[SoundDouble]

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Let's see how this develops. I just ordered a balanced cable from Meze, they run a 50% off promo on them - interesting to see if things changes in some way.
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I ordered the balanced cable from meze website also, but then I found out amazon had them the same price and I would've gotten free shipping. If you didn't order yet I would check.

 

[WilcoRoger]

I ordered the balanced cable from meze website also, but then I found out amazon had them the same price and I would've gotten free shipping. If you didn't order yet I would check.

Some issues - none of the European Amazon sites would deliver THIS product to my country. Even if they did deliver, aside from the German site, all the rest of them charge for delivery (free only for domestic). amazon.de delivers free also here over a certain amount. The price would have been at best the same at worst 5-10% higher + delivery.

Generally when prices are the same/similar, I prefer ordering from the manufacturer, so they get to keep the full margin without having to split with amazon. Meze is a brand where I have no issues ordering from. DHL says it should arrive by the end of the day, so express delivery for the price of normal, too.

 

[WilcoRoger]

I've had 1 week now with these - either I got used to them or they really got better. I really, really like them, definitely a keeper. Having to work from home and only few phone calls, I listen to music much much more than in normal times, so these got some serious ear-time.

I use them now with the Meze balanced cable (it arrived in 24 hrs - great job!) which is very nice and convenient. It cost about the same as the discount I got from the Denon vendor, so a nice total package. My source is either a Pioneer XDP-30R or a Sony A55/Fiio Q1mk2 combo.

The current going price of 400€ or so is reasonable and I think it gives the best bang for the buck in the AH-Dx200 series.

 

[KCXT]

I ordered a pair of these in early December and the headphones were defective out of the box; 5-6 db channel imbalance, with the left being quieter (tried multiple cables and same result each time), and the left also distorting/buzzing heavily with bass at or above a typical listening volume. I immediately called Denon and they opened a ticket and directed it to 'another department for decision', sending an email confirmation that they were working on it.

5 weeks and 5 more contacts later - another phone call where another rep told me the same thing and 4 email inquiries through email and their ticketing/messaging site - there's been no decision/further action from Denon. I always try to be gracious with company service, particularly around the holidays, but this is very disappointing. From the good right driver I think these sound pretty darn good and they're quite comfortable on my head but damn if they seem to not want to send me a working one.

First-world problem of course but they sent an out-of-the-box broken one, so just send a new one and I'll send the broken one back. No idea what's going on behind the scenes of course but seems pretty straightforward.

 

[WilcoRoger]

The advantage of a brick-and-mortar retailer is obvious when things go belly up - you can always march right in and demand a solution on the spot. And of course you have the local consumer protection laws on your side.

having said that - commiserations for your bad luck.

 

[KCXT]

The advantage of a brick-and-mortar retailer is obvious when things go belly up - you can always march right in and demand a solution on the spot. And of course you have the local consumer protection laws on your side.

having said that - commiserations for your bad luck.

Agreed, and given that this is Denon themselves I'm surprised at the difficulty. That said, even with my metro area being well over 2 million people there are zero headphone retailers within about 4 hours that aren't Best Buy and their Beats/Sennheiser/Sony/B&O Magnolia headphones. I bet many, if not a majority, of people don't have local access to some typical brands these days.

It's really a bummer as a chargeback appears to be on the horizon... I just wanted to give them some money for a pair of headphones.

 

[Smoothstereo]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, KCXT. Denon has been around for 110 years and is under the Sound United umbrella. With that great history, I hope they stand behind their products and services and resolve your defective headphone soon.

Perhaps due to covid-19 and the tail end of the crazy holiday orders have put them behind. But an exchange replacement should not be that difficult unless there is no more stock or something. Hopefully you can call and speak to a manager to straighten this out. The D5200 do sound amazing so hope you get to enjoy them when said and done.

 

[bigjako]

All this talk about the Meze Balanced cables made me try out my Hart Audio HC-9 cable on the D5200s, since I knew it was the equivalent of the Meze cable, and lo and behold it works very well. I'm using it on my D5200 cable right now (I thought my EMU Teak versions, which I think are Hart's HC-7, would work but no, it works better with the Hifiman-compatible cables).

In any case, I highly recommend the Hart Audio interconnect system - very reasonably priced and let you swap your cans into multiple amps, balanced or not.

 

[auronthas]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience, KCXT. Denon has been around for 110 years and is under the Sound United umbrella. With that great history, I hope they stand behind their products and services and resolve your defective headphone soon.

Perhaps due to covid-19 and the tail end of the crazy holiday orders have put them behind. But an exchange replacement should not be that difficult unless there is no more stock or something. Hopefully you can call and speak to a manager to straighten this out. The D5200 do sound amazing so hope you get to enjoy them when said and done.

Agreed, please bear with any manufacturers or sellers at this difficult time, hope KCXT's defective headphone will be sorted out soon.

One of my favorites headphones.

 

[WilcoRoger]

All this talk about the Meze Balanced cables made me try out my Hart Audio HC-9 cable on the D5200s, since I knew it was the equivalent of the Meze cable, and lo and behold it works very well. I'm using it on my D5200 cable right now (I thought my EMU Teak versions, which I think are Hart's HC-7, would work but no, it works better with the Hifiman-compatible cables).

In any case, I highly recommend the Hart Audio interconnect system - very reasonably priced and let you swap your cans into multiple amps, balanced or not.

I didn't know about Hart Audio, they seem to have nice and reasonably priced products - but as they seem to be US based, for Europeans Meze is more practical.

 

[sacguy231]

Just got these today, very pleased so far! Not much time on them so I still need to burn them in and do more critical listening. But, first impressions are positive: great bass, and sub bass; it is clean and not boomy. This is a mid-forward can to my ears, might need to play around with eq as a couple tracks felt a *touch* too mid forward, but also I need to let my brain adjust to their signature. Highs are sparkly but not overly bright. Build and comfort is good. Stock pads aren’t huge though they are just big enough that I can live with them. I read about the easily scratched cups, and yikes! They are very matte...I could easily see them getting damaged. I actually spent some time tonight doing a couple coats of clear satin wipe-on poly on the wood and it looks great (I’ve used it before so felt confident attempting it). The poly seemed to help bring out some of the grain, and they should be much better protected These are my very first pair of Denon cans so I don’t know how to assess these relative to other Denon models, or their house sound, but at some of the current used market prices I think this is a very excellent headphone.

 

[auronthas]

Just got these today, very pleased so far! Not much time on them so I still need to burn them in and do more critical listening. But, first impressions are positive: great bass, and sub bass; it is clean and not boomy. This is a mid-forward can to my ears, might need to play around with eq as a couple tracks felt a *touch* too mid forward, but also I need to let my brain adjust to their signature. Highs are sparkly but not overly bright. Build and comfort is good. Stock pads aren’t huge though they are just big enough that I can live with them. I read about the easily scratched cups, and yikes! They are very matte...I could easily see them getting damaged. I actually spent some time tonight doing a couple coats of clear satin wipe-on poly on the wood and it looks great (I’ve used it before so felt confident attempting it). The poly seemed to help bring out some of the grain, and they should be much better protected These are my very first pair of Denon cans so I don’t know how to assess these relative to other Denon models, or their house sound, but at some of the current used market prices I think this is a very excellent headphone.

Congrats ! Enjoy your new gear. Or you can use wood polish like Pledge to keep maintain zebrawood from scratches?

 

[PolloLoco]

Has anyone else tried larger pads on these? On a whim I tried to fit 110mm brainwavz xl hybrids on these, and while it was a pain they worked. I've been listening to them this way for the last 10 hours, and there's no way I'm going back to the stock pads.

The larger ear opening added soundstage which I kind of expected, also considering these pads are 30mm deep all around instead of just the angled thick end. I was shocked and very pleased to find the mids are noticeably clearer though. These are my first pads with a fenestrated interior. Perhaps the small opening and solid material of the original pads caused echoes?

In any case, these sound a lot more open now. They were my favorite closed backs already but now I regularly get shivers down my spine. I genuinely feel like there's not a huge drop-off when I go to my open backs or even my Nectar Stats.

I realize sound preference is personal, but I'm curious if anyone else tried larger pads with a larger opening?

 

[Philimon]

@PolloLoco They really did sound amazing but the highs were just too much, which is why I only tried other smaller pads with small openings. I find larger pads, larger openings, and permeable material all increase brightness. I liked D5200 best with thinner lambskin pads. Lamb texture better at mitigating reflections than cow leather (ime). I also tried really thin pads from Fostex t50rp but the lack of seal killed bass.

 

[PolloLoco]

@PolloLoco They really did sound amazing but the highs were just too much, which is why I only tried other smaller pads with small openings. I find larger pads, larger openings, and permeable material all increase brightness. I liked D5200 best with thinner lambskin pads. Lamb texture better at mitigating reflections than cow leather (ime). I also tried really thin pads from Fostex t50rp but the lack of seal killed bass.

Thanks for the feedback. I didn't think I increased brightness all that much, but I'm 43 and my hearing only goes up to 15khz. That said, I borrowed a friend's grados that I fixed for him, and found the treble fatiguing.

Before this random experiment I'd already ordered thin angled pads and a leather headband from Vesper Audio. I'll report back how they work. I expect them to look and feel better than these relatively cheap pads, but hopefully the sound won't be disappointing by comparison.