I’ve been holding off making this post until I knew I had my EQs dialed in for my Sony IEMs and headphones. It’s been over three weeks since I‘ve had the Mojo 2, so here are my setups (EQ and Crossfeed settings) for the following Sony kit: MDR-Z1R, IER-Z1R, IER-M9, MDR-1A (original, not Mark 2).
Note, The graphs come from the Excel spreadsheet tool created by forum member
@jarnopp (search his profile posts for a link). Thanks again to jarnopp for this tool; it has helped me visualize the EQs. I will admit though, that the graphs really don’t represent everything going on in the Mojo 2 DSP, sound wise— especially when you add Crossfeed into the mix—so don’t treat them like parametric EQ and think they are correction curves. Instead, tweek, then listen, and pick what sounds good to you. And tweek in real-time too, while playing a song, to get it to sound just right (the UI is really intuitive once you get used to it).
Note: for me, Crossfeed (CF) is interesting with my kit; it doesn’t just mix left and right channels, it raises the mids and adds some bass; so, in some cases the EQ needs to be modded when the CF changes. I find CF-Red lifts the mids just the right amount for my Sony V-shaped kit for some songs with obvious recessed mids; so even if I say Crossfeed is OFF, I will switch it on if the vocals seem dull or pushed back. I find CF-Green doesn’t change the mids any more than CF1-Red but adds more bass, if fact, too much for my liking with the bass-heavy Sony kit I use, so I don’t use CF-Green. I will use CF-Blue sometimes for old wide stereo mixes or mono stuff though.
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MDR-Z1R:
EQ: +2, +1, -2, 0
Crossfeed-Red: MDR-Z1R has such great soundstage, but the Mojo 2 Crossfeed-Red setting just makes the MDR-Z1R sound correct to my ears with my EQ shown below. I don’t use CF-Green, and I’ll use CF-Blue only rarely with old wide stereo mixes or mono stuff.
If bass is too much for a song, reduce 20Hz to +1 temporarily; otherwise, the added bass balances the treble peak that I can’t dial out with this rudimentary DSP without burying the already recessed mids and lower treble.
MDR-Z1R EQ graph:
[new 12-2023] Another option for the MDR-Z1R: NO crossfeed, and… 2, 1, 2, -5
Try both. See which one you like. With crossfeed Red (the first graph) where the crossfeed accentuates the upper mids; and without crossfeed (the second graph) where I added some upper-mid/lower-treble to compensate. Both are excellent. I’m leaning toward the new one (2,1,2,-5).
…
IER-Z1R
No EQ; Crossfeed-Off. Again, CF-Red if the mids seem recessed (Blue only rarely with old wide stereo mixes or mono stuff).
…
IER-M9:
EQ: +2, 0, 0, +1
No Crossfeed. Crossfeed Red or Green was a little muddy when I tried it, but lowering 20Hz to +1 would compensate if I wanted CF-Red.
…
MDR-1A:
+1, -1, 0 , 0
No Crossfeed most of the time (it seems to muddy the presentation on the MDR-1A). But I did like some songs with Crossfeed-Red. And if you really love sub-bass, +2, -1, 0, 0, w/ Crossfeed-Red, is cool every now and then.
I know this graph looks like an EQ that barely modifies the sound, but that little dip removes an annoying bass resonance for me, and nothing else needs modification for me for the 1A to sound great with the Mojo 2.
FWIW, I like the IER-Z1R the best with the Mojo 2, and use that combo the most. Then comes the MDR-Z1R. The MDR-1A are the more convenient closed-back headphone (i.e., smaller/lighter), so I travel with them versus the MDR-Z1R, for when I want to give my ears a break from having IEMs stuffed in them. And the IER-M9 are rarely used but have better noise isolation than the IER-Z1R so I’ll use them outside on the patio where air conditioner noise and neighbors (e.g., lawn mowing) create a noisy environment.
Cheers,
Gus
edited: updated my impressions of crossfeed.
edited: tweaked MDR-Z1R EQ after much more listening
edited: added an alternative MDR-Z1R tuning without crossfeed
