Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Having to own the Sony Z7 before, while it has some flaws, I couldn't wait for another better version of it, the Top of the line from Sony. Why ? Because it is musical and great to enjoy movies with from either the large home system or by an iPad Again, this is the best looking and designed headphone I've ever seen out of all headphone that I have or have reviewed. Not all units of the same product are made equal. The EQ is based on the measurements of a single unit. YMMV with regards to the very unit you are trying this EQ on. balanced terminated cable (new standard, I really like this a lot, but again not the most practical, not yet) Bass: The bass prominence is even more thna that of the MDR-Z7, but no with the bommy mess the Z7 (i'm talking about the MDR-Z7 MK 1) are. The bass on these does not bleed into the mids and for my tastes it is not that too much as other say.
The aim of making the sound of this machine is not only to faithfully reproduce the sound envisioned by the artist, but also to express the "feeling of air" in the space where you are listening to music”winner: depends on your preference, I like the Z1R more, I listen to Metal so brightness is not my thing. For other Music, EF wins, Ether C is again thin and not enjoyable.
Twenty five years ago when I started HeadRoom and built the first commercially available portable headphone amplifier I said to myself, "The day Sony decides to enter the fray with a portable headphone amp my mission will be complete." That happened a few years ago and I've found it quite entertaining to watch this humungous consumer electronics company try to snuggle into our tiny headphone enthusiast niche. When I start my headphone hobby, music listening has been a very rewarding experience for me and has helped me in many aspects of life other than music enjoyment, although, with the booming price of high end headphones/IEM atm, it has become a bit of a heavy hit on my wallet >_<.But also like the HD 800, I find it very light and very comfortable. It weighs just 385g and I do not find it clamping, long listening sessions are easy (even more comfortable than the AH-D7200). The leather ear pads are large, no issues with my ears but other headphones have more spacious ear pads (TH-900). My local dealer provided me a set for audition, and I had planned to audition it for more than a week. Taking the Sony house sound to a more mature and maybe advanced level; because everything is clearer; it’s that detailed 3D no stopping clarity! A more physical and carved-out bass than with the full-size Z1R yet focused like the Z7. The IEM here actually becomes of more finesse yet touchable as well as comprehensible! Here we are met with a more in-your-head soundstage, being a more concentrated and mind-bending elixir. When I first heard the Z1R, I had a hunch that this would be one of the key comparisons for the review. Very few “audiophile” headphones approach the levels of bass that can be found on these two cans, so naturally, it was only a matter of time before a comparison would be made. I do own the TH-900, and am a big fan of its sound. I admire its design aesthetic, and have spent hours trying to capture the way the lacquer cups light up with a soft gradient. I’m kidding…but not really. All these headphones come in nice boxes; though the IER-Z1R comes with a cardboard jewelry box, with drawers. Also for the record, the IER-Z1R comes included with the greatest of cables, both 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced. Of all the headphones talked about here, it’s the IEM which is dependent on fit. Meaning they may not fit your ears, and if they don’t fit your ears the party is over. This single concept makes full-size headphones much easier to use in the end. Though for this extra effort we are gifted with a inner head-stage. As the tip sits inside your cranium the sound is both inside and outside your head. This concept in and of itself gets us a different perspective in sound display. Also I can’t help but reinforce the medical insertion of detail into your brain. The IEMs go the extra mile to put the music closer to your soul and under your skin. Also the display is like reading a normal size book where full-size headphones can almost take more effort to take in?
Where the full-size Z1R lends itself to Classical and Jazz, I can’t help but feel the Z7 yearns for electronic and general popular music. The Z7 offers more electricity and bounce, more brash and attitude! Yes........it’s all attitude here! The kind of attitude that ignores convention, careless yet exciting almost sleazy! Did I just call the prior Sony flagship sleazy.......yep, I did. The Z7 is a fun walk on the wild side................. a departure from anything as remotely stuffy and correct as the R-10. You can call me a nut too as I would choose the “wrongness” of the Z7 over the “correctness” of the R-10 any day. Go ahead and test me, I’m not trading. I would say that the tuning is to mimic a speaker setup in a well damped rrom instead of open and airy like a live performance. Both can expose sibilant in the music but moreso on The EF and even more on The Ether C due to its thin bright nature, The Z1R is so smooth in the vocals, sibilance is still there if its there in the recording but the tuning and smoothness definitely helps and it doesn't bother me at all (think the vocals in the CA andromeda, can be sibilant but somehow it's not bothersome at all) but at the expense of minute details I think. The C and EF are going for details so it will expose all those bad qualities straight up to you.The main internal headband arch is beta titanium; an alloy often used in orthodontics (braces for teeth) and glasses frames due to its superior strength and elasticity. The headband is indeed very flexible with just the right amount of caliper pressure. Sony claims it can be significantly bent and will still return to its original shape. Often based on Monitoring with pushed, piercing upper mids, sometimes in combination with pushed bass (no midbass though, we're audiophiles!). Tries to be as much as possible to be the opposide of Club to make sure, you know you're listening to an audiphile headphone. If it doesn't hurt, its not audiophile. If you can't bear the pain, you're not audiophile enough. --> Only plays well with selected audiophile songs. You are not an real audiophile if you listen to anything, that doesn't sound well with these. If anything sounds wrong and off with these, its always the song and the quality of your recording. It has the same effect as the mids though, for every bit you hear, you hear from beginning till the end but it is not as effortless as the mids.
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