My perspective is a bit different:
Let me preface this review with a few points that should add to the review's credibility:
1. I am a classical sound engineer primarily, but work exclusively in acoustic genres where audio fidelity and sonic accuracy are paramount.
2. I work in both balance engineering and mastering, where I am often required to perfect the spectral balance (in both dynamic and frequency) of the final mixdown.
3. For over 10 years I have used Bowers and Wilkins loudspeakers in various environments (anechoic and otherwise) in addition to custom EQ'd headphones for my work. B&W is widely believed to manufacture the finest loudspeakers in the world.
4. I regularly attend live classical music concerts, often in ideal seating locations, resulting in a great familiarity of how live music sounds.
I researched a number of headphone options before settling on the Denon AH-D5000. I was curious about the Ultrasone models from Germany, but was wary of a technology that supposedly "corrected" cross feed and phase issues often experienced with headphones. The Denon frequency response curve was generally smooth, and any corrections could be made with a high quality EQ within the DAW.
There are immediately two things that are apparent when you first hear the AH-D5000. They require extensive burn-in. I have been listening to these headphones for approximately 5 days now, attempting to leave as much signal in them overnight as possible. There has been a very apparent change in their sonic character as related to frequency response throughout this period. I can tell you that burn-in is a very real requirement for those of us in the music recording business. Loudspeakers often are very rigid when new, resulting in a limited frequency response and higher than normal distortion-giving you that characteristic "hard", new sound. Headphones present the same challenge, and these Denons require significant burn-in. What appears to be happening over time is a reduction of deviation from a flat frequency response, resulting in a smoother curve as time goes on. I would not be surprised if these phones need at least 300 to 400 hours before they are finally settled.
They are bass heavy, but the curve is very smooth and easily correctable, and again appears to be smoothing out with time.
I knew they were something extraordinary however when I listened to the dynamics. I have never heard dynamic range so clearly represented. More specifically, I have never heard so many poor compression jobs, recordings where the engineers applied too much compression, inconsistently, at both low and high levels. You will actually hear varying degrees of compression used in individual tracks within the mixdown-astounding. You will also be presented with a soundstage that reflects EXACTLY what was happening during the mixdown process. When every recording you audition has easily differentiated characters of depth, compression, spectral balance, and soundstage, you know you have something that exhibits an uncanny level of resolution. I have never heard music so ruthlessly resolved in my life. NO speaker has ever done this for me.
I have to comment on driving these headphones. While for average listening to pop music with little change in dynamic range, you might possibly get by with a mediocre soundcard upgrade, these headphones require real amplification if you want to experience aural nirvana. I have auditioned them with various lower end amplification, and the result is always the same-a hardening of sound during high level transients. This disappears completely with better amping. Additionally, and I have never experienced this before in a headphone, I plainly hear changes in the character of the sound, particularly in soundstage and dynamics, when switching some audio plugins in and out of the mixer that are designed to NOT change the character of the sound. Specifically I'm referring to final stage limiting plugins that are intended to be transparent. Again, to have this so plainly demonstrated is just astonishing, and Denon deserves tremendous credit for this design. I can only guess this is due to the unusually thin transducers used (micro-fiber construction).
These headphones are sending back to mixes I have already done. Suffice it to say that my golden ears have just received a tremendous boost.
Finally, the construction. The mahogany is beautiful, the magnesium finish is of the highest quality, yet the phones are unbelievably light and comfortable.
I HIGHLY recommend the Denon AH-D5000. The listener must be patient with these though, as with regular use it may take up to weeks to get them to settle into their true character.
Some further observations (Sun, 4 Jan 2009 20:55:54):
I have already mentioned the tremendous resolving power of these headphones. I would like to supplement on two points, amplification and general resolving ability.
It has become very apparent that these headphones demand the highest quality amplification. Wide spectrum music with tremendous dynamic range suffers terribly with anything but high quality power. You will immediately notice a "collapsing" soundstage and a reduction in the frequency response at the outer ends of the spectrum, with an earbleed quality pushing heavily around 3000hz. When auditioning, make sure you have clean, sufficient amplification.
I have researched a number a specifications for these headphones that clearly demonstrate their superiority. Particularly interesting are the impulse response graphs (available on the Headroom sight). These are some of the cleanest I have seen, and in comparison to other top end cans, are clearly superior. Headroom is overwhelmingly positive about these headphones, even alluding to the outstanding specs. No doubt these specs support my belief that these may be the most highly resolving headphones I have ever heard.
I'd like to add yet another observation. Tracking using a single mic vs. stereo mic during the mixing process is extremely obvious, particularly in multiple mic environments like those in symphonic recording. The monophonic tracks have a flat, airless, and overly focused quality to them in comparison to tracks that had the benefit of stereo microphones. Clearly this is something that Balance engineers will have to deal with as the mediums improve. Pop music engineers often use all their tracks in stereo, then adjust field and panning as necessary, resulting a very open, natural sound, granted sometimes to exaggeration. Classical engineers should really look into spot micing with pairs or stereo mics to really achieve a natural, open stereo sound. That said, all these characteristics are plainly obvious with these headphones.
For those of you interested, I have been researching and testing multiple EQ curves to get this headphone as spectrally accurate as possible. Please let me know if you would like these specs.
By the way, Denon has just released the ah-d7000, and by just about all accounts, it is substandard to the ah-d5000, yet almost twice the price. The preliminary specs show a more jagged frequency response with less extension on both ends, plus less accurate impulses. Get the ah-d5000 while you can.
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I received a pair of these as a gift about 18 years ago, and they are fabulous. I finally had to replace them this year because the cord near the jack was having issues and I could only hear one ear. The headset is in excellent shape and should work fine once I replace the jack end of the cord. The new one has a flexible, rubber covering over the area where the cord connects to the jack, so it should not develop the same problem. Here is what I like about them.
