I’m not sure how many people will see this or even be interested in this, but recently I’ve been absolutely blown away by the sound quality I’m getting from an old pair of D2000’s I rediscovered when cleaning out my old bedroom. Long story short, I begged my parents for them back around 2010 when I was in 7th grade, but had totally forgotten about them as I had moved on to wireless audio. I remembered them sounding really good back when I first had them and I had recently begun getting back into hifi stuff so I was pretty eager to get a proper audio setup to use them with now that I have a desktop workstation. I’m running optical out of my motherboard into a Schiit Modi 3, then into a Drop+THX 789. I was immediately blown away by the amount of detail and clarity, but at the same time couldn’t help feeling like the treble was quite a bit too bright as well as the mids lacking. This is basically what most reviews of the headphones stated at the time, so I wasn’t surprised by the sound signature. I then started searching for EQ solutions and decided upon Equalizer APO + Peace gui. I started off with jaakkopasanen’s autoeq on github (https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/innerfidelity/sbaf-serious/Denon%20AH-D2000) and noticed a general improvement in sound. I still felt that the mids were a bit lacking and the bass to be over-boosted and muddy, so I made some adjustments over the past few weeks and feel have found a perfect balance for being incredibly fun while not fatiguing or loose. The drivers in these headphones are certainly VERY capable.
TL;DR: I tweaked an EQ from jaakkopasanen to make the Denon D2000’s sound much more balanced and full than stock.
EQ’d sound signature: Same deep, punchy, smooth bass except brought up in the mix slightly. The mids sound great for male vocals, though can make guitars sound a little recessed in live recordings. The treble is still very present, with plenty of resolving power and detail but noticeably less “harsh” than stock. Female vocals sound absolutely incredible without being fatiguing or sibilant. Overall, they are ever so slightly v-shaped but straying more towards a warm sound because I’m treble sensitive.
If anyone else has a pair of D2000’s and wants to give this EQ a shot, I’d be very interested to hear what other people think (in terms of how to improve it or if you just flat out dislike it).
I’ll also add that I’m interested in finding a pair of headphones with a similar or potentially slightly warmer sound signature without requiring the use of an EQ. If anyone has any suggestions or insight that would be awesome!
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Which of AutoEQ graphs for the D2000 did you work off of?
You made some people here happy because you reduced the Harman bass boost, grin. Not clear where in the mids you departed from Harman. Would also need a price bracket. So hard to recommend without further information.
I worked off of the parametricEQ.txt settings in the linked folder. In the default EQ, there is a dip at 852Hz which I found actually made male vocals and guitars harder to hear in the mix. So, I just brought it up to a point where it wasn’t dipping in the correction curve and found that to be my preferred setting for a natural vocal sound. I’m not very experienced with parametric EQ’s (I do use a graphic EQ via viper4android and have lots of experience with that), so if you have any suggestions to perhaps bring the male vocals up a touch more I’d appreciate it!
In terms of price bracket for some new headphones, I’m drawing a hard line at $600 but ideally $500 or below.
Missed that you linked straight to the AutoEQ CSV, doh. Here is the InnerFidelity graph it’s based on: https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/DenonAHD2000.pdf (upper left, FR graph, ignore red-blue and look at grey). I see a kink at around 800 Hz. Presumably, your unit of the D2000 doesn’t have this artifact. But over-all this looks like a frequency response I’d enjoy myself.
The standard headphone recommendation for this kind of sound is the classic Sennheiser HD 600. This is renown for vocal range accuracy but rolls off in the sub bass and treble compared to your Denon. You can use EQ to simulate the HD 600 (or anything else) on your Denon to get a rough idea.
Also, you might experiment with the 31-band graphic EQ option in EqualizerAPO or is it in the Peace GUI? I find it much more intuitive to work with.
I have the Sennheiser HD6-- series on my list for headphones, but I’m thinking I want something warm with large soundstage rather than mid-forwards for my next set. I only have my D2000’s right now, and while they’re kicking major ass, I finally have the setup to start branching out and trying new headphones for specific sound signatures. My main concern with the Sennheisers would be the “intimate” sound they have, which would be very intriguing as a new toy, but I think I’d rather wait on going into that niche sound.
Currently, the Aeon X is quite interesting to me as people have remarked a generally warm and smooth sound signature, plus the fact that the headphones can run balanced just by purchasing a 4-pin cable AND fine tuned using the filters is very appealing. I’m also interested in the Sendy Aivas or Blon B20s because of the open back nature and soundstage, but I’m also worried that the treble/v-shape might be too intense for me. Argons are also a possibility, but I’ve read some things about them sounding a bit compressed in dynamics.
So, in all, I’d like something $500 or under with a generally smooth and warm sound signature, present male/female vocals, solid bass (doesn’t need to be murder bass but I’d like more than a flat response), soundstage/imaging at least as good as the D2000’s.
So I find the Aeon X pretty smooth and warm, with hard hitting bass. I run them with the single notch white felt filter, and most of the time single ended through my Topping Mx3 being fed either from my phone via Bluetooth or my Sennheiser GX1000 out of my laptop. They are relatively intimate, though not nearly so much as my HD58X, and isolate more than you’d think for an open back that leaks a fair bit. Signature wise, they remind me a bit of the 58X, but a little wider and removing a layer of veil to clear things up and reveal more detail. I find vocals and guitar especially enjoyable on them, so they’re great for folk.
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Wow, that’s a great description. I feel like that’s basically what Zeos and Josh said about them, just generally being all around pleasant headphones to listen to (which is what I’m basically looking for at the moment). Have you experimented at all with removing or modifying the foam that is on the outside of the driver? I remember hearing somewhere that the “closed” sound of the Aeon X’s comes from the fairly dense foam they put between the outside of the housing and the driver. I would imagine that would change the sound signature in addition to adding any air-iness.
So far, I’ve really just left them as they came out of the box. I’m sure at some point I’ll get around to playing with the filters, but I probably won’t mess with the outside foam.
Update: I swapped pads to these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SCNCH5R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and have noticed a change in sound signature that is much more pleasurable than stock. I’ve noticed that the treble and highs are noticeably smoother and less peaky, although the bass seems to be slightly looser due to increased quantity. Overall, an improvement over stock sound imo. I do find the stock pads+EQ to sound better (due to more present male vocals and mids, as well as slightly more detail in the highs/trebles) but I’m going to give these pads some time to break in before I decide which setup I’m going to stick with.
Update 2: After listening to the new pads combined with the EQ for a bit, I think this is my favorite overall sound signature. Although there is noticeable sacrifice in detail on certain songs, the warmer and creamier presentation of the highs is more pleasant and fun. I did however adjust the bass levels by about 0.5dB to reign them back in a bit, as well as boosting some of the treble levels. In terms of the pads themselves: they’re super comfortable, not hot, and feel/look nicer than stock pads.
TL;DR: New pads are a straight upgrade in terms of comfort and quality. The sound signature is slightly warmer, with no real change in the mids. The highs are smoother and lose some detail, but more pleasant. The bass is brought up slightly and maintains good impact but is muddier/looser than stock. No noticeable change in soundstage or imaging.
Newly adjusted EQ for new pads:
