[thund3rstruck]

A few weeks ago I posted a thread where I solicited recommendations for a high end pair of bass headphones and I purchased the Denon AH-D2000 headphones based on the concensus in the comments.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/596210/spent-so-much-money-and-still-disappointed
 
I was initially disappointed because I felt like the Denon phones didn't have the type of hard hitting bass I was looking for. Since receiving the Denon phones I have taken a day trip all the way to a Best Buy and I listened to the Dre beats phones again and my memory was faulty because the Dre phones sounded awful....
 
I purchased a pair of Sony XB500s and have had a week or more to really compare them to the Denons (and to my Sennheiser phones); and well really there is no comparing them. The Sony phones have more bass but the Denons are in a whole other class.
 
I understand now that my expectations were unrealistic and headphones just aren't capable of producing the kind of bass I was hoping for. After getting past that all I can say is.... thanks to everyone who recommended the Denon phones because they are absolutely phenominal. After having put them through the paces with music, movies, and games (Wow Skyrim sounds crazy awesome) I have to admit these are truly high end phones.
 
Above everything else I have learned in this evolution is that an amplifier is probably the best investment any headphone owner can make. I have the highest end AlienWare laptop on the market and its sound card doesn't even come close to producing sound quality anywhere near the quality of the FiiO-E7 DAC/Amp.
 
Again everyone THANKS! I can't imagine sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day writing code without having these great Denon phones on my skull!
 
 

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Sometimes that's what it takes, you gotta listen to a fair amount of things to get an idea of what's what.
 
Denons are the closed-headphone king as far as I'm concerned.
 

 

 

 
Very best,

 

[ssrock64]

I was keeping track of the thread, and I'm happy to hear you're satisfied!

 

[Roller]

If you're looking for both bass quantity and quality, little comes close to the Ultrasone Pro 900, or the cheaper Ultrasone HFI-580. Although the Denon AH-D2000 might be a more balanced pair of headphones, they don't have as hard hitting bass as the Pro 900 IMHO.

 

[LithoJazoSphere]

 
Quote:

Heya,
 
Sometimes that's what it takes, you gotta listen to a fair amount of things to get an idea of what's what.
 
Denons are the closed-headphone king as far as I'm concerned.
 

 

 

 
Very best,

You haven't heard the Ultrasone Edition 8 by any chance, have you?  Of ones I've heard, that's the only one I would say is overall better than the D5000.
 

 
Quote:

If you're looking for both bass quantity and quality, little comes close to the Ultrasone Pro 900, or the cheaper Ultrasone HFI-580. Although the Denon AH-D2000 might be a more balanced pair of headphones, they don't have as hard hitting bass as the Pro 900 IMHO.

The XB-500 that the OP has is even more powerful across the entire bass frequency spectrum than the Pro 900 though, although the quality isn't nearly as high.

 

[Roller]

Quote:

The XB-500 that the OP has is even more powerful across the entire bass frequency spectrum than the Pro 900 though, although the quality isn't nearly as high.

I don't consider boomy bass (XB1000 being a good example) to be more powerful, but I understand where you're going with that.

 

[thund3rstruck]

It would be awesome if a headphone audio system could work the way my car system works; when a track comes on that has a lot of boomy bass, the bass is boomy but when a track with more muted bass or no bass comes on then no bass is played. It seems like a zero-sum game with headphones. Either boomy bass and poor highs and mids or no bass and excellent highs and mids.
 
Overall though the Denons are outstanding and I'm really loving them now. I'm glad I got the Sonys though so when I'm in a rap kind of mood I can plug those into my amp and enjoy some bumping.
 
I do need to investigate an EQ or something for the XB500s because the highs and mids are quite awful (even though I don't imagine I'll be using them very often)
 
 

 

[atomikn00b]

experience teaches much

 

[hans030390]

Yeah, bass with headphones is quite different than bass from a dedicated subwoofer. You can't "feel" the bass from headphones like you can with a subwoofer. Headphones just provide a different sound "sensation" overall. They do some things better than dedicated speakers/subwoofers and vice versa. You'll probably come to appreciate the differences the more you listen!
 
Either way, I'm glad you're finding the Denons more favorable now!

 

[TMRaven]

Yeah probably the biggest disappointment from headphones is they'll never reproduce the same type of bass as full-sized speakers.  Not even considering the impact and visceral factor of speaker bass, the bass itself is more omnipresent and can even seem deeper.  Not to mention headphones have a hard time properly reproducing anything under 30hz, or that they can easily muddy up because they're only one full range driver.
 
The denons strike a nice balance,  though.  They're the most speaker-like I've heard.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I can feel the bass with my headphones thanks to ZO2.1 amp but only for my ears obviously whereas subwoofer gets that sensation for the whole body. But yea just needs more cowbell to get ear vibrating bass from headphones. Denons lack the quantity to give that by themselves, needs to be above 10dB bass boost, Denons are like 6dB or so so needs some amp bass boost or heavy EQing to give you that.

 

[our martin]

thanks for coming back on and telling us what you thought.. i agree the sonys have got more bass but they are more of a beginners headphone for plugging into a bedroom hifi not for something with 24 bit sound..i would just be happy with the denons and it doesn't really matter about the bass once you get use to them does it really! the only way of finding out if the headphones are what you are after is listening to them and there is not much chance of that nowadays is there because everythings like one big drive through..you could always get yourself a headset one day and you will probably find the bass that you are looking for.. but try before you buy is probably your best bet! i don't know why you don't try and get yourself to the canjam rocky mountain audio fest and have a listen to all of them different cans?

 

[dukeskd]

I am using the D5k with e7/e9 and I can literally feel the thump of low-end bass on my ears.

 

[Magick Man]

Same here, I feel the sub-bass from my modded D7000s, it's almost the same as a high quality sub.

 

[boonh]

How is Denon D2000 compared with Shure srh750dj?
 
Thanks.