[enobeuh]

From looking around here it seems to be pretty unanimous that a recabling of the stock D2000 cables makes a big difference in sound quality. The question is at what point do your returns on investment start dropping off? I'm a little skeptical of paying over $200 for the new cables, and I will probably try to replace them myself. Or have my boss do it, who knows how to solder..
 
I'm not sure where to find D5000 or D7000 stock cables, but I think I might prefer to get my hands on a cable with some color to give my phones a little personalization, though this isn't extremely important. Can anyone recommend any cables in the < $200 range?
 
I'd considered these, http://www.zynsonix.com/Recables.htm, but I've only seen them mentioned by one person so I wasn't sure if I should go through with that. I've also seen http://www.enigma-audio.com/Headphone%20Cables.html get some love. Anybody have any experience with either of these two? 
 
Any help on which cables to get or where I should get them would be greatly appreciated.

 

[cifani090]

You can check the DIY section, and they can do it cheaper, and you can choose your options. 

 

[Lenni]

enobeuh, hp's re-cabling is sort of last tweak, there're other priorities to consider before re-cable. most members who re-cable their hp's have usually already taken care in some ways or another of amps, sources, and what not. if this is your first good hp, and you're not totally satisfied with it, I suggest you save the $ for a hp's upgrade, or look into improving your source foremost. making sure that you have a good, clean source it really makes a world of difference. the D2000's are pretty good... but plugged straight into the hp out of a notebook...meh

 

[enobeuh]

 
 
Quote:

enobeuh, hp's re-cabling is sort of last tweak, there're other priorities to consider before re-cable. most members who re-cable their hp's have usually already taken care in some ways or another of amps, sources, and what not. if this is your first good hp, and you're not totally satisfied with it, I suggest you save the $ for a hp's upgrade, or look into improving your source foremost. making sure that you have a good, clean source it really makes a world of difference. the D2000's are pretty good... but plugged straight into the hp out of a notebook...meh
 

 
Well right now, since I travel for work, most of my listening is done out of my laptop through a nuforce udac2. I've had the D2000s since December. I love them and think they sound great, but if there is something that can make them sound even better I want to do it. I've decided if I go through with the recable I'll probably send them off and have them redone by a professional, maybe apuresound, not sure yet. Would you suggest doing a Markl mod first and trying the recable later? Also, is the nuforce udac a good enough source to take full advantage of these headphones, or is there something else I may be more happy with. I'd prefer to not spend too much on these if possible, but there is something that will make a big difference I'd be willing to do it. Like I said, I love the headphones as they are now, but the way people talk about their recables and markl mods makes me feel like I could be missing out on something.

 

[Teejaay]

waste of money

 

[enobeuh]

Quote:

waste of money

insightful.

 

[Mad Max]

Upgrade to a better amp/DAC instead.  If you want small form factor, you should read up on the StyleAudio amp/dacs, I think.  The Little Dot DAC_II isn't terribly large either.
Sell your Nuforce unit if you have to in order to afford much better gear.

 

[enobeuh]

If size weren't a terribly huge issue, what amp would you recommend? I looked through some amp threads but most of the suggestions seemed to be for these smaller amps. Would something bigger be overkill for these headphones? Or what amp would be the most reasonable before there was a drastic decrease in what you got vs what you paid?
 
Would Little Dot DAC_II (http://www.littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=818) be a reasonable amp to have a paired with a Markl Modded d2000 with apuresound v3 recable? I want to take full advantage of my headphones, but I don't want to buy something that's complete overkill. 
 
I plan on doing the Markl mod myself using this little diddy (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/299627/how-to-build-one-of-the-world-s-finest-dynamic-headphones-markl-denon-ah-d5000-mods). Supposing I don't mess up on the mod, would the improvement I would hear with that, the Little Dot DAC II and apuresound v3 recable be worth the $500+ I would end up spending?

 

[Mad Max]

All of these are entry-level units, so they are underkill if anything.
That Burson HA160D gets a bit of praise if you really want more out of those Denons.  ;D
There's a plethora of options out there, but I have not tried very many desktop gear.  Try asking in the Headphone amps or Dedicated sources forums.
 
Cables make up about 10% of your rig's sound, in my opinion, and less if your equipment is not ultra transparent.  I wouldn't really worry about it too much.
The Markl mod gets some praise, but I don't like throwing Dynamat Xtreme onto a headphone's cups, perhaps the backside of the baffle and the drivers, but not the cups themselves.  I would use Akasa Paxmate Plus foam on the cups instead.  It'll open up the sound, kill resonances, and bring out ambiance and soundstage details to the fullest without screwing up the sound.

 

[Teejaay]

Quote:

All of these are entry-level units, so they are underkill if anything.
That Burson HA160D gets a bit of praise if you really want more out of those Denons.  ;D
There's a plethora of options out there, but I have not tried very many desktop gear.  Try asking in the Headphone amps or Dedicated sources forums.
 
Cables make up about 0% of your rig's sound, in my opinion, and less if your equipment is not ultra transparent.  I wouldn't really worry about it too much.
The Markl mod gets some praise, but I don't like throwing Dynamat Xtreme onto a headphone's cups, perhaps the backside of the baffle and the drivers, but not the cups themselves.  I would use Akasa Paxmate Plus foam on the cups instead.  It'll open up the sound, kill resonances, and bring out ambiance and soundstage details to the fullest without screwing up the sound.

 
 
fixed
 
 

 

[Lenni]

watch the Head-Fi TV episode 05 for some good tips on best portable source

 

[enobeuh]

Quote:

watch the Head-Fi TV episode 05 for some good tips on best portable source

 
Thanks, didn't realize head-fi had a youtube channel. May need to explore some of their other content.
 
 
Quote:

All of these are entry-level units, so they are underkill if anything.
That Burson HA160D gets a bit of praise if you really want more out of those Denons.  ;D
There's a plethora of options out there, but I have not tried very many desktop gear.  Try asking in the Headphone amps or Dedicated sources forums.
 
Cables make up about 10% of your rig's sound, in my opinion, and less if your equipment is not ultra transparent.  I wouldn't really worry about it too much.
The Markl mod gets some praise, but I don't like throwing Dynamat Xtreme onto a headphone's cups, perhaps the backside of the baffle and the drivers, but not the cups themselves.  I would use Akasa Paxmate Plus foam on the cups instead.  It'll open up the sound, kill resonances, and bring out ambiance and soundstage details to the fullest without screwing up the sound.

I checked out the Burson HA 160D, it looks nice but maybe a little overkill for me right now. Portability is still somewhere of an issue because I travel for work and have to transfer it between car and hotel room every friday and sunday/monday. I'll be running music out of the USB plug of my laptop for a while. 
 
And thanks for the views on the Markl... I'll look into the Akasa Paxmate Plus form later.