[Kerry56]

I sincerely doubt it has anything to do with the SDAC. Experimenting with other sources gives the same sibilance, once I remove the materials in front of the drivers. I also get a little sibilance with my X2's and always have. It's not enough to bother me most of the time. It really depends on the songs.

None of my other headphones demonstrate sibilance from the SDAC or my other computers.

So, my conclusion is that it is the tuning of these two headphones in combination with my own, individual hearing. I seem to be more sensitive to this particular sound than many others. From what I've read, sibilance is usually associated with a peak in the 6khz range, but I'm no expert on this subject.

Not an issue now that I have found an easy solution. I'm certainly not above modding my headphones to suit my tastes, especially if those mods are non-destructive and reversible.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

given this statement - why not look around the $2-300 mark at some universally praised headphones like sennheiser650/drop6xx, meze 99, hifiman sundara. another alternative are the $60-ish SuperLux etc "clone-phones"

I think the D5200 sounds more detailed and refined than HD600 that I have. It can be almost like an endgame for RnB, pop, soul, etc.

Some were worried about the mid recess. I think it is recessed like just a TINY little bit, almost unnoticible. Vocals are almost always slightly ahead of the rest of the mix, but ALWAYS present and in unison with the rest of the music.

 

[16tons]

Hi, I can buy the d5200 for 300€ new and the d5000 for 260 used. I had the 5200 and I liked a lot but I returned it, don't heard the d 5000. For those of you that tried both, which one do you prefer?

 

[Hyde00]

Hi, I can buy the d5200 for 300€ new and the d5000 for 260 used. I had the 5200 and I liked a lot but I returned it, don't heard the d 5000. For those of you that tried both, which one do you prefer?

Can't speak for everyone but somehow I really liked D2000 but didn't like D5000 much at all. I find it lack bass and treble.

Someone told me I need a beefier amp to bring out D5000's potential. So at one point I had a 4W amp and still didn't like it. Which is odd because D2000 and D5000 has the same driver.

But in any case...... I liked D5200 over all of them and it sounded good on any source. So D5200 would be my recommendation.

 

[zolkis]

Hi, I can buy the d5200 for 300€ new and the d5000 for 260 used. I had the 5200 and I liked a lot but I returned it, don't heard the d 5000. For those of you that tried both, which one do you prefer?

For me, hands down the new D5200. The D5000 was more colored, darker, perhaps more velvety/syrupy, quite some bass masking (the D5200 has that, too, but it's better IMHO). A used D7000 might be a different thing, though. But even over that I'd prefer the D7200.

If you'd need also a wireless/ANC headphone, the Dali IO-6 sounds very close to the D5200, but it's more useful.

 

[Hyde00]

Yeah for reference, D5200 for me was able to beat D2000, D5000, E-Mu Teak, TH-X00 Mahogany, TH-X00 Ebony.

LOL I even like D5200 over D9200.

I think I was only able to upgrade when I got Lawton TH900, but even so I had to change ear pad and change wire until I find a happy ground.

So if you just want something sounds good stock, get D5200.

If you have a lot of pads around and not scared to experiment, then Lawton TH900 is better. But it also cost way more LOL.

 

[16tons]

I had 5200, 7200, 9200, this last just sold. I ll re- buy the smaller, Imho is the most balanced, 7200 funniest and the 92000 is better overall but the price is exaggerated

 

[GloriousLettuce]

I had 5200, 7200, 9200, this last just sold. I ll re- buy the smaller, Imho is the most balanced, 7200 funniest and the 92000 is better overall but the price is exaggerated

I kept the D5200 and D7200 and agreed the D5200 is the most balanced - to me the combination of D5200 and D7200 is my closed back endgame, now awaiting my LCD-2 to arrive. I like dark headphones.

D9200 was unlistenable bright to me even with EQ which did kill its tonality. My ears are too young for that extreme sizzle.

 

[Rakyan]

I have the 5200 and sent back the 9200, not because it was too bright or hot, but too forward sounding. Furthermore not really saw the insane price difference compare the 5200 what i bought at sale for about 400$. (probably japanese crafting take away the most cost)

My question is, what are the most prominent differences between the 5200 and 7200? I heard that the 7200s are better in every aspect, others say they are the same but with different tuning. What about with the laid back feeling what i like in the 5200? Is the 7200 a laid back too or its a forward sounding like the 9200?

 

[god-bluff]

I have the 5200 and sent back the 9200, not because it was too bright or hot, but too forward sounding. Furthermore not really saw the insane price difference compare the 5200 what i bought at sale for about 400$. (probably japanese crafting take away the most cost)

My question is, what are the most prominent differences between the 5200 and 7200? I heard that the 7200s are better in every aspect, others say they are the same but with different tuning. What about with the laid back feeling what i like in the 5200? Is the 7200 a laid back too or its a forward sounding like the 9200?

They are quite different. The 7200 is much warmer with better bass, in both quantity and quality. I can’t imagine a headphone having a better low end

It has a less prominent treble. It’s more laid back but after listening it for a while you realise nothing is missing. It’s so unfatguing and yet so satisfying in sound. Can be enjoyed for hours on end.

The 5200 can sounds better only on warmer sources, when it can sound better balanced. And airier. It’s less comfortable having firmer squidgier pads. It’s less attractive. The wood on the 7200 caps has far nicer detail and finish and it has a real leather upper headband in black rather than brown vinyl.

 

[zolkis]

The D9200 is more often bright when not fed from a good enough source and amp. Since they have more resolution (notably in bass, but everywhere), they can reveal more upstream issues as well. This is also the case with e-stats.
The D9200 responds best to pad rolling, so you can alter the character quite much, including the treble.

The D7200 seems to be the sweet spot and it's the most linear, too, including the treble.
The D5200 is a bit bassy and not very high res, but also analog and fluid, very-very competitive in its price class.
The D7200 is even more so, and tends to have more mids as well (therefore, more forward sounding, which is connected to mids -- unlike the D9200 which is not forward (in the mids), but has more treble).

Taking piece by piece, I checked the drivers in each others' enclosures and cables. All IMHO...
- The D9200 driver has far better resolution than the D7200 driver, but it has a treble peak. (Similarly as the TH900 drivers are far better than the TH600 and TX6xx drivers, but also have an even more nasty treble. These drivers would need some special coating for the dome part, similarly to high end dome tweeters.)
- The bamboo cups sound more open and more musical than the walnut of the D7200 or the zebrawood of the D5200.
For instance, put the D7200 driver assemblies in the D9200 housing and cables and you get the best balance. It would be an amazing headphone on its own.
- The D7200 cable matches better the D9200 (helps tame the treble and provide more dynamic bite) and vice versa.
- The D9200 cable is a tad more open and more fluid.
- All Denon cables are pretty high quality compared to similarly priced 3rd party cables, but you can do better, with pure solid-core copper in cotton + external shield, or pure silver cables.
- Ear pads matter a lot. Denon should have used the same pads with about 30-40% less foam mass, that sounds perfect: opens up a huge sound stage, increases musical resolution, improves bass delineation a lot, etc. Otherwise the Stax 007 and 009 pads work very well with them. The D7200 with such pads has beaten the stock D9200 to my ears (from Hugo 2).

Each model has its price-relative strengths, and IMHO they get better (e.g. musical resolution) with the price, but have their own quirks or even disadvantages. Choose your own compromise.

What I'd take for best compromises: D7200 with pure silver cables, or D9200 with pure copper cables. Or if price matters, the D5200 with pure silver cables. All of them with better ear pads, which make the biggest changes of all.

 

[GloriousLettuce]

The soundstage size in the D7200 compared to D5200 is nuts. A/B-ing them made D5200 sound claustrophobic although pleasing.

D7200 feels like a bigger stage because of greater separation and more deeper bass.

 

[16tons]

Do these headphones scale well with dac/ amp? I m using it with a shanling up4 22 with a balanced cable 4.4 mm and an adaptor, the shanling balanced output is 2.5mm, seems too tiny to be durable in time. I use on Bluetooth and wired mode and the volume is enough for me, changing the dongle, e.g. a shanling ua4, will improve the sound? My source of music is Spotify and tidal

 

[GloriousLettuce]

Do these headphones scale well with dac/ amp? I m using it with a shanling up4 22 with a balanced cable 4.4 mm and an adaptor, the shanling balanced output is 2.5mm, seems too tiny to be durable in time. I use on Bluetooth and wired mode and the volume is enough for me, changing the dongle, e.g. a shanling ua4, will improve the sound? My source of music is Spotify and tidal

In my experience, Apple dongle is already close to endgame for D5200 in terms of quality and powerful tone. I use a mixer and tried BTR7. The dongle beats the BTR7. But I haven't tried any high end stuff.

 

[Hyde00]

Do these headphones scale well with dac/ amp? I m using it with a shanling up4 22 with a balanced cable 4.4 mm and an adaptor, the shanling balanced output is 2.5mm, seems too tiny to be durable in time. I use on Bluetooth and wired mode and the volume is enough for me, changing the dongle, e.g. a shanling ua4, will improve the sound? My source of music is Spotify and tidal

It's been a while so I could remember wrong but, from memory I think D5200 do scale with gear but also sounds good on just about anything.

At the time I had Burson Playmate 2 and I think the soundstage did expand with desktop gear as oppose to dongle.

But honestly I thought it was already really enjoyable with dongle DAC.

So if you have spare money and need desktop use, then you could try desktop gear. Otherwise I'd not stress over it.

Though are you using 3 adapters just to do usb c to usb c LOL?