Denon Music Maniac AH-D340

Denon recently released what seems like an endless number of similarly-named headphones and earphones. The Denon Music Maniac AH-D340 is a $299.99 (direct) headphone pair not to be confused with the recently-reviewed Denon Music Maniac AH-C400 In-Ear Headphones. The AH-D340 offers ample bass response, without distortion, and a crisp hi-mid presence that lets vocals, guitars, and percussion shine. An inline remote for mobile devices and a detachable cable add to the AH-D340's value, but it also has plenty of competition in this price range.

Design
Visually, the circumaural (over-the-ears) Music Maniac AH-D340 will not appeal to everyone. It's certainly not ugly, but its lightweight, matte black plastic frame, along with the black headband and earpads with white-stich accents, have an awkward, chunky, angular look to them. It's hard to pin down what Denon was going for here. They are comfortable at first, but tend to get a little tight on the scalp after long listening periods.

It's harder still to imagine a pair this size that doesn't fold down flat for easy packing and storage?this pair will take up some serious space in any carry-on bag. It comes with a quite-large black zip-up bag, but a more protective case might have been in order for this price range.

The audio cable is detachable, however, lending some added value to the AH-D340. Replacing the cable is far easier and less costly than replacing the whole thing, and cables are among the most likely culprits when a headphone pair begins to malfunction. The included cable has an inline remote and microphone for mobile devices.

Call clarity is about what you'd expect?nothing spectacular, but your call partners will understand you just fine. There's not much Denon, or any manufacturer, can do with the sorry state of cellular audio fidelity.

Also included: a ?-inch headphone jack adaptor, and, for some reason, a carabiner.

Denon has a free iOS and Android app to pair with the Music Maniac. The Denon Audio app (there are many Denon apps, so make sure you go for the one with this name) accesses your iTunes music library and allows you to create highly customizable EQs, with very cool graphic EQ visualizers for the music as it plays. I prefer to listen to music flat, with no EQ settings at all, but this is a good way to get a little more sub-bass response out of the headphones if you want to, or add some clarity in the midrange by cutting or boosting, according to your preference. The app also includes access to local and Internet radio streams, and is generally a quite useful, free tool. For the record, however, you can use it with any pair of headphones, so it's something you can play around with even if you don't buy the Music Maniac.

Performance
On tracks with deep bass, like the Knife's "Silent Shout," the AH-D340 delivers distortion-free audio?as should be expected in this price range. The sub-bass drum hits in the opening section of this track have some serious depth and resonance to them, and the headphones rise to the occasion, providing plenty of low-end power and boost without going overboard.?

The real star of the AH-D340 is the high-mid frequency range, which is boosted and tweaked enough to bring out the treble edge in vocals, as it does for Bill Callahan on his song, "Drover," without introducing too much added sibilance. The sculpted high-mids and highs present a nice counterbalance to the powerful, but not overly boosted, lows. Drums that can sound too thunderous on headphones that have too much low frequency boosting sound more natural here, but still pack plenty of power?they just don't overtake the mix.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," it's apparent the overall balance of the sound signature can often shift in favor of crispness and brightness, rather than booming low-end. The high-mid edge of the kick drum loop's attack is front and center, as are the various vocals, while the sub-bass synth hits take a bit more of a backseat here. The overall effect is great, but if it's a walloping dose of deep bass you seek, you may be more interested in a pair like the Beats Pro by Dr. Dre .

On classical tracks, like John Adams' "The Chairman Dances," the lower register strings have an ideal amount of low-end boost and resonance, which is to say: not much. They possess a nice roundness to them, but nothing over the top or unnatural. Again, the star of the show is the high-mid section; here the higher register strings and percussion are highlighted. If the AH-D340 ever runs into trouble, it's with the higher-pitched woodwinds, which at top volumes can begin to get a bit too intense, bordering on harsh without ever quite crossing into that territory completely.

Compared with the identically priced Yamaha PRO 400, the AH-D340 sounds less bright and sculpted on classical tracks, and seems to provide a bit more power to the lower frequencies. The sub-bass hits of the aforementioned Knife track also seem to have more bottom-end to them on the AH-D340, but both pairs offer substantial bass response. The Yamaha PRO 400, however, has recessed drivers in its earcups, which helps create a greater sense of depth of field. Its soundstage sounds wider and more lifelike than the AH-D340. Both pairs, however, bring plenty to the table, and which you prefer between the two is probably a matter of taste rather than one being a better headphone pair than the other.

If all of these options are out of your price range, the Sennheiser HD 558 is easily one of our favorite sub-$200 pairs?the bulky pair brings out the richness of the lows and clarity in the highs better than most pairs in its range can. For the price, the AH-D340 delivers what we'd expect?distortion-free deep bass, and an articulate, clear over response. It's probably not for bass fiends; it's geared more to the audiophile crowd that knows flat response means neither overly boosted lows nor a lack of bass. This well-balanced pair sits somewhere pleasantly in the middle of the two extremes.

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??? Denon Music Maniac AH-D340
??? Denon Urban Raver AH-D320
??? Yamaha PRO 400
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