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The Pioneer HDJ-2000 Headphone Page 2
Sound Quality
These are a moderately colored headphone, sounding somewhat warm with a mildly forward mid-range. The highs are fairly clear but for a bit of graininess, and being slightly withdrawn. Thankfully they do not have the dreaded biting highs so often found on headphones. The bass is not very well extended and the upper bass is very slightly accentuated; the overall sense is a warm but slightly murky sounding. The dynamic punch of the cans is good, and the highs are well enough articulated to provide some imaging.
Event though these cans are somewhat colored, I found them very pleasant listening and without fatal flaw. Sealed cans are very difficult to make sound good; I found the Pioneer HDJ-2000 navigates these difficult waters very well.
Frequency response measurements show good seal achieved easily, and bass rolling off below 100Hz. 30Hz square wave sagging indicates a somewhat loose bass response, which was heard during listening. The 300Hz square wave has very good shape indicating good balance of sound through the mids and treble; and a very clean leading edge with little overshoot that indicates the well behaved highs heard during listening. These results are pretty good for a headphone of this type and price; the 300Hz square wave is exceptionally good.
Summary
It's not often one finds a headphone that ticks all the boxes quite so well as the Pioneer HDJ-2000. It's a bit pricy, to be sure, but the look, feel, and sound makes for a general purpose headphone I could live with for a long time quite happily. A solid recommendation from me for a really good all-around headphone.
Big thanks to HeadRoom for the loan of the cans for review! Resources after the video.
Resources
Pioneer's HDJ-2000 page.
A Head-Fi thread comparing the Shure SRH-840; Audio Techinica ATH-M50; M-Audio Q50; and Pioneer HDJ-2000.
Cool DJ gear review site Skratchworks on the HDJ-2000.
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