Customer Reviews

Denon AH-C710 Advanced In-Ear Headphones

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Background I own the Phillips SHE-8500 , Altec Lansing UHP336 (rebranded Ultimate Ears Super.F1 3) , Denon AH-C452K and now these Denon AH-C710k. Used a Cowon I7 mp3 player ripped at 320. Music types used for testing were funk,jazz,r&b,rock,and classical.

I burnt these in for 36 hours before putting then into my ears. They sound great. Maybe a little too great. Had to go back through and re-rip some of my music. There was clipping and these brought the imperfections to light. Now that I have the bad ones re-ripped the sound is really amazing. The fit is secure. The comply ear tips are great and will be ordering some spare comply tips from them.

Age: 37
Music Preference:
In general: New Age, Chillout, Instrumental
Sometimes: Classical, Hard Rock, Metal, etc.

Headphones I Currently Use:
AKG K-340 Electrostat-Dynamics (modded)
AKG K81DJ (moded)
Koss KSC-35 (Kramer modded)
Mee AI-M6 (silver and maun versions)

Sources in Use:
Meizu Music Card (M3) 2GB
Creative Zen Vision M 30GB
Samsung W550i (smart phone)8GB

Needless to say, apart from my full size AKG K-340's, these are the second phones that I usually use. They need at least 150 hours of burnin (to play music continiously). After the burnin period they become amazing! Soundstage makes me smile while the rich, deep and full bass makes me tap my foot, the detail is amazing. I am in love...

Now the downside, cord is thin, microphonics are not so well (Mee AI-M6 is much metter on this respect), and the cord is too short! Only 0.7m of cord! Yes, luckily the headphones are supplied with 0.8m extension, so after adding this you have 1.5m of cord length! But why dfault 0.7m cord on the earphones? Adding a connection to lengthen the cord is annoying... The only downside is the cord. I think they can make it better. The supplied leatherette (not real) case is good (sleek design indeed). I use them with the supplied Comply foam tips. Very comfortable and blocks the ambient noise very well with the Comply tips.

But if anyone who thinks that the connection is not a problem or the 0.7m cord length is long enough, this earphone delivers truly amazing (bleave me, it really is) sound!

Pro
You can feel the bass rhythm and dynamic of the recording. Headphones have similar sound signature to the Denon AH 2000, and Denon 1100. The headphone has similar bass quality to the Shure 535. The Shure 535 cost $500. They will beat Sennheiser and Shure for price and sound. Denon is the brand for headphones. Denon makes audiophile headphones that are affordable to own.

CON
Made in China. The wires are thin and fragile. The case is useless.

I've been a Sony user for years. After my last pair failed I decided on these because I'm familiar with Denon quality. Although I had used their large over ear models, I had never tried their in ears. Great. Great Great.

As a working musician I use these for both casual listening and on stage as monitors. Better than any thing I've tried and I've tried them all. A few years ago Shure actually offered me a pair of E5s for free and I turned them down because I don't like there bass responce.

These blow them away, as is, out of the box and without having to have ear molds.

If I could talk to Denon there are 3 points I would change.

1) Toss the black ear forms and include a couple more pairs Comply foam tips. I wish I had found these years ago. Try Comply for your in ears.

2) The wire needs to be beefed up. It's thin. I had my Sonys for 4 years. It'll be interesting to see if the cable lasts this long.

3) Nice case EXECPT for the open ends on the storage case. I feel the small wire is exposed while they are stored according to the instructions. The case should protect the wire also.

I have purchased lots of different brands of in ear phones and these are simply amazing, the only problems I have with them is I wish there was only one cable and it was a little thicker, and the tips that come with it are to hard they will not form a good seal, I had some tips from another pair put those on and the sealed it perfectly. These do take about 50 hours to break in but once they do you will never here anything better guarenteed! The sound is unbelivabley clear just the right amount of bass and highs and mids the price is right on par, I got these for a little over $100 and I would pay this again for these, I checked all the reviews on these and I agree with them all "Simply Amazing". If you buy these you will not be dissapointed.
UPDATE: 7/23/11
I have had these over a year and I where them at work for 12 hour day 5 day a week (machinist) and they still work great. I have bought many different earbuds in the past year including Klipsch S2 and S4, Monster Turbines and Sennheiser also Ultimate ears, And these are still by far the best. The others dont even come close. Im saving for some westone 3s right know so we will see if these are any compitition. Note I use a Zune HD with these which conpletes it perfectly.

I compared Bose in-ear, Shure SE210, Shure SE310 and Shure SE535's with these C710's. Other reviews here indicate the Denon C710's compare well with the 535's. While I disagree with that analysis, the C710's are as good as Shure's SE310's perhaps with better bass and suffering from slightly more cable noise.
The fit from the soft foam sound-isolating buds is superior to any others I have tried. These could be worn 8 hours or more straight with no discomfort at all. In that regard, they are vastly superior to the Bose in-ear, which (IMO) deliver even better bass over the 710's but are uncomfortable and have a poor fit.
Listening to these when compared to Shure's 535's reveals that Shure's top-of-the-line model has as-good bass but differentiates against the 710's in their incredible detail - something that the 710's do (tonal separation and clarity in the middle tonal ranges) very well considering the low price point. These 710's won't sound as good overall as 535's from Shure.
I would gauge these as favorably comparing to the Shure SE310 level buds, but at a lower cost. Excellent value for really excellent headphones overall.

I tried many other ear buds and these sound great. I ordered the Altec Lancing and was not happy at all, poor sound and no base. With the Denons you get great accuracy and a full range of sound. The highs are very impresive and the base is low and tight, but not too overpowering. I do wish the cord was built a little better (thicker) but after 6 months of daily gym use they have held up perfect. The cord can be an issue though, the short one is about an inch or two TOO short-but does work ok (why its not 5 star)when attached to my waist, and the long cord is just way too long. But overall I could not be happier with these.

I have several Denon Earphones; the Denon AH-C551K, Denon AH-C452K and Denon AH-C710k. I also have the Klipsch IMAGE S4, several Sony Earphones and I've tried the Bose pricey earphones. The Denon AH-C710k might be the best sounding by a very slight margin in that they have slightly better highs, but the Klipsch IMAGE S4's are the best at blocking outside sound and have much better bass and are nearly the equal in highs. By the way, the Sony MDR-ED21LP's are the best value for the money, if you don't have a problem with how they fit.

The Denon AH-C710ks stay in the ears much better if they're turned upside down, angled forward and the cords put over the ear from front to rear. I have a problem with most round ear plug types in that they don't stay in my ear canal very well if I move around. That's another GREAT reason to consider either the Klipsch or Sony models. The klipsch have oval silicone ear plugs and they fit much better and block outside sound much better. The Sonys are the equal of both for sound, but are completely open to outside sound and some people don't like the fit in the ear.

I'll start with the one great thing about these headphones - the sound. Penetrating bass reproduction and crisp, clear highs. I noticed elements of music that I've been casually listening to for years that I never knew were there.

Now the problems:
* Cord length is way too short - I purchased these to replace my iPhone buds. They provide an extension cord, but the connectors are big and bulky. I'm about 5'11'' and the cord would fall just short of the length needed to listen to my iPhone while it's in my pocket. So I needed to use the extension cord to get the extra 3 - 4 inches - exceedingly annoying.

* Cords are incredibly fragile - even with very careful use (let's face it, these are expensive), the connection to one of the earbuds became faulty. Fortunately I was able to return these and will search for an alternative product.