[Jay_booney]

Amazing to see this thread still plodding along. My denons have served me so well over the last 5 years (4 of which have been with the Markl mod). They are now starting to show their age, the pads disintegrating and the paint work starting to corrode (I guess from skin oils after so much handling). They've grown on me so much I can't bear to part with them. I'm considering making myself some new ear pads and was wondering if any kind folk on here could offer some advice. I'd be buying some napa leather and proper hand stitching equipment to do it. Panel sizes, stitching techniques and fitting the plastic disc are all on my list of potential difficulties. A respray of the frame might also be on the cards if I have the time and courage. Thanks guys.

 

[rx7mark]

I would recommend the JMoney leather replacement pads and if you are flush a set of MarkL wood cups.  They will take the Denon's to a new level.

See a nice review thread here for the JMoney pads: http://www.head-fi.org/t/443275/mini-review-jmoney-replacement-leather-ear-pads-for-denon-d2000-d5000-d7000
 
Mark

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

I would recommend the JMoney leather replacement pads and if you are flush a set of MarkL wood cups.  They will take the Denon's to a new level.

See a nice review thread here for the JMoney pads: http://www.head-fi.org/t/443275/mini-review-jmoney-replacement-leather-ear-pads-for-denon-d2000-d5000-d7000
 
Mark

J$ went out of business, MarkL sells excellent Angle Pads which are a better quality than old JMoney anyway.

 

[Chuck Canada]

I want to get a pair of the ''quote basshead unquote'' Denon headphones I believe they are the Denon D2000 headphones that I was looking at. 
 
I really like taking things apart and seeing what they are made of, could I do this mod with those headphones I just mentioned? "To me that would almost be a selling point if I could''
 
I have Beyerdynamic DT990 600ohm Premium headphones and they are so wonderful I can not speak more highly about them, they deliver what I had expected exactly. 
 
But I do really enjoy heavy loud booming massive bass and of course I will not buy Beats So I think it is the closed Denon's for me for some extra nice bass. 

 

[White Lotus]

Quote:

I want to get a pair of the ''quote basshead unquote'' Denon headphones

Move quickly, my friend. My understanding is that they are no longer in production.

 

[HiFiRobot]

  Might just be the last person on earth doing this mod to my Denon D2000. Headphones should be latest revision, bought them last summer just before they went EOL. Anyway did the first part of damping the rear of the driver. Very happy so far. 
 
After the mod I think the sound is more detailed. Easier to distinguish specific sounds and voices. I think this also contributed to soundstage getting wider. Another thing is that highs seem less edgy. I have a few tracks were I always had to turn down the volume before the mod. Not anymore 

 
Will continue in a few days or weeks with damping the outer part of the rear driver. And then possibly some Dynamat in the cup edges. Not sure about the last one. I like the bass and do not want less, but maybe a little tighter perhaps.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Ok. Finally did the next step "damping the outer part of the rear driver".
First reaction is.... Woooaaaah! Everything... just...sounds....better!
 
Damping the cups with Dynamat is next quite possibly.
 

 

 

[Oregonian]

Do it.........the bass won't reduce, it just tightens up.

Good job doing the mods yourself! Love these amazing headphones.

 

[mkygod]

Im surprised that the dynamat reduced the edgyness of the highs. From all the things I've read, dynamat usually contributes to the harshness of the highs.
 
Would love to hear your opinion of it once you do the earcups. Are you going to be using some felt or sound absorbing foam over the dynamat to try to reduce the harshness that may result from this mod?

 

[Bostonears]

In my experience with the D2000 mod, Dynamat only added harshness when it was used on the front of the driver.

 

[HiFiRobot]

Do it.........the bass won't reduce, it just tightens up.

Good job doing the mods yourself! Love these amazing headphones.

 
Thanks. It was a bit fiddly. I decided to work slowly and not stress it. One slip with the screwdriver when securing the Dynamat could damage the paperlike material. Also it's important to put most of the pressure on the edges of Dynamat so it doesn't squeeze out all over. This was in the instructions but since it was my first time handling Dynamat I was not used to how the material would behave.

  Im surprised that the dynamat reduced the edgyness of the highs. From all the things I've read, dynamat usually contributes to the harshness of the highs.
 
Would love to hear your opinion of it once you do the earcups. Are you going to be using some felt or sound absorbing foam over the dynamat to try to reduce the harshness that may result from this mod?

 
To bad I do not have a unmodded pair of D2000 for some A/B testing, can't always trust my sound memory =).
Will probably do the cup damping in the future. Trying to follow the Lawton instructions here http://www.lawtonaudio.com/page55.html where felt or absorbing foam is not mentioned (I think). If I want a softer sound signature with more rounded of treble I'll use some of my other headphones instead like X1 or LCD-2. The Denon is still a bit bright and more hard sounding than those headphones. But what you get in return is great details and impressive soundstage. 

 

[YEGGBOT]

Can anyone repost the template pdf for me? I can't seem to find a link that works. Thanks! =]

 

[nicholars]

Can someone tell me what mods I should do to to achieve this....
 
1) Reduce sibilance / smooth treble
 
2) Increase amount of midrange a bit
 
3) Tighten the bass but NOT reduce the quantity of bass
 
 
I am not sure which parts to do and some parts are not reversible so can someone tell me which mods will improve sound quality but NOT reduce the bass quantity?
 
Thanks

 

[HiFiRobot]

   
Ok. Finally did the next step "damping the outer part of the rear driver".
First reaction is.... Woooaaaah! Everything... just...sounds....better!
 
Damping the cups with Dynamat is next quite possibly.
 

 

 
Dampening the cups started.
Don't forget to put the Dynamat in the freezer for a while before start cutting.
 
The template is available here:
 
jpg
https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/55491274?access_key=key-1u1yx7wf87lgnyycdhwn
 
pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23822965/markld2ktemplate.pdf
 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

[HiFiRobot]

   
Dampening the cups started.
Don't forget to put the Dynamat in the freezer for a while before start cutting.
 
The template is available here:
 
jpg
https://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/55491274?access_key=key-1u1yx7wf87lgnyycdhwn
 
pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23822965/markld2ktemplate.pdf
 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 
And finally the left earcup. Realized the glue under the white damping material comes off quite easily, just roll it like a booger.
Very happy with the result. And isolation is improved =)
 

 

 

 

 

[nicholars]

Any chance of someone describing exactly what each step does?
 
For example just using dynamat on the outside of the cups and padding the ear pads?
 
I would like to improve the mids and tighten the bass but if anything I would want less treble / sibilance so it sounds like I might be better off not doing any mods to my D2000 as I read a few reports of more treble / sibilance with mods? I would want to reduce treble / sibilance or make it sound smoother, not increase it... Also I would like to tighen up the bass but don't want to lose more than about 5% of the bass quantity. Bigger soundstage and more forward mids would be good but not if that means reducing the bass a lot and making the treble brighter than it already is (which is already too bright for me without EQ)
 
Would like...
 
Tighter bass - yes
Less bass quantity - no
more midrange - yes
more soundstage - yes
more / brighter treble - no
less sibilance - yes
 
is it worth me doing any of the mods?
 
What about if I just modded the earcups with dynamat and possible padded the earpads? What effect does damping the rear of the driver have?