Sony MDR-Z7 Measurements and Succinct Review

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Oct 28, 2015.

  1. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    The baffle is the plate where the drivers are mounted. Think of it as the midpoint of the headphone (err, for respective channels) with the earcup on the outside and the pads on the inside. @Serious's photo just above your post shows the rear side of the Z7'z baffle.

    This might perhaps help: http://www.brentbutterworth.com/headphone-voicing.html
     
  2. redrich2000

    redrich2000 Facebook Friend

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    Thanks for that.

    Next question... I know not those of you with these here may not have tried the surgical tape mod from the other place. But what would you expect the difference between that and stuffig with acoustic fibres?

    I have limited options for acousting fibres that are a suitable price and available in Australia.
    There's some long fibre wool on eBay
    I could get a couple of these cushion filling samples and try the ones that look appropriate (hemp, wool,?)
    Acrylic speaker lining from Jaycar
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2019
  3. Serious

    Serious Inquisitive Frequency Response Plot

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    I don't quite remember why. but I thought the tape mod sounded worse than stock. I briefly mentioned it here.
    In your case I'd try to get some Kapok and tape off the small port hole in the baffle that's normally hiding underneath the pads. That just raises distortion and gets you worse bass extension. I guess it's a pressure equalizer, so if you're paranoid about pressure not being able to equalize you could poke a pinhole through the tape. I didn't as it increases distortion.
    Remove the surgical tape that you have already in there. If you want less bass you can use some very thin paper to block off the port on the back of the baffle, maybe do this only partially depending on how much bass you want. Don't use the surgical tape as it's far too resistive for air flow.
    If you can't find the Kapok just get the sheep's wool. Don't get Polyfill or Sonofil, etc. I'm sure there are other names for it, but you're better off with the Kapok or sheep's wool. Maybe mixing both can give better results too, like I did with the Unicorn Tail. Unicorn tail has to be bought in bigger quantities for it become cheaper and it's not really worth it for the Z7. If you plan on building speakers I'd try to get it though.
    Oh and don't forget the dynamat.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2019
  4. redrich2000

    redrich2000 Facebook Friend

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    I've done everything now except replace the tape with wool stuffing. I'm pretty happy with where they've got to. They're still a bit splashy in the treble. I'm guessing wool stuffing would probably be better for that than the surgical tape. It will have to be either "downs wool" for $14 AUD or long fibre wool from eBay for $30. Just have to decide whether it's worth going that extra mile...
     
  5. Maxx134

    Maxx134 Dunning–Kruger effect poster boy

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    I have this headphone to play with now, and I feel it has great potential but Sony gimped it pretty bad.

    I hope to see what I can do with that dip/hole.

    Thanks for your time, research and info, to find out the suggestion to cover the hole, which saves me alot of time for modding in getting better performance.

    When replacing the stock paper, what was replaced with?
    I assume you used the paper/surgical tape.

    In past, I did notice a bit more linearity with adding surgical tape over existing driver-baffle stock paper (on other units).

    I believe this headphone is a prime candidate to elevate from the stock form.
     

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