Which pads do you use for the D9200? Easily acquired?I guess you don't care much about whether it's closed or open back.
The HD800S (not the 800) sound very good on their own IMHO. Sound stage is bigger and sounds more open. Perhaps a tad more hard sounding with certain recordings.
Since I wanted a good closed back, the D9200 was the choice.
Both stay well on the head, but the D9200 pads are quite small for a circumaural headphone, and feel quite stuffed as well.
I use larger, thinner and more plush ear pads with the D9200, which make the head stage huge (comparable with the HD800S), improve openness and immediacy, and sound better with jazz (Stax 009 and 007 pads, but the D5200 pads are also a good replacement). The D9200 can take a lot of type of ear pads and sound good with each, so you have a lot of opportunity to fine-tune the sound to your liking.
Not so with the HD800S, which sounds good as it is, and will not sound much better with other pads.
If I had to nitpick, the treble of the HD800S sometimes sounds more raspy, whereas the treble of the D9200 sometimes sounds more tsin'ny, so they are annoying in different ways.
All in all I think the Denon has more spectrum in its tonality, i.e. more colors to the tones, and I like the bass shape and perhaps even resolution more as well, especially with the bigger ear pads.
It's quite genre dependent, too.
Oh, and the Denon will be an easier drive for your A&K.
I see myself re-purchasing the D9200 tbh. My favourite sounding portable closed backs. Although I’ve not heard the Bokeh or E3 (if that really counts as portable)…