D7000 Equipped with the newly developed Pinna-Aligned Diffuser, a new flagship headphone that adopts an approach distinct from the D8000.

In search of the ideal structural design, the D7000 has been continuously developed from the initial conception of the first flagship headphone, the D8000, announced in 2017. Equipped with drivers featuring the newly designed 'Pinna-Aligned Diffuser' and a more efficient 'Air Film Damping System (AFDS),' the D7000 has been introduced as a new flagship product alongside the D8000 and D8000 Pro Edition. * AFDS is a registered trademark owned by final Inc.

The D7000 achieves a sound that expertly balances the delicate high frequencies characteristic of planar magnetic types with the voluminous and open low frequencies of dynamic types. Moreover, it provides high resolution, especially in the vocal and string ranges, delivering a lustrous and smooth sound.

Furthermore, a comprehensive redesign has led to a weight reduction of approximately 16% compared to the D8000 and D8000 Pro Edition. The headband and ear pads utilize a special fabric made from washi(Japanese paper) known for its dry touch and durability, enhancing both comfort and durability.

Features Newly developed "Pinna-Aligned Diffuser"

The concept of acoustic adjustment through diffusion, which is becoming the standard in professional recording studios equipped with the latest acoustic designs, has been applied to the D7000.

Although the idea of equipping the D8000 with a diffuser was considered in the early stages of its development, developing something appropriate under the special conditions inside a headphone housing required a long time. While measurements under ideal conditions using measuring instruments yielded good results, listening with actual ears revealed significant differences in sound quality due to the varying shapes of the outer ear (pinna) among individuals. To solve this problem, numerous simulations tailored to various shapes of the outer ear and actual listening experiments were conducted, ultimately leading to the creation of a diffuser shape that is optimal for all users.

[Delicate high frequency range]

In reproducing subtle high frequencies, the lightweight nature of the diaphragm comes before anything else. Compared to other dynamic models with the same driver diameter, D7000's diaphragm is 1/3 lighter. A super thin aluminum coil is etched on the extremely lightweight film diaphragm, and as such, the adhesive essential for use between the coil and the diaphragm of a dynamic driver - which has a very negative effect on sound quality - is not necessary. With the D7000, problems originating from the adhesive have been fundamentally resolved, and the reproduction of a delicate sound in high frequency range has been achieved.

With a combination of the planar magnetic model's subtle high frequencies and the dynamic model's full and open bass tones, you would discover new details about the music you're used to listening to through the D7000; they have you wanting to listen to your favorite music over and over again. With this product, you realize that high sound quality provides the impetus for experiencing the deeper aspects of music.

A More Efficient "AFDS: Air Film Damping System"

Conventional planar magnetic headphones' driver unit is normally designed to have a higher limit of the lowest frequency of bass it can reproduce in order to prevent the diaphragm from coming into contact with the magnet when the playback volume is high. To solve this problem, we took measurements by conducting diaphragm simulations using the finite element method and laser Doppler devices, and established new diaphragm braking technology known as AFDS - Air Film Damping System.

In the D7000, the shape of the coil portion of the diaphragm and the punching metal was reexamined, allowing the diaphragm to be braked more efficiently to match the physical characteristics aimed for in the D7000.

Manufactured In-House Espousing Precision

The D7000 is manufactured in-house. Together with the precision of individual parts, the precision involved in the assembly process depends on the precision of the tools known as jigs that assist in the assembly process. So as to be able to fine-tune even the slightest of irregularities in jig precision during the assembly process, we design and manufacture production jigs and measurement jigs ourselves.

We developed manufacturing apparatus such as a diaphragm formation machine and a diaphragm tension meter in-house, specifically for the D series.

To create truly good products, it is necessary to get to the core of the manufacturing process of parts close to the raw material. What is good about "Made in Japan" is that when doing so, you can gain the cooperation of those manufacturers close to the material. By controlling everything together, from sourcing the raw materials through to the assembly of the product, we have achieved high-quality products.

Sound Quality Comparison Between the D7000, D8000, and D8000 Pro Edition

The D7000, by redesigning the drivers including the newly developed "Pinna-Aligned Diffuser," achieves a sound that balances the rich, open bass and delicate high frequencies characteristic of the D8000 and D8000 Pro Edition. Additionally, it features high resolution in the vocal and string ranges, with a sound that feels slightly closer to the ear and is very smooth.

While the D8000 excelled in reproducing genres with a wide dynamic range, such as classical music, the D8000 Pro Edition is tuned to provide a higher sense of resolution when listening to genres with a narrower dynamic range, such as pop and rock. The D7000 is positioned somewhat in between these two, offering a balanced performance.

Please note, the graph mentioned is not showing the sound quality tendencies of the earphones/headphones themselves, but classifies the tendencies of music recordings along two features (horizontal and vertical axes) and imaginatively indicates which earphones/headphones are well-suited for those tendencies.

The horizontal axis represents the characteristic of the perceived distance of recorded voices or instruments. Recordings with a greater sense of distance are described as having a larger "sound field," while those with a smaller sense of distance are described as having a greater "resolution." The vertical axis represents the characteristic of the recording's dynamic range, which is the breadth of temporal variation in sound volume.

Therefore, on this graph, moving right indicates models that suit a larger sound field music recordings , and moving left indicates models that suit a higher resolution music recordings. Moving up indicates models that are suited for a larger dynamic range music recordings, while moving down indicates models suited for a smaller dynamic range music recordings.