The Lowdown
I don’t think you could ask for more: They look great, sound amazingly clear and are compact yet robust. This is a great pair of phones to pickup if you don’t mind the price tag.
First Impressions / Setting up
I think with their clean metal lines and understated black leather, they look awesome, as with most Pioneer headphones. Enough said. Build-wise, Pioneer has clearly designed this model for the gigging DJ. The HDJ-2000s can be folded up to a compact size, and have a coiled lead that’s removable for transportation via a mini XLR. To make moving them around that much easier, they also come with a pretty stylish carrying bag.
Luckily, the foldability does not mean that Pioneer has sacrificed build strength, thanks a solid metal frame that is well and truly gig-proof. However to make it super strong, the earpads don’t quite swivel all the way. It’s probably not a major issue, but for the DJ who prefers “on-shoulder” style it could be annoying.
They have the usual 1/8″ mini TRS plug that converts into a 1/4″ plug via a screw-on adaptor.
In Use
It seems evident that comfort and clarity were Pioneer’s priorities when creating the HDJ-2000 headphones. The first thing you notice when putting them on is the comfort, thanks to protein leather-covered pads and low-rebound urethane-foam (or to you and me, “memory-foam”). This actually means the longer you wear them the comfier they get!
This is a very pleasant feature, especially after a long night of DJing, to alleviate that issue where sometimes you can feel like you’ve been punched in the ears after a few hours.
The pads create a tight seal around your ears, so despite how loud the speakers are you can precisely control your mixing; this is a common but necessary feature.
And now to the sound – and oh do they perform! Crystal-clear audio is produced from the deepest bass to the highest treble, thanks to the 50mm dome driver units and high-flux magnets. The construction of the headphones means you don’t get any resonance and there is high responsiveness, especially in deep bass tones.
Unbelievably too, there is no distortion, even when the volume is at its highest – and that’s no mean feat as they’re capable of managing and sustaining a frightening 3,500 mW, so you’ll croak before they do!
Apparently they also have a 1.5mm voice coil and a 38 micrometers diaphragm. In all honesty I don’t know what effect that has, but in comparison to the models lower down the range the performance is impressive.
Conclusion
OK, let’s level: they’re pretty expensive. But in my view, you really are getting your money’s-worth. What’s more, I’ve listened to worse-sounding headphones for a bigger price tag. I don’t think you could ask for more: They look great, sound amazingly clear and are compact yet robust.
Sure you can certainly DJ with headphones that don’t pack in all of these pro features, but if you want the best, then for me the Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones are right up there.
