Ah well, looks like a number of us are late in the thread
All good really, as it's taken me ages to get around to making this mod happen to my AH-D1000s and now the job is done. And what a terrific difference it makes for the better! The original Denon cables had an 'accident' when caught up in a bag, breaking the earth link in the right channel, hence the great opportunity to recable!
We don't seem to have Dynamat around this part of OZ, but we do have Q-Mat, pretty much the same thing and does exactly the same job. I was unable to find the Mogami cable at first, so used some larger guage microphone cable in a local store, a bit big though everything fit together well enough. The 'Q-Matting' was fiddly if not that difficult, very sticky! The much deader sounding headphone capsules tell me that it's doing the job, even if the cans are a bit heavier now. No problem really, as they're still pretty comfortable, if not in the same league as my much newer Sony MDR-1Rs. With the first lot of cable the Denons became slamming beasts in the bass dept! Indeed, they were less bloomy than the original cables - though a touch grainy for a few days. However, bass detail and sheer punch was something else, Keith Moon's drumming on The Who-Live In Leeds had terrific speed and weight, really quite thrilling. However, when it came to full and deep electronic bass as in Eminem's duet with Nate Dog in Shake That, off Curtain Call (subject matter aside, it's a good test for chest-rattling bass punch!), it was a bit much, too OTT and if ears could vomit mine almost did
Fortunately, I managed to source some Mogami 2893 and so I bought enough to recable my beloved old Sennheiser HD540 References as well. Slimmer, lighter, more flexible and nicer to work with than my first re-cable job, the Mogami turns out to be amazingly good stuff and well worth the effort. I also thinned out the small amount of stuffing I put in the capsules the first time, really just a modest whip of stuffing now.
The Mogami'd Denons now have some 8-10 hours only so far, yet have already lost the small new-cable amount of grain in the mids and the bass is very smooth and even right down into the nether regions, quite remarkably so. No frequency seems to stand out over any other and there is a silent darkness around the music as if nothing is being added. As it happens, I have the Beethoven Piano Concerto No2 playing at the moment, the first classical music I've played through the modded cans and I must say that the silence around the notes is impressive, almost uncannily so for headphones. An audience member coughing happens in dark space very separate from the piano and orchestra. Meanwhile, back to The Who in Leeds and the concert is just a sensation! Imaging of the band members and the audience in 3D space - well, as much as the Denons can manage - is almost pinpoint and Keith's drumming is a more balanced performance with blazing speed and for the most part wicked timing, the tonal sounds of his drum kit easy to hear. The Denons are not as open as the Sony MDR-1Rs, though they ARE more even now in their tonal balance and highly compressed music, say Arcade Fire's otherwise excellent album Funeral, Duffy's Rockferry, anything from Muse, Adele's 21 and many more are now much easier to tolerate. Compressed vocals sound so while still remaining listenable and more intelligible. Drums have excellent tonal qualities, tight and focused yet haven't lost the Denon warmth altogether, these will never be mistaken for AKGs! What I've always loved about all of the Denon range, from the D1000s to the 7000s is the organic and warm nature and the seeming inability to overload easily in the midrange.
I will remove the stuffing over the next few days and see if I prefer the result, though for now they are very smooth indeed, with a really fine unexaggerated treble. So, warm, smooth, punchy and clean and remarkably refined now for the low cost, all I need now is a new set of ear pads, as the black covering is coming off them, probably due to the humidity of the Queensland summer.
This is a brilliant mod for these cans, I love 'em even more now and can't wait to try this cable mod on the Senn HD540s!
P.S. Where I am finding even more amazement with these cans now is with really good recordings! Dire Straits first album is incredibly clean and open, the opening guitar and cymbal crashes play quietly in deep blackness, so focused I am mesmerised listening to the tiniest sounds, waiting for the next movements literally with bated breath, hearing right into the recording. Keb Mo's Slow Down is brilliant, with it's punchy deep bass and clean dynamic vocals, open and natural. The modded Denons so easily share with you the nature of the recording.
Mind you, I am also using nearly $1000 worth of cables and DAC ahead of the headphone amp I'm using, which on it's own cost me only about $70 all up to build
There is another thread with the "$25 headphone amp" thereabouts and I built two of them, one with the best parts I have here, including Black Gate caps and top class AD825 Op amp, which is another whole story. However, the amp is worth the effort with the DAC (MusicStreamer II+) and cables (pure silver from Slinklinks) and so are the Denons! Great stuff, many thanks to the modders, Markl and Bostonears who prompted this excellent little upgrade!