[Zoide]

  LOL nice! Amazon screwed something up so they are going to end up taking 4 days to get them to me from their warehouse 200 miles away! Missed the weekend too!
 
Enjoy!
 

 
Nooooooooo
 
My precious CD3000 comparison

 

[longboy]

Doesn't say much, but better than nothing:
 
http://www.hardwarezone.com.sg/feature-hands-sonys-new-headphones-mdr-z7-mdr-1adac-and-mdr-xb950bt 

 

[wahsmoh]

I think it's pretty amazing that when I first joined this community(as a thread lurker) in 2010 the offerings for hi-fi headphones were NOWHERE near what is being offered today.
 
It pretty much says that the "Beats" generation and everyone who noticed it caught new interests in headphone fidelity.
 
I spent time looking for headphones that WEREN'T Beats because I wanted something that didn't compromise sound quality for a brand image. 
 
Now there are so many offerings it makes me dizzy knowing how much money I could blow 

 

 

[Makiah S]

  I think it's pretty amazing that when I first joined this community(as a thread lurker) in 2010 the offerings for hi-fi headphones were NOWHERE near what is being offered today.
 
It pretty much says that the "Beats" generation and everyone who noticed it caught new interests in headphone fidelity.
 
I spent time looking for headphones that WEREN'T Beats because I wanted something that didn't compromise sound quality for a brand image. 
 
Now there are so many offerings it makes me dizzy knowing how much money I could blow 

 

Kinda lucky I got here when I did, the when I got into Closed Backs the Mad Dog was BRAND new, and I got a W1000X over it, since the MD was to dark for my tastes Though I'll have to thank the W1000x for my wood only fetish, it's saved me a ton of money <3 

 

[borrego]

Actually, the measurement of the Z7 isn't that bad. If you look up the innerfidelity database, the measurement of a few Grado looks worse. It does not stop people enjoying the Grados. And Grado really do sound good.

I now use EQ all the time when listening at home so any frequency peak won't bother me. If the Z7's sound imaging is good then I shall buy it when I travel to Osaka next week. It should be the ultimate headphones for pop/mainstream music.

 

[takato14]

 

  that is FAR better than I expected actually
 
get rid of that minor hump/bloat after the leading edge and it's quite good

I'm not sure what you expected, but I expected something better.

For comparison:

Beyer T70P @ 30 Hz


Nad Viso HP50 @ 30 Hz

 
 
Both are clearly better and their bass (I own both) leave a lot to be desired.
 
I don't just want quantity, I want quality too. Z7 will not provide that in the bass region. Clearly mid-bass dominance, some phase issues and ringing. Not good.

uh neither of those are better, the HP50 is a lot more bloated and the T70p has worse control
 
but even then you can't compare tyll's plots to the other one because they're not done with the same rig

 

[Malfunkt]

May be a basic question, but what does square wave response have to do with bass?

In my humble synthesis experience, any waveform can produce a bass tone. A sine wave could be used but a square wave is better to see how the waveform holds its 'integrity'. In some cases you'll see rounded edges, while in others, you'll see pronounced edges. In effect, it is a distortion of the waveform that all speakers will exhibit.

 

[kman1211]

Actually, the measurement of the Z7 isn't that bad. If you look up the innerfidelity database, the measurement of a few Grado looks worse. It does not stop people enjoying the Grados. And Grado really do sound good.

I now use EQ all the time when listening at home so any frequency peak won't bother me. If the Z7's sound imaging is good then I shall buy it when I travel to Osaka next week. It should be the ultimate headphones for pop/mainstream music.

True, the measurements aren't that bad. True. Measurements aren't necessarily going to tell you if you are going to enjoy a headphone or not. As long as a headphone is transparent, not overly harsh, comfortable, and fun to listen to, I could care less about it's measurements. 

 

[Makiah S]

  True, the measurements aren't that bad. True. Measurements aren't necessarily going to tell you if you are going to enjoy a headphone or not. As long as a headphone is transparent, not overly harsh, comfortable, and fun to listen to, I could care less about it's measurements. 

actually, I'll tell you this much
 
if you have a headphone that you 100% do not like, take a look at it's measurements and notice where the most prominent dips or peaks are, in most cases finding headphones with Dips or Peaks in our around that same area might cue you in that it's not for you, the opposite can be said to, I view as graphs somthing  nice for finding potential. 

 

[peterpan188]

In my humble synthesis experience, any waveform can produce a bass tone. A sine wave could be used but a square wave is better to see how the waveform holds its 'integrity'. In some cases you'll see rounded edges, while in others, you'll see pronounced edges. In effect, it is a distortion of the waveform that all speakers will exhibit.

Thanks. I agree that the square wave can demonstrate the distortion of the tone, but the round edges and overshoots only speaks to the high frequency response, namely bandwidth and Q of the drivers. IMHO, I don't see the connection to bass performance from a square wave response.

 

[kman1211]

  actually, I'll tell you this much
 
if you have a headphone that you 100% do not like, take a look at it's measurements and notice where the most prominent dips or peaks are, in most cases finding headphones with Dips or Peaks in our around that same area might cue you in that it's not for you, the opposite can be said to, I view as graphs somthing  nice for finding potential. 

I used to do that but I started finding it didn't always work out, it is good for confirming problem areas but it doesn't always mean headphones with similar peaks or dips are going to bother me. I use measurements as a tool to get a mild impression of what the sound can be like and it can cue to a degree what headphones to avoid like you said. I find I have to get the most information from other peoples impressions and auditioning if possible.

 

[Makiah S]

  I used to do that but I started finding it didn't always work out, it is good for confirming problem areas but it doesn't always mean headphones with similar peaks or dips are going to bother me. 

Yea true enough, good for potential finding. Again it helps me adjust my expectations, I won't rule something out as a potential try because they graph is wonky, Truth be told I don't know what's like come over me but I'm starting to hear the peaks n dips in my headphones more, for example my W1000X has a some what drop off on it's Mids and then a crazy Spike in the Upper Mids Low Treble, now I modded mine a little... but I can still hear some of it's mid dips, I swtiched off my HE 4 and onto my W1000X while listening to some orchestral and I was a little shocked how some what distant the mids sounded... I'm REALLY hoping the W1000X sounds a smidge better out of the HM901, I'll find out monday... I still some times don't like the W1000X out of the NFB10ES2 I have at home... I'm hoping the HM901 will have the speed of the NFB10ES2 with some of the HM801 Analog sound, from the many reviews I've read the HM801 and 901 Share that classic kicking Hifiman BASS, so that's good. But we shall see how the mids go! Should be a nice upgrade me thinks, as the last couple of days I listened to the hm801 with my W1000x it felt really slow... and kinda bloated, hoping the hm901 rids me of some of the Bloat and sluggishness I had with the hm801 at the end 

 

[marcswede]

Ordinary people will confuse it between the iDevice standard though. Remember that ordinary consumers are quite often lazy and don't expect to have to think about how to use stuff.

True. And that is probably enough reason to not implement TRRS from a commercial point of view.

However, speaking of plugs, I just found this. Sony seem to have another idea for a new standard: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/canjam-rmaf-2014-showstopper-sonys-proposed-new-industry-standard-headphone-plugs

5 poles obviously give a lot of options.

 

[kman1211]

  Yea true enough, good for potential finding. Again it helps me adjust my expectations, I won't rule something out as a potential try because they graph is wonky, Truth be told I don't know what's like come over me but I'm starting to hear the peaks n dips in my headphones more, for example my W1000X has a some what drop off on it's Mids and then a crazy Spike in the Upper Mids Low Treble, now I modded mine a little... but I can still hear some of it's mid dips, I swtiched off my HE 4 and onto my W1000X while listening to some orchestral and I was a little shocked how some what distant the mids sounded... I'm REALLY hoping the W1000X sounds a smidge better out of the HM901, I'll find out monday... I still some times don't like the W1000X out of the NFB10ES2 I have at home... I'm hoping the HM901 will have the speed of the NFB10ES2 with some of the HM801 Analog sound, from the many reviews I've read the HM801 and 901 Share that classic kicking Hifiman BASS, so that's good. But we shall see how the mids go! Should be a nice upgrade me thinks, as the last couple of days I listened to the hm801 with my W1000x it felt really slow... and kinda bloated, hoping the hm901 rids me of some of the Bloat and sluggishness I had with the hm801 at the end 

True, that happens from time to time. I noticed the faults of headphones can start bothering me after a long time, sometimes it fully ruins the headphone for me, other times it's a signal I need to switch headphones for a few days. I find sometimes it's best to put the headphone aside for a few days and listen to something else then switch back to it and listen to it alone for a few days. I always find comparing headphones can ruin both headphones for me for a period of time. After a while I stopped comparing my HD 600 and my K712 so much, it just didn't really work out and both started bothering me when I did that. I came to appreciate what I like about both a lot and realized I like both headphones about the same amount. I enjoy both for all types of music, movies, and games and realized they simply take a different approach to sound reproduction. Neither headphone gets ignored, though my other headphones do. My DT 150 is being borrowed for a while so not fully sure if I feel they will fit in or not. I'm personally trying to find a trio of headphones I can rotate between with ease depending on my mood. I hope the HM901 turns out to be what you want with the W1000X.

 

[Makiah S]

Speaking of plugs, I just found this. Sony seem to have another idea for a new standard: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/canjam-rmaf-2014-showstopper-sonys-proposed-new-industry-standard-headphone-plugs

 
 

  True, that happens from time to time. I noticed the faults of headphones can start bothering me after a long time, sometimes it fully ruins the headphone for me, other times it's a signal I need to switch headphones for a few days. I find sometimes it's best to put the headphone aside for a few days and listen to something else then switch back to it and listen to it alone for a few days. I always find comparing headphones can ruin both headphones for me for a period of time. After a while I stopped comparing my HD 600 and my K712 so much, it just didn't really work out and both started bothering me when I did that. I came to appreciate what I like about both a lot and realized I like both headphones about the same amount. I enjoy both for all types of music, movies, and games and realized they simply take a different approach to sound reproduction. Neither headphone gets ignored, though my other headphones do. My DT 150 is being borrowed for a while so not fully sure if I feel they will fit in or not. I'm personally trying to find a trio of headphones I can rotate between with ease depending on my mood. I hope the HM901 turns out to be what you want with the W1000X.

Yea me too, though [and this info was give to my buyer] my hm 801 had no more USB support... it just died one day... and since then I've worried about what I'll do when it dies... that constant stress kinda sucks tbh, that said though the day I wasn't thrilled with my hm801, I slapped my PB2 up to the NFB10ES2 Line out and wow it sounded really good... the amp compliments the W1000x really well. 
 
There fore after spending some time with my W1000x via the pb2 and NFB10ES2 Line out... I figured the HM901 which has the same dac chips it should be pretty stankin great!