[CDWMcInSpots]

Quote:

[...] The main thing that I notice that's lacking about the D7000 compared to my Senn HD580 is the vocals.  On the Senns the presence is amazing, right between your ears, and it sounds so close and personal, which is something I just don't get on the Denons, but absolutely everything else is so much better on the Denons that I can't go back to the HD580 at home.  That difference could be because of the amp though, as that's the only proper amp I've tested the D7000 on.

So far I haven't done a (direct) comparison between my Denon AH-D7000 and my still rather new Sennheiser HD 650 which I've so far used with both my Grace Design m903 and Lynx Hilo.
 
The Denon AH-D7000 + Grace Design m903 is very good. I don't really identify with your description of Denon AH-D7000 in the above.
 
On the other hand I know by experience that there's a big difference between Denon AH-D7000 + Grace Design m903 vs. Denon AH-D7000 + an unsuitable amplifier.
 
Quote:

The sound is excellent, but I find that the treble tends towards sibilance, something that is an issue with the Denons

 
I don't identify with this either. Of course some people/vocalists are more sibilant than others. That's nature. Listen to some people talking in your vicinity. Stone walls etc (ie. a cathedral or church) may amplify this.
 
I still believe that most negative descriptions of Denon AH-D7000 are based on use with amplifiers less suitable than the Grace Design m903.
 
As stated in my signature "I listen at (very) moderate loudness levels". This may be of importance.

 

[FragmentedGod]

Given that your amp is three times the price of mine, and that I know mine is not the best match, I am not surprised that you aren't hearing the same things!  It's good to know that there is definitely room for improvement with the 'phones.  I simply don't have the funds to get that amp so for right now I'm looking for another amp that is a better match for the Denons.
 
The sibilance is an issue that's associated with higher volumes, I agree.  At low volumes I don't notice it at all.  Sometimes I want to up the volume and really blast it out (within reason) and I notice that the highs get too harsh before I feel that it's actually too loud. This does depend on the track, but a lot of my favourite music falls into this category.
 
So, to clarify, I'm not simply blaming the headphones and I'm looking for a solution that adds instead of replaces, as I love the Denons and I know that I haven't tried them with another amp yet.  As I have a nice amp already that I know would be a good match for the HE-500s, I'm looking for input to help make a decision about getting another amp or another pair of headphones first. 

 

[Greed]

Quote:

Given that your amp is three times the price of mine, and that I know mine is not the best match, I am not surprised that you aren't hearing the same things!  It's good to know that there is definitely room for improvement with the 'phones.  I simply don't have the funds to get that amp so for right now I'm looking for another amp that is a better match for the Denons.
 
The sibilance is an issue that's associated with higher volumes, I agree.  At low volumes I don't notice it at all.  Sometimes I want to up the volume and really blast it out (within reason) and I notice that the highs get too harsh before I feel that it's actually too loud. This does depend on the track, but a lot of my favourite music falls into this category.
 
So, to clarify, I'm not simply blaming the headphones and I'm looking for a solution that adds instead of replaces, as I love the Denons and I know that I haven't tried them with another amp yet.  As I have a nice amp already that I know would be a good match for the HE-500s, I'm looking for input to help make a decision about getting another amp or another pair of headphones first. 

I'd try the Matrix M-Stage amp, if you are looking to tone down the hot treble these are known to have. I've had good experiences with both the Violectric V200 and Burson HA-160. Both suited the D7000 fine.

 

[elwappo99]

If anyone is trying to make the D7000 tighter in the bass and smoother on the top the hands down best I have ever heard them was through a Little Dot MKVI+. Simply the best I have ever heard them. 

 

[Valdo]

Hi,
Has anyone tried the project Sunrise II with the denon? I am quite interested in a DIY and this one seems tecnically accessible with a good walthrough.
Thanks
Valdo

 

[CDWMcInSpots]

Quote:

Hi,
Has anyone tried the project Sunrise II with the denon? I am quite interested in a DIY and this one seems tecnically accessible with a good walthrough.
Thanks
Valdo

 
Yes, at least one Norwegian called Johnnygrandis in the Norwegian thread "Project Sunrise, Horizon og Ember". He used Denon AH-D7000. Use Google Translate if you don't read any of the Scandinavian languages. The thread is quiet long at 458 posts. Project Sunrise Version II has become quiet popular among the head-fiers at the forum Hifisentralen. At least one user named Loevhagen has tried it with Fostex TH-900 as well.
 
Johnnygrandis  may have written (a little) about it in the "Project Sunrise II Kit Review" thread as well, but using a different user name. Loevhegen may have written something in that thread and/or the Fostex TH-900 thread.

 

[Valdo]

Indeed Johnnygrandis seems very happy with the combination, thank you! Is it enough o add this DIY to the amp that work with the denon? I think I will give it a try (and get the Violectric or woo anyway if there is no too much risk my wife thinks I am getting mad).

 

[talkinghead]

Figured this is the right place to ask:
Currently driving a pair of Creative Aurvana Live (a.k.a. Denon D-1001) from onboard sound (ALC 889, 2 ohm output impedance, so that is quite okay for these headphones i assume), but i would like to see if a (cheap obviously, since the CAL cost me around 60$) headphone amp would bring a noticeable improvement. Especially looking for slightly "fuller" bass. (Using an asus xonar dgx did give me that, but since the thing has 23 ohm output, the headphone just sounded off by quite a bit, bass kinda boomy and the nice kick/punch got lost to too much muddy subbass)
 
Would one of the small FiiOs, the E5/E6, or something similar be worth trying or is the improvement not going to be noticeable?
 
Thanks in advance

 

[willmax]

Quote:

Figured this is the right place to ask:
Currently driving a pair of Creative Aurvana Live (a.k.a. Denon D-1001) from onboard sound (ALC 889, 2 ohm output impedance, so that is quite okay for these headphones i assume), but i would like to see if a (cheap obviously, since the CAL cost me around 60$) headphone amp would bring a noticeable improvement. Especially looking for slightly "fuller" bass. (Using an asus xonar dgx did give me that, but since the thing has 23 ohm output, the headphone just sounded off by quite a bit, bass kinda boomy and the nice kick/punch got lost to too much muddy subbass)
 
Would one of the small FiiOs, the E5/E6, or something similar be worth trying or is the improvement not going to be noticeable?
 
Thanks in advance

Don't waste your time with E5/E6 you probably won't notice any significant change, you'd be better off with either FiiO E7 or E11 it will give you a much better result, but if you want to go one step further you could grab a second hand C421 from the classifieds, they are going cheap atm.

 

[bareyb]

 
 
Quote:

The first time I listened to a Denon headphone was at a meet in Calgary where someone brought a set of AH-D2000's. I tried them with a number of different amps and the impression I was left with was that they sounded a bit too muddy and closed-in. As soon as I paired them up with my Grace m903 everything changed. The m903 has a bit of a reputation for being either "bass light" or more specifically "lacking in bass weight"...something to that effect, but with the Denons they were able to tighten up the bass to a degree where it rivaled much more expensive headphones. Not only that, but everything else seemed to "click in" a bit better, especially the soundstage. The lowly D2000's sounded like a thousand bucks.
 
As a result of that meet I bought a set of AH-D7000's with J-money pads and combined with the m903 they are extremely enjoyable. I think that Grace must have designed the m903 to have an extremely tight low frequency presentation that is why they sound good with Denons and other cans that might otherwise be a bit too boomy or bloated. The flip side is that on cans that already have extremely tight, controlled bass the pairing can come off as anemic. That's the reason I have other amplification for my HD-800s and LCD-3s, and in those situations I use the Grace as DAC. 
 
So for me the best amp for Denons is the Grace m903, but it comes at the price of worse pairing with some other desirable headphones. That being said, the m903 makes a good foil for a warmer tube amp and is an awesome, feature filled DAC regardless. 

 
Quote:

You are spot on Wir3d with the criteria for the Dennon d5000 phones- at least based on my listening to them with only two amps.
 
Grace m902- excellent!
Cary Xciter- crap!
 
Batting 1000 on my scorecard...

 
Quote:

Thank you for the thread. Here's my contribution.
 
Grace Design m903 works very well with Denon AH-D7000. There's something special with this combination. I and several others have written about it in several threads about Grace Design m903. You will find similar positive feedback about m902 in the same threads. I am not (so) sure I agree regarding the part about light bass. We'll see after I at some point have compared it to Violectric HPA V200.
 
I agree that Nuforce Icon HDP doesn't at all work well with Denon AH-D7000.
 
I don't remember SPL Phonitor as anything special with Denon AH-D7000, but haven't tried for a long time.
 
I borrowed a Burson Audio HA-160 and HA-160D a couple of years ago. Unfortunately both units were generally noisy, and especially with Denon AH-D7000. Both have way to much gain for me. HA-160 was worst in both respects.
 
I may at some point try Denon AH-D7000 with my Violectric HPA V200, Lynx Hilo, and AudioQuest DragonFly. I am awaiting answers about some technical specifications for the Lynx Hilo including headphone output impedance.
 
I don't think I've tried Denon AH-D7000 with my McIntosh MA7000, but my calculations indicated that it should work.
 
Lehmannaudio Linear (formerly known as Lehmannaudio Black Cube Linear) has 5 ohm output impedance (measured as 5.9 ohm by Hi-Fi News & Record Review) and hence break the general output impedance recommendation rules as well as the rules of this thread.

 
Quote:

So far I haven't done a (direct) comparison between my Denon AH-D7000 and my still rather new Sennheiser HD 650 which I've so far used with both my Grace Design m903 and Lynx Hilo.
 
The Denon AH-D7000 + Grace Design m903 is very good. I don't really identify with your description of Denon AH-D7000 in the above.
 
On the other hand I know by experience that there's a big difference between Denon AH-D7000 + Grace Design m903 vs. Denon AH-D7000 + an unsuitable amplifier.
 
 
I don't identify with this either. Of course some people/vocalists are more sibilant than others. That's nature. Listen to some people talking in your vicinity. Stone walls etc (ie. a cathedral or church) may amplify this.
 
I still believe that most negative descriptions of Denon AH-D7000 are based on use with amplifiers less suitable than the Grace Design m903.
 
As stated in my signature "I listen at (very) moderate loudness levels". This may be of importance.

Great thread guys! Very informative. I JUST purchased the Fostex Th-900s and they are shipping out today.
 

 
Came here in search of proper amplification and am delighted to see one of my Amps is on the "approved list". YES!!! I was hoping they'd match up well. That's great news. Thanks guys. 

 

 

[rpgman1]

People said avoid the Schitt Mjolnir since Mjolnir's high power output is overkill for such sensitive headphones and may actually introduce noise or other sonic flaws, not to mention the danger of damaging those expensive cans. Do yourself a favor and look for something else.
However you can add these amps to the list:
 
Burson Soloist
Bryston BHA-1
Used HeadAmp GS-X
Used Cavalli Liquid Fire
I'm still looking for a good amp to pair the TH-900. I chose the Matrix X-Sabre as my DAC.

 

[bareyb]

Quote:

People said avoid the Schitt Mjolnir since Mjolnir's high power output is overkill for such sensitive headphones and may actually introduce noise or other sonic flaws, not to mention the danger of damaging those expensive cans. Do yourself a favor and look for something else.
However you can add these amps to the list:
 
Burson Soloist
Bryston BHA-1
Used HeadAmp GS-X
Used Cavalli Liquid Fire
I'm still looking for a good amp to pair the TH-900. I chose the Matrix X-Sabre as my DAC.

Was that for me? I'm don't own the Schiit Mjolnir...  

 

[rpgman1]

Quote:

Was that for me? I'm don't own the Schiit Mjolnir...  

No, this is for the topic creator to update his list of amps to recommend or not use on the D7000 and TH-900.

 

[bareyb]

Quote:

No, this is for the topic creator to update his list of amps to recommend or not use on the D7000 and TH-900.

Oh okay. Makes sense now. 

 

[CDWMcInSpots]

Quote:

[...]
I may at some point try Denon AH-D7000 with my [...] Lynx Hilo [...]. I am awaiting answers about some technical specifications for the Lynx Hilo including headphone output impedance.
[...]

I have posted references to information about the technical specifications for the Lynx Hilo headphone amplifier/output including headphone output impedance in (one of the) Lynx Hilo threads. The output impedance is 0.6 ohms.
 
On the 24 March 2013 I tried the Denon AH-D7000 out of the headphone out on Lynx Hilo for the first time. I need more time and to compare with at least Grace Design m903 before stating any opinion of the Hilo vs. for example m903.