[welchie]

Hi,
 
It's been a while since I've participated here and in the hobby. I'm interested in getting some home use headphones again. A few years ago I had a pair of Denon AH-D5000 MarkL modded headphones. They were insanely good at all music genres especially classic rock which is my favorite. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a similar sounding set in the $300 to $400 range. Right now I'm using a pair of Westone UM2's with a Meier PCStep. The UM2 sound really good. Thanks, Welchie

 

[KG Jag]

Tell us what they sound like.  Only some of us have heard the D5000 and very few (especially on this general thread) have heard the modded version you reference.

 

[welchie]

Here is a copied and pasted post from padabud in the below thread. He describes it well. I liked the clean, tight, controlled bass hit. IMO the Denon's represented all the frequencies very well. It's a fun, dynamic, big sound stage sound. I can't nor won't listen to bass head, bloaty, or boomy headphones. I guess it's like paring a really good amp to some strong home or car speakers. There's control making the music hit and come alive. The Markl mod tightens everything up almost to reference point, but doesn't negate the "fun" factor. Hope that helps and thanks for the response.
 
 
Denon D2000/D5000, MD2000/MD5000 Appreciation Thread!
 
 
My experience with the D2000 was that their bass presentation was source/recording-specific. On some cuts the bass came across as excessive and ill-defined; on other tracks the bass sounded wonderfully balanced, tight and articulate. My conclusion was that the D2000 were simply conveying the bass information resident in the recording, and this taught me to better appreciate well-recorded bass tracks.

In my albeit brief comparison of the stock D2000 and stock D5000, using the Darkvoice 337, which, admittedly, is not an adequate match for either of the Denon, I found the D5000 more "easy" and laid back in their presentation, with better bass definition--and possibly deeper extension, more full/rounded in the midrange and tonally/timbrally more developed and accurate. In general, I found the D5000 the more smooth, detailed and "musical" of the two.

I attribute the advantage in conveying detail to the D5000's superior cable; the tonal/timbral advantage to the D5000's ebony ear cup housing.

My only complaint with the D2000 or D5000 is their curtailing/premature dampening of transient information, e.g. crash cymbals don't have carry and finish. But that is more a function of their closed design, I think. For closed cans, the Denon are among the finest I've tried; but for critical listening, I tend to prefer an open or semi-open design, like the K501 or DT880/2003.

 

[welchie]

http://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Noise-Isolating-Over-Ear-Headphones-Black/dp/B00E1UVXHO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
 

NAD Electronics VISO HP50 Noise-Isolating Over-Ear Headphones

 
These look interesting...

 

[KG Jag]

Still don't know what the modded cans sound like and how they are different from stock.
 
The closest to the stock D5000 and D7000 are the Fostex (who made these earlier cans for Denon) TH 600 & 900.