[butch111]

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?

Audio GD NFB28.38 is beautiful to my Denon 9200 (best Amp I ever had - and its not the priciest one I had)

 

[gb21011971]

So is it the Hugo dac or amp or both not compatible with the 9200?

 

[llamaluv]

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?

I've really liked it with the Sony WM1A and WM1Z DAPs. The former is less warm and brings out the imaging and separation qualities in the mids and treble especially well. But still not too hot at all (IMO). The WM1Z is a little warmer and meatier, and a shade darker so...

 

[jmills8]

I've really like it with the Sony WM1A and WM1Z DAPs. The former is less warm and brings out the imaging and separation qualities in the mids and treble especially well. But still too hot at all (IMO). The WM1Z is a little warmer and meatier, and a shade darker so...

So the Mojo which has more power, meatier, a shade darker, and detailed might solve the problem of the highs from the 9200.

 

[llamaluv]

So the Mojo which has more power, meatier, a shade darker, and detailed might solve the problem of the highs from the 9200.

That'd seem worth a shot to me...

 

[Maxx134]

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.

Hugo dac

Mojo to me is a step down in resolve. More narrow and dull on top.

I would look into hugo/hugo2 settings and or the software why it so bright.
Make sure no EQ settings activated anywhere.

I tried the Hugo2 and it is such a sweet sounding excellent box, so I am perplexed why your experience a problem.

You need to check if the 9200 drivers are producing bass properly, (good amount) as they may be partially damaged, and when that happens the bass is thin.
Also make sure your unit is not a return.

 

[k4syx]

Ouch! What happened to them?

Well, cutting long story short
1: BNIB, home set
2: BNIB, office set
3: BNIB, replacement for 2, because one of the drivers became silent under ~200Hz, repair caused more damage as both of them were lacking bass and detail afterwards
4: BNIB, replacement for 3, when one of the drivers started to rattle (some kind of resonance) under ~200Hz last december

Just my luck I guess. Still, I love them. And I am saying this being proud owner of SR-007Mk1 and SR-009, driven by LST TS (not poor stock Stax energizers)

 

[gb21011971]

Mojo to me is a step down in resolve. More narrow and dull on top.

I would look into hugo/hugo2 settings and or the software why it so bright.
Make sure no EQ settings activated anywhere.

I tried the Hugo2 and it is such a sweet sounding excellent box, so I am perplexed why your experience a problem.

You need to check if the 9200 drivers are producing bass properly, (good amount) as they may be partially damaged, and when that happens the bass is thin.
Also make sure your unit is not a return.

My Hugo sounds great with all other headphones I have thrown at it. I generally do not use EQ and I am sure there nothing (technically) 'wrong' with this unit. Bass is there, even quite prominently.

I assume it is the sound signature, that I was not expecting. I was reading reviews and comments on this forum about the 9200's neutrality, that's why I pulled the trigger on it.

I do not agree at all. It reminds me of the older Fostex/Denon designs with a very pronounced V-shape. The 9200 is technically far superior to my old 7000, much higher resolve, better refined bass, etc, but the tonal balances are quite similar IMO. Especially the highs are bothering me, I would almost call them sibilant. If I EQ them down a few db from 7k onwards, it gets a better, but I don't want to spend this kind of money on a headphone that needs to be 'fixed' by EQ. My Clear and Elegia are something which IMO comes close to neutral. Not this headphone.

I will give it some time and wait for burn-in to hopefully work wonders, but in the meantime, I remain skeptical.

 

[Serge Bernamej]

My Hugo sounds great with all other headphones I have thrown at it. I generally do not use EQ and I am sure there nothing (technically) 'wrong' with this unit. Bass is there, even quite prominently.

I assume it is the sound signature, that I was not expecting. I was reading reviews and comments on this forum about the 9200's neutrality, that's why I pulled the trigger on it.

I do not agree at all. It reminds me of the older Fostex/Denon designs with a very pronounced V-shape. The 9200 is technically far superior to my old 7000, much higher resolve, better refined bass, etc, but the tonal balances are quite similar IMO. Especially the highs are bothering me, I would almost call them sibilant. If I EQ them down a few db from 7k onwards, it gets a better, but I don't want to spend this kind of money on a headphone that needs to be 'fixed' by EQ. My Clear and Elegia are something which IMO comes close to neutral. Not this headphone.

I will give it some time and wait for burn-in to hopefully work wonders, but in the meantime, I remain skeptical.

The 7200 is supposed to be easy to drive, and it is in a way. But whenever I listen to it on DAPs even good powerful ones such as Cayin N6 it just sucks. The highs are hot, bass is good but overall tome is thin.
On big desktop gear, the 7200 is completely different ! And sublime.

 

[zolkis]

We can have owner recommendation for stuff that works, but I don't know who has done enough amp rolling with the D9200 to have confident reference for qualifying a GREAT match . How many samples do we need to check to say one of them is great?
IMHO the D9200 sounds great from any smooth amp, provided they have no tendency for brightness.
To me all Chord except the Dave are a bit bright (even the Mojo). Others might disagree - but alas, at least someone else than me has run into this as well.
I'd say the majority of amps currently in sales forum should be fine, but I would be cautious with amps that even professional reviewers hinted as bright'ish (I edited out about 5 examples here since I don't want to explode Pandora's box - check the amp forums for non-bright tube amps (tube rolling is helpful) or warmer transistor amps).

 

[gb21011971]

We can have owner recommendation for stuff that works, but I don't know who has done enough amp rolling with the D9200 to have confident reference for qualifying a GREAT match . How many samples do we need to check to say one of them is great?
IMHO the D9200 sounds great from any smooth amp, provided they have no tendency for brightness.
To me all Chord except the Dave are a bit bright (even the Mojo). Others might disagree - but alas, at least someone else than me has run into this as well.
I'd say the majority of amps currently in sales forum should be fine, but I would be cautious with amps that even professional reviewers hinted as bright'ish (I edited out about 5 examples here since I don't want to explode Pandora's box - check the amp forums for non-bright tube amps (tube rolling is helpful) or warmer transistor amps).

The sibilance issue I have with this headphone is beyond any potential changes due amp rolling. Yes, of course, various parameters can influence the sound. But in my experience, 95% of what reaches your ears is determined by the headphone itself. 4% is due to dac/amp and 1% by cables etc. Just some very unscientific numbers to make a point. Exceptions (both negative and positive), where the exact combination has bigger impact on the sound, do exist, I am aware of that. But I tried the 9200 out of my Hugo 2, Oppo HA-1, Dragonfly Red, and also out of my phone and computer directly. Obviously the quality is different, but the overall tonal signature remains.

But I will not give up on it yet. There are many aspects I do like about this headphone, e.g. the resolution or the quality of the bass. Playing music through it constantly, hoping I will be a believer in burn-in at the end .


Edit: What makes a big difference, is the quality of the recording. Well recorded, newer music sounds much better - relatively speaking to other headphones - than older and crappy recordings. Those older recordings sometimes have a sort of hiss in the trebles (>7k) that come to the foreground with the 9200. Much more than with the Clear (which is not exactly a dark headphone).

 

[zolkis]

I agree that hot treble is hard to fix well. I hope burn-in will help indeed, but it won't do wonders. It also might be a driver made on Monday... if it was a tweeter, I'd say you'd need to get it re-coated. Actually, some thin coating on the dome would probably improve the treble (and not only that), but it's not an option for consumers.

Maybe you could try exchanging it for another unit that you select from a number of samples (you can probably do it at your dealer). However, I would consider all amps you mentioned bright...
As an alternative, you could use aftermarket pads, with different dust cloth that takes the edge out, but it's a kludge.

If you have the possibility, listen to a later D7200 with your Hugo 2, it might be a great match. At least it's guaranteed it won't have a hot treble . Which is one reason why I like my modded D7200 more than the D9200, and also why the D7200 mods won't work/make sense on the D9200 (but I don't yet know the true potential of the D9200 drivers).

 

[gb21011971]

I agree that hot treble is hard to fix well. I hope burn-in will help indeed, but it won't do wonders. It also might be a driver made on Monday... if it was a tweeter, I'd say you'd need to get it re-coated. Actually, some thin coating on the dome would probably improve the treble (and not only that), but it's not an option for consumers.

Maybe you could try exchanging it for another unit that you select from a number of samples (you can probably do it at your dealer). However, I would consider all amps you mentioned bright...
As an alternative, you could use aftermarket pads, with different dust cloth that takes the edge out, but it's a kludge.

If you have the possibility, listen to a later D7200 with your Hugo 2, it might be a great match. At least it's guaranteed it won't have a hot treble . Which is one reason why I like my modded D7200 more than the D9200, and also why the D7200 mods won't work/make sense on the D9200 (but I don't yet know the true potential of the D9200 drivers).

Thanks for the tip, but for this price, it has to be perfect, so I am not going to go the mod route.

As for the 7200, I sold mine, because its highs were too rolled off for me . What an irony, that decision bites me in the behind now.

 

[jmills8]

I need to demo this, but how is the treble compared to the TH900? Hows the soundstage compared to the TH900 ?

 

[gb21011971]

It's been some time I tested the TH900, so going off memory. Compared to the TH900, the 9200 is more neutral and less V-shaped (everything is relative). TH900 highs are even more prominent and sibilant. Soundstage is bigger on the 9200. But maybe I am the wrong person to ask: The TH900 IMO is the most un-neutral headphone I have heard. To my ears, the TH900 is a pure torture instrument. I literally ripped it off my head when I tested it.