[nicholars]

Good question. I can and will. I have seven TH900s so Im on no hurry, but I will A/B them.

Did it ever occur to you that getting 7 different headphones, might be better than getting 7 of the same? haha

 

[jmills8]

Did it ever occur to you that getting 7 different headphones, might be better than getting 7 of the same? haha

True, I pretty much bought bought most of the top dogs. My fav is the Abyss and the TH900. But I mostly listen on the go so Im with the TH900. Denon is on my list.

 

[headblid]

True, I pretty much bought bought most of the top dogs. My fav is the Abyss and the TH900. But I mostly listen on the go so Im with the TH900. Denon is on my list.

Thanks for confirming they are at least out for sale somewhere!
Would definitely like to hear your impressions if you end up trying the 9200. Now if the Denon team can get off its rear and make this properly available in North America, it might actually do them some good Sales wise.

Cheers,

 

[gb21011971]

Agreed, the D9200 is definitely the best closed headphone as of Feb 2019.
There is no other closed headphone in sight.

Not only in sight, but out by now: The Focal Stellia. There are not a lot of reviews out there and some are just of the product pushing variety, but it seems that this might be the new king of closed backs.

REALLY, REALLY interested to see comparisons between the Denon and the Focal.

 

[zolkis]

Not only in sight, but out by now: The Focal Stellia. There are not a lot of reviews out there and some are just of the product pushing variety, but it seems that this might be the new king of closed backs. REALLY, REALLY interested to see comparisons between the Denon and the Focal.

Surely I will give them a listen, but call me skeptical. FWIW it will depend on the person as well: I seem to have a personal incompatibility with Focal (and Audeze). I could not get to like the Utopia, the Elear, the Clear... they all sounded somewhat metallic/hard to me and I have clearly preferred other headphones to them (Stax 009/S, 007, Senn HD800/S, and even my modded TH900 and D7200). They measure fantastic, though, and are end of game stuff for other people. I don't think it's system synergy issue.

Edit: word of warning.

 

[llamaluv]

I listened to the Stellia for a few minutes at CanJam. Now I wish I listened a little longer. Overall, I thought it sounded good. Here are the few things I noticed...

It has more bass than the Utopia (The frequency graphs show 3dB more, and then it tapers down and follows the rest of the Utopia frequency response to an almost uncanny degree). Even though "moar bass" is the common demand from people around the Utopia, I didn't really like the outcome on the Stellia. It felt disconnected and a little muddy, like it wasn't tuned appropriately for the properties of the closed-back enclosure. But because the bass is so fast and aggressive, I could see that being difficult.

The D9200's lower end is probably a little more raised in objective terms, but I like very much the way it sounds going into the mids. It has a warmth that sounds natural rather than that of a disconnected bass hump. The frequency graph measurement @Maxx134 made of my unit bears this out. It has a graceful hump that slopes gently into the lower mids.

Timbre is to me a second major watchout and differentiating factor between the two. I love the timbre of the D9200, which sounds comfortable and natural. Not unlike the Eikon or Auteur to me. With the Stellia, I hear the similar hard-edged, slightly metallic timbre of the Utopia. To me this isn't fully a negative though, because at the same time, its speed in the treble can lend a sense of realism to instruments. But I love the treble of the D9200, so I'm biased on that front. The treble on the Stellia is fast, so that's fine, but it's the D9200's that speaks to me (and this is coming from a Utopia owner).

Soundstage seemed about the same between the two, though I wasn't paying too close attention to this and didn't compare the two directly or with the same source. I didn't listen long enough to have strong impressions on imaging either. But I can say I like the imaging of the D9200 as much as the Utopia, and more so in some ways.

Edit: Last thing is that the Stellia was more comfortable to me than the Utopia. The pads are softer and it felt lighter. I find the D9200 to be fairly comfortable, about the same or maybe less so than the Stellia, but definitely more portable, and more lower-profile-looking, which to me is a plus-factor.

 

[Maxx134]

Not only in sight, but out by now: The Focal Stellia. There are not a lot of reviews out there and some are just of the product pushing variety, but it seems that this might be the new king of closed backs.

REALLY, REALLY interested to see comparisons between the Denon and the Focal.

You want comparisons ok.
Focal: high resolve
High detail
Small soundstage
More punchy than Utopia
No sub-bass detected in the music selection so cannot speculate.
no sense overall of anything wrong in upper mids or treble.
Nothing really impressive to say, except a resolving headphone.
Had great clarity.
I was strangely put off by the mediocre soundstage so did not care to listen.

Denon:
High resolve
High details
Excellent bass
Excellent su-bass
No disjointed signature
Excellent midrange to trebles
A refined, delicacy & organic sound.
Almost shockingly natural timbre.
Taller larger soundstage
Similar proximity of soundstage.
Higher sensitivity.

Soundstage seemed about the same between the two, though I wasn't paying too close attention to this and didn't compare the two directly or with the same source. I didn't listen long enough to have strong impressions on imaging either. But I can say I like the imaging of the D9200 as much as the Utopia, and more so in some ways.

Personally I do NOT like Denon company lack of CustomerService support.
And I do NOT understand why they would not show up at canjam to promote the headphones...
But I would say that the D9200 is easily a better choice over either a Utopia or the new Stellia in ANY sonic catagory ( soundstage, bass, resolve, etc).
That is saying ALOT to supass what are essentially a true reference level headphones here.
Basically, I do not like either company lol, but will always conceed and recognize when I hear justified reference quality sound.
They are all at the top, and to me Denon stole the lead from Focal.
To get better you gotta go into open can territory .
The Denon are also uniquely portable and extremely sensitive and efficient.

The only thing I will repeat is that the soundstage, although large, open, deep, nuanced and detailed, is not set back like open cans , so your getting closer impression of being in front rows.

There were other new cans & popular expensive cans I heard, but I do not want to speak anything negative about anybody's hard work.
So if I haven't mentioned a headphone, its certainly NOT because I haven't heard it.
Rather, it's because they were not "up to par" sonically for me.

I found many headphones skewing the upper Frequency Response and boosting lower mids, instead of bass.
This makes them dark.

My reference choice of neutral headphone signature that I like, (not just in Frequency Response, but also in soundstage), is the Susvara .
That remains the top headphone regardless of whatever the latest headphone hype is.

 

[gb21011971]

Just got my new 9200. First impression: VERY hot trebles. Not really what I expected. I expected more clarity than the rolled off highs of the 7200, but definitely not this. My Elegia sounds muffled in comparison!

Also, after reading the comments about being a neutral headphone.... not so sure. To me it's sounds quite V-shaped actually.

Not sure what to make of this, maybe it's a burn-in issue (not really a believer in burn in really though). Mmmhhhh.... if this does not balance out, it's going back.

 

[jmills8]

Just got my new 9200. First impression: VERY hot trebles. Not really what I expected. I expected more clarity than the rolled off highs of the 7200, but definitely not this. My Elegia sounds muffled in comparison!

Also, after reading the comments about being a neutral headphone.... not so sure. To me it's sounds quite V-shaped actually.

Not sure what to make of this, maybe it's a burn-in issue (not really a believer in burn in really though). Mmmhhhh.... if this does not balance out, it's going back.

Mmmm dac, amp are ?

 

[k4syx]

My 1$ is on burn-in. Give them at least 24h. If you own (owned) D7200 you may (or may not ) remember that thay also were a tad bit brighter straight from the box. This changes in first 24 hours(~) and continues within next 200h (to the smaller degree). I have this "fresh" as I am burning in my 3rd (or 4th) D7200 pair (after warranty replacement)

 

[Light - Man]

My 1$ is on burn-in. Give them at least 24h. If you own (owned) D7200 you may (or may not ) remember that thay also were a tad bit brighter straight from the box. This changes in first 24 hours(~) and continues within next 200h (to the smaller degree). I have this "fresh" as I am burning in my 3rd (or 4th) D7200 pair (after warranty replacement)

Ouch! What happened to them?

 

[gb21011971]

Mmmm dac, amp are ?

hugo 2

 

[butch111]

For me the Denon 9200 is two classes over the 7200!
I ve needed a closed HP and while I used the 7200 (wich easyness I ve liked) , I missed some points of my open Sennheiser HD800S.
I ve expected only a little better 7200 - But I was wrong...the 9200 is endgame for me - the best points of the HD800S inclusive.

Connected to an Audio GD NFB 28.38 - Orig.Cable modded to balanced XLR !

 

[zolkis]

Just got my new 9200. First impression: VERY hot trebles. Not really what I expected. I expected more clarity than the rolled off highs of the 7200, but definitely not this. My Elegia sounds muffled in comparison! Also, after reading the comments about being a neutral headphone.... not so sure. To me it's sounds quite V-shaped actually.
Not sure what to make of this, maybe it's a burn-in issue (not really a believer in burn in really though). Mmmhhhh.... if this does not balance out, it's going back.

We all have different tolerances on what is on the edge of bright, what is bright and what is unbearable.
I think the Hugo might be less of a synergistic match with the D9200 (not suggesting it's bright, but brighter headphones come out as bright IMHO).
Out of the Dave it didn't seem overly bright, but still on the edge of being bright.
Out of the HDV820 was almost the same.
Out of my own LD-MOS amp it was crazy good, just as any other headphone.
Try it with another player, even a phone, to test whether the treble is somewhat less hot (don't care about the rest now).
IME the treble becomes less hot with time, but remains hotter than the normal. I suggest playing at moderately high volume for at least 200 hours day and night (put it in the box) and check again.
I could understand if you don't want to change the whole setup, but IMHO the D9200 is worth fiddling with a bit.
In the worst case I do recommend the D7200 with [modded] Stax 009 pads as an alternative, I like that more than the stock D9200.
I might do some experimental mods on the D9200 to tame the treble, actually the dust cloth can have a big effect, but also the cups damping and driver damping in the cups.

 

[vourt]

Following the thread and seeing that hugu 2 might not be a good match, is there any recommendation for a GREAT match to these headphones?