[Farmer Giles]

Un amped I'd agree with most, and say that the mid bass of the 1100 is punchier.
The depth of the 2000's is greater though - and you do notice when it's not there.
Amp it - and the Voyager obviously works here - then the whole experience is of a much better and punchy mid bass and that deep bass also clearly driven.
So I don't think my experience is that different, but I'd suggest that by accident I may have hit on a great combination!

 

[rainBRO]

Sugar, Will the E5 power them sufficiently? I have one that I ordered that can't be returned. It was only $20 anyways.
 
RPG, The SkullCrushers aren't mine, they are my roommate's. I tried them out one night at the quality of the bass was just poor. It was definitely there, but it just gave me a headache, and I'm a guy that sets up two 12 inch subs in the back of my car. The quality of it was just really poor. I'm sure slightly less bass wouldn't hurt and would increase quality.
 
Farmer, yeah that helps. Maybe I should start with the D1100's and expect to eventually invest in better headphones (and an amp) if that's the path I decide to take.
 
 
With that said I do have an E5. I didn't think that would be good enough to actually run the D2000's well.

 

[Farmer Giles]

The E1 works OK with the 2000's - they don't need that much to drive, but I think they do show the inadequacies of what's driving them..

If you've not had decent cans before then go for the 1100's - a good choice in that price bracket, and then in 6 months, you can always sell the combo on to someone like you are now - new to this - and get another setup. It will still be a revelation compared to most 'normal' set ups, and will also help you define what is right for you.

Good luck.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I don't know if this response would help but even if D2000 is expensier and needs an amp for optimal results it's not a garantuee that it will sound better to you. In my case XB500 is still my favorite which is 3x cheaper than Beyer DT770 Pro and ATH-M50 over here for example which I've sold after trying the Sonys. Just telling you this in case you're like very worried about going for the D1100 wouldn't be a satisfying choice for you cuz it's a significantly cheaper option. Price is suprisingly irrelevant in realm of headphones IMO, getting the sound characteristics that you prefer yourself is far more important. OK expensier headphones with overall better headphones are more likely to satisfy you in general but cheaper headphones could also possibly sound more according to your prefers than expensier that have perhaps great quality but doesn't sound the way you want it.

 

[rainBRO]

What are the pros to you about the XB500? I see they are like $50. They have giant ear pads as well. Not that size is an issue to me, they just look huge on these.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

 
Quote:

What are the pros to you about the XB500? I see they are like $50. They have giant ear pads as well. Not that size is an issue to me, they just look huge on these.

Almost everything are pros to me regarding XB500 except design and unEQ'd result to some extent.
 
Pros:
- Very balanced deep & upper bass and the quantity is just about right for me. It delivers both deep/soft/slow bass and punchy upper bass with HUGE impact. The bass quantity is probably among the bassiest headphones (personal preference)
- Very warm/aggressive/forward sound signature (personal preference)
- Mids & vocals are suprisingly forward for a headphone for this price
- Highs are rather smooth/dark (personal preference, can't stand sibilance at all and I think the vocals sounds "meatier"/more powerful/weighted, less thin and natural with the lack of "sparkle" which I don't hear IRL either with slightly less boosted highs)
- Suprisingly good soundstage probably due to the exceptional design (huge space between driver and the ear created by the thick pads and the bass reflex ports lets out some sound at back)
- Comfiest headphones that exists probably
- Lightweight
- Extremely easily driven, probably among the very easiest driven headphones that exists. Amped I'd probably be able to hear these outside my house!
 
Cons:
- Not really a closed headphone, leaks some sound due to the bassreflex ports at back and cuz of that the ambient noise isolation is something in between closed headphone and open headphone, it does shut off some ambient noise but it's not optimally done
- UnEQ'd it's perhaps a bit too smooth/warm sounding overall that masks fine details in the sound to some extent due to excessive upper bass boost (125 - 500Hz) and highs (4 - 16kHz) needs a slight boost. (Can be fixed with EQing)
- Short cord, 1.2m => had to buy an extension cord
 
These I'd only recommend for home use which I only use them for, at my computer where I have a decent sound card with great EQ.

 

[rainBRO]

What was your issue with the XB700s?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

They were all cons VS XB500:
 
- Bass lacked the punchy upper bass and impact. Too much focus on the very deep bass below 80Hz
- Less warm sound, it was like just slightly on the laid-back side of neutral (I prefer warm sounding headphones)
- A bit more recessed mids
- Highs were tiny bit too bright compared to the recessed mids
- Heavier
- Leaked slightly more sound due to bigger holes at back
- More demanding driven, needs an amp especially to improve the bass and mids

 

[rainBRO]

Thanks for the help guys. I should have thee D1100's ordered by tonight. Kill me if I don't.
 
I will post a review when I get them and break them in over my Winter break.

 

[rainBRO]

Also any real difference between the FiiO L1, L3, and L6 LOD?

 

[soundeffect]

rainBro,
 
  I'm glad you made a decision.  The whole going back and forth is just going to drive you crazy.  I tell you this much though, the d1100 are good set of headphone.  Just don't wonder about the d2000 if you are satisfy with the d1100 when you get them.  If you like the way how they sound then just enjoy them.  Wondering is going to get you broke, trust me on this.  This thread is somewhat confusing.  I owned both of them and this thread gets me confuse! 

 

[Farmer Giles]

Thanks for the help guys. I should have thee D1100's ordered by tonight. Kill me if I don't.


 


I will post a review when I get them and break them in over my Winter break.

rainBRO - a good choice well made.

The D1100's are an excellent phone, well made and will help you set future priorities for your own listening.

On the down side - you have now joined the slippery slope of Head-Fi people, who could be described in some instances as err... obsessive. Soon you'll be dreaming of high end Sennheisers/Grados etc and obscure valve amps with mythical/legendary names and just wondering what it would sound like with your amp having a different set of component "upgrades'. That's when you need to seek help!

Don't forget the differences often talked about on HiFi forums are:
a) Subjective - and very particular to how that person hears sound
b) Not often that objective - with the exception of some very good posters who actually balance gain, head position and sources etc - plus take technical measurements to ensure objectivity as far as is possible. To these guys - I salute you, but I still know what I like!
c) Often coloured by what we each own - this thread is a classic case in point.

The differences are generally pretty small, and most sets of cans on here in the price range you start at, will generally blow away anything the average joe will buy or use.
As you have heard, each of us have our own wide ranging opinion - but in your shoes, I probably would not have gone for the D2000's - remember I too had a set of D1100's first!

However because I know what they can sound like through a decent amp and what that sounds like to me for my music and for my listening style (already at least 5 variables) that's why I rate the D2000.. You may after owning the D1100's for a bit decide that actually you want a completely different sound/experience. That's what this is all about.

Hope the new cans arrive soon, and that they let you start to experience what good Head-Fi can be.
Happy Christmas!

 

[Farmer Giles]

Also any real difference between the FiiO L1, L3, and L6 LOD?

Can only say the L1 is thinner and lower profile than the L3.
I think the L3 sounds better.
I have both, but only use the L3 with my cans. The L1 is on a click wheel black and white ipod driving a set of speakers in my workshop through an old Naim Amp and a pair of Heybrook HB3 speakers... Even the workshop sounds OK!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

So I finally received my pair of D1100 today. However I'm at parents place and here they have an Audigy 1 soundcard as opposed to Audigy 2 ZS I use at my student appartment (both have kX Audio drivers installed) and I've compared those cards before and there is a noticable sound quality improvement from the Audigy 2 ZS card so I won't make any final judgements before I test them from the same source as I'm used to. I also brought with me the FiiO E5 amp. So I'm sure this will play a huge role in my experience with them and won't necessarily reflect the true potential.
 
First my impressions without the amp. The bass is perhaps slightly less balanced in deep vs upper bass than I had hoped for, it's got very strong upper bass, very similar to XB500's punch and impact however the deep bass extension was somewhat dissappointing, it doesn't quite deliver very good deep bass, it rolls off slightly too soon and slightly too weak IMO. I would say something like a 35/65 deep/upper bass focus ratio compared to 45/55 for XB500. It doesn't also respond that well to EQing trying to boost the deep bass so it needs quite a big boost for it to actually get it brought forward more while if boosting 125Hz slider the upper bass quickly responds to it making the already strong punchy bass even stronger so the problem is that it's rolled off a bit too soon. Then the mids are more recessed than I had hoped for especially the lower mids 500 - 1kHz but I think this is mainly due to the Audigy 1 card, I remember that Audigy 2 ZS provided significantly better and more forward mids. The uppermost highs are sounding pretty good though, north of 12kHz or so, I'm willing to say better than XB500 even if using the worse sound card. With EQ I needed quite drastic boost to 500 and 1kHz while 125 - 250Hz needed a decrease and 62Hz needed quite big boost and highs somewhat in-between so the EQ looks currently like a rollercoaster going quite a lot up and down. Overall it's slightly less warm sounding compared to XB500 but this may once again be due to the different sound cards. Soundstage seems to be about the same.
 
After I added the FiiO E5 I got quite positively suprised. Now XB500 actually sounded worse with the E5 as it muddened up the sound too much, with D1100 it made it just tiny bit warmer and mids were brought more forward and even the deep bass got a boost so now it sounds actually quite good but it still needs quite drastic EQing. Volume-wise it seems very easily driven though, it goes like really loud but it does seem to benefit with some amping anyway sound quality wise which XB500 wouldn't as it sounded great without amp. Ofc it's unfair to compare a 1hr used D1100 with worse soundcard vs XB500 with like 1000hrs on them on a better soundcard so I'll try to write a more in-depth review of the D1100 later when I get back to my student appartment on 2nd January. However I can already say I'm not perfectly convinced that D1100 will sound better than XB500 when comparing from the same sound card cuz it does sound a bit worse from this Audigy 1 vs how XB500 sounds like from the Audigy 2 ZS right now at least.
 
EDIT: OK now it starts sounding pretty good as I've found some pretty good EQ settings now, so yea I'd pretty much recommend using an EQ with them. Just to get you an idea, here's my current EQ setting:
 

 
xD
 
EDIT2: It becomes quite clear that I'm missing some deep bass from the D1100 when switching to my cheap Sennheiser HD 212 Pro that are the only "decent" pair of headphones I keep at parents place which is slightly on the boomier side, I'm quite sure now that I like XB500 more than these Denons. It sounds like the HD 212 Pros are also bassier than D1100 out of the E5 amp (HD 212 Pro's bass with same EQ settings I use for D1100 is like way over the top, provides some earthquake like bass xD)  and XB500 is even bassier than HD212 Pro when I compared some time ago between those 2 so I can only imagine the brain pounding bass output I'd get with XB500 with these settings.

 

[rainBRO]

I didn't buy them yet. Now after you said that I'm having second thoughts. Maybe I should go D2000 or DT770 and get an E7 amp.