[KC33]

 

So I really had high hopes for my first pro level IEM. I was seeking a replacement for my Audiotechnica ATH-M50x as I travel more with camera gear and I need a smaller form factor. After reading a lot of the reviews I picked up a set of Dn-2000j but right off the bat i was disappointed as I found them to be way too bright and shimmery - even after some burn in and switching to foam tips. I tend to listen to my music at full/ max volume and I couldn't at all with this IEM. Backing it down to where I felt the treble was bearable I felt that the mids were quite recessed.

I can't deny that the separation and "high def" is quite impressive, and the bass is some of the best defined I've ever heard. That being said these weren't the right IEMs for me.

I'm looking for a recommendation. If you can give me the ATH-M50x in IEM form I'd be happy so a balanced signature with some bass emphasis, warm mids, crystal clear trebles. My music taste is varied from singer song writer, to indie rock, pop, r&b and edm. I love strong bass as long as it's tight and not muddy.

 
You should have a listen at DN-1000.

Here's a good example of why I prefer the 1K over the 2Kj at times.  Who Live at Leeds, (FLAC) last night, jamming at a high volume the 1K is super fun and my choice with this genre.
This morning I'm listening to the DSD version of Miles Davis, In a Silent Way, normal volume, (for me) The D2Kj is outstanding, precise detail while remaining organic, exceptional with this genre and any acoustical type music.
 
I am fortunate to have both of these IEMs and use them according to the music I'm listening to. If I was to choose an all rounder it would probably be the Fidue A83.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

I am looking for comparisons of the Dunu DN-2000J's sound, wondering where exactly it stands sonically in between the Beyerdynamic T90 and Sennheiser HD 700. To which of these two open-back headphones does it sound most similar? Subjectively or in your opinion, is it better or worse than them? I will just let it out there already: I absolutely hate the T90 for its overly bright treble fest, a sound that gives the illusion of being so refined with dark material, and yet, it slams your ears with a brightness curve as white hot as liquid plasma as soon as any regular material is piped through. Contrary to that, I really love the Sennheiser HD 700, especially the treble and bass response, which I hope the DN-2000J also excels at. To be perfectly honest, I could do with the HD 700's mids being a smidge more bright, but it is perfectly liveable for me, and at least it is not brash and painful like the T90's upper midrange. My hope here is the DN-2000J is similar to and perhaps a smidge more exciting than the HD 700 but not remotely close to being painfully bright like the T90! Since imagine some of you have never heard one or both of these open-back headphones, you can use these videos below, which, in my experience, are very accurate recordings of them, in drawing comparisons to the T90 and the HD 700 (warning: ignore the 6:00 to 8:00 minute marks in the HD 700 video, since it has profanity and a lot of it). Now, have at it! Thank you!

 

 

[Aero Dynamik]

  I am looking for comparisons of the Dunu DN-2000J's sound, wondering where exactly it stands sonically in between the Beyerdynamic T90 and Sennheiser HD 700. To which of these two open-back headphones does it sound most similar?

Spoiler: Wninrag: Seliopr!

Subjectively or in your opinion, is it better or worse than them? I will just let it out there already: I absolutely hate the T90 for its overly bright treble fest, a sound that gives the illusion of being so refined with dark material, and yet, it slams your ears with a brightness curve as white hot as liquid plasma as soon as any regular material is piped through. Contrary to that, I really love the Sennheiser HD 700, especially the treble and bass response, which I hope the DN-2000J also excels at. To be perfectly honest, I could do with the HD 700's mids being a smidge more bright, but it is perfectly liveable for me, and at least it is not brash and painful like the T90's upper midrange. My hope here is the DN-2000J is similar to and perhaps a smidge more exciting than the HD 700 but not remotely close to being painfully bright like the T90! Since imagine some of you have never heard one or both of these open-back headphones, you can use these videos below, which, in my experience, are very accurate recordings of them, in drawing comparisons to the T90 and the HD 700 (warning: ignore the 6:00 to 8:00 minute marks in the HD 700 video, since it has profanity and a lot of it). Now, have at it! Thank you!

 

 

Not having heard any of these two phones in real life my guess is that the T90 is the one most similar to the 2KJ.
 
If you've read this thread (and I think you have) and if you take a look at this graph from shotgunshane, it should be pretty evident that the 2KJ is V-shaped and consequently is treble boosted.
 
Unlike most other phones I've heard whether the 2KJ can be described as generally bright or not entirely depends on the recording. Not even remotely have I ever perceived the 2KJ as dark sounding or veiled. I'd describe the general signature of the 2KJ as exceptionally clean (rather than bright) sounding.
 
That said, with the "wrong recording" the treble can become rather trying. Then again with the "right recording" the sound reproduction is the most enjoyable I've heard in any phone (including AKG K3003, FitEar ToGo 334, and ER-4S). Words that come to mind are "clean, spacious, weighty, live". Here you'll find examples of what I mean by "wrong" and "right" recordings.
 
Considering your relation to the HD 700 and the T90 I'm not convinced the 2KJ will be to your liking. If there's one thing the 2KJ isn't, it's mainstream. However, I can tell you're really itching to hear it, so why not go for it and if you don't like it there's definitely some other Head-Fi:er who will and you'll only loose pocket money (more or less) in the process. Or, if you have the patience wait for a bargain in the classifieds.

 

[raybone0566]

I am looking for comparisons of the Dunu DN-2000J's sound, wondering where exactly it stands sonically in between the Beyerdynamic T90 and Sennheiser HD 700. To which of these two open-back headphones does it sound most similar? Subjectively or in your opinion, is it better or worse than them? I will just let it out there already: I absolutely hate the T90 for its overly bright treble fest, a sound that gives the illusion of being so refined with dark material, and yet, it slams your ears with a brightness curve as white hot as liquid plasma as soon as any regular material is piped through. Contrary to that, I really love the Sennheiser HD 700, especially the treble and bass response, which I hope the DN-2000J also excels at. To be perfectly honest, I could do with the HD 700's mids being a smidge more bright, but it is perfectly liveable for me, and at least it is not brash and painful like the T90's upper midrange. My hope here is the DN-2000J is similar to and perhaps a smidge more exciting than the HD 700 but not remotely close to being painfully bright like the T90! Since imagine some of you have never heard one or both of these open-back headphones, you can use these videos below, which, in my experience, are very accurate recordings of them, in drawing comparisons to the T90 and the HD 700 (warning: ignore the 6:00 to 8:00 minute marks in the HD 700 video, since it has profanity and a lot of it). Now, have at it! Thank you!



 

i can't advise on t90 since I've never heard them. But I do own both hd700 & hd800. D2kj's presentation is more similar to that of the hd800. Very analytical and its ability to separate instruments. You get that feeling you are in a room and the musicians are sitting around you. That's what really sets d2kj apart from the jvc fx 750 & 850. Those are both great phones with fantastic detail, bass, & both render a very realistic presentation. But d2kj does those things and adds it's imaging & seperation the jvc's just can't compete with. To me the 700's do image very well, but I found it to have a mid-bass hump that tends to muddy up the presentation at times. I highly recommend d2kj is your looking for a reference class earphone. At that price imo it is unrivaled.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

Thank you. Now, I am bit confused because both of your responses seem to be at conflict with each other since one compares the DN-2000J to being most similar to the HD 800 and, and the other comparing it to being most similar to the T90. The problem with this is, in my personal experience, the HD 800 and T90 are worlds apart in sound signature. The underlying detail between the T90 and HD 800 is very similar but, my goodness, the T90 is as if someone applied a +7 dB high frequency shelve to it with a corner frequency at around 11 KHz. It does in a refined, clean way, which is why I prefer it to the DT 990, the DT 900, though less piercing, sounding metallic and grainy in comparison. The T90's sound is just so direct it is akin to opening your eyes at noon on a clear sunny tropical beach after being a subterranean cave dweller for your entire life. If it were electronically possible, the T90 is like a solid state circuit somehow becoming doubly solid state in bite and attack. If the DN-2000J is like the HD 800 in bite and attack, I can certainly take that. It is like someone tuned the T90 to be neutral exclusively through dark sources, like some classic tube system. If the DN-2000J is, heaven forbid, a IEM-ified T90, I might as well pour acid in my ears because any modern recording will sound like it is being played through a piercing double array of tweeters--world class and of the highest quality available, mind you, but piercing, nonetheless, due to sheer volume and quantity.

 

[KC33]

@Hifihedgehog, I actually remember when I could listen to equipment before I bought it. My way of dealing with it, now, is to buy most everything from Amazon and return it if I don't like it. With Prime, they pay return postage and UPS picks it up at my front door. I'd go nuts if I had to depend on reviews in order to buy audio equipment. 

 

[Hifihedgehog]

  @Hifihedgehog, I actually remember when I could listen to equipment before I bought it. My way of dealing with it, now, is to buy most everything from Amazon and return it if I don't like it. With Prime, they pay return postage and UPS picks it up at my front door. I'd go nuts if I had to depend on reviews in order to buy audio equipment. 

Same here. I am just unsure if the DUNU will give me the experience I am thirsting for. After all, I was so impressed by the TITAN 1, and I have a sample unit of the TITAN 5 (EDIT- just changed my request to the TITAN 5; hopefully Vivian has not shipped then sample unit yet) coming thanks to Vivian at @DUNU-Topsound that, based on the preliminary reviews thus far, will have the added vocal performance that will make them perfect for me as a music lover. And yet, I may jump on the HD 700 since I found a sweet deal of $420 for it and the HD 800 and HD 700 I both love to bits. Still, I have been becoming an earphone fan lately, preferring the convenience of portability and surprisingly finding the sound quality to be equal or surpassing most full-sized headphones. I guess I just will have to bite the bullet and rely on returns as you say. I, too, miss the days when dealers used to have everything and I do mean everything, but I just have to face facts and deal with it.

 

[Brooko]

If you like the Titan 1, you will likely love the DN2000J.  Personally I'm not overly enamoured with the Titan 3, much prefer the Titan 5 - although I'm in the minority on that one 

.  Titan 3 is pretty bass light - so appears a lot brighter.
 
Titans ..... and DN's
 

 

 

 

 
Raw curves - uncompensated

 

[Hifihedgehog]

  If you like the Titan 1, you will likely love the DN2000J.  Personally I'm not overly enamoured with the Titan 3, much prefer the Titan 5 - although I'm in the minority on that one 

.  Titan 3 is pretty bass light - so appears a lot brighter.
 
Titans ..... and DN's
 

 

 

 

 
Raw curves - uncompensated

I can see why you (and I, most likely) wouldn't prefer the TITAN 3. It looks like the Audio Technica open-back foster child of the line-up. It looks like the TITAN 5 might be the better of the two new models to review. In the original TITAN 1, I personally felt there was some treble zap that needed some taming and some treble softness that needed some encouragement. It looks to me that the TITAN 5 fixes that treble oddity while adding some deep bass heft and while still keeping the overall bass quantity at a rational level. I did not get word back from Vivian @DUNU-Topsound for my answer to her reply, so hopefully she can still change the review sample unit she is shipping me.

 

[Brooko]

Why not ask about getting both 

 That way you can compare.
 
Don't get me wrong though - the T3 is impressive.  I just like the T5 better.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

  Why not ask about getting both 

 That way you can compare.
 
Don't get me wrong though - the T3 is impressive.  I just like the T5 better.

She did only offer me one, but I like your idea! I might as well ask for the heck of it. Plus, I kind of wonder what a mid-centric TITAN would actually sound like. That is very curiosity provoking. For example, it might go great with some of my older vocal stuff.
 
One idea I had of putting these two earphones to good use would be to do some group testing. I am thinking of getting some college classmates who are music majors (and non-music majors, just to shake things up a bit), queuing up their favorite tracks and getting down their feedback responses for each track with both earphones. It would make for a nice change of pace in reviewing and shed some light on which earphone would be best for specific genres or sonic preferences. I know a guy, for example, who is a professional organist and who has played on the organ at the Mormon Tabernacle a few times, if I recall correctly. It would be interesting to get his feedback on each earphone for his favorite tracks and post which earphone he preferred for each of his favorite songs as well as for overall usage.

 

[PixelSquish]

shrill is the last word I would use to describe these phones' treble sound signature.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

shrill is the last word I would use to describe these phones' treble sound signature.

That's good to hear! I have been making a few buying decisions lately between headphones and a tablet PC, and I am sure now that I want to get headphones, and among those, the DN-2000J. Of the headphones I have been browsing through, I am sure the DUNU DN-2000J is the way I want to go. It is highly portable and finely crafted, has a highly praised sound response for the factors I care most about, and it is a steal for its price-to-performance ratio. I might just be able to get it in time to cross compare it with the TITAN 3 and/or 5 I will be getting in the mail as a review sample.

 

[Aero Dynamik]

 

shrill is the last word I would use to describe these phones' treble sound signature.

That's good to hear! I have been making a few buying decisions lately between headphones and a tablet PC, and I am sure now that I want to get headphones, and among those, the DN-2000J. Of the headphones I have been browsing through, I am sure the DUNU DN-2000J is the way I want to go. It is highly portable and finely crafted, has a highly praised sound response for the factors I care most about, and it is a steal for its price-to-performance ratio. I might just be able to get it in time to cross compare it with the TITAN 3 and/or 5 I will be getting in the mail as a review sample.

I can certainly second that!

 

[raybone0566]

That's good to hear! I have been making a few buying decisions lately between headphones and a tablet PC, and I am sure now that I want to get headphones, and among those, the DN-2000J. Of the headphones I have been browsing through, I am sure the DUNU DN-2000J is the way I want to go. It is highly portable and finely crafted, has a highly praised sound response for the factors I care most about, and it is a steal for its price-to-performance ratio. I might just be able to get it in time to cross compare it with the TITAN 3 and/or 5 I will be getting in the mail as a review sample.

d2kj is another league than those Titans. In its price range imo it sets the bar for a true reference earphone