[Running Nightmare]

Groan ... now you've done it . Another compelling piece of audio gear I must consider.

Your timing is good, as I've had an IEM 'itch'. Have been using Sony IER-M9 for a few years now, which to me sounds quite good. I mainly use them with a Shanling M6 Pro 21, which also sounds quite good to me but suffers from a poor Android implementation.

Sorry!

 

[usery]

Sorry!

No sorry, I'm glad you suggested them !

 

[usery]

In case we lose sight of the original topic : ) the AH-D9200 continues to sound really really good to me.

While I had a classical survey progression in mind to test them and gather impressions (early music through romantic), I abandoned that in favor of another of my obsessive rituals: an 'on this day in classical music' thing I do each day.

Today is Johann Pachelbel's birthday (1653-1706), so I'm listening to Complete Organ Works I (Schmitt, Essl, Christie, Belotti 2009-12 CPO) cd 1 - Das Kirchenjahr: Ostern bis Michaelis.

On the AH-D9200's dead-black background the lines of the preludes and fugues are ganz pristine and faithful. And I'm kinda stunned by the depth and 'grunt' of reproduction of the lower registers - try the 1st track Praeludium in D minor for a sense of that.

 

[evanft]

not familiar with genre so i can't comment on that, but classic music has lots of ups and downs all of a sudden it becomes loud or silent for that type of music, dynamic open backs will be the best option but closed back, no idea.

Unfortunately, the closed back segment is the most under-served in all of audio right now. Your choices are more-or-less split between low-effort, poorly-tuned crap, and the DCA closed backs. There are also the ZMFs if you want a warmer presentation, but I feel like you're paying more for the look and craftsmanship with those. I also generally don't find warmer headphones to work well with classical music.

That being said, I would bet the Azurys would be pretty good for classical since it seems to have a relatively smooth frequency response and Focal has a reputation for very dynamic sounding headphones. I haven't heard that specific model, though, so take my recommendation with a massive grain of salt.

 

[MacFrank]

My concern with the E3 is lack of dynamics, which is an issue with every DCA headphone AFAIK. I've heard the E3 is an improvement in this regard, but classical music really benefits from some dynamics. I would love to try them before buying.

I tried them yesterday in direct comparison to my DCA Aeon 2 Noire and others (Fostex TH900 MKII, Hifiman Arya Organic & HE1000SE). The E3 are highly impressive and do not lack dynamics. They do need a certain level of volume to come alive, but when they do they sound staggeringly solid, precise and dynamic. A technical marvel to my ears.

 

[Running Nightmare]

@ usery

I spent the whole afternoon listening to this beautiful music. Really impressive!

Many thanks for the recommendation! I didn't know this recording yet.

The reproduction of the lower registers is extraordinary! Fast and precise.

There is a very nice recording of the organ works of J. S. Bach:

I recommend listening to the first and second track of the third CD: Toccata & Fugue In F Major, BWV 540.

 

[Spearthrower Owl]

Here's chatGPT 4o's comparison of the Audio-Technica ATH-AWKT, Meze Liric II and Denon AH-D9200. The url (https://justpaste.it/dvbzo) is safe, anonymous, not malware, no redirects, and resolves to a public & known online editor (justpaste.it). Use browser incognito mode if you prefer.

My prompt is at top of the doc, chatGPT 4o reply is below it. Some interesting and maybe useful content. Scoring summaries at bottom are debatable, as are the closing remarks.

** update: as usual, chatGPT 4o buckled under further scrutiny and 'revised' its answers. the tldr; "don't trust, and always verify"

Review Roll-Up & Scoring​

To provide a fair assessment, we'll use a scoring system that rates each headphone out of 10 across several criteria: Sound Quality (Neutrality, Detail, and Soundstage), Comfort, Build Quality, and Value for Money.

Criteria	Audio Technica ATH-AWKT	Meze Liric II	Denon AH-D9200
Sound Quality	8/10	7/10	9/10
Comfort	8.5/10	9/10	8/10
Build Quality	9/10	9.5/10	8.5/10
Value for Money	7.5/10	7/10	8/10

Final Scores:

• Audio Technica ATH-AWKT: 8.25/10
• Meze Liric II: 8/10
• Denon AH-D9200: 8.37/10

Summary:

• Audio Technica ATH-AWKT is a solid performer with a slight warmth that could appeal to some listeners but might not be ideal for classical purists.
• Meze Liric II is a beautifully crafted headphone with innovative technology, but its warmth might soften the critical highs needed for classical music.
• Denon AH-D9200 offers the most neutral and accurate reproduction among the three, making it the best choice for classical music aficionados.

I'm quite a fan of using chatGPT to answer questions, but these answers strike me as really strange. The AWKT and Liric II are supposedly warm? Geez, I don't think so. (I've heard both, albeit very little time with the AWKT, which I quickly gave up on because it just didn't fit my head and I couldn't get a seal.)

 

[springfield01]

DT 770 Pro 80Ohm with Oratory1990 Harman EQ preset. Finetune that by ear and you are good to go.

 

[usery]

I'm quite a fan of using chatGPT to answer questions, but these answers strike me as really strange. The AWKT and Liric II are supposedly warm? Geez, I don't think so. (I've heard both, albeit very little time with the AWKT, which I quickly gave up on because it just didn't fit my head and I couldn't get a seal.)

I too am a fan of the chat-fronted LLM's, but for consistently factual and correct information I find all of them falling short in various ways. Like I wrote earlier: don't trust and always verify [the AI] : )

One way to sample them all is chatLLM from abacus.ai, though the training data may be bit stale on some of the models. No matter though, it's close enough and you get a good sense of both data and 'character' of each of the big LLM's (OpenAI, Google, Meta, Anthropic etc). Really quite interesting comparing them - the different personality 'tone' of each is a real hoot.

AWKT was 1 of 2 final candidates for me - in the end it was mostly availabiity that tipped me into the AH-D9200. So far I'm pretty happy with what I'm hearing

 

[usery]

AH-D9200 continues to sound really really good to me.

I'm not a good discerner of this thing they call 'burn-in' or 'settling' of hifi components, and the associated subjective experience of 'it gets better over time' because of a belief in some change in physical state of a device. What's more credible for me is my own 'story' of my aural-neural circuit 'learning' over time to identify characteristics of sensory input (in this case hearing), for a given input source (in this case the AH-D9200).

All that blah blah aside, another of my weirdo music rituals is listening to JS Bach's compositions for the Lutheran Calendar Year on each of the calendar days they were composed for. Today ist der 15er Sonntag nach Trinitatis (15th Sunday after Trinity) so that brings cantatas BWV 138, 99, 51 and 100.

To showcase the AH-D9200 I highly recommend Rikin's 1988 recording of BWV 99 'Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan (II)' from Actus Tragicus • Cantatas BWV 106, 131, 99, 56, 82, 158 (Baird, Fast, Frank Kelley, Opalach, The Bach Ensemble, Rifkin 1988 Decca). While BWV 99 isn't as famous as BWV 51 (the most-recorded cantata in the Bach repertoire), Rifkin's treatment is an awesome showpiece for any device: no choir, one voice per part (ovpp), historically-informed, small ensemble, excellent Decca recording. The interplay and layering of the ovpp with the ensemble instruments challenges any audio device to 'respect' the combined and separate threads, and the timbre, tonality and register traverses are like an audio reproduction obstacle course.

The D9200 kicks ass with it : ).

 

[Running Nightmare]

Oud (an Arabic kink-necked lute) and bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

It doesn't sound very complex at first, but the artists' embellishments and improvisations weave the whole thing into a tapestry of sound that allows the transitions between the melodies and instruments to flow into one another.

Nevertheless, the whole thing does not become diffuse, blurred or even washed out or mushy. The AH-D9200s manage to maintain the contours with absolute precision and thus reproduce a circular complexity on a scale that one would not think possible with this instrumentation.

It's actually just an oud, bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

 

[yrstruly]

Oud (an Arabic kink-necked lute) and bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

It doesn't sound very complex at first, but the artists' embellishments and improvisations weave the whole thing into a tapestry of sound that allows the transitions between the melodies and instruments to flow into one another.

Nevertheless, the whole thing does not become diffuse, blurred or even washed out or mushy. The AH-D9200s manage to maintain the contours with absolute precision and thus reproduce a circular complexity on a scale that one would not think possible with this instrumentation.

It's actually just an oud, bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

I'd recommend a cable upgrade for the D9200 if you haven't done this already btw - check the D9200 thread for a specific discussion on this.

 

[usery]

Oud (an Arabic kink-necked lute) and bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

It doesn't sound very complex at first, but the artists' embellishments and improvisations weave the whole thing into a tapestry of sound that allows the transitions between the melodies and instruments to flow into one another.

Nevertheless, the whole thing does not become diffuse, blurred or even washed out or mushy. The AH-D9200s manage to maintain the contours with absolute precision and thus reproduce a circular complexity on a scale that one would not think possible with this instrumentation.

It's actually just an oud, bass clarinet, a little percussion, some bass ...

Thanks for that - excellent all around including the recording quality. You're right about the AH-D9200 handling it, superbly.

 

[usery]

I thought I'd try the AH-D9200 on a few of my non-classical 'reference' tracks:

Jon Hopkins: Breath This Air - Immunity
Jamie XX: Loud Places - In Colour
Roisin Murphy: You Knew - Hit Parade

The Jon Hopkins track is impeccably orchestrated and recorded (as he's prone to doing), and has lots going on that really pushes your signal chain, all the way to your ears. The AH-D9200 reproduced it as good or better than any other head-end device I've heard (admittedly not many). I'm sure there are other mega-TOTL hp's that might squeeze more superlatives out of it, but I'm happy with the D9200.

Loud Places from Jamie XX isn't super-duper hi-fidelity, but the track has what could be described as a 'train-wreck' of sound, including a crowded-nightclub sound loop in the background in addition to all the other layers. The AH-D9200 is able to keep it all discernible without congestion or wimping out, esp. soloist Romy and the accompanying chorus.

Finally, DJ Koze's production of Roisin Murphy's "You Knew" has all the swing and off-kilter instrumentation you'd expect from both of them, and a good deal of thumping bass too. You know the cliche 'I heard things I never heard before' - that applies here with the D9200.

Oh, and I threw in Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child - The Ultimate Experience for good measure. All in all the AH-D9200 sounds to me like it plays across genres just fine : )

 

[Running Nightmare]

I'm sure there are other mega-TOTL hp's that might squeeze more superlatives out of it, …

I want to listen to music and, above all, enjoy it.

Over the last 50-plus years, I have invested huge sums in technology, always on the lookout for that last bit of "better". I still do today.

What fascinates me so much about the AH-D9200 is the incredible sovereignty or nonchalance with which the music is reproduced. Without gimmickry. Without embellishment. Effortlessly, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. As if there were no limits. I haven't yet managed to get these headphones to a point where I would say: "That's it, they can't do that".

I put them on, start the music and that's it. That's all it has to be. Can it be that simple? Yes, it can!