[Maxx134]

Can you tell me the differences you perceive between the MM400s and the AH-7200's?

The mm400 are nice but low end is elevated.
The 7200 show you similar tonality in mids but upper spectrum is much more clear as is the bass as well as larger stage so clarity is way better.

For portable use the mm400 are at the top with other best portables, only it is bass elevated

 

[Jimster480]

The mm400 are nice but low end is elevated.
The 7200 show you similar tonality in mids but upper spectrum is much more clear as is the bass as well as larger stage so clarity is way better.

For portable use the mm400 are at the top with other best portables, only it is bass elevated

Yes I noticed the upper level is a bit muted and not as accurate / analytical like my RP-HD10's.

 

[SRKRAM]

The mm400 are nice but low end is elevated.
The 7200 show you similar tonality in mids but upper spectrum is much more clear as is the bass as well as larger stage so clarity is way better.

For portable use the mm400 are at the top with other best portables, only it is bass elevated

I haven't heard the 7200s, but I used to own the MM400s. They are very good headphones, and my only complaint with them was that the bass was a little bloated and loose. To put things into perspective, my main closed headphones at the time were Beyerdynamic T5p generation 2s and the D7100s. Everything else about the mm400s was very good. They didn't have any annoying peaks anywhere, and they were very resolving.

Maxx134, I'm interested to know what king of mods you have done to your D7200s, even if they wouldn't be easy to replicate.

 

[zolkis]

In my experience the best sounding mods for the D7200 are similar to those on the TH900.

1. Use the Chinese pads, without the plastic pad mounting rings, but glued to the housing with small stripes of double sided adhesive tape. This alone will make the D7200 sound much better IMHO. Note that I have tried about 3 pairs of the Chinese pads, and they all sounded slightly different, so YMMV.

2. Optionally replace the damping material from the cups to very light filling of Twaron Angelhair like on the picture. I stress on _very_ light filling. Overdamp it and the sound becomes dark really fast.
Take care when re-mounting the wooden cups: first start to turn the screws lightly in reverse direction until it clicks (finds position), then lightly turn them in, then press the cups to the housing with the fingers while securing the screws with more force, in order to not put stress on the threads. It is absolutely important to use the same thread in the wood as before unmounting. Patience, light hands, small movements, sensitive torque control.



Edits:
1. With the Twaron in the cups, also the original pads sound good. A bit deeper and slightly darker tone than the Chinese pads which sound a bit more vivid and more "lit up" with colors. It depends on music which one I prefer, but I think the Chinese pads would appeal for more people, even though "deeper tone" is generally desirable.
2. By using good quality (denser, thicker) double sided adhesive, I can take off the pads without marks on the housing, and put them on several times without losing grip. The plastic pad mounting rings are retired for good.

 

[Beagle]

Not sure why anyone would mod this headphone. To my ears it sounds great as is.

 

[Jimster480]

Not sure why anyone would mod this headphone. To my ears it sounds great as is.

I think I will be getting one in the future!

 

[Beagle]

I used to tweak. Then I went out and got headphones with the sound I was looking for. Many times. I find with modding/tweaking you gain something and you lose something. Makes temporary happiness.

 

[butch111]

certainly

 

[zolkis]

Not sure why anyone would mod this headphone.

To make it sound personally "better" (whatever that means to someone)?
To experiment with variables that would have taken too much time and cost during a product cycle?

Not sure why anyone would mod this headphone. To my ears it sounds great as is.

Then obviously you don't need to mod... .
However, there's been others, myself included, who have found the stock D7200 to have too much mids and not enough bass impact.

Maybe it's just about taste and preference, but mods may give a second chance to these indeed excellent headphones, provided one is open to spend a few bucks and some minimal time to try out something that costs a fraction of e.g. a cable change, but produce way bigger differences (not saying "improvements").

It is completely normal to expect factory optimized headphones, and it is completely understandable why people would not want to mod - it is the way it should be. However, there are also valid reasons to mod.

There is only one headphone in my past that I could make marginally different, but not better to my ears: the Stax 009.

 

[butch111]

too much mids..... this declares everything mids are not too much - they are natural present...and you try to make a beyerdynamik out of the denon.

 

[SAndreev]

I really like how 7200 sound, the only changes I made so far is the custom balanced cable (shorter as well) and a headband pad from ZMF (much better comfort for me).

I would not mind experimenting with pads as well, waiting for thinner version of Ori pads Zach promised to come later this year, as I think they should work really well with 7200. But I don't really understand people doing deep modding, like changing the dampening and such, but I agree some people just like tinkering with things, it's in their nature.

 

[zolkis]

too much mids..... this declares everything mids are not too much - they are natural present...and you try to make a beyerdynamik out of the denon.

This one actually shows up on measurements (by multiple people) as a ridge on the CSD, indicating a resonance. Your ears fool you: what you call "natural presence" is a coloration because of a ringing. Depending on the music type, it may sound subjectively better, but no, it is not good.

 

[ruhenheiM]

audio is personal.especially headphone. the owner pretty much the one who listen to them if they found out something worth to try it's up to them by the end of the day they are the one who listen to it. there are many headphones in this forum has been modding extensively, like sennhesier hd800, denon, fostex t50rp, grado, some people who modding them made a business out of it, some of them even made their headphones and somehow no one complaint about it

he just sharing how he mod them. that's good for community, people sharing stuff, maybe you should told that to those people who actually selling their mods, might even try to tell that to sennheiser, if i'm not mistaken hd800s pretty mutch hd800 with tape mod right? or maybe i'm wrong, i'm not really paying too much attention to that headphone

 

[phaeton70]

Not sure why anyone would mod this headphone. To my ears it sounds great as is.

+1

but maybe the mods are to better adapt an already great hp for one's particular taste and make it greater

 

[BuddhaBruce]

Has anyone been able to compare the D7200 with Mr Speaker Aeons?