[Nirmalanow]

After a lot of fiddling, I came up with a system that I really liked the sound of. Only problem was it was pretty complicated and also a bit finicky to operate. It was based on AT-W1000 headphones supplemented with an Echofone which is a supertweeter for headphones. You can read more about it here:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ech...paired-278315/

But then I got the yen to have a system I could take out in the backyard to listen to since we live in beautiful Sedona, Arizona with its ideal climate. And I tried a lot of stuff to try and get back to the same level of realism I had with my ATs fed by a nice home amp (the Yamamoto), again supplemented with the Echofone which gave the system its detail and live sound. Things I tried included ER4s with the Apuresound upgrade cable, and various combinations of cables and amps. But I kept coming back to the set up with the Audio Technicas and the Echofone. Nothing else could keep up.

Then I took a bit of a gamble and ordered a pair of D5000s and had them shipped directly to Markl for his magic mods. I was not predisposed to the Denons as I once had a pair of recabled D2000s and did not like the sound.

But now I am glad I took the chance as these phones have brought together the detail and aliveness of the Echofone with the fullness of tone of the ATs. And I can just pick up my system which is easy to carry around ( but not really portable as it is based on a laptop computer) and walk out in the backyard even as the music is playing. I put everything in and on top of a plastic box that is a little bigger than a shoebox (see pictures).

And the sound is everything I could want and more: clear detail and separation from top to bottom. I am kind of a detail junkie and the Markl Mods really deliver. These headphones blow away the Audio Technicas and even in some ways exceed the combination of the ATs and the Echofone. And that is with the headphones still breaking in.

Here is the setup from source to ears:
Dell laptop with Vista and Burwen Bobcat software (using all WAV files burned in EAC)
Kimber Cable USB cable
Pico as DAC/Preamp
Harmonic Technology Magic Link 2 interconnect
Predator as amp only
Denon D5000 modded by Markl
Extras: Z-cable Extra Heavy Sleeve on the headphone cable, Dakiom stabilizer on the output of the Predator, brilliant pebbles

 

[vcoheda]

you have the pico feeding the predator. that's an interesting combination.

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif you have the pico feeding the predator. that's an interesting combination.

Yeah, I just posted about that also:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/pic...r-both-331315/

And someone suggested I may have started the flavor of the month!

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I just posted about that also: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/pic...r-both-331315/ And someone suggested I may have started the flavor of the month!

that's probably not a compliment

1000$ in two amps...

 

[dreamwhisper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nirmalanow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, I just posted about that also: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/pic...r-both-331315/ And someone suggested I may have started the flavor of the month!

hahaha

thanks for making me giggle

 

[Nirmalanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif that's probably not a compliment 1000$ in two amps...

Yeah, I did not take it as a compliment.

And the extra cost for running the two amps is not cost effective by any means as they each sound good alone. But that does not always seem to stop us.

 

[takezo]

i did the markl mod myself recently and have to agree with the OP that
this is one fantastic headphone.

it outdoes the senn650/600 and the akg701 in dynamics, extended highs,
tight and controlled bass and the best mid of the bunch by a significant
margin... the soundstage is similar with the others but the resolution, imaging
and separation of the instrument is arguably better to mine ears...and i've
only got 150+hrs on it... only downside i can think of is the warm leather
pads during extended listening sessions...

 

[Nirmalanow]

The separation of instruments is a definite strong point of these headphones. They are almost too detailed and bright until they break in and then it smooths out quite a bit. I am hoping for even a little more filling in of the sound as I am at about 200-250 hours. I am told they continue to improve up to 300 hours.

 

[Gradofan2]

They do continue to improve greatly!!!

They improve so much... that... they may not really need the "Markl Mods" - depending on how much bass and highs you want to damp. Though... they do lose a lot of their sloppy bass, overly bright highs, and strange vibrations.

But... only with... the right set up that can properly match their low impedance.

I'm still trying to decide whether I prefer the dampening on the back of the wood cups - it smooths their sound a bit, but may remove a bit too much of their organic, textured, woody tone (the natural resonances typical of the wood tone of a violin, cello, guitar, or of a burnished brass sax - which naturally seem to have a bit of a textured, not overly/silky smooth, sound) - which seems a bit tempered, less prominent, and smoother with the DynaMat Extreme on the wood cups.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I'm afraid I may not ever know how much difference the mods make as I had these modded when they were new. However, I do have a friend who may come for a visit from the UK with his unmodded phones and then we could do some comparing.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I think I may be over the hump with breaking these in. I just listened for an hour or so after they have been burning in a few more days with an Isotek burn in CD and the sound has definitely smoothed out even more. Trumpets are bright and clear without any edge. And the little bit of sibilance I would hear sometimes is now gone.

The whole package is complete now with no loss of the incredible detail these phones provide.

 

[markl]

Nirmalanow, funny you should mention the Isotek CD, I just started using it on my current pair today. This pair probably has about 100 hours on it so far, eager to see what the Isotek disc does for them. Cheers.

 

[Nirmalanow]

I'm not sure the Isotek CD really did much to speed up the breaking in of the Denons. I bought it after reading the 6moons review that suggests that it can help do just that with all kinds of components. But it seems to me that the headphones did not completely come into their own until I had 300 hours or so on them even with using the Isotek CD. And that is what you originally suggested was about the amount of time it would take for the headphones to be at their best. So it seems that it took just as long with the special CD as normal.

But of course I have no basis for comparison as I have never broken in a pair of the phones without using the Isotek CD, so I will be curious to hear if you find it does speed up the process compared to how long it normally takes you to break in a set of these phones.

 

[David Pritchard]

I have really enjoyed the modded 5000. The Isotech CD does really work. My 5000 had several hundred hours on them and then I put the Isotech on the player. It put a final polish on a very good product. The Isotech is worth the $40.00

 

[Nirmalanow]

I thought maybe I should update this thread, since I have further simplified by selling the Pico and just using the Predator by itself. The MD5000s are so detailed that I found I did not need the extra detail of the Pico and it even sometimes got too bright with the Pico in the chain.

But even more I have drastically simplified in that I am no longer interested in changing or improving my system. I haven't bought anything new related to headphones for months now. And it is all MarkL's fault. These headphones sound so good and so consistently good coming out of the Predator that I spend all the time I used to spend reading about equipment listening to music. Some credit of course goes to the Predator which just keeps getting better as it goes through its very long break in.

And I think the consistency of the sound may have a lot to do with the fact that my whole system is now battery powered. The fluctuations in household current may have been why it seemed my system was never the same from one listening session to the next. Now it is always equally good.

The net result is that I just can't find the motivation to go buy anything anymore since I really am very content with the sound, and like it more than any of the many setups I have had over the last several years. Who knows what the future will bring, but for now my wallet and I are enjoying my aural nirvana and sense of satisfaction, and it is great to be at the end of the audiophile searching I suffered from for the last few years.