Skip the next few paragraphs for sound impressions and comparisons
Background: My current headphone setup is the Monoprice Monolith THX portable amp set 24bit 192khz (premium spottily does not like 320k). No eq used at the amp level. All eq done with peace equalizer apo. Also have a Little Bear B4 potable tube amp on standby. Current favorite headphones ZMF Auteur (auteur pads with blackwood, bass eq’d around 120hz up 3.5hz or uneq’d through the Little Bear), Sennheiser 6XX (metal571 eq or again not eq’d if using tube). On the go are 1More Stylish (working on getting Klipche T5 for testing). For IEMs Moondrop Kanas Pro.
I bought the Denon AH-D 7200 alongside Neumann NDH 20 and found that as good as the NDH 20 were, I found myself only wanting to listen to the 7200’s. I have a separate post regarding 7200’s on here and will lightly touch on them as I will compare to the 9200’s. My main big boy was the ZMF Auteur and I have loved them since day 1. Lately however I’m moving away from laid back chill headphones to ones that are more fun and sound different than anything else. IMO Auteurs are just the king of lay back and relax to music and I dont see me being proven wrong anytime soon (at least not in a price range I can afford). With all of this said, I decided to give the 9200’s a try. Here are my impressions:
COMFORT: Very similar to the 7200 however slightly lighter and wider earpads. Get them in the right spot and I really have not had any issues with comfort. More padding at the top would be appreciated. Like the 7200’s I have to have the cups extended as far as I can. I usually run around more than half on most headphones however with the 7200s its almost too small even with them extended all the way. Overall, not the greatest, def not the worst. its perfectly fine for me.
BASS: Boy do they punch low, they punch low and decay very well. I am more than happy with the bass quantity and quality. Run the jewels oh my darling dont cry, theres bass thats constantly playing through the song that never seems to interfere with the vocals and is clear and present. Bass is punchy like a planar, decay like a dynamic, is well separated and stays in its lane while transitioning to the vocals
MIDS: Whereas the 7200s make me feel like im standing front row center at a concert staring right at the singer, the 9200s has the vocals pushed back just a little. Think listening to the mix in the studio. Vocals for both male and female singers is very natural and tight. Again much like the bass, vocals stay in their lane without bleeding into the other frequencies or being sibilant. They are slightly brighter than the 7200’s but more on that at the end.
Highs: I am not the best judge of highs, however i am sensitive to sharp peaks around 2-3k and 7-8k (mainly 7-8k) but I did not hear this at all in the 9200’s. I tried with the sharpest songs I can. Black Ink Revenge by Automatic Loveletter. The singer right at the beginning his some higher notes and the way she says the S sounds can really be sharp on some headphones. However these were still tamed by the 9200’s. Acoustic and electric guitars are prominently featured and well detailed to my hearing.
Soundstage: Not the widest by any means. Its a very comfortable, goldie locks, not too wide and not too narrow area. 7200’s by comparrison are so narrow and so intimate. As mentioned earlier, things take a step out a little bit espcially the vocals allowing more of the instruments to separate and be featured.
Timbre: So natrual. never do I feel like there is any kind of metallic or weird echo/reverb from it being closed back. Frequencies transition beautifully from one to the next and maintain an very natural (albeit instrument focused with the vocals a close secondary sound).
Imaging: Amazing. though the sound is widened a bit compare to the 7200’s these maintain the great imaging. Three Days Grace One-x in the beginning the guitar at the very beginning transitions smoothly from right to left and back and forth getting slightly louder until the drums and other guitars kick in.
Final Thoughts: I can tell these are absolutely technically better than the 7200’s. It takes everything the 7200s do and widens it up essentially creating a slightly different sound while maintaining punchy, detailed bass, natural vocals, and detailed highs. The problem is 7200’s are are $800 and the 9200s are $1600. As good as both of these are it is way too high of a price point if they want to compete with the likes of Sennheiser, Hifiman, Focal, etc. 9200s would compete much better at around the 1200 range which you can find Auteurs, Aeolus, other Focal and Hifiman headphones. 7200’s would be an amazing value against $500-600 competitors. I was lucky enough to find a 7200 on ebay (without the box included) for about $585 and I jumped at it. I did some minor eq based on nitpicker’s review which improves the overall sound of the 7200’s and I cant say that the 9200’s are $1000 better than what I have now with my 7200’s. the 7200’s also have a warmer more intimate sound which I find myself prefering these days and now the mids are more clear and highs just slightly raised than pre eq. After long sessions, the slightly brighter nature of the 9200’s just makes me still want to go right back over to my 7200’s instead. Compared to the Auteur, I think id still prefer the laid back chill kings over the 9200’s as well although I can see others wanting something more aggressive like these instead.
