The Official Sony MDR-Z1R Flagship Headphone Thread (Live From IFA 2016)
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Sep 1, 2016 at 7:17 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 11,341

thatonenoob

Reviewer: PMR Audio
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 ​
The Sony MDR-Z1R​
The New Sony Flagship
 ​
A Table of Contents​

1. Design/ Philosophy Notes (Directly Below)​
2. Video of Technical Interview (Click Here)​
3. General Impressions By This Author (Click Here)​
4. General Impressions by Other Members (Click Here)​
5. Event and Release Videos (Click here)​

 
 
Links To Related Threads


 
An Introduction From The Ground ​
 
Hello all!  It’s thatonenoob here, A little while back, the Sony Singapore Team reached out to me, saying that they had a rather interesting proposition.  I figured that it was probably going to be something along the lines of a new product release, and was naturally quite curious.  A couple of calls and a few emails later, and I found myself booked for a flight to the 2016 IFA in Berlin.
 
As it is now slightly past 1:15 PM here in Berlin on September 1st, I’m finally able to discuss in an official capacity the immensely exciting new Sony Hi-Res lineup. I know there’s already been some “info” that has arrived beforehand from a Chinese (?) source, but by nature of things I won’t be commenting on that channel.  Rest assured though, everything you see here is official, so speculation begone!   
 
Currently, the atmosphere here at the press conference is hectic and filled with a great deal of excitement, and in the coming hours I will be posting all my impressions, photos, and videos right here in this thread.  In short, I will be bringing the Sony experience directly to y’all Head-Fi’ers.  Stay tuned.
 
And We're Done
 
IFA has since been concluded, and my review of the Z1R published.  If you should have any questions, just post below or shoot me a PM.  Either is fine really.
 
 Specifications​

 ​
Model Name
MDR-Z1R Hi-Res Audio Headphones
Hi-Res Audio
Yes
Receiver Type
Closed
Wearing Style
Around-Ear Headband
Driver Unit
70mm Dynamic
Diaphragm
Aluminum-coated Liquid Crystal Polymer Edge Diaphragms with Magnesium Dome
Frequency Response
4-120,000Hz
Sensitivity
100dB/mW
Impedance (at 1kHz)
64Ω
Cables
Headphone Cable (3m Silver-coated OFC with gold-plated 3.5mm Stereo Mini Plug); Balanced connection headphone cable (1.2m Silver-coated OFC with L-shaped gold-plated 4.4mm Balanced Standard plug)
Weight
Approx. 385g (excluding cable)
Case Accessory
Hard storage case
 
USD Prices (Projected For Asia)​
 
WM1Z - 3199
WM1A - 1199
ZH1ES - 2199
Z1R - 2199
1000X - 399
 
Design/ Philosophy

 
Key Features
 
Right off the bat, there's a couple of new features to be had in the MDR-Z1R.  There's several key aspects of the headphone as advertised by Sony. 
 
  1. The 70mm Magnesium Dome HD Driver Units
  2. Fibonacci-patterned grill for smooth ultra-high frequencies
  3. Breathable housing that reduces resonance
  4. New 4.4mm balanced connection standard
  5. Genuine Leather, built in Japan, lightweight beta-titanium headband
 ​
The tuning philosophy has been more or less transferred over from the MDR-Z7, intact, might I add. There are two key components of this philosophy - super bass/ super treble and extreme dynamics.  That is to say, for fortissimo reproduction there should be clean and little distortion, and for pianissimo reproduction a strong depth of field.  However, the execution is without a doubt better than that on the Z7.  This, I will cover in greater detail once I iron out my impressions.  Which mind you, were very positive.  Handling the headphone, I am impressed, if not slightly stunned, by its aesthetic.  
 
 ​
The construction of the headphone is very unique.  The driver is 70mm, but this wasn't the same one that was utilized in the MDR-Z7.  Instead, it comes with a magnesium dome, surrounded by an aluminum-coated LCP edge. Behind that is the voice coil, pole piece, magnet, frame and acoustic register.  Supposedly, this transducer is able to reproduce frequencies of up to 120 kHz w/ high acoustic velocity and internal loss. Interestingly enough, one may notice that the Focal Elear also makes use of a similar 40mm "M-shaped" dome. The aluminum-coated LCP edge has made a return, primarily because of its "clear -mid and treble sound" with "no coloration.  But speaking with Nageno-san, it was fairly obvious that the most exciting part of this new design was the magnesium dome.  
 
 ​
The enclosure of the MDR-Z1R was designed primarily to tackle resonance.  It's comprised of three parts - a housing frame, acoustic filter, and housing protector.  I think many people, including myself, wanted to know exactly why Sony chose not to go for an open design.  I have thus been reassured that it is not because of a lack of engineering capability.  In a conversation with the engineers (not shown in video), I was more or less told that it was because of the fact that they wanted the listener to focus purely on the music at hand, and also because they felt it was more favorable to tackle the internal reflections/ damping issues than to deal with building a headphone around inevitable background noise.  Based on the feeling I got, it did seem to me that the Sony team felt the former was the easier "variable" to solve for.
 
But moving away from the philosophy, I want to discuss the acoustic filter located above the housing frame, which to me is quite impressive.  I'll start by saying this - the advertising material (at least the stuff I got) did not convey the essence of what was so great about the filter.  I was told that this was a "breathable" headphone, and frankly at first, I was wondering why they decided to place such emphasis on a performance characteristic that would have been much more fitting for an active use device.  It did not help that being able to wear the headphones for hours on end was the buzz phrase of the day.   It was only after consulting Shunsuke Shiomi, an acoustic engineer from the team, that I finally realized what the engineering team was trying to do with the enclosure design. The filter itself is made of a Canadian conifer pulp processed in the traditional Japanese Washi method of paper making.  It is breathable in this sense.
 
 ​
Yes, it is a hand-drawn diagram by Shiomi-San.  He explained that one of the perceived drawbacks of the MDR-Z7 was the significant venting that had been used (see the left).  However, with the MDR-Z1R, the goal was to design a 3D housing that could allow the Air (A+B) to flow right out.  Hence, the enclosure is breathable, and this, according to Sony, makes it very good at tackling resonances. However, there is still a vent at the top of the enclosure, but it is, as expected, much smaller than that seen on the Z7.  The housing protector is made from a stemless wire and coated with chromium, and should be quite resistant to abrasion.  The last component in the design, is the Fibonacci-Patterned Grill.  This wonderful looking grill was designed to reproduce smooth ultra-high frequencies, and is made of a stiff resin.  The thinness and strength of the grill lends itself to reduced sound damping at high-resolution frequencies.  Not too sure what a high-resolution frequency is, but I bet it's got something to do with the purported 120 kHz reproduction.
 
Sony has decided that it will now support its own 4.4 mm Balanced Connection as the "standard" for the Signature series.  See below.  Accessories will include the said balanced cable and a standard 3.5mm cable.   
 
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 7:19 AM Post #2 of 11,341
Technical Interview​

Our extremely interesting technical interview with the Sony Engineers.  It's got quite a bit of everything, and I've more or less kept track of the conversation via a numbered list of captions.  We had some issues with the translation, and I think I will elaborate more.  Some of the initial concern was that the press info was not as technical as some may have liked. We also didn't have a technical ready translator on hand (i.e. engineer trained etc.) Last, it was rapid fire style as we did not have all that much time. To me, it was still informative, and despite not being too smooth something I'd still like to share.
 

 ​
General Impressions By The Author

 
Positive Start - These Are Good
 
I like the way the MDR-Z1R sounds.  You may wish to know that I even did a bit of foot tapping (Please Come Home For Christmas, Eagles).  But let's not get too caught up.  Some may know that I am in fact a little conservative when it comes to new products.  And in this sense, I will list what worked for/ against me during the auditioning session, and how to frame my comments appropriately.  These are my subjective views, and may in fact change when I conduct my extended review.  Without further ado, let's get started with what worked in the audition process' favor.  First, I used my own music.  It kind of went down like this.  10 minutes in, and I realized that my lack of familiarity with the 8 tracks provided was going to hamper my ability to assess the cans. I had no idea who each of the artists were, what the tracks were supposed to sound like, etc.  And also, where the heck was Hotel California?! Thus, I asked politely if I could use my own music. When I got the go ahead, I proceeded to pull out the USB A to B cable and plugged it right into the TA-ZH1ES amp.  The rep looked confused and probably thought I was a little nuts.  Oh well.  I must also mention that I selfishly hogged one of the auditioning slots, and listened well through lunch time.  The rep looked after me the whole time, and I am grateful for that.  I do apologize since I'm fairly certain he got close to zero time to eat.  With this, I established a very rough baseline.
 
 
 
What worked against me.  It was noisy for well over the first half of the audition.  It was only when lunch started getting going that I had a more quiet environment to work with.   Because the headphone was plugged into the "synergistic" amp, I am unable to separate amp performance from headphone performance effectively.  This will be looked into when I come to a full review. Now with that out of the way, let's get started.  I have here in my notes - dynamics.   Yup, dynamics -with a couple of squiggly circles all around it.  The Z1R, as promised, delivers in its ability to provide strong contrast between loud and soft volumes, and moves between the two with great speed and purpose. The ability to do an about face with such swiftness was impressive, especially when combined with the bass and treble.   I feel that the sub-bass and treble extension probably suffered due to the background noise.  But even then, what I heard was good.  The bass is not lacking.  I cannot understand what one review source is trying to say by suggesting that deep bass is missing.  It is impactful, punchy, and from what I can hear even in these limited conditions, fairly deep.  In fact, the first thought that came to mind was -TH900, we have a situation.  The mids had energy and are much improved over the Z7.  Right mix of presence, especially on one of my favorite Astrud Gilberto tracks - The Girl From Ipanema.  The treble is solid.  It's not overly smooth, and has a nice sparkle.  I really feel that this is going to come head on against the TH900.  I love the texture of the Z1R, and appreciated its smoother transitions.  
 
Imaging is quite good.  I'm not sure if it's T1 level, but it is there.  Soundstage seemed more on the intimate side, being smaller (?) than the TH900, but a good bit larger than the MDR-Z7. This aspect remains to be assessed in quieter conditions.  The best part though was the excellent separation achieved in the headphone.  It allowed the bass to come through without hurting the mids or highs.  And while the separation is good - it's not jarring or disjointed.  As said before, the transitions are smooth, and the separation works in tandem with this, and not against it like one may expect.  Noise isolation was better than expected! Overall, I like what I am hearing.  Did I mention that I want one too?
 

 
Video Review​


 
A Technical Note On The MDR-Z1R​

Not going to make the OP even longer than it needs to be, so here's a quick link to the post! 
 

 
Unboxing Video​

It's nice...possibly therapeutic.  ​
 


 
Sep 1, 2016 at 7:19 AM Post #3 of 11,341
Member Impressions/ Reviews

Here I will try to compile impressions/ reviews from members as well as external sources.  Feel free to just drop me a PM if you would like to be linked to in this section.  I sometimes have difficulty keeping up with all the thread posts.  Thanks!
 
  1. PMR Reviews by Ken (aka Me)
  2. CNET Review by Ty Pendlebury
  3. Headfonia (Early Impressions) by Lieven
  4. Phileweb Review by
    Tadashi Yamanouchi​
     (in Japanese)
  5. Les Numeriques Review by Benoît Campion (in French)
  6. Pansaku Review by Pansakuu (in Japanese)
 ​
Event and Release Videos​

The Official Sony Press Video for the MDR-Z1R​
 ​
 ​

 ​
 ​

 
Sep 1, 2016 at 7:27 AM Post #4 of 11,341
I have a few questions:
 
Same drivers as the Z7?  Or are they just the same size by coincidence?
 
Can the Z1R share cables with the MDR-Z7?
 
And what is the cup material?  And what are the interior of the cups like?  Do they prevent reflections better then the Z7?
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 7:42 AM Post #6 of 11,341
  I have a few questions:
 
Same drivers as the Z7?  Or are they just the same size by coincidence?
 
Can the Z1R share cables with the MDR-Z7?
 
And what is the cup material?  And what are the interior of the cups like?  Do they prevent reflections better then the Z7?

Different Drivers.  While the surround is LCP covered aluminum - it will be a magnesium dome.
 
Cables should be the same - let  me check soon.
 
Cup is an acoustic filter made from Canadian Conifer pulp w/ Japanese Washi Paper methods.
 
Sep 1, 2016 at 8:49 AM Post #14 of 11,341
Might pick it up when it drops to $1000 usd, I'll go for the z7 for now lol
 
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