Denon AH-C830NCW vs. AH-C840NCW
The capacity of my old AH-C830NCW batteries started to degrade. Initially, they provided superior 8 hours of use, but they began to notify me about low battery status after approximately 1.5 hours. This is why I decided to look for something new.
The AH-C840NCW recently appeared on the market. Initially, they were quite pricey, but thanks to a great holiday promotion run by https://www.salonydenon.pl, I was able to get them at a very reasonable price.
Naturally, there is always an adjustment period when transitioning from something familiar to something new. In this case, the adjustment was very quick. The new model is really similar to the old one but, in my personal opinion, superior to the previous version. While I am nowhere near being an audiophile, I can hear that the sound range is wider (the highs are much clearer). Even though there are more highs, the bass remains very solid.
Both boxes are quite similar in size. The new one is slightly sleeker and fits into a pocket a bit better.
The orientation of the headphones inside the box has also changed, from vertical to horizontal. For me, this doesn’t really matter, though.
When it comes to charging, both cases have a USB-C port, and next to the port, there is a reset button that allows you to reconnect from scratch.
If you look at them separately, I guess it is just a matter of preference when deciding which one fits you better.
The size of the headphones is really similar. There may be minor changes in the shape, but in my case, both the AH-C830NCW and AH-C840NCW are a good fit. The default rubber bands that come with the headphones are just fine for me. Still, it is possible to adjust the fit with the included spare rubber bands. The AH-C840NCW comes with four tips in sizes: S, LONG S, M, and L. As far as I recall, the AH-C830NCW had three options for tips: S, M, and L.
If you look at the headphones themselves, it is really hard to tell which one is bigger.
One noticeable difference is that the tips for the AH-C830NCW are gray, while for the AH-C840NCW, they are black.
The AH-C840NCW comes with a companion app that can be downloaded from the App Store. The app itself allows you to configure the tapping scheme (for example, you can change the default behavior). The drawback of the app is that you need to have internet access to use it and you have to create an account to use the app.
With the app, you can switch the transparency mode between noise cancellation, off, and transparency.
And here comes the Ugly. With the AH-C830NCW, you could switch between all three modes with a tap (left speaker). In contrast, the AH-C840NCW allows you to switch only between noise cancellation and transparency. I guess this is an extremely cool feature when you are using the headphones on the street. For me, however, this is very inconvenient as I mostly use them at work. The off mode is my preferred one because it removes all the additional noise that results from either noise cancellation or the transparency mode. For me personally, this is a step back. Let’s hope Denon updates the software in the future and introduces a new mode for tapping one of the speakers.
The Good is the Equalizer feature. You can play with your headphones’ settings and adjust the sound with the Equalizer.
This might be useful if you participate in various online meetings where the sound tends to promote high levels. You can simply lower the levels with the Equalizer and enjoy better sound throughout the meeting.
The last thing worth mentioning is the ability to set the tapping scheme. This means you can customize each headphone and every available tapping scheme according to your preferences. However, I miss the ability to configure, for example, switching between noise cancellation schemes. I would love to have the ability to dedicate one headphone for controlling noise cancellation while the other one for playing and skipping tracks.
Overall, I find the AH-C840NCW to be a good choice, and I am happy with them. If you don’t know which model to choose, I suggest the following: if you don’t care about the app, if being able to easily switch between noise cancellation modes is important to you, and you want to save some money, go with the AH-C830NCW. If you like to fully control the headphones’ behavior, if you like to be able to adjust and customize the sound with the Equalizer, and if you have some spare money to spend on a more recent model, go with the AH-C840NCW. Both models are comfortable to wear, and both sound really nice.