An affordable AV receiver is always a good option to consider, so Denon AVR-S960H vs Denon AVR-X4000 comparison definitely makes sense.
Considered AV receivers have the same number of channels 7.2. Regarding power, then AVR-S960H has such a W/Ohm ratio - 90/8, 125/6 when AVR-X4000 has a power of 125/8, 165/6. The THD is 0.08% for the AVR-S960H but 0.05% for the AVR-X4000. Only the AVR-X4000 supports Bi-amping feature. Each of the AV receivers can transmit an audio signal directly to the amplifier and bypasses any DSP processing. Rivals from our review have Bluetooth support. The Denon AVR-S960H has support for AirPlay, AirPlay 2, and its competitor in our comparison - AirPlay. Spotify can be used on each receiver. The AVR-S960H can work with the audio stream from Deezer, TIDAL, Pandora, SiriusXM, Qobuz, TuneIn Radio, and the AVR-X4000 can receive a content from Pandora, Sirius XM. HDMI signal transmission in standby mode is implemented in each of the devices. Both rivals can scale the resolution of the incoming HDMI signal. Dolby Vision technology found support only on the AVR-S960H.
The Denon AVR-S960H has 6/2 HDMI inputs/outputs versus 7/3 HDMI connectors of the Denon AVR-X4000. The HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature supports both devices. The HDMI eARC is available only on the AVR-S960H. The Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) feature is present in most modern AV receivers and the models in our comparison are no exception. The AVR-S960H supports the protection of digital content of the standard HDCP 2.3, versus HDCP 2.2 in the AVR-X4000. These compared receivers have a built-in phono stage for connecting a vinyl player.
The AVR-S960H supports 2 Multi-room zones, versus 3 for the AVR-X4000. An ECO mode is only available for the AVR-S960H. Both AVR-S960H and AVR-X4000 can be configured using the Setup assistant.
Only the AVR-S960H has a Dolby Atmos multichannel audio format support. A surround technology DTS:X is supported only by the AVR-S960H.