MDR-Z1000 new Sony flagship headphones - Page 6

Meh, the only part of these I find ugly is the piece that connects the cups to the headband.  Blech.

I think I made this point in another thread, but I'm skeptical of these, despite my great respect for a lot of what Sony has done in the headphone world. For $735, they are extremely plain looking - they just look like a piece of studio equipment. And the small-ish, flat cups don't look like they will be capable of creating the kind of headstage that some of the best closed designs can - the CD3K and the Denon line, for example, have a much bigger chamber that allows for an airier sound. Lack of headstage is a big compromise to have to deal with right off the bat at $700+. But I look forward to Sony proving me wrong - at the very least, they managed to provide some excitement and intrigue coming out of IFA that AKG couldn't...

I tell you what, if Sony can make a great sounding product w/ respect to that price point w/ such a relatively plain and ordinary look I welcome it.  I think it would be a nice trend to set bucking current marketing practices.  As long as the materials are high quality, clean, refined and understated this never goes out of style.

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Originally Posted by Anaxilus 

I tell you what, if Sony can make a great sounding product w/ respect to that price point w/ such a relatively plain and ordinary look I welcome it.  I think it would be a nice trend to set bucking current marketing practices.  As long as the materials are high quality, clean, refined and understated never goes out of style.

I'm going to concur and echo this thought. I like a nice simplistic almost minimalistic style. I welcome this as well.

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Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

I wouldn't necessarily call that a bad thing.  :D

I don't know. I found the flashiness of the Edition 8's to be almost cute.

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Originally Posted by SoSpecial 

80KHZ? Isn't that a bit excessive?

apparently the sa5000 are 5hz - 100000hz lol

Amen... Sony has had huuuuuge problems in this department recently. Every single headphone Sony has built meant for any kind of pro/smi-pro work has had terrible QA problems. The 7509, like every monitor that isn't the v700DJ comes with pads that will begin to melt to your skin after a rather short time of use. A huge pet peve of mine. The v700DJ had actual pleather/vinyl, but it's joints broke after using them regularly, as in, not abusive, within a year or so.

Many of Sony's best have been away from the studio and in the consumer market, which is ok, however, to see the two philosophies merge onto one rugged, metal hinged/banded, leather padded, ultra sensitive for widest number of output devices supported, and what looks like a modular cable... I would love to have a longer cable on my XB700s sometimes that is native 1/4", or there are phones I wish I had a shorter tangle-free 1/8" cord that didn't take a voided warranty to obtain.

It's about the sound, certainly, and even if the driver is similar to current production, that doesn't mean it is going to sound anything like a current production headphone. The right materials, construction, and fit, and who knows how far this driver or that driver can be taken? The backs look like spun ABS, which is extremely dead acoustically, if that is the case, they can be light weight, offering the same dampening as a much heavier headphone. Supported by all metal hardware would mean they would last forever, really, since that kind of spun plastic is practically bullet proof. It is used all the time in pro-audio on speakers (nearfield, control, full range monitors), since it can be molded to fit computer modeled shapes and it is acoustically dead. It would actuallt be an advantage.

Being possibly so easy to drive could make this a real competitor when it comes to people that don't have a lot inveted in amps, or want to use a portable. It already looks like B/'W's entry into the market is being trounced in every possible way, I have a big Ha Ha for that one. If this headphone turns out the way I wish, as I described, with a good driver, we know Sony can make them, and such rugged and modular construction that would make your money last... tuned to sound accurate enough to monitor from, but musical enough to plug in at home or while out, I would consider them despite the price.

So many missed on the R10 because we thought it to be hype, then we learn it isn't and catch the last buys...

I also, however, agree that the PFR-V1 was/is a very interesting step in design, which should be explored further. I was meaing to pick up a  pair, but they went out of stock everywhere about all at once, or they were being sold for the old MSRP, as in double the new MSRP. I digress.

Why *not* have a top of the line minimalistic, well engineered monitor, finally made to last... no more earpad flakes! No more broken joints! I would love this. There are a lot of Sony monitors with a legacy... to say Sony can't draw from it is silly. If they can make a TOTL headphone built using certain design elements of their monitors that have worked over the many years, why not?? I am a minimalist, so naturally I like, but the true test will be when someone gets their hands on a set. IF one can get the dynamic performance of an HD800, or a T1, but cost less, why so bad if it is 250-500 less instead of more? If it could do that, saving upwards of 500 bucks is a damn good deal.

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Originally Posted by solidsnake 

apparently the sa5000 are 5hz - 100000hz lol

Perfect for pissing off dogs I guess.

Originally Posted by yashu 

 

Every single headphone Sony has built meant for any kind of pro/smi-pro work has had terrible QA problems. The 7509, like every monitor that isn't the v700DJ comes with pads that will begin to melt to your skin after a rather short time of use.

I've been a member of Team SONY since forever, but yeah their earpads are as flimsy as can get...

cd3k: http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq346/zephyrusrain/Photo12.jpg

cd900st: http://www.iafif.net/weblog/photographic/090218_04.jpg

aren't the other brands the same? the cd3k earpads lifetime is roughly 6 months/1 year, then you end up w/ tiny bits of black pleather all over your face...and you can see that the cd900st is no better.

I generally like minimalistic and utilitarian designs, but I'm not liking these much by the looks.  But maybe the picture doesn't do them justice.  It's interesting that they're making an expensive studio headphone, rather than audiophile. 

Hmmm, let's wait for some impressions and see. Maybe a T5P contender in the portable section?

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Originally Posted by yashu 

 

The backs look like spun ABS, which is extremely dead acoustically, if that is the case, they can be light weight, offering the same dampening as a much heavier headphone. Supported by all metal hardware would mean they would last forever, really, since that kind of spun plastic is practically bullet proof. It is used all the time in pro-audio on speakers (nearfield, control, full range monitors), since it can be molded to fit computer modeled shapes and it is acoustically dead. It would actuallt be an advantage.

The cups are made out of magnesium.

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Originally Posted by haloxt 

The cups are made out of magnesium.

What more could a person wish for,all magnesium and leather.

Hopefully a pair will show up at the high-end table in Best Electric in the city, where I can give them a go.  I also hope the average looks are due to all the engineering going into the sound.

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Originally Posted by ford2 

What more could a person wish for,all magnesium and leather.

A $2000 price tag, precious metal or wood cups, better looking hinges and headband, more weight.