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The Official Sony MDR-Z1R Flagship Headphone Thread (Live From IFA 2016)
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May 11, 2017 at 9:45 AM Post #9,601 of 11,341
Oh, you have the Utopia as well. How does your Z1R compare to Utopia? I've been wanting to get the Z1R but afraid I will not like it as much as my Utopia. I sold my HD800s soon after getting the Ether Flows, and now not liking them either after getting the Utopia. Never thought Ether Flows would sound veiled... but they do, compared to Utopia. Everything is relative, I guess. How does your Z1R sound out of Chord Dave compared to WM1A?
 
May 11, 2017 at 12:06 PM Post #9,602 of 11,341
jscmd2000 said:
Oh, you have the Utopia as well. How does your Z1R compare to Utopia? I've been wanting to get the Z1R but afraid I will not like it as much as my Utopia. I sold my HD800s soon after getting the Ether Flows, and now not liking them either after getting the Utopia. Never thought Ether Flows would sound veiled... but they do, compared to Utopia. Everything is relative, I guess. How does your Z1R sound out of Chord Dave compared to WM1A?
Click to expand...


I'll take a stab at this. In the end, after two at home demos, I ended up sending the Z1R's back yet again. Why? For the very reason you inquired above - Compared to the Utopia I simply felt they would not see much use at all. There is simply too much of a difference. Very nice headphone (although I did have a slight problem with the pressure buildup inside due to the seal and large powerful drivers pumping out quite a bit of energy) - however expensive for what I need it for i.e. limited use of a closed can.

While I do need a pair of closed cans to compliment the Utopia's (while the wife watches TV) I felt the Sony's were too expensive to fulfill that limited role. Right now I have the B&W P7wireless again on demo - and I am watching the Aeon thread to see how the reports go.

Z1R - $1900 discounted
P7W - $399
Aeon - $799
 
May 11, 2017 at 3:13 PM Post #9,603 of 11,341
Same for me. For home use on the Chord Dave, easy win for the Focal Utopia. But that was not what I got the Z1R for, it was for portable use when going to work or in the office. And that is where the problem is for the Z1R for me. It is not a portable headphone due to the following reasons:

1. Too big to carry around
2. Really poor design. How come a $399 headphone like the B&W P7W looks so much better than a $2200 headphone? No way I will walk outside with the Z1R.
3. The Z1R really needs a good rig to shine so that limits portability options again. Maybe the Sony audio player is a cool option I suppose, but that cost alot and then you need to carry an extra device next to your Phone. I didn't think the Chord Mojo got the best out of the Z1R personally.

If it was a good portable headphone, I would have kept the Z1R for sure and not downgraded to the B&W P7W (yeah, I know that it doesn't make sense but that is what I did.)
 
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May 11, 2017 at 7:45 PM Post #9,604 of 11,341
i wouldn't get the z1r for portable use. there are other closed cans on the market that are more suitable for that purpose.
 
May 11, 2017 at 9:15 PM Post #9,605 of 11,341
ubs28 said:
Same for me. For home use on the Chord Dave, easy win for the Focal Utopia. But that was not what I got the Z1R for, it was for portable use when going to work or in the office. And that is where the problem is for the Z1R for me. It is not a portable headphone due to the following reasons:

1. Too big to carry around
2. Really poor design. How come a $399 headphone like the B&W P7W looks so much better than a $2200 headphone? No way I will walk outside with the Z1R.
3. The Z1R really needs a good rig to shine so that limits portability options again. Maybe the Sony audio player is a cool option I suppose, but that cost alot and then you need to carry an extra device next to your Phone. I didn't think the Chord Mojo got the best out of the Z1R personally.

If it was a good portable headphone, I would have kept the Z1R for sure and not downgraded to the B&W P7W (yeah, I know that it doesn't make sense but that is what I did.)
Click to expand...
I have a slightly different take... I got the Utopia's as my end game open backed headphone especially with the Chord Dave pairing which is just sublime. I specifically got the Z1R's as a portable and in-house solution so as to not disturb my wife. I have used the Z1R's for a couple of weeks on my commute and while I agree that the headphone is big and looks funky ( I personally don't care) but pairing it with the NW1A and the Sony PHA-2A I get some pretty amazing sound on the go. I am in the process of auditioning some other portable amps as I don't really love the PHA-2A but the Z1R is a great closed back option with really good isolation.

It doesn't really compare to the Utopia's but that's comparing apples and oranges. These are two very different but at least for me complementary and capable headphones.
 
May 11, 2017 at 9:52 PM Post #9,606 of 11,341
ubs28 said:
Same for me. For home use on the Chord Dave, easy win for the Focal Utopia. But that was not what I got the Z1R for, it was for portable use when going to work or in the office. And that is where the problem is for the Z1R for me. It is not a portable headphone due to the following reasons:

1. Too big to carry around
2. Really poor design. How come a $399 headphone like the B&W P7W looks so much better than a $2200 headphone? No way I will walk outside with the Z1R.
3. The Z1R really needs a good rig to shine so that limits portability options again. Maybe the Sony audio player is a cool option I suppose, but that cost alot and then you need to carry an extra device next to your Phone. I didn't think the Chord Mojo got the best out of the Z1R personally.

If it was a good portable headphone, I would have kept the Z1R for sure and not downgraded to the B&W P7W (yeah, I know that it doesn't make sense but that is what I did.)
Click to expand...

In person, its not even close between the P7 and Z1R in terms of build quality. The Z1R was never intended to be a portable headphone. I have a thread of 25 or so portable headphones you might be interested in that better fill that bill. But IMHO, the Z1Rs are the best closed headphones I've heard and if you need isolation in a home environment, these would be my top choice (special mention to the 2016 LCD-XC and Ether C Flow FWIW).
 
May 12, 2017 at 1:04 AM Post #9,607 of 11,341
I just listened to the Z-1R linked to the TA-ZH1ES and the NW-WM1Z in the Sony store. Flac/DSD music on board and so on. I'm traveling so I'm a bit lazy to look through the thread. Is it just me or do the lower mids on this headphones sound pretty scooped out? Upper mids and treble detail sound good, but male voices and string instruments lacked too much body to sound realistic... Not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if I've overlooked some messed up EQ setting in the player...
 
May 12, 2017 at 1:14 AM Post #9,608 of 11,341
Try another dac and another amp.
 
May 12, 2017 at 10:27 AM Post #9,610 of 11,341
20170509_081422.jpg
20170509_081434.jpg
I got this case and the Z1R fit with the cable attached. It comes with foam inserts for the top and bottom but you have to take them out for the Z1R fot fit. I guess you could cut the foam to pad around the headband if you wanted.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L77JNHQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
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May 12, 2017 at 1:01 PM Post #9,612 of 11,341
Asspirin said:
I just listened to the Z-1R linked to the TA-ZH1ES and the NW-WM1Z in the Sony store. Flac/DSD music on board and so on. I'm traveling so I'm a bit lazy to look through the thread. Is it just me or do the lower mids on this headphones sound pretty scooped out? Upper mids and treble detail sound good, but male voices and string instruments lacked too much body to sound realistic... Not sure if it's supposed to be like that or if I've overlooked some messed up EQ setting in the player...
Click to expand...
If I remember correctly, @thatonenoob have similar impression on Z1R's lower mids performance, he also was using the TAZH1ES and WMM1Z as source, maybe the Sony recommended pairing just doesn't fare well with both his and your sonic preference?
 
May 12, 2017 at 1:50 PM Post #9,613 of 11,341
May 12, 2017 at 11:07 PM Post #9,614 of 11,341
May 12, 2017 at 11:31 PM Post #9,615 of 11,341
NoMythsAudio said:
This is one criteria that appeals to me but with regards to flying rather than trains.
Anyone with experience flying with the z1r? Does it offer enough isolation to prevent the airplane engine from drowning you in it's sound.
Click to expand...

It definitely does not

I should say unless you're willing to hit really high volume levels. I take mine as a travel set (hotel or whatever) but I also carry my MDR1000X for the flight. On aircraft you really do want noise cancellation
 
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