Cingular Go Phone: Denon AHD1001S On-Ear Headphones (Silver) Review

Rated 5 star based on fit to application.

I recently purchased a Zune 80gb because it supported lossless WMA playback.However, I didn't have a good set of portable headphones to use with it.I had been using a pair of Sennheiser PX-100's and PX-200's, but they were ill suited for jogging and outdoors activities.Both headphones are ok, but too much external noise leaks through the PX-100's open air design and the sound quality of the sealed PX-200's is a definite drop off from the PX-100's.Either way, neither worked well for jogging as both tended to slide around my head.

So I started a search for pair of enclosed headphones that could be driven by the Zune.After reading many reviews, I decided on the Denon's and I'm glad I did.They sound fantastic, on par with my Sennheiser HD-570's (actually, the Denon's bass is better) but not quite as good as my uber expensive Sennheiser HD-650's.I've never heard a pair of enclosed headphones that sounded like the Denon's.The Denon's don't suffer from the "in a can" sound, rather, they are almost as open and transparent as the HD-570's.Good recordings really have an air to them and vocals on some of my reference recordings just seam to float in space.The high end is almost perfect.I use The Giant Hogweed Orchestra's "Halogen" to evaluate the high end as this psychedelic jazz composition features some of the best captured drum and cymbal work in my music collection.You can hear every nuance of the cymbals and the brush work on the drums is absolutely esquisite.Once again, not as good as my HD-650 which cost a nearly rediculous 6-7x as much, but every bit as good as the HD-570's with even better bass extension.

And, the Denon's work very well for portable players.I have to max out the Zune (20 on the volume) just to get a reasonable sound out of the HD-570 / HD-650's.It only takes a volume setting of 10 with the Denon's.The closed air design fits over your ears, not on them unless you have Dumbo or Spock sized ears (this coming from a 6'2" 270lb guy).While not as sound isolating as most sealed designs, the around the ear design means these won't fall of your head when jogging or working outdoors, a very important consideration for me.Best yet, they are every bit as comfortable as my HD-570 / HD-650's for extended listening.Just the right amount of pressure and feather light weight.

While they won't replace my highend Sennheiser's for home studio and home stereo listening, they are perfect for high quality portable listening.The Denon's make a great match for the Zune and Lossless WMA, pure audiophile geekdom....

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Product Description:
Denon is the company that invented digital recording over thirty years ago. They have led the audio world with leading edge technologies in audio and video sound reproduction. Now you they have taken that same attention to detail and put it into the design of an incredible series of headphones. The Denon AHD1001S On-Ear Headphones are designed to reproduce all of the nuances of the digital music you listen to. The microfiber diaphragm with acoustic optimizer provides superior sound quality from 8 to 37,000 Hz. High-quality, oxygen-free copper cabling ensures only the cleanest sound. This headphone also features an attached 5-foot cable and 11.5-foot extension cable.