DUNU DN-2000J -- More Than Evolution?
Jul 17, 2015 at 3:15 PM Post #798 of 2,123
Dunu DN2000J Impressions

Dunu should win some kind of award. I have never seen such amenities appointed on an IEM. Upon seeing little ziplock bag after ziplock bag full of accessories, I instantly thought of the gumball toy dispensers of my youth- you know the ones with spider rings and super balls? No stone has been left unturned: tuning rings, bass rings, tips galore, cable guides, cable tie, removal flaps and the list goes on and on. Fit and finish is really nice too. From the case to the cable to the housings. All of it screams high end. Truly well done Dunu. An unboxing experience like no other.

If I have one build and aesthetic critique, it would be to remove the tab on the housing for the pull out staps. That tab rubs my ears and cramps my fit on otherwise small and comfy housings. After about an hour, my ears start to get irritated and I have to remove them.

The Great
Bass! Wow, what can I say?! It’s truly top tier; rivaling and besting many IEMs costing a grand or more. Probably inside the top 5 of all 161 IEMs, CIEMs and earbuds I’ve heard. It’s taught, it’s fast and texture is superb. Class leading- no two ways about it. The amount of boost is exquisitely tasteful. I have zero complaints. But all bets are off with the bass rings. It becomes a little boomy with texture and speed taking a serious hit.

Give me this driver, in this housing without the tab; we don’t need no stinking balanced armature.

The Good
Excellent sense of space. When listening back to back with my GR10E or E-Q8, the DN2000J makes them seem 2D in comparison; mere holographs. Resolution is great. This Dunu certainly stands toe to toe with with its sensei, the K3003.

The Bad (and the ugly)
Everyone has a bad side. Everyone can get a little ugly. Maybe they get a little drunk and show their ***** or have too short fuse? So too does the DN2000J. The treble. What the bloody hell? If I turn this thing up too loud, every dog in a twelve block radius is all of a sudden jumping and barking up a storm around my feet. If I apply the blu-tack mod, as prescribed from James444- IEM modder extraordinaire, it definitely smooths the peaks and removes the harshness. However the overall brightness level is still too high for me- unrealistically high, leaving me with a cold and crystalline feeling.

Conclusion
The DN2000J is top tier. Bass is phenomenal and overall it competes with anything. ANYTHING. But you better love lots-o-treble and yippy dogs. I, myself, as a connoisseur treblenaire, will probably have to let these go. Que sera, sera.

 
Hi Shane, 
Great review. I agree with everything you wrote. The bass is fantastic, but the treble is a bit much for me as well. 
 
Before you let these go, try jamming a tiny, tiny piece of acoustic foam into the tip opening, and try them again. I just did this on top of James' blue tac mod today. The blue tac actually help stick the foam into place. I think it helps take of the edge even more. This is what I used (I just cut a tiny piece off and jammed it inside the tip with tweezers): http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Tuning-Earpads-Sennheiser-Headphone/dp/B00O97XN86/
 
I'm thinking some comply TX-500's may work in a similar way as well, since the foam wax guard always seems to take a bit of sparkle out of the treble when I use them with other iem's. 
 
One random thought though.... I think I just turned my DN-2000j's back into DN-1000's ... with better bass. 
 
Jul 17, 2015 at 3:35 PM Post #799 of 2,123
Thanks for the suggestions. The comply tips are delivering today from massdrop (they weren't in the original DN2000J shipment) Isn't there a TX included? Hopefully so and I'll give that a shot and/or see if I can find some foam short of ordering some.
 
Jul 17, 2015 at 8:52 PM Post #800 of 2,123
The Blu tac mod + blue rings + tx500 comply are enough to keep the treble in control. No eq needed. Still a bit bright but really smooth this time.

Personal problem for me with comply is the treble energy and airiness take a hit. I always end up listening at higher volume to compensate.

But indeed, a TOTL sounding IEM.
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 12:11 AM Post #803 of 2,123
Finally updated the OP with everyone's impressions; sorry, been really busy for a while.
 
Haven't had time to try the blu-tack mod myself, will have to do that some time.
 
When I get the chance, I will try to convince DUNU to create a special ear tip that integrates James' modification in the form of perhaps an integrated mesh with a solid center "deflector plate" and/or paper filter, similar to those Ostry OS300 tips. No guarantees they'll go for it, of course, but it's worth a try.
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 10:28 AM Post #804 of 2,123
I really recommend burning them in for 100 hours before judging the treble. Also for those using the bass rings, I recommend no spacers and spinfit tips instead of the spiral dots. The treble is not too aggressive and the soundstage is great.
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 12:47 PM Post #805 of 2,123
I have the DN1000 and DN2000.  After everything I had been reading on how bright the DN2000J's were, I was...I really was...just going to sell the DN2000J off unopened.  I imagined "bright" as being "T-PEOS H-300 gratingly sibilant" bright and I am treble sensitive. However, thanks to sithjedi333, I was convinced to at least give them a try and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised.  Out of the box and plugged into my X5 Gen 2 (at a "48-52" volume level), they were bright but not uncomfortably so.  Now, after only 12 hours, they are starting to mellow slightly and smooth out (or, I admit, I may just be getting used to them).  I'm using silver spacers and medium spiral dots.
 
I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised and impressed.  I expect to hear good things from these in the future! 
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As always, this was all IMHO and YMMV! 
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Cheers and All the Best!
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-HK sends
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 4:50 PM Post #806 of 2,123
I really recommend burning them in for 100 hours before judging the treble. Also for those using the bass rings, I recommend no spacers and spinfit tips instead of the spiral dots. The treble is not too aggressive and the soundstage is great.
Maybe I'll do that. I've been using them with Plenue P1, so that has lessened the splashy and sibilant treble. The sound quality in general is really good, though in developing the 2000j, did Dunu try too hard in trying to match the K3003, resulting with that controversial treble?
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 8:55 PM Post #807 of 2,123
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.
 
Jul 18, 2015 at 9:30 PM Post #808 of 2,123
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.


Isn't ATH-IM04 good for Japan ? And it isn't that bright either. Also FX series from 750 and up are all pretty bassy but in the most realistic way. So no, I can say that Asian cultures love Pop, and they love detailed and analytical highs, but also shooting for the realistically tonality as well.
 
Jul 19, 2015 at 12:38 AM Post #809 of 2,123
  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.

 
ATH-IM50, Zero Audio Carbo Tenore, and both have good acceptance worldwide.
 
How about headphones from Europe like Sennheiser HD800, Sennheiser HD700, Beyerdynamic DT880, Beyerdynamic T1, AKG K812, etc, they are all north from neutral to my ears 
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I'm asian, and I have a friend from Romania, and he is a sound engineer. I always ask his opinion for many IEMs and headphones I review, and from there I can conclude that we have similar perceptions and sound preferences.
On the other way, in Singapore we have a group of head-fi'ers, we are all asian, and many of us simply have different preferences. Some prefer neutral, some prefer very warm signatures.
 
From what I have observed so far, I do agree we all hear things differently. Biology is one factor, but I think it is not by race, but differences are more from personal ear anatomy, local culture, and personal preferences of the type of music we listen. 
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