Denon AH-D7200 Measurements and Impressions

Denon AH-D7200 Distortion Impedance Curve and Electrical Phase
(give of take a few ohms)


This measurement was taken with the headphone on the coupler, so the impedance curve would be reflective of the headphone being worn and used. While the nominal impedance is low, around twenty something, the bass bump is at 30Hz, and only rises 5 ohms higher. The Denon AH-D7200's frequency response should be fairly immune to amplifiers with high source impedance.

There is a little bump just under 3kHz which corresponds with a distortion and CSD spike. I wonder if there is something mechanical ringing in the headphone.

 

I'll be sending them over to @Hands. Will let him experiment. I've been stretched for spare time lately. Send materials over to him.

I feel that a full blown chart is unnnecessary, because there is such a family resemblance between them. They all perform similarly in terms of resolution, microdynamics, macrodynamics. The main differences are distortion (clarity / cleanness) and frequency response.

• TH-900: cleanest bass and clearest sounding of the bunch. Ton of sub and low bass, dip in lower mids, sharp lower treble. This one has the good magnet. Might be more resolving than the rest by a hair.
• TH-600 / 610 like a TH-900: but bass quality not as good, higher distortion, sharp lower treble. Throw this in the garbage. Ugly sister to TH-900.
• X-00 maghogeny: W curve version of above. Bass and treble not so overemphasized. None of the mega sub-low bass. Slight wood resonance play.
• X-00 purpleheart: Most "colored" and has the strongest wood resonance of the X00s. My personal favorite of the X-00s.
• X-00 ebony: Least colored and best treble behavior of them all.
• AH-D7200: Dark tilt with slight W curve of the above. Might be more resolving by a hair to the above, comparable to TH-900. However still not has clean in the bass as TH-900.

 

DT880s have a normal midrange. TH-900's lower treble spike is made worse by the lower mid dip. The lower mid dip actually helps with a sense of clarity, but it also takes away body.

 

D7000 has a very spotlit, but razor-like deadly laser beam mid-treble peak, scooped mids over a broader area, and strong overall bass. TH-900 bass seems to be more emphasized in the lower regions, but this might be because of its low distortion and lower mid dip. D7000 does have a certain lushness, probably because the bass emphasis bleeds into the mids more.

 

1. Because I don't want to collect all three variations, like with Pokemon: Vaporeon / Jolteon / Flareon, or SWGOH characters: Jedi Knight Anakin / Darth Vader.
2. If going for the J-fi sound, may as well go all-out colored sound. Why stop half way?

 

Denon AH-D7200 vs ZMF Eikon Frequency Response

Eikon = Orange
D7200 = Green


They sound similar. Distortion (not pictured is comparble and has similar characteristics). I'd probably pick Eikon by a hair. Treble seems subjectively smoother and overall sound on Eikon seems less laid back in treble. Eikon is heavier, but suspension headband more comfortable. Eikon has more cup reverb for better or worse.

 

Got the AH-D7200 in, so here are my thoughts:

- Overall, pretty good tonal balance. I recall the TH-X00 being more lit in the upper octaves, and the 7200 is a bit smoother and more toned down up there. Similar-ish bass and midrange response, for the most part. The Eikon is a little darker and softer sounding in some parts of the mids and certainly in the treble, but not my an insane amount.

- Lots of bass, much like you'd expect from this sort of headphone. But it's pretty clean, more focused on the lowest octaves, and is less basshead-sounding than you'd expect. Doesn't bleed into mids too much. Mostly just sounds like it has more "oomph" to it without overdoing it, but is weird when coming from something like the Eikon or HD650.

- Midrange has some noticeable glare to it. It has that sort of banshee effect to it, where it sounds like it's screaming in your ears. Think the Monoprice 1060, but with ringing at a lower pitch and with a much faster, cleaner decay to it. Not terrible, but not great. Probably fine for most, depending on listening levels and what you listen to.

- Some details sound a bit artificial and oversharpened. Quite resolving and detailed overall, but sounds a bit fake doing it. Couple this with the midrange glare, and I found I couldn't listen as loud as I'd like in order to cope. It's really not THAT bad, and mostly a non-issue at a lower volume, but still there. I feel like the Eikon better captures little nuances and such, though a properly driven HD650 is a bit better than that even still.

- Not too closed sounding for a closed headphone, but also not as spacious and airy sounding as the Eikon. Kind of walks that line between being laid-back and really forward in many ways.

- Pads are fairly comfortable. Headband stretches oddly on large heads and has a major hot spot right on top of your noggin. Headband lacks padding.

- Headband sliding mechanism, or, rather, the parts that holds the sliding rods in place inside the headband itself, are made of thin plastic and will break if you essentially try to adjust the shape of the headband with even mild pressure (not that I'd know...). And those internal parts basically take up the whole headband, so if the 7200 doesn't fit right, you're just out of luck. Otherwise, build quality and materials seem nice. Cups are nice wood, but I find the matte finish on this wood choice to look boring.

Overall, the AH-D7200 is a pretty good closed headphone. For my tastes, I think it takes a couple steps forward from the TH-X00 and then quickly takes a couple steps back. So, it's better in some ways, worse in others. I think for the price, I'd recommend a TH-X00 variant instead. Similar sound, less midrange glare, and you can always add a bit of front damping to tone down the brighter treble. I also think the Eikon is more evenly tuned and just a better listen overall, even if it's not as sharp or bright sounding in ways that would make it a bit better. The Eikon is also pricier...but also hand made and more charming in that regard.

Measurements

As usual, this is set to 1KHz at 90dB. This might be misleading and make you think the upper mids and treble are pretty recessed. I think it is more accurate to look at the upper mids and treble as more balanced, so you'd see a bit of an emphasis between 400-1.3KHz or so. Personally, I'm not sure I noticed that midrange bump so much.

Bass bump is centered just above 30Hz and transitions to the mids in such a way that isn't jarring but still makes the bass sound a hair disconnected in listening.

What really gets me is that shark fin bump right around 3KHz. That stands out in listening. Again, it's not horrible, but it's not soothing either. The 10KHz peak also likely contributes to these sounding a bit sharper than is totally natural, but usually mild peaks here aren't too big of a deal.

I was also too lazy to get measurements of the right channel. Marv's results showed good channel matching overall.




Again, with 1KHz at 90dB, distortion results look excellent on my modest set. That's about as low as it'll go with my mic.




Unfortunately, that 3KHz spike also manifests with some sharp ringing. I've seen worse, but you can hear it screeching a bit on most material. Otherwise, these results would look fairly good.




I decided to match the Eikon and AH-D7200 around 250Hz. I felt this better represented how they sounded compared to each other. In the midrange and treble, you can see they follow a somewhat similar curve. Of course, the 7200 is brighter up top and has that unfortunate 3KHz peak. No surprise, the 7200 also has much more of a bass emphasis, where as the Eikon is very, very tastefully tuned.




Seeing as my TH-X00 had some channel imbalance, I made sure to include both channels in this comparison. I think the right channel TH-X00 results are more indicative of how they sounded to me. So, you get similar bass and a less bright top-end on the 7200, but you do see more of a 400Hz-1.3KHz emphasis and that sharp response and ringing around 3KHz. My TH-X00 CSD results looked very clean from top to bottom as well. Neither is perfect, but I think I'd have an easier time living with the TH-X00...and the lower price doesn't hurt my decision.

 

Remind me in private to show you my settings, or else I'll forget here. Maybe remind me a few times.