[Luke Redgen]

Hi Guys,

I recently purchased the Sony MDR-Z1R and I honestly can't believe how well it scales down -- it's the only headphone that sounds great out of my FiiO X5-III, sounds surprisingly tight out of my iPad and scales up a bit through my Cayin C5.

However, I'm now wanting a source upgrade and looking for a good pairing. I'm mindful of diminishing returns more so with DAPs than headphones so while I was willing to spend a lot on my headphones I'm hesitant to believe an AK380 would justify it's insane cost, as an example. With that being said, let's just say I'm open minded to budget.

 

[Jalo]

Well of course try Sony WM1A or Sony Wm1Z if funds is available. Just make sure to use balance out.

 

[Luke Redgen]

Well of course try Sony WM1A or Sony Wm1Z if funds is available. Just make sure to use balance out.

That was my first thought, but research suggests they're not the best DAPs generally and don't pair well with the headphones. Will put it on my shortlist though.

 

[voxie]

File Type?

 

[Whitigir]

That was my first thought, but research suggests they're not the best DAPs generally and don't pair well with the headphones. Will put it on my shortlist though.

I had Z1R, and the DAP I found that have great Synergies with it was Opus #2. Then, ofcourse WM1A, and then DX200. Basically anything that has solid and tight bass with snappy speed and great trebles. Now, the Z1R May tent to be a bit harsh on the trebles, depends on the genres. If you want something smooth and great to pair with, I would definitely vote Opus #2.

Best to audition them yourself and decide though

 

[Luke Redgen]

File Type?

While I'm somewhat of a skeptic of the benefits of particular lossless codecs or to some extent lossless audio in general, I obtain all my music in FLAC at the highest bitrate possible where available and in the highest bitrate mp3 where not. I don't have a single DSD or any of the other super high res format file in my collection.

I had Z1R, and the DAP I found that have great Synergies with it was Opus #2. Then, ofcourse WM1A, and then DX200. Basically anything that has solid and tight bass with snappy speed and great trebles. Now, the Z1R May tent to be a bit harsh on the trebles, depends on the genres. If you want something smooth and great to pair with, I would definitely vote Opus #2.

Best to audition them yourself and decide though

I was strongly considering the Opus, heard a lot of good things and it certainly looked interesting.

It's somewhat hard in Melbourne to audition them, there's limited options in physical stores and the store with the largest range is more of an online store with an only semi approachable staff at the front part of their stockroom.

I'll try and audition the Opus though, it looks quite attractive as well.

 

[Whitigir]

I am sure you will like it. Both the Z1R and Opus 2 not only have great synergies but also compliment each other very well

 

[Luke Redgen]

I am sure you will like it. Both the Z1R and Opus 2 not only have great synergies but also compliment each other very well

Kinda pricey, but I'd rather save a little longer and spend the extra cash than spend less and end up disappointed like I was with the X5-III

 

[dhc0329]

To me Z1R has horrible synergy with WM1A and/or WM1Z. After trying old Sony X-1061 I realized how muddy and horrible it sounded.

 

[Luke Redgen]

Just wanna say I ended up going with a FiiO X7 MKII, I've owned it for like 10 minutes so this is pretty premature but my god, with my generic test album of the moment (Kanye West - Life of Pablo, because it's a special album imho) it's night and day from my FiiO X5-III. It sounds incredible, even straight out the single end on the AMP3A, it's amazing. The soundstage, the low end. If I had doubts this was the best pair of headphones I owned I don't any more (mind you, I haven't tested any other headphones out of the new player yet). But damn, what an incredible headphone.