[bthrb4u]

Hey Head-fi!I am so cluttered in my head with trying to
make a decision to get a headphone.  This hole headphone
hobby is one big mind puzzle and a truly submersable one. 
I use to play video games religiously due to a broken leg,
leaving me to be stuck in my house at all times.  That's
how i got into gaming headphones and from there it expanded
to wanting a good pair of musically oriented headphones. 
Now all i do is sit on this website and read and read and
read some more.  I've come to find that everything written
in this website is personal preference and suggestions.  I
know i liked my m50's because they were awesome in the fact
that they rocked my head.  I can only perceive what i would
want out of a headphone from what i've heard out of
previous headphones, which isn't a lot but i think i am
pretty good at picking things apart and while i love the
thumping bass of the m50's i also don't want a headphone to
muddy the fully body of the sound. I could go on for hours
writing about all the things i have learned on here and
what i think i would like in a headphone, but unfortunately
i may never be able to experience them because i simply do
not have the money to. 
I have a little girl due in May (Lacey Bennett.)so i do not
feel that i will be able to listen to my music
through my home theater anymore because of my little girl
so i have decided to go with a nice pair of headphones
after i sell my home theater.I am pretty sure i want a pair
of ah-d7000's.  All i have read about is some headphones
feeling "harmonic" or that the mids  are "silky"  i keep
reading more and more and more and the more i do the more i
feel like i have to have this "ultimate headphone"  There
is so much to factor when getting a headphone.  I am also
worried about messing up the sound or picking an amp that
won't work.
So i am not going to try and not outsmart my common sense
here and go with the ah-d7000's (once i sell everything and
Lacey gets everything she needs and we get a car.  Can't
wait!)  Will someone please help me go with the right
amp/dac for this.  I do plan on upgrading to the full
LA7000 next year.  Yes i do love my techno but i love
distinguishing the different sounds and i LOVE good
soundstage with good depth (I am choosing the Denon's
because i know i want the bass of a closed back and the
controlled and beautiful bass that LA brings out, but the
soundstage of an openback). I am by far an audiophile but i
don't see how anyone can justify a can as being "good"
when it doesn't have any soundstage.  To me that is like 
cheating yourself. Without soundstage this website would be alot
smaller because there would be a lot less sound signatures.
I want to feel those "silky mids" and i want my brain to get
that good "balance" i read about on the Lawton website and
when i hear Sarah Mclachlan's voice in "silence" by Mt.
Eden,  i want it to make me feel like i'm in heaven (i changed
it from feeling like i'm having sex to feeling like i'm in heaven
because i was reading this over to my girlfriend lol), but i
want my home theater songs to sound awesome too, like when
i listen too like a good Stevie Nicks song or Some Ted
Nugent. (Just got back from picking my girlfriend up from
work and heard this song while driving her grandpas truck
"Lover,Lover" by Jerrod Niemann.  While i don't normally
listen to too much country, I really really love hearing this type
of guitar and i really enjoyed how well trained his voice
is. Just thought i had to add that)Also, "Hotel California"
by The Eagles is really a beautiful song.  I suppose i was
bound to post this as i really have had just about enough
of trying to put this puzzle together as it seems more like
trying to get to the end of  "PI," and i just needed
someone to justify that i was making the right decision in getting
the Denon AH-D7000 and upgrading next year to the Lawton Audio
and hopefully get some good input on a good dac/amp together or
seperate.  Also does anyone think i should get a dac that
has 16 to 24 bit upgrading.
Maybe i should have just sent this straight to MERKL. To
anyone reading this if you find it to be humorous or if you
must criticize me then go ahead.  I do not think i am
incompetent. I just lack alot of knowledge as i have only
been going through this forum for maybe a month or more.
btw difference of balanced and non balanced please. 

 

[dub Beatz]

Now that is one long post o__O.

 

[les_garten]

Dude,
    That is one big wall of words!  Perhaps breaking it up into 10-12 digestable bites, or more.   Really, most folks will see that and not read it.  I can't because I have a vision problem that makes that "wall" require a lot of effort.  So I didn't read it, even though I like the Denon 2000/5000/7000 series and really like the LA7000.

 

[bthrb4u]

Wow guys sorry.  I was just got  worked up about getting a pair of headphones and my mind is going a million miles an hour.  I just read it again after coming back to see if anyone had post anything yet and i felt like an idiot.  I am just so afraid of missing something.  There are so many things that if i didn't try to express everything i could mess up and get a headphone that won't represent what i want and i will waste money i don't have.  Anyways if anyone feels like reading this and helping me out it would mean a lot.  Thanks

 

[wind016]

I saw the words "silky," "Denon D7000," and "criticize." 
 
um... I agree. Denon's box for Denon D7000, though silky, is not as impressive as the flight cases included with Audio Technica's woodies.

 

[bthrb4u]

So i don't feel i'm going to get any help here.  I just shortened it a little but i guess i asked for it when i said people could "criticize" me.
For all of you out there who has ever wanted help and tried simply asking for it, i'm sure you know what i am going through right now
i am simply asking for someone to take the time and help me out.  I am all about respect and anyone that can help me i might be able
to repay the favor somehow in the future
If anyone understands what i am trying to get out of this but just doesn't have experience with the 7000's then maybe you could simplify
everything for me. Thanks

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

So i don't feel i'm going to get any help here.  I just shortened it a little but i guess i asked for it when i said people could "criticize" me.
For all of you out there who has ever wanted help and tried simply asking for it, i'm sure you know what i am going through right now
i am simply asking for someone to take the time and help me out.  I am all about respect and anyone that can help me i might be able
to repay the favor somehow in the future
If anyone understands what i am trying to get out of this but just doesn't have experience with the 7000's then maybe you could simplify
everything for me. Thanks

It's not how long it is.  It has too few paragraph breaks.

 

[shane55]

Yeah, I didn't read the whole thing either, but let me see if I understand what I DID read.
You have and like the M50, and wonder if the D7000 is a worthy upgrade. If that is the question, then YES is the answer.
 
With the right source, the D7k does everything the M50 does well, and improves upon it. I have often called the M50 the D7k's little brother. They have similarities. If you like one, you'll probably like or love the other.
 
As for the MarkL mods... See how you like the D7k first. Don't rush into anything. I have had the mods and did not appreciate what they did to the D5000. Some like the change, I did not. The stock D7k is amazing with my rig. I'm not modding it.
 
Good luck, and know your audience.
 
shane

 

[bthrb4u]

Thanks Shane55.  I definitely will be sticking with the stock 7's for a while as i am not sure i will be able to afford the upgrade for a while.  Any suggestions on the amp/dac!
I will probably upgrade to the jmoney pads eventually. 

 

[dub Beatz]

I would try and restructure the first post, and many of your responses. It becomes difficult to read what you're saying easily when you start a new paragraph for seemingly no reason. A bit of structure can go a long way. Those paragraphs are also way too long, lol. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Yeah, I didn't read the whole thing either, but let me see if I understand what I DID read.
You have and like the M50, and wonder if the D7000 is a worthy upgrade. If that is the question, then YES is the answer.
 
With the right source, the D7k does everything the M50 does well, and improves upon it. I have often called the M50 the D7k's little brother. They have similarities. If you like one, you'll probably like or love the other.
 
As for the MarkL mods... See how you like the D7k first. Don't rush into anything. I have had the mods and did not appreciate what they did to the D5000. Some like the change, I did not. The stock D7k is amazing with my rig. I'm not modding it.
 
Good luck, and know your audience.
 
shane

This x infinity.

The M50 was one of my first and still one of my fave closed cans. The D7000 would bring a HUGE smile to M50 fans. A worthy upgrade, for sure.

Bear in mind that the D7000 doesn't need a majestic DAC/AMP to make it sing. I know how people love to ramble on about how their 600 dollar dac/amp substantially improves performance, but I'm gonna call bull**** on this one. The D7000 will sound fantastic off pretty much anything, even unamped. The more POWER, the tighter the sound, but it won't be a drastic change.

I have enjoyed my D7000 unamped, off my lowly E5, E7, E9, and a couple of different HT receivers. They sound fantastic with each, and the differences were mainly in the tightening of bass. I prefer it off my E9 the most so far, but I'd say its about a 10% improvement over the E7, and 20% improvement over unamped. Willing to bet other amps worth many times the price is gonna give you subtle sound signature differences and not major improvements as the E9 already feeds it a ridiculous amount of power. An amp's job is to power your headphones, which the D7000 doesn't need much of. Anything past something like the E9 is just flavoring the sound with your own signature preferences. I can see amps really changing power hungry cans, but the D7000 isn't one of these cans, IMHO.

 

[shane55]

^^ Yeah, what MLE said....
 
I can easily power them with my iPods and the sound is excellent. Yes, of course you will get an improvement with a good DAC/Amp. How much? All depends.
The D7000 will reveal the source. The better the source (files or rig), the better it all will sound, and the D7k will scale accordingly.

 

[bthrb4u]

     Thank you Mad lust envy. I think that your reply will go a long way with helping beginners to more advanced people decide what to do with the d7000's.  That is mainly what i was looking for.  Some people who have read this post were to stuck in there own little world to understand what i was trying to accomplish. I just didn't think anyone would reply this early leaving me to post my evaluation and conclusion of how the thread went so early.
     Yes i want all those things in a headphone but that didn't matter.  I knew i wanted the d7000, I was trying to express how i like many others im sure are completely confused on what to do next and i wanted everyone to see this.   With one simple reply, you probably just helped a lot of people understand little bit more.
    As for the headphone, yes i wanted the Denon's.  Just like i think a lot of beginners that come to head-fi come here because of the d2000's or the m50s or hd650's or 600's
This is mainly due to the fact there there are a handful of base(yes base not bass) headphones that most people get to look at on Amazon.  Usually when they come to head-fi  they have already read all the reviews and have a good idea of what they initially want. Like i stated, i wanted the denons because i wanted a lot of soundstage and the bass of a closed back.  What next,.......The puzzle.
     I initially wanted to make a mark on this website and have people see my name and trust my opinion.  I don't have the money to give much of an opinion.  I thought that maybe if this website were set up more like a facebook or twitter where i could each day write down my evaluation of what i had read each day and have people follow me as i began my journey through the long road of finding my "perfect headphone" and have people help guide me in the right direction.  Unfortunately it's not and when people make posts half the time they are just asking the same questions over because they get confused.  I love love love love love listening to music through headphones but i also love listening through my home theater.  I don't think i will make buying headphones a hobby as every headphone is different and you just have to hear it yourself.  I truly am jealous of the people that get to try headphones out before they buy them but i do not. There are a few people like boomana and mad lust envy that have made AMAZING posts that i think help a lot of people out. 
    Maybe more people could make posts like these but instead of a bunch of different headphones maybe post a single thread about a certain headphone that you have and try and explain the details of the sound of the headphone and how it works.  Note what you think a beginner would understand and note the benefits of the headphone and what else it works good with, maybe even other comparable headphones. There is a lot of lingo that i think could be explained in parenthesis that would help things.  Then maybe a list of amps ( best to worse experience and one that should not be considered and why)
 
Forum:
      Music Genre:
               Headphones:Brand and model and describe the benefits (two sections, advanced and beginners) of the headphone and maybe even where you can buy them or the prices.
 
I want to thank Mad lust envy and boomanaman(not sure if this is right) and anyone else who has tried helping people that ask for it. I just think this website could use a little cleaning up and the only way to do this is for the members to help out.  Thanks to everyone and i will report back to this thread or make another once i get my d7000's and let everyone know my thoughts on the headphone and the advice that Shane and MLE have given me.

 

[TobaccoRoad]

IIRC some headfier reported D7000 having a lot of sibilance issues with E7/E9, whereas upgrading to Nuforce HDP fixed the issue right away. So there probably are some justifications of spending a little more for dac/amp, after all Fiio amps are mostly entry-level that are currently the FOTM.
 
I agree that Denon headphones sound great unamped though.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

If the E9 has sibilance with the D7000, I wouldn't blame the E9 but the innate treble of the D7000 itself. The D7000 has been known to have a peaky treble. The E9 is known NOT to hide or improve the innate sound, but rather give the power necessary to consider it 'properly amped'.
 
Like I said before, anything else is sound signature PREFERENCE and not a downfall of the E9 itself. If the HDP gets rid of the sibilance, then it must have an innate signature that slightly rolls off the treble of headphones as a whole. Don't dismiss the e9 as FOTM or whatever nonsense people get away with these days. It does what it set out to do, feed power without coloring the sound. Whether a mostly uncolored amp is to the liking of D7000s is subjective. I like sparkly treble, and have NO issue with my E9 and D7000.