[Hyde00]

Hyde00: If your preference sound-wise is for Grados, I’m not sure you should go for the D7200. The D9200 is most likely the best Denon out of the current line-up methinks
If you really want something closedback with a sound signature like Grados have, there are only really two viable options that I know of, and they come in the form of the Shure SRH940 and the Sony MDR7506.
There was a member here a couple of days ago searching for a closedback Grado or ‘closedback with forward vocals’ - something to that extent, and he ended up getting the 940, which was pretty much exactly what he was looking for
Yup, found the thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/closed-back-headphones-with-forward-vocals.961358/

Ohhhhh, I was searching for something like that a long ago, then I somehow forgot about it but good thing you bring it up again!

I have previously tried to replace my D2000 (ear pad died, can't find good replacements) then I came across SRH1540 and thought it was pretty good.

Didn't know aobut the SRH940 will definitely check it out. Funny because for the longest time I thought closed back Grado is like unicorn or doesn't exists.

EDIT: I took a look at that thread and your explanation is spot on! I did previously did it as a test on headphone that I thought sounded "muffled" and I boosted 2khz and it indeed fixed the issue. At the time I didn't fully understand I just EQ by ear and found that worked. But your explanation in that thread made a lot of sense!

Someone in the thread mentioned Sony MDR CD900st my friend brought it up once too, so this is the 2nd time someone mentioned it. Would have any experience with it by any chance?

This is the one I have with mic and SE termination - at 30 bucks it's a no-brainer, IMO

https://mezeaudio.com/collections/accessories/products/99-series-standard-cables

Awesome, thanks!

Meze cable looks niceeeee ~

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

I’m glad I could help
No I sadly don’t have any experience with the CD900st as it isn’t sold in Europe. It does however look an aweful lot like the 7506, so maybe we’re simply talking the Asian version of the same thing(?).
Anyhoo I’ll stand by my original recs as those are two headphones I’ve owned and know very well.

Back to the D5200
Personally I dig the look of the 5200 over the 7200 and kinda wish they were switched around

 

[Redragon]

I have previously tried to replace my D2000 (ear pad died, can't find good replacements) then I came across SRH1540 and thought it was pretty good.

Don't give up on the D2000 I have them myself, I thought that the d5200 would replace them, but unfortunately they do not give much advice. The original Fostex 610 pads are perfect for the D2000. Practically the same as the Denon with a plastic baffle.

 

[Hyde00]

I’m glad I could help
No I sadly don’t have any experience with the CD900st as it isn’t sold in Europe. It does however look an aweful lot like the 7506, so maybe we’re simply talking the Asian version of the same thing(?).
Anyhoo I’ll stand by my original recs as those are two headphones I’ve owned and know very well.

Back to the D5200
Personally I dig the look of the 5200 over the 7200 and kinda wish they were switched around

I think I'll stick to D5200 for now since I manage to fix the sound signature with a vocal forward dac/amp LOL (Burson Playmate 2 with stock op amp / Dragonfly Red). But definitely will try those 2 headphones in the future.

And from what I read D7200 has different headband than D9200. And since I own both D5200 and D9200 so I conclude D9200 has best headband out of all of them.

And surprisingly, I do like the look of D5200 the best too LOL even though it's cheapest. The bamboo on D9200 is not bad but doesn't look expensive.

I wonder if I can buy D9200 headband parts lol....

Don't give up on the D2000 I have them myself, I thought that the d5200 would replace them, but unfortunately they do not give much advice. The original Fostex 610 pads are perfect for the D2000. Practically the same as the Denon with a plastic baffle.

Lol don't worry I didn't give up on D2000 haha, in fact I liked it so much I bought a spare just in case. So right now I own 4 headphones:

D2000 (original pair, really beat up ear pad otherwise rest in good condition)
D2000 (spare pair I found later, in pristine condition)
D5200 (current daily driver)
D9200 (will sell after I take pictures)

And I've previously also owned and sold D5000, E-Mu Teak, TH-X00 Mahogany, TH-X00 Ebony, and TH900.

That's why I keep telling people maybe I have cheap taste LOL. I sold all the fancy ones and kept all the cheapest ones. Even Playmate 2 I bought the fancy op amp upgrade (V6 Vivid and V6 Classic) but I end up going back to stock one LOL because I like how it sounds. Will sell the V6 op amp later I guess.

THOUGH jokes aside, D2000/D5000/D7000 do sound more open and D5200/D7200/D9200 do sound more closed because 1. They are physically actually more open and the new ones more closed and 2. Ear pad differences.

OH this brings back to TH610 ear pad on D2000. They are actually the best option but they actually don't sound the same lol (very very close though). TH610 uses memory foam and I think it kills the treble a little bit so D2000 ear pad's original foam is squishier and also retain more of treble. As a result D2000 has better sound stage and vocal sounds a bit better too. Again small difference but it's enough to bug me so I kept using my crappy old D2000 pad. If you still have your old D2000 pad around should give it a try.

But D2000 is my first Denon/Fostex so it will stay with me forever LOL.

 

[VRacer-111]

Still enjoying the D5200 - no itch to buy any new headphones or audio related stuff at all. Modded D5200 and Porta-Pros are all I need and am satisfied with to enjoy music and shows/movies.

The past two months have been into custom modding a 4WD Kyosho Inferno 1/8th RC buggy... already spent more than an AH-D9200 for it/modding (taking an RTR NEO 3.0 VE version and making it custom hybrid of that and an MP9 TK14 race spec.) Been trial & error on some things... sequence of finding out what parts need changing and ordering as needed along with modding stock parts as needed to keep stock NEO 3.0 suspension arms but upgrade the other suspension/drivetrain parts to MP9/MP10/and other race spec parts. Kinda of built a race track in the back yard for it too... LOL

 

[Redragon]

OH this brings back to TH610 ear pad on D2000. They are actually the best option but they actually don't sound the same lol (very very close though). TH610 uses memory foam and I think it kills the treble a little bit so D2000 ear pad's original foam is squishier and also retain more of treble. As a result D2000 has better sound stage and vocal sounds a bit better too. Again small difference but it's enough to bug me so I kept using my crappy old D2000 pad. If you still have your old D2000 pad around should give it a try.

But D2000 is my first Denon/Fostex so it will stay with me forever LOL.

Oh, I envy you. Did you compare the old worn-out D2000 pads with the new ones from the second pair on the same headphones, I wonder how the wear of the pads affects the sound?

 

[Hyde00]

Still enjoying the D5200 - no itch to buy any new headphones or audio related stuff at all. Modded D5200 and Porta-Pros are all I need and am satisfied with to enjoy music and shows/movies.

The past two months have been into custom modding a 4WD Kyosho Inferno 1/8th RC buggy... already spent more than an AH-D9200 for it/modding (taking an RTR NEO 3.0 VE version and making it custom hybrid of that and an MP9 TK14 race spec.) Been trial & error on some things... sequence of finding out what parts need changing and ordering as needed along with modding stock parts as needed to keep stock NEO 3.0 suspension arms but upgrade the other suspension/drivetrain parts to MP9/MP10/and other race spec parts. Kinda of built a race track in the back yard for it to... LOL

I went to the deep end and came back (D9200 and TH900). Was thinking to just buy the highest one and end game and done. But I guess it's not as simple as I originally thought.

So I'm back to D5200 again LOL. Though this experience do make me appreciate D5200 more. Will take a bit of break to let my wallet recover before I try again.

Oh, I envy you. Did you compare the old worn-out D2000 pads with the new ones from the second pair on the same headphones, I wonder how the wear of the pads affects the sound?

lol I didn't compare directly to the "same" pair of D2000 (as in pad swap on the same headphone), but I did A/B between my worn out D2000 and newish D2000 (2 different headphone).

The general impression is that the worn out pad made it more "open" sounding (well which makes sense since the fake leather bits broke off and it's cloth inside), but at the same time making it a bit less controlled? A little bit looser? So I'd imagine it must be like using velour pad on D2000 (to certain degree).

BUT that being said, I'd still rank new D2000 pad over worn out D2000 pad over TH610 pad over the rest. So if you have your beat up pad around I'd still give it a chance. Granted it will leave broken pleather bits in your ear and it's annoying but it still sounds good LOL. And I don't know maybe it's a bit of ear pad a bit of how the plastic cup + that white mesh inside, but D2000 is more airy and has bigger sound stage than all the other Denon/Fostex variants (except maybe TH900/TH909).

I don't know what it is but I suspect it's the combination of whatever foam material original D2000 used + whatever material their attenuation ring used that make up that unique sound. I've tried 10+ ear pads (including TH-X00, TH610, TH900, and a bunch of knock off D2000 pads) and nothing can beat the original pad. The Denon D2000 ear pad engineers really did their homework.

That being said D5200 still took over as daily driver despite D2000 sounds more natural in terms of sense of space (feels more open). Since D5200 is just richer in presentation (way more mids) and D2000 feels lean in comparison, but otherwise in terms of sound stage / imaging D2000 is better I think.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

^All this talk of the D2000 makes me miss my old one. Damn…and to think that I sold it off to a good friend of mine who is never letting it go..arhh nuts!
The magic surrounding the old guard though was comprised of the simple fact that they weren’t closedbacks…at least to me. Sure advertised as such but in no way closed like one would expect. They’re more like semi-open.

That’s actually one of the main differences between the old Denons vs fx the D5200. The “new” Denon series are actually closedback headphones

 

[Hyde00]

^All this talk of the D2000 makes me miss my old one. Damn…and to think that I sold it off to a good friend of mine who is never letting it go..arhh nuts!
The magic surrounding the old guard though was comprised of the simple fact that they weren’t closedbacks…at least to me. Sure advertised as such but in no way closed like one would expect. They’re more like semi-open.

That’s actually one of the main differences between the old Denons vs fx the D5200. The “new” Denon series are actually closedback headphones

Tell your friend to never throw away the original ear pad (unless he did already lol). Those things are more valuable than the headphone itself LOL.

But yeah the whole semi-open vs closed is a love and hate relationship. I definitely think the semi-open D2000 sounds more natural and open but my wife complaints she can hear me listen to my test track (testing dac/amp) over and over and over and over and over and it's driving her nuts LOL. Where as with D5200 being closed she never complaint about anything.

That being said both excel at different things so I'm keeping them both.

Oh rumour is that TH610 is suppose to sound like D5200 but semi-open (so better layering / sound stage...etc) so I wonder if I should give TH610 a try one day.

 

[Redragon]

My experiences coincide completely with yours. For me, the D2000 also has a better, more dominant, filling bass compared to the D5200. This gives you more sense of 3D realism and real music. My old D2000 pads are in a deplorable condition. I don't know if it's canvas or suede, but almost all of the glossy black varnish is gone
It's a pity you didn't leave the D5000 a bit surprised?
I have the opportunity to listen to ZMF headphones in a friend's shop and this is such a super turbo old Denon for me. Magic and my dream. I love Eikon the most (I like bass) Maybe someday

 

[Redragon]

It is also a pity that the new Denons are not as comfortable as the Old 000 series And the TH610 is very comfortable

 

[Hyde00]

With D2000 ear pad, fret not! Mine's super worn down all the black pleather is gone and even the mesh cover for the hole is gone and the attenuation ring is warped (plastic got old?) and it still manage to sound better than any other pads LOL (magic). That's why I say tell your friend to keep it even if it look terrible.

And I think the new Denon try to be a bit like "portable headphone" so they reduced diameter to 9 mm (or 9.5 mm, forgot) as oppose to the old 10 mm and headband clamps tighter too. So comfort do take a slight hit.

I had high hope for D5000 but surprisingly treble and bass didn't extend as far but mids is much better than D2000. I suspect it's the cable difference and wood vs plastic + mysterious white mesh (D2000). So at that point it's like trading blows.

Oh how did you like the TH610?

Man I have so many things I want to try but I also want to spread out the spending a little bit, so I wonder when I'll get it. But Atticus / Eikon is definitely on the list someday.

I just ordered new opamp for my Playmate 2 and next I want to try Cayin RU6. Then maybe after I sell my D9200 then I'll explore headphone options (Eikon / Atticus / Elegia), or just be happy with D5200 for a while and keep the money in pocket for now LOL (depending on how my Playmate 2 opamp and RU6 goes).

Have to constantly remind myself that this is a journey but not a race.

 

[Redragon]

If you listen to ZMF, you will sell all Denons (except for the d2000 - to the display case as a souvenir ) and change your team. Regarding the TH610, I wish I had bought them instead of the D5200. Black Friday price and my attachment to Denon tempted me to buy the 5200. They were supposed to replace the D2000, which are starting to fail. Sometimes the sound in the right earpiece disappears, but it has passed its course. I am not disappointed, 5200 is a very good, pleasant, addictive headphones, but .... it did not steal my heart
I still have the Denon D7100 (I don't know why I bought them?)
TH610 would probably be a better purchase?

 

[reivaj]

anyone have any EQ suggestions? Looked in Oratory1990 but they only had the EQ settings for the D7200 & D9200. Looking to compare with my other headphones that have had some post tuning.

 

[chris the man]

Not going to lie, I have been MOST impressed by the D1200 for a very low priced option...

https://www.denon.com/en-us/product/over-ear-headphones/ah-d1200