Would an IEM equal or beat my D2000s?

[Elotemuygrande]

Compared to Denon D2000s, Sennheiser HD595s, and Grado SR80/225s..which are the only decent headphones I've had a chance to sample...is a <$400 IEM going to be able to equal or exceed the detail and bass impact produced by those phones? Wondering how something like the SE530s or W3s compare to the D2000s I'm wearing now or whether I should wait for improvements to add an IEM to my audio assortment

 

[davidhunternyc]

Great question. I would like to know too.

 

[Elotemuygrande]

Love the Hal-9000 eye, davidhunternyc. That graphic is currently my phone background and my AIM avatar...and my ringtone is the intro to Also Sprach Zarathustra. Yeah I'm a nerd, and a silly one. Hehe I'll have to watch for your posts, as we might be on the same wavelength.

 

[jaykay]

I have a pair of d2000 and westone 3s. So far I haven't put on my W3's since I got my d2000, but that's not a hit against them. For home use my d2000 just seems more practical at the moment. Sound wise, I think they surprisingly sound similar. I'd say the W3 is very close to the d2000 in sound. To me, it does not surpass my d2000, but it can hang with the d2000 imo. I've only got ~36 hours on my d2000 so far, so I can't give a concrete comparison yet. After 200-300 hours I could give you a better comparison between the 2.

 

[Elotemuygrande]

Thanks for the insight, jaykay. It's great to hear from someone who has both my headphone and the IEM that I'm eying!

Contrary to what most have said I've noticed only very subtle refinement in the d2000 after break in - the bass overshadows the other parts of the spectrum slightly less. They currently have over 100 hours of break in, mostly with deep bass heavy music played at verrry high volume so I'm pretty sure the air movers are a little more pliable by now

Any chance you've also heard the SE-530s?

 

[jaykay]

No, no experience with the se530 here. I'll try and get you a more indepth comparison of the W3 and d2000 in a few days. I currently have family in town so haven't really had a chance to listen to the W3's as much as I would like. On the other hand, the d2000 are makin me pretty

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaykay /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a pair of d2000 and westone 3s. So far I haven't put on my W3's since I got my d2000, but that's not a hit against them. For home use my d2000 just seems more practical at the moment. Sound wise, I think they surprisingly sound similar. I'd say the W3 is very close to the d2000 in sound. To me, it does not surpass my d2000, but it can hang with the d2000 imo. I've only got ~36 hours on my d2000 so far, so I can't give a concrete comparison yet. After 200-300 hours I could give you a better comparison between the 2.

I'd say that is a fair assessment. To me the W3 is the first IEM to come close to replicating the full size experience, but I only use IEM when wearing full size phones is not practical.

 

[Feather225]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd say that is a fair assessment. To me the W3 is the first IEM to come close to replicating the full size experience, but I only use IEM when wearing full size phones is not practical.

Exactly, I only use IEM in the gym...and x1 on W3, best Ive heard! at least on par with my ESW9, even though I prefer w3 sometimes for the detail...

 

[Taikero]

I would say it depends on the state of your D2000. If your D2000 is stock, you could probably beat the sound through some IEM. If your D2000 is amped with a proper solid state amp and has been recabled, re-cupped ("woodied"), and/or markl modded, then no I don't think you're going to beat the D2000. It's not an HD650, but it has a reputation for being able to grow in sound quality through various means over its stock configuration.

However, until I have personally bought and tried the D2000 (which I do plan on buying, but that will come after I buy a proper desktop amp), my thoughts on this should be taken with a large grain of salt. I'm offering my thoughts based on what I've read of the D2000's capabilities and sound when stock and unamped vs. properly amped and modded (in various ways).