[MikeW]

Hello, I recently did the DIY markl mod on my D2000, I followed the guide exactly. I think it ended up sounding to damped to me, to much bass was gone. Im experimenting now with doing all the mods except the strip on the back of the driver, I took that off today and it sounds much improved to me. I was just wondering for those of you out there who have done this mod, what your thoughts where on the before and after, and if you did a partial or complete mod. The markl mod thread is pretty old and I know he does not mod the D2K in the same way as he did the D5K, and supposedly uses a lighter dampening material for D2k. I wonder if this dynamat extreme is to much for a D2K and more suited to a D5K, the main differnce being in the cups (D2K cup is more well dampened then stock D5k).

I started off doing the partial mod that markl recomended, dampening the cup, and the small circle, and stuffing the pads, I was quite happy with how this sounded and did not notice a lack of bass, then when I completed the mod and had my first listen I was very disapointed. Maybe i've listened to the stock D2000 to long and come to expect a certain kind of sound.

If you've done a partial mod, i'd like to hear what you did differently then the full mod.

 

[K3cT]

I'm never a fan of the complete mod myself because I found the whole procedure sucked out too much bass and midrange plus turning the D2000 into a sibilant monster.

So what I did were:
- dampening the small circle ONLY
- dampening the back of the cup
- covering the dynamat with smooth, thin fabric
- made a distancer for the pad as stuffing it with cotton destroyed the midrange so that's a big no-no.

I no longer have it though.

 

[Galesden]

I only did the partial mod because i still wanted some bass, just not flabby. So i cant tell you about the full, i just know that the partial sounds great to me. (cups dampened+ inner circle + earpads stuffed)

 

[markl]

Hi,
If you look at the Headroom graphs for the D2000 vs. D5000 you will see it rolls the bass off sooner and does not have quite the same peak volume levels as the D5000 (which is easily verifiable by doing simple A/B listening tests). Why? Because of the stiffness and inertness of the plastic cups, which apart from the cable, are the only difference between the two.


The D2000 does not require as much damping as the D5000, for which the guide was made. Do not cover the plastic circle in the ear cups with damping material, and do not cover the front of the driver either (the part with all the hole punches), it isn't necessary. The guide applies to the D5000 only. We use different damping compounds deployed differently on the D2000 and D7000, we do not use the Dynamat extreme on those.

 

[MikeW]

ah crap, heh I already dynamated the large driver with all the holes in it. That will be a real pain in the ass to un-do. I did sucesfully take the dynamat off the large circle on the rear of the driver and regained alot of bass, I had to take my time and remove the dynamat slowly, i grabbed some of the black rubber and made a ball out of it and used the ball to pick away at the gobs of stuck on rubber, eventually I was able to remove it all cleanly. In wary to try this with the large speaker though.

Edit: Why do you cover the dynamat in cloth, what effect does this have on the sound? Im kind of sensitive to brightness and would prefer rolled off high's before bright highs. I read another thread about putting some foam in the earpad between the driver (in between the grey foam circle). To reduce high's, I think i will try it, it's very easy to do/undo.

 

[nullstring]

good to see markl offering advice for members who aren't interested in his products or services.

=)

 

[boomy3555]

The Plastic frame that the driver is glued to is a very soft plastic. That and the micropore type white material IMHO add to the bass feel of the Denons because of how the driver mounting surface it'self vibrates. Dynamating the cups is good but I prefer to leave the driver alone.

 

[MikeW]

well, spent the last hour taking the dynamat off the driver, it was tedious, but not to bad, it all came off pretty good. So right now, i've got the small circle on the butt of the driver, the cups are dynamated, leaving the round plastic plug in the middle, and the pads are stuffed. Im very pleased with this sound, the bass tightened up quite abit and become punchier, the sound stage has improved. Im also experimenting with the foam (taken from cheap headphones earpads) and im enjoying this quite abit, the high frequencies are effected signifigantly, which is good in my situation (bright setup) but i'll keep it in mind if I get somthing warmer down the line, take about 1 minute to pull the foam out. This is a pretty cool tweak and a good alternative to EQ'ing high's I think, you can vary the amount of foam and/or put holes in the foam to adjust the high's to your liking. This is a trick im going to remember down the line, as I imagine it would have a similiar effect on any headphone.

Edit: here's a link to the thread with detailed pictures of what im describing with the foam.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/tri...denons-450631/

Maybe MarkL could edit the original thread, to state that the mods are not for Denon D2000 and it will overdampen them. I think that's probably still a pretty active thread, and perhaps could save someone else the huge headache of doing what I did.

 

[mgrewe]

I did the full markl mod and also did listening stages throughout the process. After doing the front of the driver mod, I felt that the bass got sucked a bunch, but after listening for a few days, got used to the non-overwhelming presence. I really like them know, even though I am using only a TotalBithead for the moment. Planning some builds in the future.

 

[K3cT]

Unstuff the pad as it sucks out too much midrange in my book. The pad mod is moot I think now with the introduction of J$ pads.

 

[MikeW]

how does stuffing the pad vs buying a jmoney pad suck out any midrange? The jmoney pad is just a slightly higher quality pad with additonal stuffing. That's the same thing as a modded pad, you mentioned using Cotton as a suffing, maybe it was your material? I used polyfill.. I aprpeciate your input though.

 

[K3cT]

I think the stuffing dampens the higher frequencies. I've come to like the stock pad fitted with a hollow distancer better in the end. Well, just try A-B-ing them with and without the polyfill stuffing just to be sure.

AFAIK, the J$ money pad is not stuffed.

 

[Galesden]

Compared to a stuffed pad the jmoney is the same,meaning same heights around the pad as a stuffed pad has, except for the jmoney uses leather and has a different shaped earhole.

 

[boomy3555]

The J-Money pad is about 50% thicker, firmer, and leather. I think the opening just seems different because of the thicker padding.

 

[barqy]

hi do you mean you only did this:
 

 
 
or this:
 

 
 
im finally getting around to 'modding' my d2000 after buying dynamat over 1 year ago hahah
 
 
thanks!
 
Quote:

I'm never a fan of the complete mod myself because I found the whole procedure sucked out too much bass and midrange plus turning the D2000 into a sibilant monster.

So what I did were:
- dampening the small circle ONLY
- dampening the back of the cup
- covering the dynamat with smooth, thin fabric
- made a distancer for the pad as stuffing it with cotton destroyed the midrange so that's a big no-no.

I no longer have it though.