[silverrain]

Even though the Denon's border on being "too loose", they are surely a relief from that "head in a vise" feeling that comes with many other cans.

 

[Towert7]

Yea, the Denon D2000 is an interesting buy at it's price. It sounds unique with fairly good comfort, so I think people should seriously consider it in it's price range.

Interesting comparison Azure. You are right, you have to try different sounding headphones to get a general sense of what a particular headphone sounds like.

 

[fierce_freak]

Great comparison, Azure, many thanks.

Re Larry's deal: I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed. I was really looking forward to owning a pair of open/closed vario denons. I haven't heard any Darth Beyers, but from descriptions I'd say I'd probably prefer stock D2000 anyway. I do want to hear SkyBeyers though (not sure why they're not that popular).

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak /img/forum/go_quote.gif I do want to hear SkyBeyers though (not sure why they're not that popular).

They are a very specific headphone that I would only use for bassy music. I prefer my darth's over them almost all the time because of the better mids and less highs. I also got a chance to hear a Balanced Denon D5000 which I thought was more balanced than the Skybeyer. I personally would take the D5000 over the skybeyer.

 

[fierce_freak]

Ah, for some reason I thought the Skybeyers had less recessed mids than the Darths, and I don't want anything more recessed in the mids than the D2000.

 

[Azure]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jellybones /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great comparison. May I ask what songs you used to compare? I've been listening to a lot of Björk with the D2000's and am becoming more and more amazed at how good they sound. The trip-hoppish beats paired with her beautiful vocals are astounding through the Denon's. By the way, holy smokes have you seen the new deal Larry has up? http://headphile.com/hd3.jpg All I can say is wow.

I used the following songs:

Scooter - Aiii Shot the DJ
Scooter - Posse (I Need You on the Floor)
Alice Deejay - Waiting For Your Love
Robert Miles - Children (Dream Version)
Robert Miles - Fable (Message Version)
Cascada - Everytime We Touch
Cascada - How Do You Do
Cascada - Bad Boy
Vincent de Moor - Fly Away (Original Vocal Mix)
Vincent de Moor - Orion City (Moonman's Drift mix)
L.E.D./Remixed by Ryu* - The Strong Jaeger (Ryu* remix)
Sparker - Brightness Darkness Whitelight Mix)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shahter /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great review Azure , thanks ! I think that few posts before you told that you love much more DT990 over D2000. Things are changed so dramatically over a night ? What can I say about 600 ohm DT990 is that they no so bass heavy as 250 ohm , and bass is not "cover" the midrange. It's just there . So probably it's like you described the D2000 . Highs also is much better than in 250 ohm. So for my taste 600 ohm is the best way to go for DT990 . I would like to listen to D2000 some time, but I prefer much more open headphones presentation over closed ones. Each time I worn closed cans I felt this claustrophobic effect that do not exist on open phones. How D2000's sounstage comparing to DT990 ?

Yeah, I was surprised at how my opinions changed as well. I was really excited when I got the DT990 because of the sudden shock of such heavily emphasized bass. It wasn't until I started switching between the headphones that the plusses and minuses became more apparent. I also found the D2000 to give my headaches early on in the beginning, but they don't any more.

If I get the opportunity I may try the 600 ohm DT990, but I'm skeptical that it can make such a huge difference.

Both of them are great at soundstaging, but the DT990 has a more open and airy soundstage than the D2000. The D2000 soundstage isn't the best, but it's adequate enough that it doesn't detract from the sound quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrior05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting and good, IMO, group of headphones to compare against each other. My only contention is your comments in regards to the 990's bass. You did mention that they may require more burn-in. This must be the case because I find the bass on my 990s (250 ohm) to be wonderfully controlled and not over-powering at all.

Yes, these DT990s supposedly didn't get much use so they may require more burn-in (which I'm doing right now). I'm going to burn the DT990 and the D2000 in for another 5 or 6 days, and then I'll see if anything has changed.

Does anyone have the frequency response of the D2000/D5000? I'm curious to see what it looks like.

 

[silverrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't want anything more recessed in the mids than the D2000.

??? -- My D2000's are not recessed in the mids at all -- not even a little bit.

 

[fierce_freak]

The mids aren't really recessed in my D2000...but they're as close to recessed as I like. To my ears the mids on the D2000 are what I would call neutral, not forward and not recessed.

 

[nickchen]

Very good & interesting read, moreover as none of the competitors is on my personal curiousity list.

Sorry to hear that Scooter is in your repertoire, these elderly partyhystericals always make me ashamed to be german...

 

[Azure]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice review. The earpads though are genuine leather (at least on pair I used to own) and loose fit around the ears might explain why you do not perceive them that bass heavy. Have you tried to rotate pads to make openings to align with your ears? I can compare only with DT880 which have similar to DT990 design, but I would definitely give my vote for comfort to Denons. Thanks again, that was very nice read.

Genuine leather? Really? I remember reading in one of the D2000 threads that the customer representative told someone that the ear pads are NOT leather

I've experimented with rotating the pads but I still cannot get a snug fit. I can live with this problem, though.

 

[GSurge]

Maybe the USA release will not be leather.

 

[spectaculartimes]

There are all sorts of contrary opinions about the Denons. I basically think everyone is correct. I have the D5000s (which people say are very close to the 2000s) and if there's one thing I'm entirely certain of, it's that they can sound shockingly different depending on what's driving them.

For several weeks, I've been trying them with CDs, vinyl, compressed and uncompressed files via USB, home integrated amps, a Hornet, straight from computers and portables, etc. Each time I noticed a change in the sound, but generally the sound signature remained and I was not altogether happy with it. Yes, the midrange, particularly what seems like around 500 Hz, was undeniably recessed. When listening to The Doors, Jim Morisson sounded like a total wuss. The bass response and timbre, particularly the kick drum, was great but way forward compared to other frequencies. There also seemed to be a bit of a hump where the ride cymbals lie. I also found the Denons to be congested, claustrophobic, and painfully slow. Details were great, but it seemed like they would require shock treatment to get any life in them. Wait...not shock treatment...well, whatever they use to start people's hearts in the ER.

Anyway, this brings us to today. I had conclusively decided to sell these and, having nothing to lose, decided to bring them to work for a final listen directly through my company-issued Compaq PC. After about 2 minutes, I completely reversed every opinion I had about them. Granted, the details suffered from the stock sound of the decidedly utilitarian computer, but all the complaints I had amassed about the Denons fell flat on their face. Speed? A racehorse. Impact? A roundhouse to the jaw. Balance? A Romanian gymnist. If I can find a home and/or portable amp that can bring this sound signature but with higher-grade components to let the details shine through, I'll have, well, pretty much the perfect headphone.

 

[silverrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak /img/forum/go_quote.gif The mids aren't really recessed in my D2000...but they're as close to recessed as I like. To my ears the mids on the D2000 are what I would call neutral, not forward and not recessed.

Ah -- gotcha. Misunderstood.

 

[silverrain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spectaculartimes /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll have, well, pretty much the perfect headphone.

Jeez -- talk about a 3-para 180!

 

[thread]

Damn.. I'm seriously considering one of these cans as a compliment to my HD600, but the more I read, the more I'm thinking the D2000's are for me. And that really annoys me because I just sold them off a week ago. I ghetto rigged (taped paper towel underneath) the headband to make them fit properly on my head.

If I could come up with a better diy way to fix their slightly too-big headband, I might possibly just rebuy them.

It's especially good to hear that the headache inducing bit went away. That was just setting in when I decided to let go of them.