[MalinYamato]

I have used 5000, 5200 and 7200 and the latter is a clear winner for me. I also have Sundara and some other phones but I mostly use my 7200 -- I love it and it has been my on-the-go phone. Anyway, after a year, I am selling my 7200 to get a 9200 -- I was thinking of a Dan Clark Eon Flow 2 or Focal Celestee, but I decided to remain a Denonie. Denons are kinda unknown and underrated as an HP brand but I hope the secret that Denon phones are great is kept, not for them to rise in price -- be quiet.

 

[Bboy500]

Reading this topic half the people are saying the mids are recessed, half are saying they are forward... Thinking of buying this headphone for hip-hop (And minor travel) purposes, kind of a big thing for me lmao. Can anyone chime in with a more definite answer or is there just some sort of variance going on?

I'm definitely looking to avoid recessed mids, I have never liked that quality on any headphone for my music.

 

[Mhog55]

Reading this topic half the people are saying the mids are recessed, half are saying they are forward... Thinking of buying this headphone for hip-hop (And minor travel) purposes, kind of a big thing for me lmao. Can anyone chime in with a more definite answer or is there just some sort of variance going on?

I'm definitely looking to avoid recessed mids, I have never liked that quality on any headphone for my music.

I don't find the mids forward or recessed. Fairly balanced imo. The upper mids might have a little extra extension I suppose, but I'm not hearing any extra bump or spike in the low mids. They wouldn't be my 1st choice for hip hop. I'd want something a little warmer with some more heft and meat in the upper bass/low mids. Different strokes

 

[Bboy500]

I don't find the mids forward or recessed. Fairly balanced imo. The upper mids might have a little extra extension I suppose, but I'm not hearing any extra bump or spike in the low mids. They wouldn't be my 1st choice for hip hop. I'd want something a little warmer with some more heft and meat in the upper bass/low mids. Different strokes

Perfect, thank you :] I'm really just trying to avoid spending $1,100+ for an ZMF Atticus because from everything I've read I would absolutely love those.... But I really don't want to part with that much money for a single genre headphone. I love my Aryas in every way, except when it comes to most of my hip-hop songs.

I don't know what else is $400 or less though (Which is about what I'm trying to spend at max) which has the solid reviews these do for what I'm looking at. Also was thinking I could use these for travel purposes since they are only 24 ohms/closed and on the go I'm just wanting a "fun" sig. I've tried the meze 99 classics for example and those were way too much on the bloated bass side which kinda led me to these... And the 7200 are written as even more bass, so at what point am I back into the "too much bass" camp... I need to listen to some of these soon lol

 

[Mhog55]

The 7200 only has a touch more sub bass, but it's more refined, deeper, and layered. It's definitely a more resolving headphone as well. If you want a happy medium between the Denon and Atticus, I'd recommend the Kennerton Magni. You can purchase the LSA HP-3 from Underwood HiFi for 550 bucks. I definitely wouldn't consider the Atticus or Magni portable, but the bass from the LSA HP-3 would be great with Hip Hop.

 

[Smoothstereo]

Reading this topic half the people are saying the mids are recessed, half are saying they are forward... Thinking of buying this headphone for hip-hop (And minor travel) purposes, kind of a big thing for me lmao. Can anyone chime in with a more definite answer or is there just some sort of variance going on?

I'm definitely looking to avoid recessed mids, I have never liked that quality on any headphone for my music.

I guess it depends on which headphones you are comparing the D5200 to. The mids on the D5200 are a bit more forward vs the Sundara and X2HR, but less forward than an Elegia. I would say the mids are similar to an Audioquest Nighthawk if that helps.

 

[Mhog55]

I guess it depends on which headphones you are comparing the D5200 to. The mids on the D5200 are a bit more forward vs the Sundara and X2HR, but less forward than an Elegia. I would say the mids are similar to an Audioquest Nighthawk if that helps.

I don't feel this is the case. The upper mids of the Bird family are dark in comparison, and the low mids are quite a bit warmer in nature. Warm and dark vs relatively neutral.

 

[bigjako]

I’ve had the Nighthawks and loved them for a time, but the mids on the Nighthawk are much more recessed than on these. The Nighhawks mids are actually quite good, that’s one part of their dark, warm and wet seduction - but the mids on the 5200 are just much more “normal”. I agree that they’re neither recessed or forward. It is probably just me but these cans are like that mildly attractive milquetoast athletic smart friend you had. Solid B+ everywhere. No complaints. But compare them to the bohemian Nighthawk, which had a radical POV and a weird fashion sense.

The 5200 had a more successful career but the Nighthawk had more fun and adventure along the way.

l’ve given my 5200s to my wife, at least until I need a really good closed back for offices. Like tofu, they can be marinated easily - pad rolling made a big difference for me. The stocks (and the custom houses I had lying around) made them very bassy and almost bloomy. I used some Dekoni and Brainwavz perfs, and they significantly widened the soundstage but lost most of the bass. I ended up preferring them with the Lawton angle pads (there are no other Lawton mods on these) - it was the best combo of bass, soundstage and highs for me. I think the ZMF Auteur pads are supposed to be like that as well.

My subjective opinion is that these cans don’t have a strong, coloured personality, but are a Jack of all trades and does everything above average. I won’t reach for these with other better options around, but I would keep them at work or somewhere I needed closed backs.

Save for the Atticuses if you want magic. But for a specific use case, these’ll do wonderfully for you, with the right pads.

 

[Bboy500]

The 7200 only has a touch more sub bass, but it's more refined, deeper, and layered. It's definitely a more resolving headphone as well. If you want a happy medium between the Denon and Atticus, I'd recommend the Kennerton Magni. You can purchase the LSA HP-3 from Underwood HiFi for 550 bucks. I definitely wouldn't consider the Atticus or Magni portable, but the bass from the LSA HP-3 would be great with Hip Hop.

I'm not quite looking for resolving, I really am just looking for something that works great with hip-hop and simple "fun" mainstream music. Clear/forward mids for rap, nice thumpy bass for fun hip-hop songs (But I'd rather have less bass then too much of it, I hate when bass takes over the other sounds and especially vocals/mids) and something that wont make badly mastered mainstream music sound... badly mastered lol. Being able to take a closed headphone on the go is just a bonus, not required :]

For everything else, I've got the Aryas.

I’ve had the Nighthawks and loved them for a time, but the mids on the Nighthawk are much more recessed than on these. The Nighhawks mids are actually quite good, that’s one part of their farm, warm and wet seduction - but the mids on the 5200 are just much more “normal”. I agree that they’re neither recessed or forward. It is probably just me but these cans are like that mildly attractive milquetoast athletic smart frie d you had. Solid B+ everywhere. No complaints. But compare them to the bohemian Nighthawk, which had a radical POV and a weird fashion sense.

The 5200 had a more successful career but the Nighthawk had more fun and adventure along the way.

l’ve given my 5200s to my wife, at least until I need a really good closed back for offices. Like tofu, they can be marinated easily - pad rolling made a big difference for me. The stocks (and the custom houses I had lying around) made them very bassy and almost bloomy. I used some Dekoni and Brainwavz perfs, and they significantly widened the soundstage but lost most of the bass. I ended up preferring them with the Lawton angle pads (there are no other Lawton mods on these) - it was the best combo of bass, soundstage and highs for me. I think the ZMF Auteur pads are supposed to be like that as well.

My subjective opinion is that these cans don’t have a strong, coloured personality, but are a Jack of all trades and does everything above average. I won’t reach for these with other better options around, but I would keep them at work or somewhere I needed closed backs.

Save for the Atticuses if you want magic. But for a specific use case, these’ll do wonderfully for you, with the right pads.

I feel like if I go straight to Atticus I'll always wonder What else could have satisfied my needs without spending so much. For once I'm in a place where I have no debt and a good amount of savings.... I dont want to quite spend money like I previously have in the past, if I don't have to. I would have no qualms about spending the money if I knew for sure I didn't skip over anything.

I can grab used D5200 for $350 and am thinking to take that just to try it out, but then I have to deal with selling it if it doesn't work and probably taking a small loss. Not the end of the world. I can grab some from Amazon warehouse but it then becomes closer to $600 and while returns are much easier, if I do like them I'd need to wait for another used deal to pop up and return them anyway (No point in paying almost double)

I can try to find a deal on a used D7200 but those aren't nearly as common and still in the $600. Not too bad, might go this route if people here think those work better for my needs. Can try the LSA route Mhog suggested but I'm finding nothing about the headphones and am worried about diving into something with so little info.

--------------
Either way you guys have cleared some things up for me so thanks for the replies so far :] I appreciate the help! If I end up trying the D5200's your sure to see my impressions in this thread. I'll take the night and sleep on it, think it over and try to figure out what I want to do... Hopefully before that used deal goes away. I wish I didn't miss the Black Friday sale but such is life lol

 

[KarlAgathon]

Of course this is subjective, but I find the 7200s serve me very well with many different sub genres of electronic music.

Apologies, I know this thread is about the 5200s, was just making a general response to someone who likes electronic music.

 

[Mhog55]

I’ve had the Nighthawks and loved them for a time, but the mids on the Nighthawk are much more recessed than on these. The Nighhawks mids are actually quite good, that’s one part of their farm, warm and wet seduction - but the mids on the 5200 are just much more “normal”. I agree that they’re neither recessed or forward. It is probably just me but these cans are like that mildly attractive milquetoast athletic smart frie d you had. Solid B+ everywhere. No complaints. But compare them to the bohemian Nighthawk, which had a radical POV and a weird fashion sense.

The 5200 had a more successful career but the Nighthawk had more fun and adventure along the way.

l’ve given my 5200s to my wife, at least until I need a really good closed back for offices. Like tofu, they can be marinated easily - pad rolling made a big difference for me. The stocks (and the custom houses I had lying around) made them very bassy and almost bloomy. I used some Dekoni and Brainwavz perfs, and they significantly widened the soundstage but lost most of the bass. I ended up preferring them with the Lawton angle pads (there are no other Lawton mods on these) - it was the best combo of bass, soundstage and highs for me. I think the ZMF Auteur pads are supposed to be like that as well.

My subjective opinion is that these cans don’t have a strong, coloured personality, but are a Jack of all trades and does everything above average. I won’t reach for these with other better options around, but I would keep them at work or somewhere I needed closed backs.

Save for the Atticuses if you want magic. But for a specific use case, these’ll do wonderfully for you, with the right pads.

Wow. I like your style

 

[Mhog55]

I'm not quite looking for resolving, I really am just looking for something that works great with hip-hop and simple "fun" mainstream music. Clear/forward mids for rap, nice thumpy bass for fun hip-hop songs (But I'd rather have less bass then too much of it, I hate when bass takes over the other sounds and especially vocals/mids) and something that wont make badly mastered mainstream music sound... badly mastered lol. Being able to take a closed headphone on the go is just a bonus, not required :]

For everything else, I've got the Aryas.



I feel like if I go straight to Atticus I'll always wonder What else could have satisfied my needs without spending so much. For once I'm in a place where I have no debt and a good amount of savings.... I dont want to quite spend money like I previously have in the past, if I don't have to. I would have no qualms about spending the money if I knew for sure I didn't skip over anything.

I can grab used D5200 for $350 and am thinking to take that just to try it out, but then I have to deal with selling it if it doesn't work and probably taking a small loss. Not the end of the world. I can grab some from Amazon warehouse but it then becomes closer to $600 and while returns are much easier, if I do like them I'd need to wait for another used deal to pop up and return them anyway (No point in paying almost double)

I can try to find a deal on a used D7200 but those aren't nearly as common and still in the $600. Not too bad, might go this route if people here think those work better for my needs. Can try the LSA route Mhog suggested but I'm finding nothing about the headphones and am worried about diving into something with so little info.

--------------
Either way you guys have cleared some things up for me so thanks for the replies so far :] I appreciate the help! If I end up trying the D5200's your sure to see my impressions in this thread. I'll take the night and sleep on it, think it over and try to figure out what I want to do... Hopefully before that used deal goes away. I wish I didn't miss the Black Friday sale but such is life lol

I'll be selling my set if you're interested. They're basically new. Hit me up if you're interested. I'm only selling in favor of the 7200.

 

[bigjako]

I'm not quite looking for resolving, I really am just looking for something that works great with hip-hop and simple "fun" mainstream music. Clear/forward mids for rap, nice thumpy bass for fun hip-hop songs (But I'd rather have less bass then too much of it, I hate when bass takes over the other sounds and especially vocals/mids) and something that wont make badly mastered mainstream music sound... badly mastered lol. Being able to take a closed headphone on the go is just a bonus, not required :]

For everything else, I've got the Aryas.



I feel like if I go straight to Atticus I'll always wonder What else could have satisfied my needs without spending so much. For once I'm in a place where I have no debt and a good amount of savings.... I dont want to quite spend money like I previously have in the past, if I don't have to. I would have no qualms about spending the money if I knew for sure I didn't skip over anything.

I can grab used D5200 for $350 and am thinking to take that just to try it out, but then I have to deal with selling it if it doesn't work and probably taking a small loss. Not the end of the world. I can grab some from Amazon warehouse but it then becomes closer to $600 and while returns are much easier, if I do like them I'd need to wait for another used deal to pop up and return them anyway (No point in paying almost double)

I can try to find a deal on a used D7200 but those aren't nearly as common and still in the $600. Not too bad, might go this route if people here think those work better for my needs. Can try the LSA route Mhog suggested but I'm finding nothing about the headphones and am worried about diving into something with so little info.

--------------
Either way you guys have cleared some things up for me so thanks for the replies so far :] I appreciate the help! If I end up trying the D5200's your sure to see my impressions in this thread. I'll take the night and sleep on it, think it over and try to figure out what I want to do... Hopefully before that used deal goes away. I wish I didn't miss the Black Friday sale but such is life lol

I will never criticize fiscal responsibility. To beat a dead horse of an analogy, these cans are the functional equivalent of a darn good CPA who is secretary of the local chamber of commerce. I got these for the BF special and at that price, they simply cannot be beat. If I could sell them for MSRP, I probably would, but since I can’t, they’re doing yeoman’s work as great sounding closed backs I don’t stress about breaking.

 

[WilcoRoger]

Just to add - these are huge for travel cans and the stock 3m cable makes them even less practical. For travel I have either earphones (etymotic, klipsch) which are basically weightless and take up no space and/or PX7. In the air/on the road practicalities beat SQ

I bought a 1,2m balanced cable from Meze (55€) and another Meze cable is on the way from son & vidéo, this time 1,2m with 3,5mm plug and mic (44€). Meze doesn't seem to sell this one directly

 

[bigjako]

Any Sundara cables also work for these.