MDR-CD3000 vs ATH-W11jpn Impressions [ 56k = DiE :( ]

[Blackmore]

Still want to get W2002 first, but before that my new source.

Not sure about the re-cabled CD3000. From what I can remember a lot of talk about HEADFILED one, but the most important is the sinergy of your system and CD3000. Some found them better that Qualia:confused:Not sure either, cos never tried it one. I think that they would be better with some combination of silver and cooper, but than on more warmer side, to keep the picky highs under controle and to give them more realistic & natural sound.

Look for used HP4, if you lucky you can get for a nice price, however still expensive.

What do you mean by TT, TAPES?

Why don't you get the W5000 form Yahoo Japan? There are tons of it for sale there.

I've been told that the EAR HP4 is a good match for the CD3000. Only problem is that is soo damn expensive; well to me anyway. I'm gonna try electrostats first before I decide which direction I want to head for my final rig. If I like the Stax sound, then hopefully I can forget about dynamics.

As for source, my dad has a vintage Yamaha TT and amp, I think I'm gonna swipe it soon. He doesn't use it at all, its just sitting there. I'm a little hesitant about getting into vinyls though... I haven't even settled on a proper headphone and amp yet... Probably don't need to get tied up in that mess... yet.

BTW, when people were telling you to recable the CD3000, what kinda cable type did they suggest? Any brands? I'd much prefer to DIY it myself instead of spending a tiny fortune.

Oh, and I prefer closed back headphones, it a necessity for me since my surrounding is not dead silent. I have no issues with them sounding closed in.

[Sherwood]

TT = TurnTable

[wrecked_porsche]

@Laine, thank you for the info you posted there.

@Blackmore, thank you for the suggestion. I plan to recable to dual entry with some Transparent Cable which I can get from my cousin since he just set up his home theater rig recently. I don't know if using speaker cables is such a good idea... Ah, but who gives a crap, its just for my bedside rig, not gonna use the CD3000 while on the go.

I'm gonna perform some mods suggested by -=Germania=- in this thread: HERE

Look at post #142 and #143.

I'm not holding my breath because I doubt it can even come close to the R10(that's what she said in that thread), but I'll let you guys here on HC know how much the CD3000 improves(if any) with that mod. I'm waiting for the parts. Will perform the mods + recable in a few weeks.

@Sherwood, thanks, yup that's what I meant, TT = Turn Table. Speaking of turntables, my uncle just gave me his Acoustic Research ES1 TT with Linn Basik Tonearm....

WTF... I'm not ready to jump into vinyl... Its like jumping into the deep end.

UPDATE about the CD3000:

I've been spending the past few days with the CD3000 paired with a Pico. Dammit, I love how it sounds. I've got back my iBasso D1. Now I know how crappy the D1 treble is compared to the Pico. There is still a slight sibilance with the CD3000 when using with a Pico, but somehow I find that it does not hurt as much and its most probably due to the recordings. They even pass the Kylie Minogue test...

The treble detail is very nice with the Pico and CD3000 combo.

The metallic tone and screechy crap has mostly gone away. At any rate its a step in the right direction.

I've also got myself into kinda mess, I have a Lambda Signature and T1 here (used the money that was supposed to be for L3000 ... read earlier posts). I love the Lambda Signature sound. I'm making a generalization here, but the CD3000 and the Lambda have a similar sound sig, and I like it very much. I'm in a conundrum now, should I ditch dynamics and go Stax? There is MPX3 on HF and I really want it but I'm broke as fuck right now.

I'll have to give the Pico back to my friend in a day and when that's gone, the CD3000 will become a screechy bitch again with the D1. I know the CD3000 will go back into storage once the Pico is gone. I'm gonna be listening to my Stax system if there is no Pico around to bitch slap the CD3000.

If all goes well, I'll do a review of the modded CD3000 vs the Stax Lambda Signature in a few weeks time. Oh, and DAMN you guys, I was pretty much ignorant to Stax on HF, but once I came here, Stax was flying left right and center, was difficult to ignore. Thank you soo much (but you guys suck for making me dew eet it ) !

[purk]

@Laine, thank you for the info you posted there.

@Blackmore, thank you for the suggestion. I plan to recable to dual entry with some Transparent Cable which I can get from my cousin since he just set up his home theater rig recently. I don't know if using speaker cables is such a good idea... Ah, but who gives a crap, its just for my bedside rig, not gonna use the CD3000 while on the go.

I'm gonna perform some mods suggested by -=Germania=- in this thread: HERE

Look at post #142 and #143.

I'm not holding my breath because I doubt it can even come close to the R10(that's what she said in that thread), but I'll let you guys here on HC know how much the CD3000 improves(if any) with that mod. I'm waiting for the parts. Will perform the mods + recable in a few weeks.

@Sherwood, thanks, yup that's what I meant, TT = Turn Table. Speaking of turntables, my uncle just gave me his Acoustic Research ES1 TT with Linn Basik Tonearm....

WTF... I'm not ready to jump into vinyl... Its like jumping into the deep end.

UPDATE about the CD3000:

I've been spending the past few days with the CD3000 paired with a Pico. Dammit, I love how it sounds. I've got back my iBasso D1. Now I know how crappy the D1 treble is compared to the Pico. There is still a slight sibilance with the CD3000 when using with a Pico, but somehow I find that it does not hurt as much and its most probably due to the recordings. They even pass the Kylie Minogue test...

The treble detail is very nice with the Pico and CD3000 combo.

The metallic tone and screechy crap has mostly gone away. At any rate its a step in the right direction.

I've also got myself into kinda mess, I have a Lambda Signature and T1 here (used the money that was supposed to be for L3000 ... read earlier posts). I love the Lambda Signature sound. I'm making a generalization here, but the CD3000 and the Lambda have a similar sound sig, and I like it very much. I'm in a conundrum now, should I ditch dynamics and go Stax? There is MPX3 on HF and I really want it but I'm broke as fuck right now.

I'll have to give the Pico back to my friend in a day and when that's gone, the CD3000 will become a screechy bitch again with the D1. I know the CD3000 will go back into storage once the Pico is gone. I'm gonna be listening to my Stax system if there is no Pico around to bitch slap the CD3000.

If all goes well, I'll do a review of the modded CD3000 vs the Stax Lambda Signature in a few weeks time. Oh, and DAMN you guys, I was pretty much ignorant to Stax on HF, but once I came here, Stax was flying left right and center, was difficult to ignore. Thank you soo much (but you guys suck for making me dew eet it ) !

Late to join the party. Anyway, I used to be a big fan of the CD3000 and is still a fan of it today. When I had the stock CD3000 back in 2002, I thought the sound was good but not great. So I went and get the headphone recabled with Moon Audio Silver dragon and the improvement in bass, midrange, and soundstaging was worth it. The cable upgrade also tamed the high, increased the resolution, and make the headphone sound a bit smoother. Then the big headphile crazed hit me, so I spent $250 for an R10 sized woodcups for my CD3000. It turned out that the R10 cups upgraded changed what I like about the CD3000's signature so I switch back to CD3000+Silver Dragon. In early 2004, I bought the Senn HD-650 w/ Zu cable, SP SDS from Tom Hankins, and upgraded my source to the SACDmods C555ES. The HD650 w/ Zu was a better phones to my ears, so trade my CD3000 for a Canon G6 digital camera.

If you plan on keeping the CD3000, you should check out the maxed out PPA. I believe PPL voiced the PPA w/ OPA627BPs for his CD3000. I had that setup awhile back and the two sounded beautiful together.

[n_maher]

The HD650 w/ Zu was a better phones to my ears, so trade my CD3000 for a Canon G6 digital camera.

Have you tried any other cables with the 650s purk? I used to be a big fan of the Zu until I tried a couple others. Mind you, I don't hate it like Vicki does but there are definitely others I like better.

[purk]

Have you tried any other cables with the 650s purk? I used to be a big fan of the Zu until I tried a couple others. Mind you, I don't hate it like Vicki does but there are definitely others I like better.

I did. I tried the Equinox, Blue & Silver Dragon, Clou Red & Blue, Cardas, and headphile cable. My favorite is the Equinox and Zu and the SD. IMO, the Equinox works wonder on the HD-650, 600, 580 Jubilee, and 580. OTOH, the Zu only work well with the HD-650 to my ears.

[n_maher]

I did. I tried the Equinox, Blue & Silver Dragon, Clou Red & Blue, Cardas, and headphile cable. My favorite is the Equinox and Zu and the SD. IMO, the Equinox works wonder on the HD-650, 600, 580 Jubilee, and 580. OTOH, the Zu only work well with the HD-650 to my ears.

I'd say you and I have very similar Sennheiser tastes.

[riceboy]

I did. I tried the Equinox, Blue & Silver Dragon, Clou Red & Blue, Cardas, and headphile cable. My favorite is the Equinox and Zu and the SD. IMO, the Equinox works wonder on the HD-650, 600, 580 Jubilee, and 580. OTOH, the Zu only work well with the HD-650 to my ears.

I like the HD650s with the Zu cable as I did try the Black Dragon, Blue & Silver Dragon, and Cardas and I too like the Zu for the HD 650 a bunch more. It sounds great to my ears as well.

[wrecked_porsche]

@Purk, thanks for that info. I'll keep all those things in mind when(if) I go hunting for a proper amp/cable for the CD3000. The jury is still out on whether these are keepers or not. And yeah, I know, I know, I'm VERY late to the party. But hey, better late than never.

Anyway, I have the Lambda Sigs on my head right now and they are definitely keepers. The ES7 and Lambda Sigs aren't going anywhere, I love them.

I'm still on the fence about the CD3000. I'll do the mods/recable and and see how things go. Right now I could give up the CD3000 and live happily ever after with the Stax. I'm curious though, have you heard the Lambda Sigs driven by the T1 and if you have, how would you compare them against the CD3000? Would love to hear your thoughts on this if possible.

Shit, I hate being at this crossroad.

I cannot have two rigs, I can only afford one. I have to choose between a stat or dynamic rig.

The other option would be to put the CD3000 into storage and dig them up again in the future when I have more funds for a better amp. However I get the impression from you that as good as they are, they(CD3000) are not worth building a system around?

*PS: As a side note, the D1 sounds quite good as a preamp for the T1. The Pico, while more detailed and speedy, sounds almost a little too sharp when used as a preamp. I would say neither one is really better than the other when used this way, they just sound different. But I have some more tinkering to do, so we'll see how things goes.

[purk]

@Purk, thanks for that info. I'll keep all those things in mind when(if) I go hunting for a proper amp/cable for the CD3000. The jury is still out on whether these are keepers or not. And yeah, I know, I know, I'm VERY late to the party. But hey, better late than never.

Anyway, I have the Lambda Sigs on my head right now and they are definitely keepers. The ES7 and Lambda Sigs aren't going anywhere, I love them.

I'm still on the fence about the CD3000. I'll do the mods/recable and and see how things go. Right now I could give up the CD3000 and live happily ever after with the Stax. I'm curious though, have you heard the Lambda Sigs driven by the T1 and if you have, how would you compare them against the CD3000? Would love to hear your thoughts on this if possible.

Shit, I hate being at this crossroad.

I cannot have two rigs, I can only afford one. I have to choose between a stat or dynamic rig.

The other option would be to put the CD3000 into storage and dig them up again in the future when I have more funds for a better amp. [bold]However I get the impression from you that as good as they are, they(CD3000) are not worth building a system around? [/bold]

*PS: As a side note, the D1 sounds quite good as a preamp for the T1. The Pico, while more detailed and speedy, sounds almost a little too sharp when used as a preamp. I would say neither one is really better than the other when used this way, they just sound different. But I have some more tinkering to do, so we'll see how things goes.

Don't get me wrong. I still rank my recabled CD3000 among the best closed headphone I've heard. They probably rank 4th or 5th after the R10, L3000, W2002 w/ L3000 and slightly behind my W2002 and a bit better than the W11JPN. Most people don't like the W2002 b/c they never heard them with the right amp. But the HA2002 really bring out the best in the W2002. BTW, the maxed out PPA in a used market should only cost you b/w $200 to $350 at the most. And it isn't fare to compare the Senn HD-650 to the CD3000, b/c the Senn is an open design and we all know that it is much more difficult to design a closed than an open headphone.

[riceboy]

Don't get me wrong. I still rank my recabled CD3000 among the best closed headphone I've heard. They probably rank 4th or 5th after the R10, L3000, W2002 w/ L3000 and slightly behind my W2002 and a bit better than the W11JPN. Most people don't like the W2002 b/c they never heard them with the right amp. But the HA2002 really bring out the best in the W2002. BTW, the maxed out PPA in a used market should only cost you b/w $200 to $350 at the most. And it isn't fare to compare the Senn HD-650 to the CD3000, b/c the Senn is an open design and we all know that it is much more difficult to design a closed than an open headphone.

Thanks for your insights Purk. I agreed as well that designing a really good closed headphone is much harder than designing a open headphone

[Elephas]

Don't get me wrong. I still rank my recabled CD3000 among the best closed headphone I've heard. They probably rank 4th or 5th after the R10, L3000, W2002 w/ L3000 and slightly behind my W2002 and a bit better than the W11JPN. Most people don't like the W2002 b/c they never heard them with the right amp. But the HA2002 really bring out the best in the W2002. ...

I had the chance once to compare the HA2002 and HA5000 with a W2002. I thought the difference between the two amps were minimal.

Even when matched with the HA2002, I still didn't like the W2002. Too congested and lacking details, air and soundstage. I prefer the L3000 and W5000, which do different things better than the W2002.

I also like the W11JPN more than the W2002.

[purk]

I had the chance once to compare the HA2002 and HA5000 with a W2002. I thought the difference between the two amps were minimal.

Even when matched with the HA2002, I still didn't like the W2002. Too congested and lacking details, air and soundstage. I prefer the L3000 and W5000, which do different things better than the W2002.

I also like the W11JPN more than the W2002.

Elephas,

No biggie. I actually have never listened to the HA5000 but I did try the W5000 briefly in my system using the HA2002 and compared it with the W2002. I thought the two phones sounded similar with the W5000 might have slightly better response but the W2002 was able to match the W5000 in many areas. At the end of the day, I decide to keep my W2002 due to its superior cosmetics, comfort, and workmanship. Did you compared the two headphones including the W11JPN in your system, b/c I did. My preference must be similar to Agile_one and Mulveling b/c they also prefer the W2002 over the W11JPN. He also owns the HA2002. FYI, I no longer have the W2002 and W11JPN. What I have now is the W2002 with L3000 drivers hybrid. My W2002 hybrid sounds excellent.