DENON AH-D301K

When the budget is extra-tight but your music still requires something that sounds good, the choices are limited. We've recommended a few good-performing models in this tough category before but audio giant Denon has now provided an excellent headphone model series that delivers what might be the best closed-earcup price-to-performance ratio in the industry. The starter model Denon AH-D301 is a decently performing headphone given the great price and one that many listeners could consider as a sizeable upgrade to the so-called headphones or earphones included with mobile audio player devices like Mp3s, iPods, and laptop/PCs. The clarity and dynamics of this headphone will improve audibly when mated with any quality headphone amp, like one of the models in our little portable HeadRoom 'Mobile Line' series.

The D301 lightweight construction is basic with no real sizing adjustments other than the wide plastic auto-fit brim. The fit of the headband is ideal for big noggin owners but the ectomorphs amongst us found the fit almost too loose at times. Of course, the isolation will not completely attenuate all ambient noise due to that loose fit but the D301 does provide respectable "leakage" protection from the earcups to the outside world. The mid-sized supra-aural earcups are padded with a wrinkly glove-soft pleather and rotate 180 degrees for one-ear DJ-type mixing. The headphone cord is modular in the D301 model; a 3.5ft non-detachable Y-cord extends from the headphones and a 6 ft extension cord is provided in the packaging allowing for about a 3 meter overall cable length. The cable terminates to a small 3.5mm (1/8") mini-plug. Standard 2-year manufacturer's warranty serviced exclusively through Denon-USA.