[nicholars]

Just tried the 1540 pads on them out of interest, I did not have very much hope they would be good, bass a lot worse, treble worse, generally worse hah. Anyone tried the X00 pads on the 7200?

 

[SpudHarris]

I will get some pics up but can confirm the Dekoni TH900 leather pads are a 100% fit.

 

[zolkis]

I have considered the Massdrop TH-X00 versions, but many say their sound stage is too small. And since I want the headphone for gaming and movies as well as music, I don't think they'll suit my needs.[...]
Is the stax 009 mod still the same ? I mean replacing the white ring with the gray felt, or should I just remove the white ring only ?

IIRC the TH-X00 versions had slightly larger sound stage than the stock D7200. You might be happy with an Ebony or Teac or Mahogany version. But all of them are quite bright and have V-shaped frequency response.

The 009 ear pad mod is about removing the white ring. The felt ring was an earlier mod (sounds better than the white ring, but not as good as without any).
Of course one can start with the stock 009 pads - perhaps many won't feel the need to mod it.

I believe the Stax pads are much bigger than the stock ones (correct me if I'm wrong). So I'm not sure you can put them around the stock black ring to snap onto the headphones. I believe zolkis mentioned you have to use double sided tape to keep the earpads on.
I also believe the stock TH900 and Dekoni TH900 pads are also slightly bigger though will still fit on the black ring to snap back onto the headphones.
I think only the ZMF Ori pads fits on nicely, though I don't think they sound better than the stock pads.
I seriously considered the the Stax pads but after realizing they don't fit at all, it turned me off to trying them. I'm just curious how much bigger they are. Zolkis do you have a photo with the Stax pads on the D7200?

Correct, the D7200 pads are quite small, the TH900 pads are bigger (but fit the D7200 without problems), the ZMF Ori fits, the ZMF Eikon and Ether Voce does not (it's way too big).
The Stax 009 pads are also bigger than the TH900 pads, but they can be fit on the D7200 with the plastic rings or without them (by using double sided adhesive).

It's important to emphasize that all my hymn of praise concerns a nearly 2 years old D7200 without any cups damping, and the modded 009 pads (without dust grill cloth) mounted *with* the D7200 black rings.

Picture of modded Stax pads on the D7200.



The modded Stax pads with the Denon mounting ring, with the modded D7200 pads.



The way to mount the (stock or moded) 009 pads on the D7200:
- At the back of the 009 pads you see the pleather flap (ring) that helps mounting.
- I don't use the 009 black dust cloth that is mounted on a plastic ring, but if you do use it, put that first behind the flaps.
- Put the black mounting ring behind the flaps (on the top of the dust grill).
- Pull back the 009 pads' flaps so that the 4 clickers are visible and the flap's edge touches the clickers.
- Keep the pads in that pulled-apart stage until you click in the clickers (one, then the opposite side, another, then the opposite side).
- After mounting the pads, pull out uniformly about 1-2 mm of the flap around the circumference of the housing to arrange the pads on the headphone.

After a few weeks when you are sure you want to keep the 009 pads on the D7200, you can cut small (2-3 mm deep and about 10 mm long) recesses into the flaps to make space for the 4 clickers, as this permits a slightly tighter mounting of the pads. I did that on one of my 009 pads and didn't do it on the other; the former looks perfectly fit on the phones but doesn't sound better. I am currently using the latter one (without recesses).

The stock 009 pads are tighter fit than the modded pads.

FWIW with some music pieces I prefer the modded D7200 pads (+ black rings) over the modded 009 pads, but with most music I prefer the 009 pads (with the black rings, but they sound good even without them, more open).

 

[Xlaw]

Someone in another thread said that the stock D7200's sound stage is poor due to a lack of depth. Does the modded Stax 009 pad fix this also ?

BTW, I managed to get a great deal on them: 400 pounds, Arriving next week. Now I'm thinking of buying the pad.

 

[HungryPanda]

Give them a good listen before buying any pads, I really enjoy them stock

 

[Xlaw]

Give them a good listen before buying any pads, I really enjoy them stock

Can you give me a general impression of what it sound like for music and gaming ?

 

[HungryPanda]

great for music, lovely low end, vocals sound just great and highs are sweet and no piercing. It puts a lot of my other gear in the shade

 

[nicholars]

Has anyone experimented with any sort of damping over the drivers eg. between the drivers and your ears? Some headphones like Aeon and cascade have these options, possibly this would help with the 7200?

Also Zolkis mods seem to be aiming for "more" treble as "better", but I do not want any more treble, if anything I would like less treble around 12Khz area.

I do think these are good though, impressive bass, mostly good midrange, good imaging, good soundstage, could be a bit bigger, but it is good.

Can anyone help me with this, or Zolkis can you give me some options that do not make the headphones brighter? Are the Dekoni TH900 pads any good for this? Also what about those AHG pads?

 

[sysfail]

Has anyone experimented with any sort of damping over the drivers eg. between the drivers and your ears? Some headphones like Aeon and cascade have these options, possibly this would help with the 7200?

I do think these are good, otherwise I would just get rid of them and not even bother considering modding them, but I would be happier with them if I could improve the midrange smoothness and also I find the treble a bit sharp around 12khz (probably most people would not have this problem, I have this sensitivity to 12Khz area on most headphones). Also would the cup damping help with this?

Also Zolkis mods seem to be aiming for "more" treble as "better", but I do not want any more treble, if anything I would like less treble around 12Khz area. This is not "right" or "wrong", but I am not sure if the sound Zolkis is going for is the same as me.

I would be happier with these if they had : Smoother midrange, same or less / smoother treble around 12Khz (eg. not more), bigger soundstage.

I do think these are good though, impressive bass, mostly good midrange, good imaging, good soundstage (could be a bit bigger, but otherwise it is good, it sounds realistic or "coherent" rather than the "DSP effect" you get on a lot of headphones.

Can anyone help me with this, or Zolkis can you give me some options that do not make the headphones brighter? As you seem to have tried everything under the sun maybe you can give me some recommendation for my preferences?

Are the Dekoni TH900 pads any good for this? Also what about those AHG pads which are very cheap?

I did have some similar complaints about the stock sound of the D7200 with the “shouty” upper mids/lower treble which can get irritating in some cases. I also felt the stock sound was a little “messy/congested” and a bit too dark for my tastes. I took some advice from Zolkis with the Creatology felt on the flat part of the wood cups and remembered I had left over material from when I tried the Anax mod on my HD800. I used the same materials and covered the flat part of the wood cups while removing the stock felt material completely and it definitely took down the “shoutyness” of the sound. Additionally, I also felt it slightly increased the bass, brought out the top end a little more, gave a little more air, and soundstage. Overall made the sound more clear and balanced for me with some very sweet bass which I wanted to contrast the HD800 (this is with the stock pads).

I originally only used about a quarter size of the dampening material in the middle of the wood cups and the sound reminded me of my Grados. Very “airy”, bright, and “punchy”. Actually wasn’t bad at all, but a bit too overwhelming for me which is why I switched to covering all of the flat part of the wood cups. I’m really glad the D7200 can be tuned to sound pretty amazing. I don’t really have any compliants now.

 

[nicholars]

Thanks, yes looks like the best and easiest option would be changing the damping in the cups, I would happily get some new pads for these, such as Dekoni or whatever else, but from what Zolkis said only the modded stock pads and the Stax pads are an improvement. The thing is that an improvement to one person might be worse to someone else, I do not in any way doubt that Zolkis knows what he is talking about, but everyone has different preferences. Personally I would not want the treble any brighter, whereas Zolkis is / was looking for brighter treble and also likes the TH900, I am pretty sure I would not like the TH900 from the FR graphs and what people have said about it. Can anyone recommend any pads that are good for what I listed above?

 

[zolkis]

Please check history. I have published measurements with the pads - they are not bright, any of them. The stock pads make a bit subdued treble.
Also, I have posted pictures for fixing the shoutiness with cups damping.
When I say I like the TH900 and elsewhere I say they are hot in the treble, one should not infer that I like them because of the treble.
FWIW I hate bright head-gear, even my modded TH900 has better treble than the stock (yet I find it still hot in the treble). But it's not the treble I like it for, but the transparency, huge sound stage and dynamic, lively sound. Which is what the D7200 sound with the modded D7200 pads (but smaller sound stage than TH900). The modded 009 pads make bigger sound stage, with more open and more transparent sound - however, the modded D7200 pads are perhaps a tad more dynamic. With both you might need the cups damping mod.

 

[zolkis]

Give them a good listen before buying any pads, I really enjoy them stock

FWIW I have also heard D7200 samples that didn't need any mods to sound good... er.. amazing.

One should not have unrealistic expectations from pad changes. They won't suddenly give the D7200 the sound quality of Stax SR-009 with HD800 sound stage in a closed headphone for little to no money. Everyone is hoping for that kind of modern alchemy, needless to say when that will happen.

However, pad changes might unlock the true potential of the headphones to compete with stuff costing 2-3 times their price, or just simply to adapt to personal preferences, and it's the biggest change someone can make to headphone sound for the least amount of money.

 

[zolkis]

Someone in another thread said that the stock D7200's sound stage is poor due to a lack of depth. Does the modded Stax 009 pad fix this also ?

BTW, I managed to get a great deal on them: 400 pounds, Arriving next week. Now I'm thinking of buying the pad.

Good catch... leaves a lot of money for pads .

The modded D7200 pads will make the stage bigger but won't change the character of the sound. I do recommend it.

The modded 009 pads do change the sound character to more open, even bigger stage, but there personal preferences might also kick in. So if someone is not sure whether the investment is worth it, maybe just should not do it. If one already has 009 pads around, try them on the D7200 in stock form (and eventually in modded form), and please report the findings here so that people have more input.

The AHG oval pads linked earlier are cheap, good quality, "honest" pad option that will sound good with a number of headphones. I hope they will extend range and disrupt the pads business. IMHO the stuffing inside is too thick, but anyway it's not worse than much more expensive pads (IMHO the use of memory foam is too much of a sonic compromise for more comfort). I don't know whether you will like the AHG pads more than the stock pads (IIRC on the D7200 I didn't), but it's so cheap you don't risk much with it. In turn when I modded the AHG pads, it was game changer for an oval e-stat that one of my friends was ready to discard but with the new pads called it the best ever - so much about what pad changes can do.

 

[SpudHarris]

I am gutted, mine have developed a low range distortion on the left driver which has made critical listening impossible. Had to send back for repair...

It's not on all music but most of my favourite tunes are bass heavy. Got other phones but these are being missed badly at present.

 

[k4syx]

I am gutted, mine have developed a low range distortion on the left driver which has made critical listening impossible. Had to send back for repair...

It's not on all music but most of my favourite tunes are bass heavy. Got other phones but these are being missed badly at present.

Well well well.
Exactly same thing happened to mine, about a month ago. Left driver started distorting on bass notes, not always, but when it did, it was pretty bad. Like it was resonating for some reason when playing with some specific frequency. They are under warranty repair now, for quite long time actually. I got news yesterday that both drivers are sourced from Japan and both of them will be replaced.

What's the chance of exactly the same problem happening randomly to two different headsets?

When I noticed the problem I used the headphoneshaker bass test mp3 (basically bass sweep) to confirm the problem and the rattle wasn't something that you can miss....