Sony MDR-Z1R

Admittedly I didn't buy a pair, so I suppose I can agree they're overpriced by a bit. Never heard the MA900 though.

 

I read somewhere on headfi that claims that the recent production of the mdr-z7 has corrected some of the sound issues. Maybe it's worth revisiting the z7?

It's perplexing how their xba-z5 iem has more sound detail than their current flagship z7 headphones.

 

MAN I wish "understated elegance" would catch on better. I don't know how companies like Audeze and HiFiMan make those abominations and go "Yep, these won't look ridiculous on the shelf."

Beyer is up there, and props to Focal for the new line, but that's about all.

 

A bass-heavy tuning by Sony is pretty concerning, so are the TH900 comparisons coming in, as the TH900 does a few things right that close to no other bass-heavy dynamic headphone does:

• Very Clean, extended, hard-hitting bass that doesn't distort all the way to 20hz and lower
• Bass that doesn't bleed and or otherwise hinder clarity in the other frequency regions

The TH900 was able to do this because it's driver is very, very good, if tak's concerns hold water, it's hard to see the Z1R having as good control in the subbass regions that makes the TH900 so good at what it does.

 

Sony designs are really elegent, but their typical wet, bass heavy sound sig has now become tiring. I've had their DAPS A,E,S, X series and they all had this processed sound. Z7 mimics the same. Posh build and feel though.

 

I agree Z7 was way overpriced. I heard an Oppo PM2 alongside and even that destroyed it. I found almost nothing redeeming in the sound.

As for these, I predict similar perfromance/price. So Z7 I would say maybe $150 performance for $1000. Plugging in the calculation, these should compete with $450 headphones - HE4, Fidelio X1 etc.

 

So even their DAPS sound like this?...

Hmmm I wonder if that effected some of the previously quoted impressions. I personally have never liked any sony I have had though I really wanted to.

 

Yes, one can figure that they have a particular house sound. Although from a technical view Sony DAPs have much more capable sound than a Z7 would have among headphones.
Despite the warm, saturated sound the Sony DAPs have very pleasing timbre, layering, body & non digital nature. Their is a certain something in how Sony tunes the sound that even with the processed sound feeling I prefer it over the Cowons, Fiios, Ipods, Sansas and even the Mojo.
Z7 on the other hand does not have resolution/dynamics to backup the warm, wet sound and hence ends up sounding gooey.

 

I've always been in a position of going "I like this, but I ain't spending full price on it" y'know? The MDR-1A is pretty nice, but $300? Nnnno.

 

^
This makes sense...

Im a bit weird though. I vigorously hunt for deals so I suffer minimal loss and try to be one of the first to hear something.

Like a lot of people I get a little kick out of hearing something myself before everyone else puts their opinions out there about it to dissuade me. I am debating this one though because as much as I would love for this to be my dynamic closed back Unicorn, there are other dynamic products forthcoming that may work better with my amp and Sony has not proven themselves to be able to put out a good product to match the their now discontinued ones. In the same breathe I can't think of a headphone I am more interested in. So I may take the plunge if my curiosity kills me. It always does... 9-10 times. Im a SUCKER. Im learning not to be though over here at SBAF, whereas on HF its very tough to sift through the hype. I sift here too but its a lot easier.

I personally wonder why no one makes anything high impedance dynamics anymore?

Is there a reason, besided being easier to drive, why low impedance can be a better choice? At the last meet I was at an individual told me that low impedance will always sound better... boy did my eyebrows get stuck in confusion.

Ignorantly, I admit I think it would be cool if there were low and high impedance versions released of the same model a la beyer. Don't know why or why not it would be a good or bad idea but I am interested in hearing it if anyone knows.

 

I'm speaking out of my arse here, but I'm pretty sure back in the day I'd read that high impedance was necessary because it helped keep the noise floor lower. Older equipment could be really hissy and noisy with low resistance and if it required more amplifier power to move the speaker then there would be less unwanted noise happening. If I remember right.

These days there are so many headphones that you can run out of a cell phone that outside of boutique products or particularly difficult technologies you don't often find headphones that are as hard to drive as they used to be.

So I thiiiiiink it's less "why would low impedance be a better choice" and "why would high impedance be a better choice" nowadays. I would definitely go all brows-up if someone told me low "always" sounds better though. That don't make no dang sense.

I'll definitely see if I can trial a pair at some point. There's a Magnolia near me that tends to get a lot of these types, it's where I tried out the MacInbeyers and the EL8's, they'll probably get these as well.

 

I'd like to chip in a bit of impression: 5 mins on my own tracks.

Z1r <- Hifiman HM650 (balanced amplifier card on single ended mode) since it's a 64 Ohm Dynamic Driver.

It sounds way, way better than the murky Z7 (from my memory). Way more clarity than all the Sony headphones I had in mind (not that it's a lot). Definitely better than the new Noise Cancelling 1000x (but the noise-cancelling feature is real good and quite interactive). NOT bass heavy, surprisingly. Treble isn't wild, piercing or wonky in any sense too.

According to the presentation, it is closed but open in a sense that the internal enclosure is opened, but with a thin layer of I don't know what wood paper soaked in x hours of water. There is a small grill which looks like the Z7 perhaps for air passage.

 

@phillip any notions about sound leakage?

 

Hifiman HM650 itself has a rather smoother darkish sound right?

 

Not as I aware of because I'm concerned on the sound rather than the ambiance. I played quite loudly too. The place is a launching of a few Sony new products, so it's quite noisy (imagine a 1000+sqf room with 15 people). And I don't remember about the sound leakage.

To some extent it is. I didn't use the vintage (fast roll-off filter).

 

An R10 owner posted his thoughts on the Z1R. I don't know the fella but he appears fairly articulate. This headphone is unobtainium in the UK still from what I can tell.

 

I think it began shipping or will do soon as per amazon UK listing...