Indeed. Now I've been trying different setups. My personal findings so far from equipment that I have been able to test at home:
Beresford TC-7520:
One of the best synergies really, even though dac/amp is not even near the level of Z1r. Works really well with rock and especially trash metal. Becomes a bit bass heavy, but I like how the harshness and bass heaviness of the dac/amp makes the setup very bold and aggressive, but still natural. This dac didn't work too well with HD-800 since the dac feels like increasing the sound stage, the music became too distant. But with Z1R it's a really nice pair. Actually this is the best setup I have yet used for Children of Bodom.
I could imagine this to be a very good basic workhorse, when I just like to listen good music enjoying it very much but still maintining the ability to "be here". SaraK - Fish Outta Water made me feel like dancing.
Beresford TC-7520 + DNA Sonett:
Nice pairing as well. Misses some of the slam, but becomes more relaxed still retaining charisma. Works really well with stuff like Hans Zimmer's Time, where bass is not so fast, but there is this aggressive energy inside it that builds up.
Beresford TC-7520 + Creek OBH-21mk2 (loaned from Audiokauppa):
It was really nice how 21mk2 took away some dryness and gave it some musicality. However I found myself from a place in which I was a bit confused. Metallica sounded great, otherwise it was too much of a compromise of everything and nothing sounded particularly good and nothing too bad either. However I don't see a music style that would fit particularly good for that kind of boldness that has been shaved off a bit to get some musicality. It was like Devind Townsend would put on a pink polo shirt and go sailing. Sometimes mixing the two just is not more than sum of the parts...
Lead Audio LA-100:
Analytical but very boring. Also too forward for Z1R. Works better with cans like HD800, when you have really good recordings and you like melt together with whatever you are listening. However Z1R feels like a really fast and fun motorcycle that must be driven carefully on red carpet. Boring.
iFi iDSD Micro Black (loaned from local shop Audiokauppa):
Oh my god this sounds good. Listening again Sara K - Fish Outta Water to compare this to Beresford. Don't feel like dancing though. I lost some involviness, but definitely more stuff happening there. If I push xBass, I feel more like dancing but I don't get there.
Rock and metal: xBass of the black is a bit too boomy and without it I feel like it's lacking some fun that I'm looking. A bit boring as well.
However when I put in Nils Lofgren I feel a bit sad that I don't have excess to buy iDSD just for fun. 3D also makes these cans sound something I have not experienced with other amps. I would say that the soundstage is the best thing with iDSD. For example Audioslave - The Last Remaining sounds great.
I would not say that iDSD is boring. The fun is just elsewhere. It's like zenbuddhist mind: you are just observing everything that is happening around you and enjoying it. And actually the more I'm doing it, the more I'm enjoying it. Not as with HD800 + LA100 when it became fatiguing.
Ah, and now Sophie Zelmani - Excuse Me. I'm beginning to love this combination. This is so frightening, because if you read later, this won't be my only love...
RHA L1 Dacamp (also loaned from Audiokauppa):
Oh my god. If I tought that Nils Lofgren sounded great from iDSD, I now I'm melting. I was so afraid of RHA being worse even on this song that I'm so relieved I wan't to cry.
Every single song that I have played, RHA won iDSD with knockout when it comes to feeling.
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun: very nice bass. Guitar is near, maybe 1m from me. Band is almost like a circle around me. Feels like I'm in the room, nice placement of instruments and clear but still very emotional.
Porcupine Tree - Lazarus: emotional and engaging, but not as agressively engaging as LA-100. Just enough and I'm loving it.
The Connells '74-'75: Same goes on...
Basically all the songs with guitar+song works really well. Very aggressive music like Children of Bodom is not working as well, since while there is punch, it's not that rough. Children of Bodom clearly need more "cheap" DAC (just like my old Beresford
) to sound right. Luckily it's dirt cheap (paid 100€ for it second hand), so I can keep it to listen trash metal and rock properly. A bit same story with Korn and everything that needs to sound aggressive. Maybe Dacamp is not dry enough for that.
RHA L1 Dacamp + DNA Sonett:
Daft Punk's Recognizer has never sounded this good. While RHA L1 makes music very juicy punch and live, DNA Sonett gives it love. Also Carbon Based Lifeforms - Abiogenesis sounds magical and maybe have never sounded this good. Great setup on songs that are slow and bass fills the air.
Dragonfly Red:
Actually I have to say I have underestimated my Dragonfly since I have left it last. I tried Z1R out of box with Dragonfly Red but it wasn't such a great pairng. Now that Z1R:s have experienced some 35h pink noise and hours of listening, Dragonfly Red starts to shine as well. Very musical and relaxing. But then I put in RHA L1 and I'm like what the ****? I constantly forget how good it sounds. RHA is like Dragonfly Red but so much more of that good. Maybe a bit details, soundstage and reverb.
Talking of Soundstage. Now I'm doing comparison between Dragonfly Red and iDSD. The soundstage of Dragonfly Red seems to be nonexistent compared to iDSD if I put on 3D on iDSD.
Then short comments on some amps I tried at shop with Z1R:
audiolab M-DAC:
It was too bright to my taste.
Pro-Ject Head Box DS2:
Sounded "ok" but didn't get exited. Kind of same feeling as with iDSD: nice performance, but you are not getting my money. More lame than iDSD, but still very decent. I don't remember what was the dac used though, but I would imagine that it was not something below decent.
Naim DAC-V1:
I bet someone will strangle me for this, but it was close to Lead Audio LA-100. Really nice sound and way not as boring as LA-100. However the problem for me was that it was so forward and engaging, that I would get tired after few songs. Not all-arounder but more like come-here-and-listen-your-favourite-song-really-intimitely.
Summa summarum (for now):
I think for me RHA L1 Dacamp will cover everything else than most aggressive music styles when it comes to enjoying music. For more analytical (still not being too analytical) iDSD works really well. For more bold music styles like punk or trash metal Beresford was a great pair and also worked really well for other music styles as well, but it was more like good old "just listening to music". Dragonfly Red worked surprisingly well, but was not (not surprisingly) enought to release the potential that R1Zs are keeping inside. And if one wants to spice things up, DNA Sonett gave nice spice on all of the 3: RHA, iDSD and Beresford. Lost some slam, but increased musicality in a very sophisticated way.
I really hope that someone can benefit from my comments and I think I may comment some more later when I've listened more these setups. I own Beresford and Sonett already, but Audiokauppa let me keep RHA L1 and iDSD until friday and I'm probably gonna buy one of those after some more listening. Just have to make a really hard decision between the two...
UPDATE: All that bass bloating all around with RHA L1 started making me feel sick and iDSD's bass in "one direction" made it too "niche" to be an all-arounder. I ended up ordering TA-ZH1ES based on commenting on that (there is no preview available anywhere in Finland). Fingers crossed that everything will end up well! More comments on that later and also some comparison.
