[TobaccoRoad]

Quote:

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.

I found the post I was referring to: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/333953/denon-ah-d7000/2745
 
Having the Nuforce, I can say from experience that its a neutral DAC paired with a bright amp, so you would think fixing the harshness is just an amp doing its job (he described as "not as piercing"). But then again E9 is known to have plenty of power plus I haven't heard the unit so I can't make the judgement. IDK..imo E9 just seems too good to be true. If it has enough power, it should be good enough to drive cans like HD800 and LCD-2 right? I was gonna make a thread regarding this but it seemed useless since most FiiO users haven't heard higher-end amps and vice versa (higher-end users not hearing FiiO amps).
 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

People have demo'd the E9 with the HE6 and T1, both which require a pretty large amount of power. It wasn't the best combo, but was stated to power them quite well, the T1 even moreso. I think the E9 works best with headphones that don't start off with peaky treble. It is quite ruthless to people with sensitivity to peaky treble if paired with stuff like the DT990.

 

[jronan2]

OP, I started out just like you. I turned into a frequent gamer and buying gaming headsets made me start to getting into audiophile equipment. I also started with the M50's and will never get rid of them. I use them for work and wherever i may take my ipod. Then I got the e7/e9 combo and went with the dt990/600. Ive had the e9/e7 for about 3 weeks and the e7 stopped working so I'm impatiently waiting to get it back. But the e9 is a pretty solid amp especially at that price point.
 
I would definetly listen to Mad Lust Envy's advice, he helped me out with gaming and audio questions and owns the d7000's for a few months. Just to make a point tho, if you want a big sound stage why are you ruling out an open headphone? Maybe sound leakage or something but all and all I'm sure the d7000 is an amazing headphone. MLE hasn't sold his yet and says he doesn't plan on it and that dude goes thru headphones quicker than anyone Ive seen lol. I plan on eventually getting the D7000 down the road because the M50's are just an amazing closed headphone IMO, and if the D7000 adds delight to that package then i'm in. Good luck and come back and post what you decided to go with.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I still get all giddy when I listen to music with the D7000. The wow factor hasn't stopped in the least. That's saying a lot.

Seriously, anyone who loves the M50s and wants a true upgrade in every sense of the word needs to try the D7000.

Unlike the DT990 which I absolutely loved but sold, there is NOTHING about the sound I would change. The DT990's treble did get a little harsh for me at times, which was my only complaint.

The D7000 is pretty much perfect for me. Right amount of sparkle, awe inspiring bass that isn't obtrusive like I would have thought from bass this strong, and vocals are forward enough to my liking. Just pure love coming from me. Can there be better? Probably in other flagships that will cost quite a bit more and will need a lot more power than the D7000 needs. I'm certainly never going to spend over 600 dollars for another headphone, when this one does things so damn well.

Perhaps if the T1 got around this price range, I might look into it, if only because I'd like an open headphone that can rival it, while still having immersive bass. The hot seasons are coming, and I'm afraid the D7000 is gonna start getting too hot, too quickly.

 

[dagothur]

 
Quote:

I still get all giddy when I listen to music with the D7000. The wow factor hasn't stopped in the least. That's saying a lot.

Seriously, anyone who loves the M50s and wants a true upgrade in every sense of the word needs to try the D7000.

Unlike the DT990 which I absolutely loved but sold, there is NOTHING about the sound I would change. The DT990's treble did get a little harsh for me at times, which was my only complaint.

The D7000 is pretty much perfect for me. Right amount of sparkle, awe inspiring bass that isn't obtrusive like I would have thought from bass this strong, and vocals are forward enough to my liking. Just pure love coming from me. Can there be better? Probably in other flagships that will cost quite a bit more and will need a lot more power than the D7000 needs. I'm certainly never going to spend over 600 dollars for another headphone, when this one does things so damn well.

Perhaps if the T1 got around this price range, I might look into it, if only because I'd like an open headphone that can rival it, while still having immersive bass. The hot seasons are coming, and I'm afraid the D7000 is gonna start getting too hot, too quickly.

+ 1.  I absolutely love my D7000 -> Nuforce Icon HDP combo.  Everything I listen to with them is an amazing experience.  I found the Dt990s to be the high-impedance, open version of the D7000s.  Except, of course, I didn't love the Dt990s like I love my Denons.  I've heard tell that the LCD-2 is the closest step up from the D7000 in the $1000-and-under range, and being orthos they do require a power plant to produce +10 decibels.
 

 

[magicalbanana]

I have the d5000 markl mod hooked up to a hifiman dac/amp. It's pretty economical and sounds awesome so deriving from my experience, a d7000 would be a nice choice. U might also want to check out the JVC ha-dx 1000. I talked to a guy who owns the headphones and he swears nothing beats the JVC headphones in soundstaging. I personally have not used the earphones yet but I want them bad. As for the Audio Technica w1000, my friend owns one but my initial impressions of them when listening to w/o an amp were not too good. Audios are said to reproduce nicely without an amp but it sounded underpowered.
 
In conclusion, I say go for the d7000 but also check out the JVC headphones because they seem really promising.

 

[shane55]

Between what dagothur and MLE said, most of my feelings have been well covered.
D7k is outstanding and with my rig, it's just so damn right-on-the-money, that I can't imagine anything for less than double the price giving me the same amount of satisfaction and synergy with my setup.
 
I'll be listening to LCD-2's and T1's and HD800 and Stax on Saturday, so I'll have a better idea what's out there on a competitive or 'next' level. But yeah... if these need a 'power plant' to drive, I may not be all that interested for minimal 'improvement'. My rig has the power, I just may not feel the need.

 

[KingStyles]

I think the d7000 would be a good upgrade in your situation. As far as an amp goes, most ss amps will do them justice. Stay way from small portable units though. If they dont have enough power the bass goes flabby and one note. Also stay away from tube amps unless you get some of the higher end ones that can produce around 1.5w. Hybrid amps seem to do good with it. You get the current from the ss and you can still roll the tubes to adjust the sound signature. I have had my d7000 (now LA7000) since they pretty much came out and have tried them out on a lot of different amps at meets in that time. Also if you want a smooth sound with them, take a look at the RWA isabellina HPA. They paired really good with it and it is also a pretty good dac too. Yes, you can get loud sound that some think is acceptable out of anything, but the bass is the first thing to suffer. As it starts to get flabby, the rest of the quality gets affected.

 

[bthrb4u]

Can you guys check this out for me please?
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/540191/new-to-head-fi-links-and-more-to-get-you-started-here-wanted-to-do-this-for-a-while-but-didn-t-know-enough#post_7284186