Denon AH-D7200 Measurements and Impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Jun 23, 2017.

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Denon AH-D7200 Measurements and Impressions

    Go here for photos and more subjective stuff: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/denon-d7200-new-flagship.2701/

    Pre-Measurement Impressions (Quick)

    Fuller thicker sounding smoother TH-X00? While I was listening, I was hoping for Fostex TH-900 quality bass. You know that super clean low distortion massive bass. But no. I think it might be better than X00 bass, but without one to directly compare, I cannot be too sure. There's definitely a lot of wishful thinking my part for this to be, but I'm afraid that I cannot say it is so. I still await for the day where that big ass low distortion TH-900 motor gets put into a headphone with a frequency response this like or the TH-X00. Treble seems to be sharp or bright in specific areas at times, but honestly I'm having trouble identifying where a peak might be located. The fullness and thickness remind me of the D7000, however the bass is more reasonable, the mids aren't sucked out, and there isn't a nasty spotlit peak. There was always a nasty spotlit peak on the old D7000 to my ears. Not so here.

    BTW, plankton or micro-detail is very very good.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2017
  2. purr1n

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    Denon AH-D7200 Frequency Response

    1/3 smoothed

    Denon ATH-D7200 Frequency Response.png

    1/24 smoothed
    Denon AH-D7200 Frequency Response.png

    Interesting frequency response. Look a bit like the TH-X00 response, except treble is way smoother. A bit bassy, but not outright ZOMG bass. Will overlay with X00 later. I do kind of like this. A darkish tilt with some style.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2017
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Denon AH-D7200 CSDs
    D7200 L.jpg
    D7200 R.jpg

    Wow, treble is actually very clean. Some ringing at 3kHz, so maybe this is the sharpness that I am hearing? I didn't seem like 3kHz though. More like 7kHz.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2017
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Denon AH-D7200 Distortion
    Denon AH-D7200 HD.jpg
    Denon AH-D7200 R HD.jpg
    Distortion spike there at 2.5kHz, second order. What this means is that the headphone has a tendency of playing a simultaneous signal at 5kHz, but at a lower level, every time 2kHz is activated. Usually this kind of distortion isn't all that audible. I am wondering if maybe some of that occasional sharpness might be just the bumpy treble frequency response. Don't get me wrong, it's still a dark sounding headphone overall.

    Denon AH-D7200 Distortion Impedance Curve and Electrical Phase
    (give or take a few ohms)
    Denon AH-D7200 Impedance.png
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2017
  5. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    While the bass might not match the TH-900, I'm sure distortion levels are fairly good like the TH-X00 and Denon 2/5/7K variants. Edit: You posted distortion results right as I posted this. It looks like the TH-X00 might be a hair better in low-end distortion? And no peak up top. Still, doesn't strike me as some big concern or massive difference.

    Does that midrange hump stick out? I know the TH-X00 stuff had something similar in your measurements. I personally didn't hear that or measure it on my TH-X00, so I'd guess I wouldn't notice it much here either.

    Treble results look smoother than the TH-X00 models you measured, at least a little. A little more slowed downwards.

    Looks solid overall! Only took Denon a few years to pull their heads out of their asses and go back to more of that OEM design...

    I wish these came in a higher impedance design, which would jive better with my modded Super 7.
     
  6. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    OK, here's the weird thing: the midrange hump just did not stick out. On the X00, it does, but here it actually sounds integrated with the bass. It's possible I am totally out of practice - with what's currently going on I have been super busy at my real job. Keeping ear acuity does require daily practice, kind of like golf.

    Yes, I am glad Denon made this. It's like the people behind the D7000 read Changstar from five years ago and decided to fix the shit we hated the most about it. Or maybe they saw how super successful the X00 was, and decided to make their own variant of it.
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Own variant..."We took the OEM design and tweaked it slightly!" ;)

    Ah, who cares. It's a good design that even with newer models could still probably use minor tweaks and polish to achieve what it's truly capable of. Any step in that direction helps! This looks like a good step, even if not a revelation. I mean, shit, even something like that EMU Purpleheart was welcome in my eyes!
     
  8. purr1n

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    Comparison to Fostex TH-X00 Purpleheart (the bassiest variant)

    Purple = Massdrop Fostex TH-X00 Purpleheart
    Orange = Denon AH-D7200

    Denon AH-D7200 vs Fostex TH-X00 PH.png
    So hopefully this might shed some light on why the X00 mids stick out more or sound more W curve like. The dips are more sudden on the X00 at the lower mids and upper mids.

    You know, I've been hounding @CEE TEE for Massdrop to make the X00 with the TH-900 motor / magnet. Think of it, a lower distortion of something like this! So @Will, when is this going to happen?
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2017
  9. purr1n

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    For those interested, here is the link to the X00 Ebony: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...ssdrop-fostex-th-x00-ebony-measurements.2434/

    Distortion is more or less the same. Lots of similarities between these two headphones.

    ADD: The cups of the Denon seem more sturdy, less resonant. The X00 cups have more of a resonance play. Let me check deep CSDs top view. Sometimes we can see wood resonance effects related to this. (Nope, nothing here.)
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2017
  10. Eudis Fernandes

    Eudis Fernandes Aurorus Audio - MoT

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    Marve put denser cotton into the cups.
     
  11. purr1n

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    You mean real acoustic fiber, not cotton (since cotton, although it looks and feels the same, doesn't have anywhere the effectiveness of acoustic fiber).
     
  12. Eudis Fernandes

    Eudis Fernandes Aurorus Audio - MoT

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    If you want. The stuff they put in those cups, although denser looking than th900 material isn't enough. Lets see what it does to the lower mid dip.
     
  13. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    The Massdrop Dekoni TH-X00 Sheepskin pads have a similar effect on the frequency response. They get rid of the cupped reverb sound in the bass since there are no attenuation rings and smooth out the treble.

    Good job Denon!

    PS: This was hilarious timing! I was just reading the D7200 thread thinking, "Man didn't Marv want to check these out? I wonder when he's going to post measurements?" Ta da!
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I should mention that they are super easy to drive. No problem from Sony ZX2.
     
  15. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Stuffing in the rear of the cup will only affect >1KHz IME. Sometimes excessive amount of it may even drop bass and cause that lower mid dip to stick out more. In short: with that FR, I'd totally just leave the rear damping the hell alone.

    To "fix" the low mid dip, different ear pads or front damping (note: NOT the same as obstructing the front of the diaphragm) may be experimented with. Still super encouraging to see this measurement, though.

    Thanks, Marv!!
     
  16. purr1n

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    Stuffing might decrease bass and even out the dip. It depends upon the design and how it's ported. What stuffing does is effectively increase volume, making the cup inside bigger.
     
  17. Eudis Fernandes

    Eudis Fernandes Aurorus Audio - MoT

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    My test with stuffing foster biodyna cups have yielded good results on fixing the lower mids. Then put a round disk of thick (not the hard dense one) craft felt. You get good results. What you don't want to do is cover up the porting. You will restrict air. I developed a cage to keep the material off the ports on the driver. Very good results. Can we get a money shot of the rear driver damping. Primarily to see if they have any open ports on the driver.
     
  18. Mshenay

    Mshenay Barred from loaner program. DON'T SEND ME GEAR.

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    ooohohohoo been waiting for these!!! Looks good, I've been seeing some crazy low prices on these too... all pre US launch from what I remember though
     
  19. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    I'm pretty happy with the X-00EBs (mostly because my wallet demands I be happy with em for the immediate future), so the fact that, micro-detail aside, they seem somewhat comparable to the D7200, I'm pretty happy. @Marvey : Might I request a satanic spider chart comparing these with the Fostex/Denon kids? X-00EB too if possible since that's my reference :p
     
  20. MF_Kitten

    MF_Kitten Banned per own request

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    The Fostex TH style cans always have that weird dip in the low mids. I wonder what it is about this design that causes it? I can tell you right away that it will cause a "deeper" sounding tone. It's the area you suck out in kick drums when mixing a track to give them more depth and girth.
     

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