" and "present" and "bloated" and while I think I can basically understand what they mean I wish I had a frame of reference to really know what they sound like. Tight bass. What exactly is tight? Do I want my bass to be tight? Or fast? Punchy? I want a HP that's a lot more neutralish than what I have now, but I'm not ready to go for a reference headphone that has a flat FR, giving up all that bass. I just don't want to order a $400 pair of headphones and be like "hey where's the bass?!?" I want some warmth and  I need bass that's north of neutral. But not bloated or muddy or sloppy or bleeding into the mids. Yes I have read a million reviews, I know the lingo, I can talk the talk but what I really want is to walk the walk.

I'm thinking these AH-MM400s might fit the bill. After 65 pages I know that they have bass, but it's not overpowering everything else and that's what I want. And I'm getting that the treble's not gonna kill my ears and that's very important to me too. Too "bright" would be the biggest dealbreaker for me. (Sorry for the long post but I'm almost done.) My big question is, how are these headphones for metal? Does anyone here listen to metal? This is the biggest concern for me reading hundreds of pages of reviews, I don't really know what kind of music the various reviewers are listening to when they describe the sound of a pair of headphones.I read through 34 pages of the PSB M4U1 thread yesterday just to get one page from the end and have someone post "no these wouldn't be any good with metal" at which point I deleted them from my cart. I used to think that a quality pair of headphones should sound good with any genre but I see now with the higher end HPs that's not neccessarily true. As a lifelong metalhead I have seen in my 54 years that most people who say stuff like "I listen to pretty much everything" usually mean everything except metal. So I have to come right out and specifically ask, can these awesome headphones handle metal? And I'm talking black and death metal, rapid-fire double kick drums and crunchy distorted guitars, with harsh vocals not 80's Priest/Maiden/Dio metal. It's not all I listen to but it's 90%.

Again sorry for the long first post, hopefully someone here has listened to some metal through these and can give me their thoughts. Thank you.

I don't know what your budget is, but you could check out the sony mdr1a. These are alot cheaper them the denons. Of course the denons sound better but the sony's have a very warm sound and good bass. The mids are still presemt and the highs sound crisp. You can also check out this thread:http://www.head-fi.org/t/715478/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution Hope this helps.

 

[Romani]

This is my first post, let me give you some back-story. I've currently got a pair of V-Moda Crossfade LPs which are my first pair of "real" headphones. I've had them about a year now but before that I was happy using $15 Sony clip-on earbuds with my ipod, and I generally listened to music through speakers at home in the evenings. But when the baby came along 2 years ago it changed everything. We kind of switched over to stealth mode by neccessity, at night when he's sleeping we found ourselves tiptoing around the house and talking in soft whispers, watching tv with the volume turned down as low as possible. Listening to music out loud in the open air became a thing of the past. I started using my earbuds at the computer then for comfort reasons decided to buy a pair of $25 Panasonic over-the-ear cheapo headphones because there were hundreds of idiots writing reviews on Amazon saying they sounded great. Why spend more?

I quickly realized I wanted better sound quality so back on Amazon I went and after reading tons of reviews ended up with my V-Modas. Spent $120 for them and thought that was a lot of money for headphones so surely they must be good. They're certainly built well I'll give them that. Actually they're really not that bad, they have plenty of low end which I like, drums sound good, and the midrange is pretty good and that's where the rythym guitars are so I figured I could live with that. But lately I've been starting to think I'd like to upgrade to something even better.

I recently found out from a friend on another forum about DACs, he posted his high end system in his signature and I asked him about it and we got into a whole convo about audio. Embarrassingly I had never even heard of a DAC 2 months ago. He of course has a high end Schiit Yggdrasil DAC costing a couple thousand dollars at home and a more reasonably priced one he uses at work. I'm going to start in the under $200 range for my first DAC/amp, looking at the Fiios and Fostex and the Audioengine D1 but I'm open to suggestions.

I've been doing internet research on headphones for a few weeks now. Don't want to make a hasty decision this time around, I want to get something that will sound good enough to satisfy me for awhile. Originally I was thinking I could get a $300 headphone but after reading so many reviews my eyes are blurry I'm thinking I might be willing to go to $400 if need be and I'm willing to buy used. I've changed my mind 100 times as to who the main contenders are. I've considered PSB M4U1, NAD Viso HP50, Meze 99 Classics, ADL H118, Fostex TH-600, AKGK545, Focal Spirit Classics, B&W P7, SRH 1540... even thought about trying one of the low end planars like OPPO PM-3 or HE400S.

 

Been reading through this thread for hours, since 2pm and now it's 4am. You guys have made these Denons sound really good. Could they be the ones? I know I need a closed can for sound leakage purposes but beyond that I'm just not sure which way to go. I keep reading words like "warm" and "bright" and "dark" and "sibilance" and "present" and "bloated" and while I think I can basically understand what they mean I wish I had a frame of reference to really know what they sound like. Tight bass. What exactly is tight? Do I want my bass to be tight? Or fast? Punchy? I want a HP that's a lot more neutralish than what I have now, but I'm not ready to go for a reference headphone that has a flat FR, giving up all that bass. I just don't want to order a $400 pair of headphones and be like "hey where's the bass?!?" I want some warmth and  I need bass that's north of neutral. But not bloated or muddy or sloppy or bleeding into the mids. Yes I have read a million reviews, I know the lingo, I can talk the talk but what I really want is to walk the walk.

I'm thinking these AH-MM400s might fit the bill. After 65 pages I know that they have bass, but it's not overpowering everything else and that's what I want. And I'm getting that the treble's not gonna kill my ears and that's very important to me too. Too "bright" would be the biggest dealbreaker for me. (Sorry for the long post but I'm almost done.) My big question is, how are these headphones for metal? Does anyone here listen to metal? This is the biggest concern for me reading hundreds of pages of reviews, I don't really know what kind of music the various reviewers are listening to when they describe the sound of a pair of headphones.I read through 34 pages of the PSB M4U1 thread yesterday just to get one page from the end and have someone post "no these wouldn't be any good with metal" at which point I deleted them from my cart. I used to think that a quality pair of headphones should sound good with any genre but I see now with the higher end HPs that's not neccessarily true. As a lifelong metalhead I have seen in my 54 years that most people who say stuff like "I listen to pretty much everything" usually mean everything except metal. So I have to come right out and specifically ask, can these awesome headphones handle metal? And I'm talking black and death metal, rapid-fire double kick drums and crunchy distorted guitars, with harsh vocals not 80's Priest/Maiden/Dio metal. It's not all I listen to but it's 90%.

Again sorry for the long first post, hopefully someone here has listened to some metal through these and can give me their thoughts. Thank you.

I think the Denons are right down your alley. However, I also own the Marshall Monitor and for some reason think they could handle your metal genre just as well for half the price. Their midrange isn't as good as the Denons but I know that rock just sounds the way it should on the Marshalls. Whether you consider those genres close might be the deciding factor. If it wasn't for your preferred genre, and based on what you stated, I would still choose the Denons hands down. I love my Denons for home and Marshalls for on-the-road use. Sorry, I know I just threw another pair of headphones into the ring.

 

[n05ey]

No worries on the long post, it is a serious decision and a fair bit of money.

I have enjoyed quite a few pairs of headphones including the hp50 and most recently the msr7's. I wouldn't personally recommend the hp50's for that, I am not huge into those genres but I found dream theatre and alter bridge a little soft.

The msr7's on the other hand had a nice crunch to the guitars but lacked a little drive through the bass and kick.

Fast forward to these bad boys and I have to say, they are amazing. They present it so well...

I will leave it to others but to me these have a great mix between excitement but not piercing and are the most comfortable pair of cans I have used (not to be forgotten)

All that said, i would say that there will be quite a few pairs in your list that will be amazing.

The best thing to do in this process will be to know yourself...

 

[azmodan79]

I listen to metal (from funeral doom to power) all day and would recommend these cans. Also,unlike previous Denons, the "attack" (I think it's called thusly), or "speed" is up to par with the Sennheisers Hd 25-2 I own for portable use.
Denon tightened the bass (wasn't really bloated but a little bit sluggish) and now you've got a really nice package.
I enjoyed the P7s but they weren't very comfy and found the sound a little fatiguing.

 

[calmdown]

Hey guys, this is my first post too and this topic helped in decision of buying the mm400. Got these two weeks ago and out of box it sounded great (just a little shy), metal inclusive.
 
But now, awww so bright that makes some bands inaudible! Think it's part of the burn in process. I'm with 60h of listering. My concern is about mine being shine unlike yours in that period. Hope things get better soon.

 

[peareye]

Part of burning these in...should calm down by 100 hr. mark

 

[Romani]

I listen to metal (from funeral doom to power) all day and would recommend these cans. Also,unlike previous Denons, the "attack" (I think it's called thusly), or "speed" is up to par with the Sennheisers Hd 25-2 I own for portable use.
Denon tightened the bass (wasn't really bloated but a little bit sluggish) and now you've got a really nice package.
I enjoyed the P7s but they weren't very comfy and found the sound a little fatiguing.

I don't listen to metal and I still found the P7 fatiguing from a sound and comfort perspective too.

 

[Whitenoise61]

I don't listen to metal and I still found the P7 fatiguing from a sound and comfort perspective too.

If you don't mind me asking, what genres do you listen to Romani? My biggest fear is that I'll buy an expensive pair of headphones and they'll be too bright and fatiguing. Second biggest fear is the bass won't be good and the kick drums will sound like one big mess. I was considering the P7 right before I found the AH-MM400 which is what I'm pretty well set on getting now (as soon as I can find a used pair for around $300 USD) I've basically stopped looking and your imput on this thread had a lot to do with my decision. Might help me put all your comments in perspective if I knew what types of music you listened to.

 

[Romani]

If you don't mind me asking, what genres do you listen to Romani? My biggest fear is that I'll buy an expensive pair of headphones and they'll be too bright and fatiguing. Second biggest fear is the bass won't be good and the kick drums will sound like one big mess. I was considering the P7 right before I found the AH-MM400 which is what I'm pretty well set on getting now (as soon as I can find a used pair for around $300 USD) I've basically stopped looking and your imput on this thread had a lot to do with my decision. Might help me put all your comments in perspective if I knew what types of music you listened to.

I think the P7s were way too bright, uncomfortably so, and their bass was bloated and loose. You are definitely better off with the Denons in my opinion. I really can't fault them, more than a year on. The genres I listen to spans from rock to pop to world music. Anything goes really.

 

[calmdown]

 
My biggest fear is that I'll buy an expensive pair of headphones and they'll be too bright and fatiguing. Second biggest fear is the bass won't be good and the kick drums will sound like one big mess.

Don't worry about bass. These will afford all the power and precision that a Death band can ask. But not overpowered. No mess at all.

About being bright I can't tell yet. But I bet it will get rid of it after burn in, as all my eletronics did. (have to say I'm very sensitive to high frequences).

 

 

[calmdown]

Found a good way to protect wood and increase its natural beauty
 
Just polished it with Carnauba Wax (for wood of course).
 
Before
 

 
After

 

[Romani]

Found a good way to protect wood and increase its natural beauty

Just polished it with Carnauba Wax (for wood of course).

Before




After

I didn't think these could get any better looking. Nice one