Denon AH-D7000 - Headphones

I purchased these in 2021 after I got the D7200 couple of months before. Its great I can compare these two.

Overall, the D7000 is very balanced and detailed with slight v shaped sound. Its not a reference type / too neutral sound but its very engaging and extremely enjoyable to listen to them. Their nice warm and detailed sound combined with soft angled pads and pretty light weight makes these a fantastic set of headphones. You can listen to any kind of genre out there and these will not let you down. You will find a hard time to take them off your head and replace with something else, trust me.

Trebles are nice and sparkly and tuned slightly down which makes them warmer and not fatigue at all. They have still amazing details and clarity but they are definitely not harsh in any way. The mids are fantastic, full of enjoyment and dynamic with nice separation. They are also very detailed but in the same time they are slightly tuned down as well. I believe this is maybe done by purpose because on the other side the bass... OMG. Its such nice punchy and dynamic bass with a lot of depth and weight. One thing to describe it is WOW. One of the best bass presentation you can experience with closed back headphones.

To make them even better sounding I am using APO Equalizer with PEACE plugin. I have tuned the EQ just slightly to make them a bit more open and clear like sounding. I think these settings work well as I have tested those on many different kind of genres. Plus you can simply turn it ON / OFF to hear the difference by yourself.

Comparing to the new D7200 the D7000 feel like a toy. They are too light, too loose and here its very obvious the age difference. The sound is pretty close to my ears but the D7200 are definitely darker sounding. They are also easier to drive. Out of the box I think the D7000 might actually have better and more balance sound. The bass is pretty similar but I think the D7200 cups are making it slightly better sounding. But when listen to them both closely and making A/B comparison I can hear that the D7200 has better mids. There are more details, a bit more air. Note this is all before the EQ.

Now, after the EQ its a different story. The D7000 do not need a much of EQ tweaking, they sound pretty good even without. My EQ settings made them just a tiny bit clearer and open like sounding. But the D7200 EQ (shared my settings in D7200 thread) is becoming a different kind of beast. With the right EQ settings the D7200 sound simply magnificent. All the darkness is gone, all the muddy upper mids are also gone they just sound so neutral but still a lot engaging to my ears. As one of the user reply to me thank to the EQ settings he feels like his headphones changed from £500 to £1500 sounding unit. I personally also think they must be very close to the D9200 after the EQ in terms of the sound and that was my aim.

I am sharing with you my D7000 EQ settings for those who can try them please do and improve your sound. If you find different settings working better for you please share them with us.

The AH-D7000 are still an amazing headphones even after 12 years from their release. The quality sound is quality sound.
If you can get these in great condition DO NOT HESITATE AND GRAB THEM. You wont be disappointed. Well done Denon.

The Extinct Denon D7000

Posted on August 4, 2013by HeadMania
Hey guys,

I’ve been waiting for a long time for an opportunity to listen to the famous D7000 and I am really happy I have a few days with it.

In one of my visits to Jack-Fi, I found a pair of forgotten Denon D7000 there, as they are specialized in speaker systems mostly. After 3 weeks I’ve been there again and found them in the same place and same position. So it was clear they would part with them easily for a few days 

I like its’ overall looks, but it feels a little cheap compared to other headphones at that price. They are very light weighted and very comfortable though.



One thing that popped into my attention was the fact that the cable is not detachable, and at the price was selling, I don’t find that ok.



Sound Impressions

The first time I have listened to them I liked them very much. They have an interestingwow factor because of their fun and engaging tonality.

Bass

The bass is very present in these cans, especially the mid bass. However the bass lacks some punch and is a little loose. Overall I like the bass presentation, but sometimes there is too much bass leaking into the mids.

Mids

Some of the instruments are a little in the background but still enjoyable. However, the mids bring the vocals forward. I just love listening to Leonard  Cohen, Frank Sinatraor Lana Del Ray on D7000.

Treble

I’ve heard people complaining the D7000 is bright. I found the treble quite on the smooth side, even recessed on some ocasions.

Fun Tonality

I like the  fun tonality of the D7000 a lot. It has a meaty & full sound.

Transparency & Openness

What I felt was missing is clarity,  transparency & openness in the sound that made me putHD800 on, just to take a “breath of fresh clear air”.

Transient response & decay

I find that the transient response is not that impact-full as I would like. The decay is a little slow in my opinion. I feel this could be a little improved with a good silver cable.

Imaging

The positioning of the instruments is not so clear, the sound being somehow congested, instruments tend to blend in on the same layer.



Conclusion

Overall the sound of the D7000 is very engaging, energetic and fun. They are absolutely brilliant with rock.

I also love both male & female vocals with it.

So in the end loved to listen to rock, electronic music, vocals, pop and even some jazz with it.

Even-though they have a lot of cons, I think they are my favorite closed cans now for the music genres above.

I am quite sad Denon discontinued them. I am very curious how D7100 stands near it.

Pros:

1. full bodied tonality
2. energetic & fun
3. excellent with vocals
4. good build quality
5. very comfortable

Cons:

1. loose bass
2. congested
3. lacks transparency and clarity
4. poor imaging and instrument separation
5. the cable is not detachable

Really good sounding headphone with incredible bass.  I owned these for about six months.  They sound powerful for lack of a better word.  Definitely a V-shaped sound signature.  The bass can be a bit much sometimes, a bit sloppy, but I usually find it quite enjoyable.  Just a really fun headphone to listen to.  That being said I don't feel that they quite compare to some of the other $1000 offerings from competitors (in terms of overall sound quality) or really outperform less expensive models by that much (Pro900, He-400, dt990 for example).  I also didn't care for the headband, the earcups always slid when I didn't want them to and I've read a few stories of the cups falling off at the hinge, which I don't find hard to believe since it's attached by one small screw.  Overall I enjoyed these, but I do prefer a "colored" sound signature.  These certainly aren't neutral, but a very fun listen.