[sonics]

  Where's the Qualia bro?  

 I don't have the Utopia but the R10 is still my favorite among the Sony phones that I have.  I hope to get around to do a write up soon.

 

Haven't seen the Qualia around...
R10 is a special instrument indeed.
I'm looking forward to your write-up of your great collection.

 

[Fifty five]

GU1DO what type of song you use to burn in your phone?

 

[GU1DO]

  GU1DO what type of song you use to burn in your phone?

( Yosi Horikawa - Vapor ) full album repeating ..

 

[Fifty five]

:O
 
Maybe it cause stress to your phone voice coil. if you put much volume and continuous very long runtime.
(but it's very rare case)

 

[kefs]

Ok,it's the weekend, they have had 100+ hours of 'burn in', lets have a good listen. Not sure what to expect, but i hope i like it!

 

[Naim.F.C]

GU1DO any chance you could post a picture of your earpads and their thickness? Having handled a few of these, what's become apparent is that small variations in the earpads are possible, due to their hand made and hand stiched nature. Most variations are minor, but some can be more damming.

I actually returned one pair because of ear pad stitching alignment issues, as well as my left and right earpads being different thicknesses and shapes.

Sony were completely awful in dealing with this issue, and claimed they were not faulty even though they were different to what was advertised, different to other earpads on other Z1R's, different to each other (left and right), and also to how they should have looked based on all marketed material.

If I didn't love how they sounded, I would have never purchased another pair out of meagre principle. It isn't so much that a QC issue with the earpads existed that annoyed me, but Sony's complete reluctance to acknowledge it, or replace them.

Sony went from claiming they couldn't help because I didn't request assistance in the first 14 days (even though I actually did in the first 7 days of purchase) ,to then claiming my earpads weren't covered because of physical damage (even though they arrived mis-stitched and shaped the day I opened them), to finally claiming they simply weren't faulty despite acknowledging that they looked different to each other and to what was advertised. This entire process took 2 months, as their response rate was around an email response every week to two weeks. Thankfully in the end my retailer allowed me to return my pair even though the 30 day period had passed.

I'll post some images showing the earpad issues later, the same ones I sent to the engineers.

The weird thing as well is that the thinner or slimmer the pads were, the more forward and intricate the sound was, perhaps less bassy too, so there was actually a very slight difference in sound as a result of the earpad differences. This was more obvious doing A/B switches with the other earpads from another pair I had.

 

[Imperfectionist]

GU1DO any chance you could post a picture of your earpads and their thickness? Having handled a few of these, what's become apparent is that small variations in the earpads are possible, due to their hand made and hand stiched nature. Most variations are minor, but some can be more damming.

I actually returned one pair because of ear pad stitching alignment issues, as well as my left and right earpads being different thicknesses and shapes.

Sony were completely awful in dealing with this issue, and claimed they were not faulty even though they were different to what was advertised, different to other earpads on other Z1R's, different to each other (left and right), and also to how they should have looked based on all marketed material.

If I didn't love how they sounded, I would have never purchased another pair out of meagre principle. It isn't so much that a QC issue with the earpads existed that annoyed me, but Sony's complete reluctance to acknowledge it, or replace them.

Sony went from claiming they couldn't help because I didn't request assistance in the first 14 days (even though I actually did in the first 7 days of purchase) ,to then claiming my earpads weren't covered because of physical damage (even though they arrived mis-stitched and shaped the day I opened them), to finally claiming they simply weren't faulty despite acknowledging that they looked different to each other and to what was advertised. This entire process took 2 months, as their response rate was around an email response every two weeks. Thankfully in the end my retailer allowed me to return my pair even though the 30 day period had passed.

I'll post some images showing the earpad issues later, the same ones I sent to the engineers.

The weird thing as well is that the thinner or slimmer the pads were, the more forward and intricate the sound was, perhaps less bassy too, so there was actually a very slight difference in sound as a result of the earpad differences. This was more obvious doing A/B switches with the other earpads from another pair I had.

Hi Niam, the inner side of the earpads seems to be different and quite flimsy and different texture, like a piece of membrane, I'm wondering if it's the same for you.

 

[Sarnia]

Last night I spent a couple of hours listening to the Z1Rs as they go back soon.

My experience up to then was loved the overall sound, but little too much bass at times and a bit uncomfortable on my right ear for some reason.

I moved the right pad up a notch, and that fixed the comfort issue straight away. Guess I have lop-sided ears!

Strangely last night the bass didn't bother me at all (same music). I couldn't stop listening to them and ended up going to bed at 2am.

Now I'm second guessing myself about cancelling the new pair I had on order. I keep changing my mind about what sounds best and what to keep, it's driving me crazy.

In comparison my HD800S sound like that have less detail, and also far harder to identify positioning of some sounds than the Z1Rs. The difference in the mids is huge, the Z1Rs bring out much more detail and are much more dynamic.

Now I'm thinking about getting rid of the HD800S too and getting Utopias instead. Am I crazy?

 

[Naim.F.C]

Hi Niam, the inner side of the earpads seems to be different and quite flimsy and different texture, like a piece of membrane, I'm wondering if it's the same for you.

Unfortunately all of the earpads are designed that way, which makes the fact that Sony UK charge over £350+ for each earpad even more absurd.

My specific issue was that one earpad had a weird curve at the front area, and the that the left and right earpads were also different thicknesses too.

As I explained to Sony customer service, ordinarily I wouldn't care about such QC tolerances, but with a £1500 pair of luxury premium headphones, the quality control expectation is naturally higher.

Here's an image of the issue, the same ones I sent to the Sony engineers who decided this did not constitute as a defect...



Ironically even my new pair don't have perfectly matching earpads, but they're not as wildly varying as above, which for a hand stitched product I can accept.

 

[Whitigir]

Still looking for the upgrade cable for Z1R.

I tried T1 2nd stock cable yesterday on my balance system yesterday.

This combination is actually not bad at all. Z1R become brighter and the bass is tighten but goes very deep.

However, the sweetness of vocal is missing.....

Seems that isn't a perfect match for Z1R.


Any other impression of cables for Z1R?

What do you want from the sound signature ? For better vocal and transparency, use Silver

 

[s82223]

What do you want from the sound signature ? For better vocal and transparency, use Silver

I'm between copper/silver hybrid cable or pure silver cable.

Actually I found that z1r isn't that dark, so if I use pure silver cable might make treble too sharp for my taste.

I'm looking for a cable that can provide better vocal,transparency and wider soundstage.

 

[Whitigir]

I'm between copper/silver hybrid cable or pure silver cable.

Actually I found that z1r isn't that dark, so if I use pure silver cable might make treble too sharp for my taste.

I'm looking for a cable that can provide better vocal,transparency and wider soundstage.

Then use the hybrid cables as similar to stock cables: copper on positive and silver plated copper or pure silver on negative hybrid

 

[ubs28]

I am returning these today. They are a great pair of headphones but they are simply too big to bring to the office everyday.

 

[sonics]

I am returning these today. They are a great pair of headphones but they are simply too big to bring to the office everyday.

For sound, you said it's darker sounding and has a peak up somewhere, but were you disappointed with the SQ or was it just an issue with portability?

 

[GU1DO]

GU1DO any chance you could post a picture of your earpads and their thickness? Having handled a few of these, what's become apparent is that small variations in the earpads are possible, due to their hand made and hand stiched nature. Most variations are minor, but some can be more damming.

I actually returned one pair because of ear pad stitching alignment issues, as well as my left and right earpads being different thicknesses and shapes.

Sony were completely awful in dealing with this issue, and claimed they were not faulty even though they were different to what was advertised, different to other earpads on other Z1R's, different to each other (left and right), and also to how they should have looked based on all marketed material.

If I didn't love how they sounded, I would have never purchased another pair out of meagre principle. It isn't so much that a QC issue with the earpads existed that annoyed me, but Sony's complete reluctance to acknowledge it, or replace them.

Sony went from claiming they couldn't help because I didn't request assistance in the first 14 days (even though I actually did in the first 7 days of purchase) ,to then claiming my earpads weren't covered because of physical damage (even though they arrived mis-stitched and shaped the day I opened them), to finally claiming they simply weren't faulty despite acknowledging that they looked different to each other and to what was advertised. This entire process took 2 months, as their response rate was around an email response every week to two weeks. Thankfully in the end my retailer allowed me to return my pair even though the 30 day period had passed.

I'll post some images showing the earpad issues later, the same ones I sent to the engineers.

The weird thing as well is that the thinner or slimmer the pads were, the more forward and intricate the sound was, perhaps less bassy too, so there was actually a very slight difference in sound as a result of the earpad differences. This was more obvious doing A/B switches with the other earpads from another pair I had.

 
mmm , Sony build is better than regular high end ,, the quality and details in the making is very nice ,, it remind me of apple products
i just checked my pads ,, and i see your point ,, they are not 100% symmetrical,, not perfect ,, and it is weekst part in the build quality ,, but still OK
 
I think they should have replaced you pads without any delay ,, yours is much deffected than the normal ,
beside this its a lunch period ,, they need all the positive feedback.
 
anyway here is pic of my pads.