| Manufacturer | Denon | Model | AH-D2000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headphone Type | Closed Circumaural | Headband Type | Single |
| Weight (g) | 350 | Driver Type | Dynamic |
| Enclosure Material | Plastic | Isolation (dB) | 10 |
| Impedance (ohms) | 25 | Cable Length (cm) | 300 |
| Frequency Response (Hz) | 5 - 45000 | ||
| Connector | 3.5mm with 6.5mm adaptor | Street Price | US$259 |
| Buy from Amazon.com | |||
| Bass Extension | 7.8 | Bass Impact | 6.3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bass Quality | 6.3 | Mids Quality | 6.0 |
| Highs Quality | 6.8 | Soundstage | 5.8 |
| Detail | 6.8 | Portability | 4.5 |
| Isolation | 5.0 | Comfort | 7.3 |
| Durability | 7.3 | Improvement With Amplification | 6.8 |
| Value for Money | 7.3 | ||
| Overall Score | 6.8 | Total Reviews | 4 |
Denon D2000 Damping Mods Kits
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Denon D2000 Damping Mods Chart
Reviews by our members
This mod wasn't as difficult as it may seem - just more time consuming than recabling, for it requires extensive use of Dynamat Extreme (meticulously cut to various shapes and sizes) and Fiberloft Polyester Fiberfill as well as some pourous foam rubber, both on the cups and inside the driver units (especially touchy and time consuming). Dec 31, 2015 His mod inspired me to try it with my D2000 over a year ago. I ended up doing some different, irreversible mods on them that I wish I hadn't now. But I did like how they sounded when modded just like his. I put some foam discs in front of the driver (like a lot of my mods) to help with the treble a bit on my pair.
Denon D2000 MarkL mod question. Posted by 3 years ago. I used my own damping and mods. Two concentric rings. One around the outer baffle, one on the smaller inside. That and Dynamat on the cups and your set. I tried without damping and it. All it requires is stuffing the ear pads with fiberloft to dampen the bass a tiny bit. This mod was originally designed for the Denon AH-D2000 and D5000, but.
Review by Senior Member NA Blur on 14 Nov 15 15:00| Individual review | |
| Bass Extension | 9 |
|---|---|
| Bass Impact | 8 |
| Bass Quality | 6 |
| Mids Quality | 7 |
| Highs Quality | 7 |
| Detail | 8 |
| Comfort | 9 |
| Durability | 8 |
| Value | 8 |
I have been looking for a headphone that mates well with my Grace m903 which tends to sound a tad bright. My HD-650's just did not cut it. I tried a pile of expensive headphones and the only one that I thought sounded amazing was a pair of LCD-2's ( rev 1 ). Being outside of my price range I searched for something as close to that sound as possible. After listening to many headphones I settled on the AH-D2000 for two main reasons:
1.) An employee at headroom has two pairs of them. One for work and one for home.
2.) The AH-D2000 sounded as close to the LCD-2 of the headphones I tried.
Once I received them and plugged them into my m903 I realized what a synergy they created.
Build: Amazing, light, and high-quality ear pads
Bass: One of the best bass ranges I have heard period. Better than HD-650, HD-800, ATH-M50, as well as T5 and T1.
Mids: Excellent and well balanced. Nothing was missing or out of place
Highs: Not bright at all and the cymbals as well as bells are amazing
Cord: As Dave Rat noticed when he received his pair: 'one of the best headphone cords I have ever seen' and I certainly agree. The cord is braided and thick enough to survive wear and tear, but not too thick to hinder its manipulation and placement.
Impedance: 25 Ohm so every amp out there can drive them whether that are constant current or constant voltage. This is a very flat impedance vs frequency so no region of the audible spectrum is dampened. This is the primary problem with the HD-650.
Sensitivity: 106dB which allows you to listen at moderate levels and not feel as though you have to turn up your amp just to get the sound you want.
2012 Edit:
In mid 2012 the AH-D2000, AH-D5000, and AH-D7000 were discontinued. Their replacements are the D600 and D7100. The replacement headphones do not measure nor sound as good to as the D2000/D5000/D7000.
Update regarding the bass:
Even though the D2000 is an excellent headphone compared to an open headphone like the LCD-2/3 produced in late 2012 the bass is noticeably blurry. It lacks detail and quickness that an open headphone like the LCD-3 can produce or even a balanced armature IEM. I still think the D2000 is an excellent buy and would not hesitate to recommend them.
Similar headphones include:
AKG K550 and beyerdynamics Custom One Pro.
| Individual review | |
| Bass Extension | 8 |
|---|---|
| Bass Impact | 6 |
| Bass Quality | 7 |
| Mids Quality | 5 |
| Highs Quality | 6 |
| Detail | 6 |
| Comfort | 7 |
| Durability | 8 |
| Value | 7 |
Denon D2000 Damping Mods
I've found the D2000s to be very versatile, and an overall very neutral phone. I've tried them unamped, portable-amped, and amped with home setups, and found that despite their very high efficiency (which allows them great portability, with surprisingly enjoyable sound even when unamped, straight out of an iPhone or iPod), they really need to be well-amped for their true potential to be reached.
Overall, the phones are fairly neutral, with perhaps some emphasis on the bass response, though I have found that while the bass is very deep and powerful, distortion of the rest of the range has never been a problem for me. The high end is also very present and up-front, but occasionally sibilant.
Without proper amplification, this combination results in somewhat recessed mids that get lost in the shuffle of the well-extended and up-front lows and highs. However, when paired with a decent amp (for reference, I use the HeadRoom Ultra Micro Amp and DAC), the mids and bass become more controlled, tighter, and the mids more up-front, allowing you to hear how wonderfully lush and detailed they really are.
Soundstage is similarly dependent on good amping -- the soundstage is excellent for a closed phone, but you will be unable to escape a slightly 'veiled' feeling unless the phones are well-amped.
Overall, however, whatever you pair these phones with, they always exhibit a lush, musical sound, with excellent detail and very powerful bass that is an unfailingly fun experience, and the phones' flaws can be eliminated with a well-paired system.
They're also well-built, stylish, and very comfortable -- I routinely use them for eight hours or more at a time and never have any discomfort.
| Individual review | |
| Bass Extension | 8 |
|---|---|
| Bass Impact | 8 |
| Bass Quality | 8 |
| Mids Quality | 7 |
| Highs Quality | 8 |
| Detail | 7 |
| Comfort | 8 |
| Durability | 8 |
| Value | 7 |
I had this headphone now for more than a month.
All that i have to say is that this headphone have a beautiful look and a very good quality of materials, and sound that exceed that of the nice 'Hifi' sound system of my father and my ex Beyerdynamic DT770pro/80 [and on par to my DT990 but only better in some aspects (because of the better cable that it have vs Most of the ordinary D2000s)] for a very good margin and in all the areas, except soundstage, see below....
What i like more about this headphone is the deep bass rumble that it give with some instruments and sounds that use a lot the low frecuencies. It is very deep and strong, and never distorts (it is slightly better in this aspect than my DT990s). It have overall very good quality, once when they settle down after of a reasonably burn in (and specially when it is 'modded'. Because it continue being a little bloated with bass heavy music without the mod), they doesn't intrude in the mids much.
This bass (in stock form) is a little bit less tight than my DT990s but thighter than my DT770pros.
The midrange too is very good, detailed with very good body, specially the lower midrange. But it is a little bright and slightly recessed (my mod tame a little this brightness and make it more present (slightly more forward of neutral).
The timbre and tonality is very convincing; the pianos sound very lifelike and with excellent weight in the lower midrange. Really very good in this headphone.
The voices of female as male, sound very nice too...
This mids are a little bit faster/dynamic [even more after of my mod (compared to the laidback upper mids of my DT990)] overall that both of my beyers. They are better/engaging with rock and other aggressive music than my beyers, and without the need of use EQ.
The highs have very good extension and sparkle (only below my DT990), only are a little bright at very high volumes (with my Mod they are more tamed in the brightness, but without losing his bite and sparkle), but a little bit less sibilant than my DT990 with bad recordings.
The sound overall is much more refined than my DT770pros and on par with my DT990.
The soundstage is much bigger that i expected from reviews. Is specially wider than deeper. It is slighty narrower than my ex DT770pros and DT990 but much deeper than the DT770pros, and slightly shallower than DT990s, but is very spacious (almost as my DT990s) for a 'closed' headphone.
The image/separation are a little bit better than my DT990s and DT770pros (and much better with my Mod).
In music, i can hear clearly where the instruments/voices are in the soundstage; just as good as my DT990s. and in the Z axis, it is better than my DT990 (it have more layering separation of voices/instruments).
The headstage is reasonably big (it is almost 2x bigger with the DT990 velours than my DT990 stock, specially depth) too for an headphone of this nature (but they aren't completely closed).
They are a very versatile/all around headphone than any other one that i known/have/had.
In isolation, it is very good too (different from that i have read) on normal to higher volumes.
They leak a reasonably ammount, specially with higher volumes, More so than my DT990s...
The comfort is near perfect for me, and slightly better than my DT990s (in the ears) except for an slightly clamping in the head with the headpad, when i put it in a particular form.
I can use the headphones almost all the day, without feeling discomform. And i use glasses.
Sometimes i forgot that i have them in my head (in the more comfortable angle).
The Durability of this headphone seems very good (not as fragile as i have thought/seen/reading (it is after all a revised headphone...))
It has very good quality of materials too (expected from this price...).
A reasonably good amp (portable or specially desktop) that supply good quantities of current is necessary (but not really mandatory) to improve the bass (tightness/slam) and to open/improve the sound and soundstage, and help to improve the image/spaciousness in the sound.
For the price (if you find the buy.com or some of the site bargains), you get a very versatile, and excellent sounding headphone; with excelent comfort and excelent build quality (if you get a revised version as me).
This is a real winner of headphone in the sound department.
My Ratings are:
- Bass Extension: 8,5 (9 with velour headpads + my mod)
- Bass Impact: 8,5 (i get a denon with an improved cable (that one of AH-D5000 with improves the spectrum of the frecuency...))
- Bass Quality: 7,5 ((8,5) when it is improved with my own mod (a very simple one))
- Mids Quality: 8,5 (when it get improved with my mod)
- Highs Quality: 8 (9 with the velours + My mod)
- Soundstage: 6,5 (9,5 with my mod + Velours)
- Detail: 7,5 (i get my denons with a better cable), 9 with my mod + Velours earpads.
- Portability: 4
- Isolation: 7 (it improves after of my mod (mids are more present and louder than in stock)).
- Comfort: 8.5 (it is very comfortable but i can't put a 8,5 in the scale)
- Durability: 7,5 (it seems a little fragile, but i get a revised Ed. Which could have been fixed the dropping cup issue (with some resin in the interior between the metal ring (around the cups) and the metal brackets)
- Improvement with Amplification: 6,5
- Value for the Money: 8,5 (because i get it in a buy.com promotion and i get an improved cable that is typical of the Denon AH-D5000), it can be less with regular and retal pricelist....
Review by Senior Member nickchen on 22 Feb 08 01:14
| Individual review | |
| Bass Extension | 6 |
|---|---|
| Bass Impact | 3 |
| Bass Quality | 4 |
| Mids Quality | 5 |
| Highs Quality | 6 |
| Detail | 6 |
| Comfort | 5 |
| Durability | 5 |
| Value | 7 |
I have had these borrowed fons here for 3 weeks now and principally liked them. A solid alternative for those who might consider a HD650/DT880/K701 and dislike mids-heavy Audiotechnica contenders of the W1* or AD2K leage.
The bass is a bit on the heavy side, subwooferish and slow, which gave me some listening fatigue after longer listening sessions. The mids aren't exactly world class, but provide quite nice detailling and show none of other closed fon's recessions or queekyness. I quite liked the prominent highs, this is the point where the somewhat 'wanna be HD650' presentation is ceased in favour of more brilliance.
Soundscape is nice -for a closed fon-, not much of the trapped feeling you get when you wear a K271 or HD25-1. Disadvantage of this setup is the poor isolation, which doesn't differ much from the average open fon.
The more conventional the music gets, the better is the ability of the D2000. Its works for classical, jazz and electronica, but it excells at rock and pop.
The D2000 provides much more emotion than the 'teutonic triple' I mentioned above, but that is a mixed blessing. What I really disliked about the D2000 was its emotional factor. I had issues with boredom when listening critically, but also fatigue when listening casually. That compromise didn't work for me.
Damned heavy construction with lots of metal -well balanced though-, so the overall comfort is only average. The quality isn't as bullet-proof as if seems, one earcup simply fell off due to one loose screw-nut. Could be fixed easely fortunally.
Well, that all sounds very critical, and actually, the D2000 doesn't get my highest ratings when I listen and analize its single abilities and disadvantages. But the good thing is the 'bunch' - the mixture actually works, and on quite high level far beyond midfi. Think of a 'high res' A900 without recessed mids or a 'small boomboom-W5K', that is exactly what you get from a Denon D2000.
Not so much a fon to shock experienced headfi nerds, which would be better equipped with the usual neutral open teutonic contenders or electrostatics. The D2000 is rather the (almost) ideal fon for those, who do more than 50% of their music consumption with speakers and like 'speakerish' presentation, and who only need ONE good headphone for occasional moods.