[sunset754]

This is J model, which means for JAPANESE market originally. Even though more work has been done than plained you should be expected to have a very-very bright IEM because all asian market targeted IEMs are bright. Name me one dark sounding IEM from Asia, I can remember only XBA-Z5 from Sony which has a very bad reviews in Japan because of lacking treble and absense of brightness. European and Asian hear things differentely, that's the biology and you can't avoid that.

Interesting. I also have the T-Peos H300 which is also considered quite trebly but I was not affect by them too much. I still reckon that the Dunus will will calm down a little after more listening or "burn in" as others have mentioned.

 

[MongTT]

  This is J model, which means for JAPANESE market originally. Even though more work has been done than plained you should be expected to have a very-very bright IEM because all asian market targeted IEMs are bright. Name me one dark sounding IEM from Asia, I can remember only XBA-Z5 from Sony which has a very bad reviews in Japan because of lacking treble and absense of brightness. European and Asian hear things differentely, that's the biology and you can't avoid that.

 
I personally love bright, clear and crisp treble, probably more than others' usual preference (also love tight smooth bass which DN2000j is doing perfectly)
I am also in Asia which I dont know if that is an coincidence as you mentioned. LOL. To be frank after been listening for several weeks, I also found some tracks to
be on the high limit and start to feel sibilant, even on some male vocal. I am not saying I dont like it but just that it starts to become a bit irritating many points in
the track. So I started to play around with tips and rings as supplied in the package.
 
I found that clear white silicone tip would result in the brightest sound while the gray tip with sponge embedded inside would sound a bit less bright/sibilant.
Moreover, the further away the opening end of the tip is from the mesh where the sound is coming out, the slightly less bright/sibilant the sound will be.
Therefore, I end up using the red ring with the gray tip with sponge inside (+ the base ring) since I feel that the red ring push the tip most away from the mesh.
Many of you may find the color ring is up for other purpose. I am not sure about it. I did write to Dunu asking how to properly use the color rings and what 
their designated result are. The answer from Dunu was that these rings are for improving the fitting to your ears which I totally understand why some say the color
rings improve bass since without a proper fit to the ear canal, a significant amount of bass would be loss.
 
I also notice that the material of the tip affect treble considerably. All the Comply tips, being memory foam (material surface somehow like fine sponge), would absorb
most of the harsh sibilant treble to the level that I find the sound losing clarity and crispness, so I dont use Comply tips at all. However, Comply tips might be just right
for many other people, especially the round one, Ts-500 comfort series. I feel that the T-500 isolation series does absorb more bright sibilance (as the distance between
the opening of the tip and the mesh is more) and the Tx-500 absorbing most with the wax guard making the overall sound quite warm. 
 
I love the bass ring but cant avoid driver flex every single time I put them on because I need to push the DN2000j quite hard in to my ear to get a proper fit otherwise 
I wont get that bass quality. So lately I remove the bass ring being worried about the damage to the driver. Anybody got any solution for this? I dont think I can get the
same effect by adjusting EQ.
 
Well all are just my opinion, YMMV.
 
Happy listening.

 

[tomscy2000]

It's really about getting used to a sound signature and listening at the appropriate volumes. I've been switching back and forth between the 2000J and the Rockets --- two very different earphones --- and when I listen to the Rockets for an extended period of time, the 2000J sound thin, brittle and borderline harsh, while the Rockets will sound overly smoothed over and warm if I listen to the 2000J for an extended stretch. At the same time, I tend the turn up the volume on the Rockets more, while turning down the volume on the 2000J. To me, they're just better that way. Overall, I'm a low volume listener, and that suits me just fine.
 
Is the 2000J "unnaturally bright"? Honestly speaking, a little. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I definitely don't think it's suited to be a "daily driver" --- if I want to extend the car analogy, it is a quintessential 'supercar', with amazing performance but not the most practical to use day-to-day --- but I actually haven't at all been "annoyed" by how bright it is. There are numerous other IEMs out there that annoy me far more, either with being too bright, too harsh, and often both. Make no mistake --- it does get peaky, and if one of your main criteria for high performance in an IEM is smooth treble, skip over the 2000J. It is still a very high-reward IEM, though, with true TOTL performance in nearly every way.

 

[Whitigir]

It's really about getting used to a sound signature and listening at the appropriate volumes. I've been switching back and forth between the 2000J and the Rockets --- two very different earphones --- and when I listen to the Rockets for an extended period of time, the 2000J sound thin, brittle and borderline harsh, while the Rockets will sound overly smoothed over and warm if I listen to the 2000J for an extended stretch. At the same time, I tend the turn up the volume on the Rockets more, while turning down the volume on the 2000J. To me, they're just better that way. Overall, I'm a low volume listener, and that suits me just fine.

Is the 2000J "unnaturally bright"? Honestly speaking, a little. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I definitely don't think it's suited to be a "daily driver" --- if I want to extend the car analogy, it is a quintessential 'supercar', with amazing performance but not the most practical to use day-to-day --- but I actually haven't at all been "annoyed" by how bright it is. There are numerous other IEMs out there that annoy me far more, either with being too bright, too harsh, and often both. Make no mistake --- it does get peaky, and if one of your main criteria for high performance in an IEM is smooth treble, skip over the 2000J. It is still a very high-reward IEM, though, with true TOTL performance in nearly every way.

I would skip the 2kJ as from: price+that highs high, especially from those who jumped over from A83, the A83 highs were crazy for me. I am more into natural, transparency, flat, detailed stuff. I am neither bass nor trebles enthusiast. In fact I do appreciate more space, accuracy, details, layered, natural tonality. I know I ask a lot , but for the high-end pricing, it better be that way.

 

[tomscy2000]

I would skip the 2kJ as from: price+that highs high, especially from those who jumped over from A83, the A83 highs were crazy for me. I am more into natural, transparency, flat, detailed stuff. I am neither bass nor trebles enthusiast. In fact I do appreciate more space, accuracy, details, layered, natural tonality. I know I ask a lot

, but for the high-end pricing, it better be that way.

$350 for this kind of performance is hard to find, BTW. Try the ER4PT-to-S.
 
Personally --- and I will state this again --- actually I will up the ante: the A83 does not have even close to the performance of the 2000J. I'm sorry to all those who enjoy the A83 (not pointing toward any one person), but I don't think the A83 comes close to the 2000J --- I think the XBA-A3 and Z5 are far better competitors, even though they have a different signature.

 

[H20Fidelity]

$350 for this kind of performance is hard to find, BTW. Try the ER4PT-to-S.

Personally --- and I will state this again --- actually I will up the ante: the A83 does not have even close to the performance of the 2000J. I'm sorry to all those who enjoy the A83 (not pointing toward any one person), but I don't think the A83 comes close to the 2000J --- I think the XBA-A3 and Z5 are far better competitors, even though they have a different signature.

I disagree,Tom.

Not sure which A83 heard, but your impressions do not line up with mine and some others. My A83 easily runs head to head with 2000J bare the soundstage advantage 2000J has. The reason you don't see me in here is because A83 controls sibilance much better than 2000J can. It's for that reason alone I no longer have 2000J. Such a competent IEM (as you say) let me down with what's imo is unstable mid-range, which may explain why you say it's suited for 'low volume listening'

Sorry mate, I very much trust your opinion usually but that's simply not true in my eyes, but more so your opinion.

 

[tomscy2000]

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/FidueA83.pdf
 
FR, THD+N, Impulse all look very mediocre. The FR has a bigger, wider dip than the 4.A/Ai a few years back. The THD+N is high. The impulse response is loose. The square wave responses are non-ideal and far from ideal. Bass looks a bit loose.
 
The A83 has poor fit rates for many people, including me. When I heard it, I immediately noticed a distinct suck-out in the upper midrange, and this was a couple of months before Tyll even posted those measurements. I tried very hard to find the "right pairing" with DAPs, and only the AK240 proved to be a good fit (BTW, this is not an indication of how good or bad the AK240 is, but an indication that the A83 is very picky) with bass control. The 2000J has clear, obvious flaws, but I sincerely believe the A83 is far more flawed.
 
So yes, it is my opinion, but I am also backing it up with support from InnerFidelity's data. But for the sake of things, I do believe it's the end of a very, very, very long day for me, and the end result is my having zero filter. So let's agree to disagree.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Look mate, I disagree, and I'm not about to start playing cat n mouse with you, I'd much rather not actually.

I just had to place some balance in there.

 

[tomscy2000]

There are far worse hybrids out there than the A83, of course --- the Ultrasone IQ is a perfect example, and the Astrotec AX60 might be even worse. The AX60 was probably the biggest waste of money I ever spent. The one(s) from Audiofly look pretty poor data-wise, but I've never heard them. The Sony hybrids, other than the A3/Z5, all sound pretty ewww. So I guess on the totem pole of hybrids, the A83 is higher than it is low, but I still don't like it.
 
Based on data, I would actually support people trying out that FLC8, because of the billion tuning options, and overall decent performance based on what I see from the data. But I've never heard it myself, so I can't give a clear endorsement. It also looks like it probably will be uncomfortable for some people. I'm also looking forward to hearing what PSB does with the M4U4, but it seems a ways away from mass release.
 
Hybrids are probably best kept as a two-way design, and with a very speedy dynamic driver as its base, or else the bass will sound disjointed compared to the rest of the spectrum. There are two choices for using the BA(s): (1) low-pass the dynamic driver and use the BA(s) for everything >800 Hz, or (2) have the dynamic driver as a flat (unadjusted at the eardrum) response, and use the BA to selectively (highlight) areas of the midrange and treble. The second method is more difficult, because time and phase coherence need to be essentially perfect.

 

[Raketen]

  When I heard it, I immediately noticed a distinct suck-out in the upper midrange, and this was a couple of months before Tyll even posted those measurements.

I have seen a few things described with the "suck-out" phrase recently- usually referring to a steep dip at a specific frequency in mid/treble range- maybe I am using the wrong glossary, but wondering if someone could link a good description of what it usually does to the listening experience? Or perhaps a good track to demonstrate the effect if I apply a similar EQ dip?

(Mainly interested because I have been thinking I'd like to try the Earsonics SM64 at some point, and it seems to be a bit controversial for a sharp dip at 5k- my first guess would have been that such dips are there to compensate for some kind of resonance, but apparently that also produces the 'suck out' sound I am unfamiliar with.)

 

[rschoi75]

 
Is the 2000J "unnaturally bright"? Honestly speaking, a little. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I definitely don't think it's suited to be a "daily driver" --- if I want to extend the car analogy, it is a quintessential 'supercar', with amazing performance but not the most practical to use day-to-day --- but I actually haven't at all been "annoyed" by how bright it is. There are numerous other IEMs out there that annoy me far more, either with being too bright, too harsh, and often both. Make no mistake --- it does get peaky, and if one of your main criteria for high performance in an IEM is smooth treble, skip over the 2000J. It is still a very high-reward IEM, though, with true TOTL performance in nearly every way.

 
 
Agreed. This falls in line with my opinion of the DN-2000j. You can definitely smooth out the treble a lot with the blue-tack mod and comply TX-500 foam tips. I'm really pleased with them the more I spend time with these. They are keepers for me. 

 

[james444]

  Is the 2000J "unnaturally bright"? Honestly speaking, a little. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, and I definitely don't think it's suited to be a "daily driver" --- if I want to extend the car analogy, it is a quintessential 'supercar', with amazing performance but not the most practical to use day-to-day --- but I actually haven't at all been "annoyed" by how bright it is. There are numerous other IEMs out there that annoy me far more, either with being too bright, too harsh, and often both. Make no mistake --- it does get peaky, and if one of your main criteria for high performance in an IEM is smooth treble, skip over the 2000J. It is still a very high-reward IEM, though, with true TOTL performance in nearly every way.

 
I agree. It's not quite my preferred treble signature, but everything else is so impressive that I felt the treble was worth tinkering with for hours. Hence my various modding attempts to make it more easily "digestible".
 
Judging by measurements, the A83 don't seem level with the 2000J, but I'll refrain from commenting until I've actually heard them.

 

[tomscy2000]

  Agreed. This falls in line with my opinion of the DN-2000j. You can definitely smooth out the treble a lot with the blue-tack mod and comply TX-500 foam tips. I'm really pleased with them the more I spend time with these. They are keepers for me. 

Well, ideally, the treble should be smoother out of the box. That should be the main criticism of the 2000J.

 

[LMka]

Now that in this thread there are a lot of reasonable people who say reasonable things I would like to raise a question if you think head-fi community would come to a point when it would name bad products bad and good are good so 2 main problems could be fixed:
 
1) False expectations due to people write only good stuff mostly and never bad so the buyer gets not what he expected. Less important one.
2) If we start writing that bad product sound bad, that (for ex.)  brightness is not "a bit bright so I listen to it at low volume" but it hurts to listen to it on normal volumes unless you want to damage your hearing.
 
What I am trying to say is audio industry should move somewhere already as right now bad products and good products are overly mixed and it is very hard to differ which is which so the production companies does not care if they make a bad product because of all these reviews they still keep selling them. Look at Earsonics Velvet for example, they are just horrible, they only have bass and "hurt your ears" treble, it's like worser bersion of Beats by Dre but Beats at least does not keep sticking little needles in your brain with it's sound while earsonics do. I would not get them even for 100 dollars yet they cost ~600-700 and have an overall positive reviews.
 
Look at Steam with it's game sales for example, until they made a refund policy recently game developers did not really care if they make an unoptimized or bad product but after the wave of refunds Warner Bros had to remove their game from the market.
 
What I am saying is that people should show production companies when they do wrong and when their products is severly overpriced or technically lacking or overall moving in wrong direction.
I do understand that people hear things differentely and that some like dark some like bright, some listen to one type of music and some to other etc. but overall I do feel that bad and broken products get a better praise among head-fiers than it actually should.

 

[LMka]

 
I have seen a few things described with the "suck-out" phrase recently- usually referring to a steep dip at a specific frequency in mid/treble range- maybe I am using the wrong glossary, but wondering if someone could link a good description of what it usually does to the listening experience? Or perhaps a good track to demonstrate the effect if I apply a similar EQ dip?

(Mainly interested because I have been thinking I'd like to try the Earsonics SM64 at some point, and it seems to be a bit controversial for a sharp dip at 5k- my first guess would have been that such dips are there to compensate for some kind of resonance, but apparently that also produces the 'suck out' sound I am unfamiliar with.)

That's completely offtopic but you can go with SM64 as it is one of the safest options. If you are not an audiophile or treble fanatic you will be happy with SM64 and you may even keep them to the end of your life I've had them 2 times and overall 1 year of usage. I have not had any other IEM for such a long time.