[DJPixcell]

Hello my name is Dylan, I am no audiphile but that does not mean I do not enjoy high quality sound, its mostly I am not able to afford it. haha

I have high respect for the people here at head-fi, I know that most of you are proffesionals in your own way, whether thats an official title or not.


I really enjoy my music. I would prefer to have the best quality I can, but pricing usually affects what sound I am able to get.


I have browsed the Head-Fi forum, seeing that the Denon AH - D2000 headphones seem to be quite popular, and reccomended.

Unfortuneatly I don't have a soundsystem to hook them up to at the moment. I only have my laptop and iPod as my audio sources at the current moment.

I would like to know if purchasing the Denon AH D2000 headphones would still be a wise choice even though I am using them for this purpose.

I am aware of the headphone amps for the devices, but am not so keen on the minimum $100 price tag. I was wondering if the small (crappy) fiio pocket amps would provide a decent increase in quality (or at least volume) to the headphones if used with my laptop or iPod.


My close friend has the AKG K240 headphones, they sound really good, but I noticed at max volume on my iPod, that is were they had the minimum sound I desired. (the volume was quite low)

Would I be experiencing the same 'problem' when I use the Denon AH D2000 headphones? Would the fiio amp give me that extra volume I am interested in if that is the problem?

Obviously if it is worth the $100 to get the amp then I will get it, but the problem is it will take time, as money is tight right now.


Any information with the headphones involving the volume, how good they sound when plugged into a laptop/mp3 player alone, or any info from the relation to my friends AKG K240's.. would be extremely helpful.

I am really into electronic music, but I am a well rounded listner, I listed to lots of genres including rock, metal, pop, occasional classical, but mostly dance, drum and bass, progressive, house, etc.

If the sound quality would not be worth it for my intentions on using it, is there a <$200 pair of headphones that will be suffice?


THANK YOU FOR ANY INFORMATION,
DJP ~ Dylan

 

[Cosmonaut]

the 2000's would actually be one of your best choices if you don't have an amp. go for it!

 

[tke398]

I second the D2000's. They are good enough to grow with you if you eventually do decide to buy a headphone amp in the future.

 

[Orcin]

There will be a large increase in volume with the D2000's over AKG 240's. I would not bother with or spend money on a cheap headphone amp for the Denons. They should sound very good to you with the iPod or sound card alone.

 

[Palpatine]

Absolutely. Get the D2000. They are an awesome phone for the iPod. Good choice!

 

[DJPixcell]

Awesome! Thanks for all the helpful information!!

Obviously I am new to the quality area, I know if I wanted extreme audio quality a laptop would not exactly be my source of that.. haha

I was mainly just worried if it would sound good with an iPod/laptop alone. Now that I know it is, I have big confidence in buying them.

lol Only problem is.. it is quite hard to find a retailer online that sells them to Canada for less than $300.

 

[Folex]

Denon 2000's WITHOUT a doubt. Every day I listen to these headphones they get better.

 

[mgrewe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJPixcell /img/forum/go_quote.gif Awesome! Thanks for all the helpful information!! Obviously I am new to the quality area, I know if I wanted extreme audio quality a laptop would not exactly be my source of that.. haha I was mainly just worried if it would sound good with an iPod/laptop alone. Now that I know it is, I have big confidence in buying them. lol Only problem is.. it is quite hard to find a retailer online that sells them to Canada for less than $300.

Actually a laptop is a great way for sound quality. The only thing you need to worry about is bitrate. How familiar you are with FLAC / ALAC or the other CD quality bitrates?

If amazon ships to canada, then you can find a great deal on those babies. Right now they are $215 which is a bargain.


By the way, welcome to Head-Fi, and sorry about your wallet.

 

[DJPixcell]

haha no problem about that.. money is always tight.

I am very familiar with FLAC/ALAC codecs. Though I usually use mp3, though I only use 320kbs. Its the max for mp3, but it allows me to put the songs on any device.

I have several albums in FLAC, all I need is a player to play them.. I am aware that the sansa clip supports a wide variety of codecs, but the little amount of memory is not quite what I am looking for.

I have approx 30gb of music, most in 320 MP3, anything that is smaller, is music i am not so keen on.

Unfortunately amazon.com does not ship to anywhere outside the US. There is an Amazon.ca but the electronics section is so limited that it does not have the Denon headphones.. nor many other types of headphones..

Headphone.com has them, for a call in price, that must mean really low, they do ship to Canada.

on a side note, I would just like to mention something that is probably well known and shared uppon the users here. 'Mainstream' headphones. Nothing gets me more mad then when someone says "skullcandy is awesome dude!". Or when someone says that there is nothing better than Bose. These 2 companies are my least favorite in the WORLD.. well other than Apple.

I've been through several pairs of headphones, ususally using earbuds (normal sized earphones with the flat piece speaker [ie ipod earphones] do not fit in my ear).

I have used; Shure (previous generation model.. returned it second day in.. they were really clear but had little to no bass response, even after a 24 hour burn-in), Sennheiser CX-300 (decent sound, horrible build quality), and the ones I currently use are the Sony 'xtra bass' earbuds (they are not bad.. but quite muddy sounding).

On ear headphones I have a pair of sennheiser wireless headphones.. they are not bad for movies/games, they sound as if they are surround sound.. but not so great for listening to music.

I am sad to say I have tried several pairs of skullcandy headphones, 1 broke after a week, the others died somewhat soon after that.

JBL Reference 410 headphones, very decent sound for such a small package.

and I have used the AKG K240 (original model) headphones.


These Denon D2000 headphones will be my final pair of over-ear headphones, I say this now but once I have them I'm sure I will want something else.. haha

Something I replace far more often is the earbuds, I use them a lot, outside mostly for my walks to school. (something I will not be doing with the D2000's lol)

I forgot I may ask this.. has anyone used the BlackBox earbud noise canceling earphones? They are $70 at the local Futureshop, and they look like they may be worth it.


Something that seriously aggravates me is 1; these skullcandy skullcrushers with the mini amplifier built in (it has a tiny 30mm driver and the sound is HORRIBLE, not even to mention when there is no battery!)
2; Monster Beats by Dr.Dre. I can't even begin to tell you how much these things make me angry. Everyone is wearing them.. all saying they have the best sound.. 1 its amplified probably using the same speaker that skullcandy uses, and the sound that is produced is not by any means good. And its an amplified headphone, I should be getting double the amount of sound quality.. not just enough to make them have any bass at all..

 

[mgrewe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJPixcell /img/forum/go_quote.gif Headphone.com has them, for a call in price, that must mean really low, they do ship to Canada.

That is a great company to work with. If you can find one, see if they have any in B-Stock, that's where I picked mine up.

What kind of computer are you using, Mac or PC? Also, what kind of portable player do you have?

 

[roker]

I'm not a fan of the D2000s ampless

but they'll be fine until you get one (you'll probably be missing some much needed bass)

 

[Folex]

hrm.. you must have a really bad source. My laptop without an amp makes the d2000's sound extremely heavy and hard hitting.

 

[DJPixcell]

I've been hearing that the SRH840 sound really good. Are they better sounding amp-less than the D2000's?

Anyone know?

I am able to get the D2000's for $214.95 + $30 (shipping) = $244.95
SRH840's for $199.99 + $29.60 (shipping) = $229.59

$250 is my limit, so these 2 both make the cut. I just want to know which would be better for my circumstances..?

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Folex /img/forum/go_quote.gif hrm.. you must have a really bad source. My laptop without an amp makes the d2000's sound extremely heavy and hard hitting.

I just think amping them brings out the best. They sound horrible out of my Macbook, OK from my AV receiver and iPod, but FAN-F'in-TASTIC from my amp. Amping it properly goes a long way.

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJPixcell /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've been hearing that the SRH840 sound really good. Are they better sounding amp-less than the D2000's? Anyone know? I am able to get the D2000's for $214.95 + $30 (shipping) = $244.95 SRH840's for $199.99 + $29.60 (shipping) = $229.59 $250 is my limit, so these 2 both make the cut. I just want to know which would be better for my circumstances..?

I think you can find better on the price of the 840s. I once saw them for 139 (shipped), but that deal is gone. Perhaps you should post something in the 840 thread. They've been hovering over the street price of 130 - 160 for a while now. Are you based in the US? I'd like to try a pair myself.