After reading about Sony’s flagship headphone, I knew I had to try it out. My first pair of $100 headphones was the Sony MDR-V600 and I loved them. I have a history with Sony products. My first Sony purchases were the Sony walkman and discman. I’m not sure I would consider myself a Sony “fanboy” but I have owned many of their products and appreciate their quality. After a little trip to Amazon.com, I had Sony’s flagship headphone on it’s way to my house.
The packaging was nice on these even though it was only cardboard. I would have liked a sturdy case/pouch included for travel purposes. There are two different cables included, one with your standard 1/4 inch headphone jack and the other cable with Sony’s proprietary balanced headphone jack. The build quality on these cans was wonderful and they were quite comfortable. The Z7 is listed as a closed headphone but at the same time it has two vents on it, which really makes it more of a semi-open headphone.
The positives:
The negatives:
I really think these headphones should be at least $200 cheaper. I find the sound quality of the Shure SRH-1540 ($500) to be better in almost all areas minus build quality (by a small margin). I also compared these to my Fostex TH900 ($1500), which to my ears, are much better than the Z7s. That’s not to say the Z7s aren’t good headphones but at $700 there are better options out there for less money. Next up for review are the Philips X2 headphones.
The packaging was nice on these even though it was only cardboard. I would have liked a sturdy case/pouch included for travel purposes. There are two different cables included, one with your standard 1/4 inch headphone jack and the other cable with Sony’s proprietary balanced headphone jack. The build quality on these cans was wonderful and they were quite comfortable. The Z7 is listed as a closed headphone but at the same time it has two vents on it, which really makes it more of a semi-open headphone.
The positives:
- Great comfort
- Wonderful build quality
- Nice mids
- Very stylish
The negatives:
- Bass bleeds into the mids a bit
- Highs are noticeably recessed
- Expensive sticker price considering the performance
- Ear pads got hot after a half hour
I really think these headphones should be at least $200 cheaper. I find the sound quality of the Shure SRH-1540 ($500) to be better in almost all areas minus build quality (by a small margin). I also compared these to my Fostex TH900 ($1500), which to my ears, are much better than the Z7s. That’s not to say the Z7s aren’t good headphones but at $700 there are better options out there for less money. Next up for review are the Philips X2 headphones.
I wish there's one review of Z7 with PHA3 using balanced cable..