[kman1211]

  how does the Z7 compare with a Final Audio Design Pandora Hope VI, if anyone has both, or listened to both?

I would like to know that too as both headphones are on my radar. 

 

[takato14]

^^

 

[Maxvla]

Briefly demo'd the Pandora at RMAF via an AK120 and it sounded good, better than I expected given Final Audio's oddly tuned gear. Z7 is better, IMO, mostly because of the soundstage. Somewhat similar signature, though, strong bass, but clear mids/highs. It would likely come down to soundstage preference, as I think they are roughly similar in ability.

 

[takato14]

Briefly demo'd the Pandora at RMAF via an AK120 and it sounded good, better than I expected given Final Audio's oddly tuned gear. Z7 is better, IMO, mostly because of the soundstage. Somewhat similar signature, though, strong bass, but clear mids/highs. It would likely come down to soundstage preference, as I think they are roughly similar in ability.

Kinda surprised, Final usually either makes really good or really, really bad equipment; I haven't heard of any in-betweens until this point.

 

[grizzlybeast]

If the z7 has the clarity of the pandora then its a wrap for a lot of headphones in its price. The Pandora has clarity in spades. Soundstage of the pandora though is only okay and it could use tighter bass even if its detailed.

 

[gelocks]

If the z7 has the clarity of the pandora then its a wrap for a lot of headphones in its price. The Pandora has clarity in spades. Soundstage of the pandora though is only okay and it could use tighter bass even if its detailed.

Yeah, the ONLY thing I disliked about the Pandora was the fit and comfort! Other than that it was aces to my ears!

 

[1c3d0g]

  .....
 
I will have a unit for review normaly, I will be able to make a real comparison with my TH900 on a home rig.

 
Really interested in this comparison, as I'm also torn between this Z7 and the TH900.

 

[halcyon]

  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

I beg to differ in reading the graphs. You can compare 30Hz square wave plots quite well across measurements. FRGs not, esp beyond 4kHz it increasingly starts become a game of guesswork and placement.

Time will tell. I will wait for the Sony flagship after Z7 or something else

 

[Dopaminer]

I finally had a good, long, high-quality listen to these, at the Tokyo show today.  Single ended, out of DB2/PB2.  All the aforementioned raving about comfort is certainly true.  Isolation is good (but not nearly as good on my head as the new Ultrasone Performance 880). I also spent some efforts trying to nail down the leakage issue. I`ve concluded that at my listening levels, leakage from those vents is minimal and not a worry any more for me.  (Interestingly, with the volume cranked at a higher than comfortable level, I could actually feel low-frequency air pressure pumping out of that vent.  Very cool.) 
 
I also realized after a few tracks that I could get an amazing variation of bass quantity by raising or lowering the wearing height.  The Z7 is so light and fits so well on my head, this was an easy process; it felt equally comfortable basically centered around my ears, and also riding up all the way, so that my earlobes were touching the bottom of the inner pads.  Any of you with the Z7 should try this out and see if you experience the same thing.  I was using two tracks with excellent bass, Pitch Black`s South of the Line and Erykah Badu`s Stay from the live album. The amount of bass dropped away significantly in the higher position.  I tried this out with my HD800 and there was no change at all.
 
It may just be a quirk of skull.  
 
 
Anyway, as much as I like the Z7, the new Ultrasone 880 seemed better in several significant ways, including better isolation, even better fit, better bass with an overall preferable sound signature, and foldability.  
 
d

 

[up late]

Really interested in this comparison, as I'm also torn between this Z7 and the TH900.

especially interested in how the soundstage compares with the z7 having a bigger driver. wonder if the z7 would have the edge there.

 

[M-13]

 
 
Anyway, as much as I like the Z7, the new Ultrasone 880 seemed better in several significant ways, including better isolation, even better fit, better bass with an overall preferable sound signature, and foldability.  

So how do they compare? Is the Ultrasone just a bass monster or are they better balanced/neutralish like the Sig Pro?

 

[Oregonian]

Pics of the d600 cables only show 1 ring on each earcup input vs. 2 on the sony. Although they fit, do they actually work and sound ok with the z7?

Sound and work great.

 

[Dopaminer]

  So how do they compare? Is the Ultrasone just a bass monster or are they better balanced/neutralish like the Sig Pro?

The 880 didn`t strike me as bassy, though I thought the bass was excellent - suprisingly, amazingly excellent.  Overall, I would say more balanced and neutral than the Z7, for sure.  If anyone is interested, these are the notes I made today in the Ultrasone room; most of my comparisons are vs the Z7:

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I got there early and there were only 2 other people in the Ultrasone room, so I had a good, long listen.  I then spent about 2 hours listening to other HPs, the ones I consider (my) rivals for the 880.  They are :
 
Shure 1540
Sony Z7
Alphadog Prime
 
Then at the end I returned to the Ultrasone room and had another long listen.  I was listening out of the iBasso DB2/PB2 balanced dac/amp set, using my dx50 as transport.  Below are my notes, made while listening to the 880, and after asking a few questions to the suave Ultrasone rep:
 
Negatives
 
-They are somewhat plasticky, especially compared to the Z7 and even the 1540
-The cable is 3-wire, and one-sided, so I believe that effectively eliminates balanced operation
-On some of my more highly complex, high-dynamic range tracks (Shapeshifter; Erykah Badu`s `Stay` from the live album) there were hints of harshness in the higher frequencies that I heard.  I worry that they may be fatiguing for longer sessions...  
 
Positives
 
-Crazy light
-They fold to lay flat
-Includes L and S cables, pleather/velour pads, neoprene case.  Short cable is like and IEM cable. 
-Crazy awesome isolation; like having earplugs in (!).  Better, for me, than any of the above rivals by a significant margin. 
-Fit / Comfort is excellent.  Headband is awesome - the silver inner parts that attach to the cups is very solid metal (my guess is aluminum) and the center of the headband is approx. 10cm of memory metal.  I mentioned to the rep that the clamping force was quite high and he bent them out so far that you would be able to play tunes for your pet elephant with them.  I bent them in again and experimented and found a blissful level of comfort/weightlessness with only a minimal loss of isolation. 
-These are amazingly detailed to my ears.  They were the only one of the four that made me think of closed HD800s.  I`m serious. I have a lot of highly complex music and these things were mindblowingly good.   
-The bass is unbelievably good, both with full-on deep electronica like  Pitch Black and Kaya Project, and also on acoustic double bass in 24bit modern Jazz like Ahman Jamal and Marc Johnson.  I was shocked, really; i did not expect bass like this from Ultrasone.  I preferred the Ultrasone bass to the Shure and Sony, by a wide margin.  
-These sound like a serious hifi headhone to me, with relatively flat FR and no messing around like the Shure and Sony (and Senn DJ HD80) which I think will work out better for me in the long run, as fun as those other cans are to listen to.  
 
Okay this is from memory, and not all that fresh memory, because the Ultrasone room was on the 6th floor and Sony was on the 13th, so quick A-Bing was impossible.  I was using the same 9 Flac tracks to demo all the `phones.  
 
Ahmad Jamal - The Line and One 24bit
Shapeshifter - The System is a Vampire
Pitch Black - South of the Line
Kaya Project - The Fortress
Erykah Badu Live - Stay
Halie Loren - Whiter Shade of Pale
DaveMatthewsBand - Save Me 24bit
Cassandra Wilson - Soloman Sang 24bit
 
I believe the 880 has significantly more high-frequency details than the Sony; however, I would definitely say the Sony is smoother.  As I mentioned, there was a threat, a seeming risk, of harshness in the 880 highs.  I`m not saying they were or are harsh, just that I could easily imagine not liking the high frequencies coming out of it with some tracks.  This is similar to my HD800 - never really bad, though sometimes almost.  If that makes any sense.  From what I`ve heard about Ultrasone, they have a reputation for harshness, or what many people perceive as harshness.  I only demo`d one very high-end Ultrasone, A-Bing with HD800, HD700, T1, and I remember disqualifying it immediately, because of harshness/thinness.  
Also, IMO the 880 is flatter FR overall than the Sony, which seems more v-like or at least bass-heavy, relatively.  
 
Regarding soundstage, I would describe them as equal - equally great.  Better than Alphadog Primes and 1540, in my memory.  
 
Both the 880 and z7 are great phones.  I would really really love to do a side-by-side with these two.....
 

 
d

 

[M-13]

Thanks for the impressons. Looks like I might have to pick up the 880s. The price is pretty cheap too. I love my Sig Pros to death and think they're worthy every penny after my long ownership period. I wonder how the 880s compare.
 
Hmm... lot's of interesting options out there now. I also quite enjoyed Sony's Z1000 and then the 7520s even more. I was raving about the 7520s right before the hypetrain left the station here on Head-Fi. I kinda miss them actually, hopefully the Z7 will fill that gap and more.

 

[daphen]

  The 880 didn`t strike me as bassy, though I thought the bass was excellent - suprisingly, amazingly excellent.  Overall, I would say more balanced and neutral than the Z7, for sure.  If anyone is interested, these are the notes I made today in the Ultrasone room; most of my comparisons are vs the Z7:

 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I got there early and there were only 2 other people in the Ultrasone room, so I had a good, long listen.  I then spent about 2 hours listening to other HPs, the ones I consider (my) rivals for the 880.  They are :
 
Shure 1540
Sony Z7
Alphadog Prime
 
Then at the end I returned to the Ultrasone room and had another long listen.  I was listening out of the iBasso DB2/PB2 balanced dac/amp set, using my dx50 as transport.  Below are my notes, made while listening to the 880, and after asking a few questions to the suave Ultrasone rep:
 
Negatives
 
-They are somewhat plasticky, especially compared to the Z7 and even the 1540
-The cable is 3-wire, and one-sided, so I believe that effectively eliminates balanced operation
-On some of my more highly complex, high-dynamic range tracks (Shapeshifter; Erykah Badu`s `Stay` from the live album) there were hints of harshness in the higher frequencies that I heard.  I worry that they may be fatiguing for longer sessions...  
 
Positives
 
-Crazy light
-They fold to lay flat
-Includes L and S cables, pleather/velour pads, neoprene case.  Short cable is like and IEM cable. 
-Crazy awesome isolation; like having earplugs in (!).  Better, for me, than any of the above rivals by a significant margin. 
-Fit / Comfort is excellent.  Headband is awesome - the silver inner parts that attach to the cups is very solid metal (my guess is aluminum) and the center of the headband is approx. 10cm of memory metal.  I mentioned to the rep that the clamping force was quite high and he bent them out so far that you would be able to play tunes for your pet elephant with them.  I bent them in again and experimented and found a blissful level of comfort/weightlessness with only a minimal loss of isolation. 
-These are amazingly detailed to my ears.  They were the only one of the four that made me think of closed HD800s.  I`m serious. I have a lot of highly complex music and these things were mindblowingly good.   
-The bass is unbelievably good, both with full-on deep electronica like  Pitch Black and Kaya Project, and also on acoustic double bass in 24bit modern Jazz like Ahman Jamal and Marc Johnson.  I was shocked, really; i did not expect bass like this from Ultrasone.  I preferred the Ultrasone bass to the Shure and Sony, by a wide margin.  
-These sound like a serious hifi headhone to me, with relatively flat FR and no messing around like the Shure and Sony (and Senn DJ HD80) which I think will work out better for me in the long run, as fun as those other cans are to listen to.  
 
Okay this is from memory, and not all that fresh memory, because the Ultrasone room was on the 6th floor and Sony was on the 13th, so quick A-Bing was impossible.  I was using the same 9 Flac tracks to demo all the `phones.  
 
Ahmad Jamal - The Line and One 24bit
Shapeshifter - The System is a Vampire
Pitch Black - South of the Line
Kaya Project - The Fortress
Erykah Badu Live - Stay
Halie Loren - Whiter Shade of Pale
DaveMatthewsBand - Save Me 24bit
Cassandra Wilson - Soloman Sang 24bit
 
I believe the 880 has significantly more high-frequency details than the Sony; however, I would definitely say the Sony is smoother.  As I mentioned, there was a threat, a seeming risk, of harshness in the 880 highs.  I`m not saying they were or are harsh, just that I could easily imagine not liking the high frequencies coming out of it with some tracks.  This is similar to my HD800 - never really bad, though sometimes almost.  If that makes any sense.  From what I`ve heard about Ultrasone, they have a reputation for harshness, or what many people perceive as harshness.  I only demo`d one very high-end Ultrasone, A-Bing with HD800, HD700, T1, and I remember disqualifying it immediately, because of harshness/thinness.  
Also, IMO the 880 is flatter FR overall than the Sony, which seems more v-like or at least bass-heavy, relatively.  
 
Regarding soundstage, I would describe them as equal - equally great.  Better than Alphadog Primes and 1540, in my memory.  
 
Both the 880 and z7 are great phones.  I would really really love to do a side-by-side with these two.....
 

 
d

Thanks a lot for the impressions, this really sparked my interest in the 880's. The foldable, slimmer design and better isolation and (assuming?) leakage, make them more office friendly and to top it off, they're cheaper as well. 
Speaking of the HD700's (My only high end headphones) how would you say the 880's compare?  
Thanks a lot again.