Customer Reviews

Denon AH-C551K In-Ear Headphone

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Build Quality: Excellent and sturdy, thick cables and sturdy plugs

Isolation: So far so good for me with the supplied plugs, others who may not feel comfortable may want to try out the Sony Ex series plugs.

Sound Quality: The sound quality is phenomenal, it beats out my Shure e4 on the bass and has very good mids & highs. I've used it for a couple of days an I can't put them down.. I've never enjoyed using plugs this much to be honest.

I've had the Eytmotic er6i & the Panasonic HJ-E70 & Shure Ec3 & Ec4, V-moda Vibes, and I'm most comfortable with these, it's worth the price and more.
I can definitely recommend these to anyone.

These headphones really show how poor the iPod headphones are. I can hear things in my music I didn't even know were there. I find them very comfortable and for me the "normal" size inserts work great but having a couple other sizes is nice. The only down side I see is the use of a extension cord which makes the cord heavy hanging down at times which can get it caught on something or even pull a ear bud out at times. I did find that by uncoupling the cord I could untangle more quickly which helped make up for that annoyance. For the price I don't think you could find better.

Incredible bass!!! Lows and highs are magnificently detailed and highs are not drowned out at all. Close to the V-Moda Vibe in terms of sound signature, but superior in every regard. Better than Super.Fi 3, 5 EB, 5 Pro. On arguably par with Shure SE310. Solid machined aluminum housing is an advantage.

Denon AH-C700 is about 10%-20% improvement, but not at all worth twice the price.

Recommend the Sony EX replacement tips (available from sonystyle) for better comfort. If you have trouble getting a proper seal, try tips from Koss, (available from the Koss website).

These are relatively new (Nov '07) and thus haven't been reviewed much. The C700 has been out. These are big time favorites by nearly everyone who has used them[...].

Far superior to everything else in this price range, you absolutely will not be disappointed by the Denon AH-C551.

I collect headphones, and occasionally review them here on Amazon. I review them using a six-song test and rating system, where 0 - 2 is abysmal, 2.1 - 4 is poor, 4.1 - 6 is mediocre, 6.1 to 8 is above average, and 8.1 to 10 is excellent.

The songs I used for the review were taken from a wide range of genres. They are "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac, "Every Planet We Reach is Dead" by Gorillaz, "Concerto Grosso no. 26 in D Major" by Handel, "I Know You Are, But What Am I?" by Mogwai, "Afro Blue" by Triplexity, and "The Patient" by Tool. I listened to everything on a Cowon iAudio 7 with all sound effects turned off and the equalizer set to flat.


Sound Quality(9.3/10)

The Chain(9/10) - bass is punchy but not exaggerated. Mids are rich. Treble is crisp and clear. Instrument separation is great, and sound stage is impressive for IEMs. Very balanced overall sound.

Every Planet(10/10) - again, the bass is deep and punchy, but very clean. Mids and highs are smooth and balanced. Instrument separation is very good, as is the sound stage.

Concerto(9/10) - bass, mid tones, and treble were all even and balanced. Instrument separation was clear, and sound stage was, again, impressive.

I Know You Are(9/10) - as with the other songs, the sound in this one seems clean and balanced, with good instrument separation and a fantastic sound stage.

Afro Blue(10/10) - bass is impressively deep, clean, and unexaggerated. The mid tones are pleasantly vibrant, as are the highs. Instrument separation is solid, and sound stage is unsurprisingly broad and impressive.

The Patient(9/10) - clean, punchy lows with vibrant mids and crisp highs. Excellent instrument separation; even more excellent sound stage.

Overall Sound(9.3/10) - these IEMs were overall very well balanced. They weren't lacking in any area, and sounded pleasing no matter what genre of music was being played. Their two biggest strengths were their bass, which was deep, clean, and punchy, but not exaggerated or distorted, and their sound stage, which was impressively large for IEMs.


Design(9/10) - as with the Sennheiser CX-300s, these have sort of an understated elegance to them. The styling is simple, but clean and attractive. I like the aluminum body, which seems very durable. They are also quite comfortable, even when worn for extended periods of time. The only downside(for me) is that they are a bit difficult to fit in my ear properly, and require some adjusting to get the sound just right. Others have complained about the cable, but I haven't found this to be a problem.


Noise Isolation(8/10) - there was a significant amount of noise isolation across all frequencies derived from these IEMs. Although not on par with some other canalphones, they were not lacking in this area. I estimate they block 10 - 12 DB of ambient noise.


Bottom Line(9.1/10) - these are a great pair of IEMs. I have been extremely satisfied with them, and would strongly recommend them to a friend. They are comfortable, stylish, and sound excellent. In fact, they sound better than any other IEM I've heard at this price, and I think you would have to spend significantly more money to find a better pair. If you're looking for IEMs in this price range, look no further.

These are nice phones. They are built solid for their size. They are comfortable, block out noise, and have wide frequency range that is fairly flat across the whole range. I use them when I go out bicycling and they block out most outside noise. I do get some wind noise but it is at a tolerable level.

The bass is good when I angle speaker part upward when I insert it into my ear canal. You might have to play around with the angle to get the best sound. These phones have great sound clarity and low distortion. After reading different reviews, I picked these over the Shure line because the sound quality from the Denon's is just as good maybe better. Plus the price is alot nicer. I like them and would recommend them without hesitation to any friend.

Bought these for my son but I tried them out. If you aren't looking for in-ear headphones that you plan on carefully inserting and leaving alone, then look at these. They can be popped in and out very easily and quickly and they are inconspicuous. They seal just fine - but maybe not as well as some of the super-seal foam types. For many people, this is a good thing. The sound is really great, with balance from highs to lows, and really nice separation. Especially at the price of about $68. If these are not good enough in sound quality, maybe look to a different style of headphone all together, or spend a lot more money. Negatives? The cord is a two piece that is too long when joined and too short when separated.

I saw the price drop here on Amazon and for $65 with Free Shipping, you'll be hard pressed to find anything that measures up against these.

Got these for my iRiver Clix2 and I love them...Terrific sound and bass, with very well insulated sound...Impressive how comfortable they have ended up being as I am not a typical IEM user.

In this price range, I really believe you'd be hard pressed to find anything better than these and all the research I did on these left me with almost exclusively and overwhelming support for the Denon's.

I'm a drummer, and needed these to have as in-ear monitors onstage to catch the sequences/clicktracks/and vocals that we use--they aren't noise cancelling enough for this purpose. I also agree with other reviews that I'd read of them, that although they produce more bass than other I-Pod replacement headphones their highs are pretty intense. My wife took them for a weekend trip and immediately gave them back to me saying "they are much clearer than my stock I-pod earphones but way too treble heavy". I'd have to agree--clear, good bass but highs are too high and not enough noise cancellation will relegate these to my desk drawer as a backup pair.

I have had these for about 6 months. While they aren't the best in-ear phones out there, they are solid in their price range. Great reproduction, nice highs, bass is punchy without being overwhelming. Give these guys 40 hours or so to burn in and they'll sound a lot better than they do out of the package. No problems fitting my ears and they a decent job at blocking out external noise (close to a good set of ear plugs).

I thought the sound quality from these headphones was superb, a vast improvement over the standard iPod earbuds. Many songs I had listed to many times sounded entirely new as I could hear things that I hadn't heard before. I have to agree with other commenters that the principal drawback to these headphones is the awkward extension; the ordinary headphone cord is not long enough, for example, to reach one's waist, so one is left using a somewhat clunky extension.