The nearly 10-foot cable is double-sided (one wire to each earcup) and is covered in a cloth mesh jacket that feels durable and looks nice. Denon includes a gold-plated quarter-inch adapter for the gold-plated 8-inch (3.5mm) stereo minijack connection.
Denon makes a big deal about the headphones' microfiber diaphragms--the drivers that create the sound waves that your ears hear. According to Denon, the microfiber can be thinner than the cellulose drivers normally used in headphones, but is very dense. This means that the driver can be rigid enough to produce the necessary sound waves, while being more agile and therefore more responsive, which theoretically should help it to produce more realistic sounds. In practice, these headphones produce nice, deep bass with clear definition, while producing crisp high frequencies and a smooth midrange. For example, when I listened to "Candela" by the Buena Vista Social Club, the D2000's did a great job of keeping up with the deep driving bass part, while preserving the crisp slaps of the fast-paced percussion. The staccato plucking on guitar strings in the beginning of the track sounded quite realistic, and Ibrahim Ferrer's vocals practically sound as though he's in the room, while the multipart harmonies retained the characteristics of each of the singer's voices rather than becoming one big muddy batch.
Put another way, the Denon AH-D2000s are a great set of home headphones. However, are they worth their $350 asking price? I had the opportunity to compare them with the Sennheiser HD 600s, which can be had for about the same price. The Sennheisers have an open-air design and cloth-covered ear pads, but I ended up enjoying the Denons more. I think I enjoyed the Denons more mostly because they delivered more powerful bass than the Sennheisers, though their closed design might have something to do with that. However, the Sennheisers also aren't nearly as comfortable to wear, despite the fact that they are lighter then the AH-D2000s. Can you get a pair of headphones that delivers a more pleasing sound quality? Probably--there are plenty of worthwhile candidates available. However, given high-end audio's rule of diminishing returns, you may pay quite a bit more for the incremental improvement. In the meantime, the Denon AH-D2000s should satisfy even the most demanding audiophiles.
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Where to buy
Denon AH-D2000:
$299.00 - $349.99
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$349.00 | Yes |
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Amazon.com
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$349.00 | Yes |
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$349.99 | Preorder |
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$321.27 | No |
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