What do you think of "markl Mod for Denon AH-D5000" thread?

[Dusty Chalk]

Maybe we should stuff markl with cotton so that he's further away.

Talk about half-ass assembly procedures.

Yeah, one criticism I will give Denon is their quality control. Apparently, 2 or 3 of them fell apart at the second-to-last DC area meet (I wasn't there at the time, so don't look at me).

[boomana]

lol.

I'll also post a full length review on the cans, having not heard them. Can't wait to read how many people agree with my findings. ^^

Biggie.

Just checked out your head-fi review. So far the only response is to recommend the mod. Maybe you should review the mod next.

EDIT: part of me thinks you shouldn't have done it; the other part thinks it's pretty funny, especially considering so many recommendations I've seen lately are written by people who haven't heard the thing they're telling someone else to buy.

[boomana]

Damn. I'm such a nerd. I'm back to thinking you shouldn't have done it, even if it's funny. I guess you didn't give them a bad review, though.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Do you consider my review honest and fair?

Just call it and experiment. I'll ask a mod to remove the thread in a few days, if no one reading this does before that.

Biggie.

[aerius]

Do you consider my review honest and fair?

Biggie.

As I suspected, it's actually better than quite a few of the reviews from those who have heard the Denons.

It's also about as honest and fair as my Sennheiser Orpheus review on April Fools day a few years back.

[postjack]

I do think the review is well written and quite humorous, though I'll take no stance as to whether or not it is ethical.

[boomana]

Can some one with technical knowledge PLEASE call this guy out. All my sensibilities are telling me this can't can't can't be right, but the best I can say is that it looks like pumpkin carving.

Tempur Experiment

OK, so I couldn't wait for my sample of Tempur to show up, especially not knowing if it was large enough to do the job. So, I cut up an old Tempur pillow to obtain the same material.

I initially cut it up into very thick pieces that could be scrunched up into the ear cup to provide the maximum amount of damping this material could provide while still allowing me to screw the wood ear cup to the assembly.

This initial pad looked about like this:

I sealed up the cups and listened. No go. This extreme amount of dampening with Tempur cuts into bass response too much. Yes, the headphone was more stable and more secure than ever, and no vibrations whatsoever, but there can be no denying the bass was attenuated too much, and slam and heft left too weak.

So I unsealed and removed a decent amount of Tempur, so that there was very little scrunching it into the ear pad; it fit pretty well, with just a modicum of scrunching. Sealed it up, tried again. Now we had bass roughly equivalent to the R10s. Tight as could be, but lacking in guts and extension, just like the R10.

So, finally, I opened them up one last time, took out another layer of Tempur, picked away at the center depression where the driver's butt fits in, and cut away at the outside edges, until I achieved a piece of Tempur that was roughly equivalent to the same size sponge I had in there earlier. The sponge, as you know if you've tried this already, although 1/2" thick, scrunches down considerably to fit into the ear cup, and retains its scrunched shape. The ideal amount of Tempur is roughly equivalent to the amount of sponge you had in there without the scrunching and compacting. Here is a pic of the finished Tempur damping by itself and in the cup:

The bottom line is the Tempur is an insanely better dampener than sponge, and it's quite possible to go too far with it and end up cutting out too much bass.

There are advantages of the right amount of Tempur over the right amount of sponge. The sponge mod seemed to have slightly reduced the amount of upper midrange and treble. Not so, the Tempur mod.

But there is a distinct disadvantage that made me ultimately reject Tempur. It seems to somehow muddy the bass response, and reduce upper bass warmth. It didn't sound as good as the sponge mod.

So, I removed the Tempur once again and simply filled the cups up with cotton, so I will try that next.

I may revisit the Tempur mod one last time, this time shaving it down to the very bare bones, to see if a super-thin layer might have all the advantages and none of the downsides.

I don't listen to classical, but the slightly lush tones with lots of body that the D5000 has really makes it sound sweet with strings. The D5000 has arguably more natural tone than the R10. So if you like the actual sound of an instrument, and the recording captures that, that's pretty much what you'll hear.

[Chekhonte]

I made some grado pads out of memory foam around 4 years ago and found out that memory foam dampens to well. It made the grado's sound so thin and tinny like when you cover up the backs. They were a lot comfier though!

[Elephas]

Now Nik is saying the Denon AH-D5000 sounds great. Is there some kind of special amp or source synergy he's hearing? I assume Nik hasn't done the markl mod.

I don't think the D5000 is anything to get excited about. I don't think it's as good as the W5000.

[spritzer]

Nik is an idiot that thinks there is something magical about hi-fi and how it works. Add that to being gullible to the crap manufacturers spew and it is one bumpy ride with everything he hears being the next great thing.

[aerius]

Now Nik is saying the Denon AH-D5000 sounds great. Is there some kind of special amp or source synergy he's hearing?

Whatever Nik owns is the "greatest thing in the world". Until he sells it. Again.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Arrrg, I edited out the content of my "review" a few days ago, but my thread won't seem to die.

Biggie.

[aerius]

You should re-edit it again to say it's the worst thing you've ever heard and a complete waste of money and see what happens.

[laxx]

Who's Nik?

[deepak]

Maybe we'll see a flood of R10s for sale

[boomana]

You should re-edit it again to say it's the worst thing you've ever heard and a complete waste of money and see what happens.

I did a thread like that...well, a "I don't get it" thread...months ago. I didn't say these headphones suck, because they don't, but more or less stated my opinion that I didn't get what the fuss was about, especially considering the price, and preferred a rather long list of headphones over them. It didn't exactly go over well then. I can only imagine how it would be received now. Ah well. I'm laying low over there for awhile. If people want to love their 650s with a Go Vibe or their D5000s with pillow inserts, they've already made it clear that disagreement is perceived as both wrong and as a personal attack. If markl and Nik have golden ears, who am I to disagree? To put the D5000 in the same league as the R10s, though, is just nuts.

[purk]

To put the D5000 in the same league as the R10s, though, is just nuts.

Well that's why I started this thread. The D5000 is not even in same league with the HD-650, let alone the R10. It isn't a bad sounding headphone but it is very typical sounding: too much emphasis on bass, and recessed midrane. To say that the D5000 has more natural midrange is crazy. I would love to try these mod D5000 myself next to my R10 and Orpheus.

[aerius]

Who's Nik?

The lite version of LTUCCI1924.

[PFKMan23]

isn't it the other way around? Or more like Nik does m ore expensive crap, while he does the more consumer level shit.

[aerius]

Or more like Nik does more expensive crap, while he does the more consumer level shit.

I think that's pretty much what it is, but Nik doesn't do as much damage since few people can afford his stuff and he came off sounding a bit loopy back in the day. Don't know how things are these days though.

[boomana]

Well that's why I started this thread. The D5000 is not even in same league with the HD-650, let alone the R10. It isn't a bad sounding headphone but it is very typical sounding: too much emphasis on bass, and recessed midrane. To say that the D5000 has more natural midrange is crazy. I would love to try these mod D5000 myself next to my R10 and Orpheus.

Well if someone wants to give me some D5000s, I'll do the kitchen sponge or pillow mod and try them against the R10s. I'll even have my friends who could care less about headphones try them out.

The lite version of LTUCCI1924.

Didn't that guy start a thread awhile back saying he'd be dead in a few months? I'm serious. I remember thinking, how odd. Maybe he's dead now. I haven't seen him post.

Nik had/has his thing with the AirTight and K1000s, and until FooMe stepped in with the cage mods and Zanden, Nik had been promoted to the all-knowing K1000 guy, not unlike markl and the R10s. I think most people reading those threads will believe most anything they say on the Denons, mostly because they want to believe it, but also thinking the high-end dynamic demigods have spoken. Purk or Hirsch or someone may have the cred us mere mortals don't to counter it and not come off as a mere sour-grapes type, but I think Hirsch really likes the Denons as well.

[Dusty Chalk]

The D5000 is not even in same league with the HD-650...

Actually, I like it better than the 650.

[purk]

Didn't that guy start a thread awhile back saying he'd be dead in a few months? I'm serious. I remember thinking, how odd. Maybe he's dead now. I haven't seen him post.

I think he will soon have a heart surgery, so let's us hope for a successful operation and quick recovery.

Actually, I like it better than the 650.

Probably true in a mid-fi rig, but the HD-650 do scale better and really pull ahead in higher end setups. One of my best listening experience in this hobby was with a balanced Senn HD-650 w/ SDS-XLR via Audio-Aero DAC (thanks Tom Hankins). Vickie amp did a marvelous job at driving the Senn HD-650 when I heard the combo. Do you still enjoy the combo Vickie?

[Dusty Chalk]

Probably true in a mid-fi rig...

I would hardly call Hirsch's rig "mid-fi".

[boomana]

Probably true in a mid-fi rig, but the HD-650 do scale better and really pull ahead in higher end setups. One of my best listening experience in this hobby was with a balanced Senn HD-650 w/ SDS-XLR via Audio-Aero DAC (thanks Tom Hankins). Vickie amp did a marvelous job at driving the Senn HD-650 when I heard the combo. Do you still enjoy the combo Vickie?

I enjoy it still very much. Other than adding the secondary power supply when I sent it back, I'm not sure what else Mikhail did to the amp, or if all the black gates (I also add outs at a later date) are finally happy, but my amp doesn't sound at all like the amp I first bought. jp11801 has heard guzziguy's Platinum as well, and says the same. His is a bit compressed in the midrange, and doesn't hold the same attack and speed as mine (per John). We both now have the same source, and John wil be hearing it again next weekend, so I'm curious to his impressions since he knows my amp well. It's the best Senn amp I've heard in the $2000-3000 price range. I was a bit sad that it got no attention at the Florida meet, but there were so many new toys to play with there, I didn't even get to hear all I wanted to for as long as I wished.

I would hardly call Hirsch's rig "mid-fi".

I like to think of mine as high-end mid-fi. Hirsch's is levels above mine.