[DoctorZoidberg]

Here are some more accurate measurements of the SZ1000. I'm guessing goldenears didn't get a seal on theirs and that's why the measurements look so wonky. These don't look bad. Distortion is good with stock pads but raises a lot with alpha pads. Wonder how much Brainwavz angled pads change the distortion. Top is FR bottom is distortion. This is with stock pads.

 

[cotita]

Hello guys,
 
Is the first time I post here. I read the full thread from the beginning (took me a lot of time, I must say) And I found this cans very interesting. Unfortunately, there are not many reviews on youtube. I was wondering why... Yesterday I saw the review from Z. I follow his reviews. In general I agree with his ideas. I would like to know why you think he is wrong. I think that many of you own this cans so you have more experience with them. I know that you said to change the earpads and also use the Cayin C5 and also a EQ. Maybe he was using a very old can, but that creaking sound was really really awful. Is that true? I would be nice if we can debate with Z about this. I was not so sure to buy this or the Vmoda. I know is not the same. I am looking to use a portable cans with good bass but without compromising the overall sound. I have the Fiio X5 (2nd generation) and the Oppo Ha-2. Maybe you can advice me what cans I can buy. I will really appreciate your help. Lot of kisses

 

[snellemin]

  Zeos review. He doesn't like them at all
 

One of the dumbest reviews for sure.  Zero research went into this and you would guess with all the other hardware in the background he would know better.  Zero screwS were given when this vid was uploaded.

 

[DoctorZoidberg]

Zeos gave the $500 panda sack a glowing review... that thing outputs less power than the monoprice amp dac.

Should put his general knowledge into perspective.

 

[Scrappydoo]

Hello guys,

Is the first time I post here. I read the full thread from the beginning (took me a lot of time, I must say) And I found this cans very interesting. Unfortunately, there are not many reviews on youtube. I was wondering why... Yesterday I saw the review from Z. I follow his reviews. In general I agree with his ideas. I would like to know why you think he is wrong. I think that many of you own this cans so you have more experience with them. I know that you said to change the earpads and also use the Cayin C5 and also a EQ. Maybe he was using a very old can, but that creaking sound was really really awful. Is that true? I would be nice if we can debate with Z about this. I was not so sure to buy this or the Vmoda. I know is not the same. I am looking to use a portable cans with good bass but without compromising the overall sound. I have the Fiio X5 (2nd generation) and the Oppo Ha-2. Maybe you can advice me what cans I can buy. I will really appreciate your help. Lot of kisses

Well since you're looking for portability that alone should point you towards the v-moda. I wouldn't give that video from Zeos any credibility. He recs the dt770 and Nighthawk over these for bass headphones. Those headphones aren't even on the list. He knows nothing about headphones for bassheads. Nothing.

 

[Phoniac]

   
I don't do almost any research into the headphones people send me. I want to discover things in my own. If I see decent reviews I have SOME expectation but I rather not ruin the surprise. If I have a MAJOR gripe I do a bit of searching but this was just straight up a failure to intrigue me.
 
What you hear in the Sound Demo is precisely what I hear coming from the headphones. No modification or tweaking needed.

 
 
And Basshead can's or not.. They are still headphones and should run the gamut of music, sounds, farts, gaming, everything. If they ONLY do basshead things they are not headphones they are something else and should be labeled as such.

First: congratulations for bringing life back into this crawling thread!
 
Believe me that I tried to be as unbiased and open as possible. But your review of the 2000 is totally unprofessional. You mentioned some valid points, but your style, the stuff you talk, and the completely missing knowledge and information about this headphone and (it seems) headphone technology at all were too obvious for me. At the end of the video you make yourself a real fool - if I were you I would remove that video...
 
What I absolutely liked was the 'Sound demo'. I have never seen something like this - what a great idea! It basically allows to hear the differences between different headphones from your chair via YouTube. It is not about the absolute accuracy, but the comparison - phantastic! Did I miss something here? Is that a widespread idea / technique? Never saw that before.
 
But even that sound demo seems flawed. As far as I could see in the video you use a square block with mics instead of ears. I have never seen a skull having that shape around the ear. It needs to go in at the lower back of the ears, and be raised in front of the ear (cheek bone). A simple flat surface will cause stupidly designed headphones to have the best seal, while better ones (including the JVC) will suffer from that. Think about that, and watch yourself in a mirror when putting on phones. It it easy to see. And it doesn't get better by replying that some head torsos have the same stupid flat surface, completely ignoring the human reality.

 

[Phoniac]

Here are some more accurate measurements of the SZ1000. I'm guessing goldenears didn't get a seal on theirs and that's why the measurements look so wonky. These don't look bad. Distortion is good with stock pads but raises a lot with alpha pads. Wonder how much Brainwavz angled pads change the distortion. Top is FR bottom is distortion. This is with stock pads.

That is a bold statement, and I am pretty sure you can not proove it. The guy that did these measurements lost any credibility for me by first measuring wrong pads, then screwing up his impedance measurements, amd finally by seeing how he measures. This measurement is not comparable to anything else floating around in the web.
 
IMHO the Golden Ears measurement is spot on. I trust my ears more than the measurement you claim to be 'more accurate'. The 1000/2000 suffers from too loud and crazy sounding mids. Reducing these by EQ will make it sound pretty good. That is exactly what the Golden Ears measurement shows.

 

[DoctorZoidberg]

Wow, your post is very needlessly aggressive. Not sure where that came from.

The golden ears measurements show the sz1000 has horrid sub bass, which I think we can all agree is not the case. Guess what happens when a headphone doesn't seal? Mid bass rises (aka that huge 200hz spike) and low bass rolls off.

Measuring impedance is a totally different process than measuring FR and distortion so him messing the impedance measurement up is irrelevant. Also not sure how measuring the "wrong pads" has anything do do with his credibility as a measure-er, but okay...

Besides all of that, other than the bass, the measurements look quite similar if you account for the different scales of the graphs. Still shows a dip at 1.9k, then rising until ~5k, and finally another dip at 8k into another spike at 10k.

Safe to say you have a hard time reading FR graphs and have some sort of bias towards goldenears. All I was trying to do was dispel the notion that the SZ series has poor bass measurements.

 

[Phoniac]

Wow, your post is very needlessly aggressive. Not sure where that came from.

 
It wasn't. Sorry if it reads like that.
 
The GE measurement does NOT show 'horrid subbass', but subbass that is extremely linear and extended flat down to the lowest frequency. All it shows is that you have to reduce the mids to get an overall extremely linear and powerfull in bass frequency response.
 
A sealing problem would not have given a linear graph between 20 Hz and 60 Hz, but the same reduction shown upwards 60 Hz continued. The 'roll-off' that bad sealing would cause is not there, IMHO.

 

[227qed]

   
It wasn't. Sorry if it reads like that.
 
The GE measurement does NOT show 'horrid subbass', but subbass that is extremely linear and extended flat down to the lowest frequency. All it shows is that you have to reduce the mids to get an overall extremely linear and powerfull in bass frequency response.
 
A sealing problem would not have given a linear graph between 20 Hz and 60 Hz, but the same reduction shown upwards 60 Hz continued. The 'roll-off' that bad sealing would cause is not there, IMHO.

 
I don't reduce my mids. I just crank up the 31 Hz slider to the max and let my skull rattle!  Sealing problems definitely do interfere with amplitudes however.  The small leak produced by my glasses makes a noticeable decrease in bass impact.  Plenty on tap though so no worries!  

 

[Robert777]

  Hello guys,
 
Is the first time I post here. I read the full thread from the beginning (took me a lot of time, I must say) And I found this cans very interesting. Unfortunately, there are not many reviews on youtube. I was wondering why... Yesterday I saw the review from Z. I follow his reviews. In general I agree with his ideas. I would like to know why you think he is wrong. I think that many of you own this cans so you have more experience with them. I know that you said to change the earpads and also use the Cayin C5 and also a EQ. Maybe he was using a very old can, but that creaking sound was really really awful. Is that true? I would be nice if we can debate with Z about this. I was not so sure to buy this or the Vmoda. I know is not the same. I am looking to use a portable cans with good bass but without compromising the overall sound. I have the Fiio X5 (2nd generation) and the Oppo Ha-2. Maybe you can advice me what cans I can buy. I will really appreciate your help. Lot of kisses

I absolutely adore these headphones and I really enjoy Z Reviews as well. I personally do not agree with anything he said about them but everyone has different tastes and I believe that he was being totally honest about how he heard them. On a side note, I do think it kind of sucks that he did not know that they were not original pads and that they were a dual driver headphone. That information is important. Then again, I understand and appreciate that he does not research too much, just kind of says what he hears. The pads on the set in the review are for pure bass slam and the mids can get lost a little. The HM5 pads are better for people willing to lose a little bass slam and gain a little comfort and midrange presence. I am kind of rambling here and maybe this post wont be too helpful to anyone, but out of a portable amp sitting on the train, these headphones amaze me with there slam and enjoyment. At home, connected to a big desktop amp, they sound a little thick and veiled. That is my opinion. You may hear differently. Finally, mine creak a little but they don't creak at all once they are on my head!
 
If you are prepared to get down and dirty with pads, amping and eq, then these are totally worth the risk if bass is your priority. If you do not like the idea of swapping pads and carrying around an amp, there are other headphones. Maybe not as unique or rewarding in the bass, but easier to handle.
 
Cheers.

 

[paradoxology]

With regard to Z and his reviews,it needs to be pointed out that no one should accept the opinions of any reviewer at face value. I've read/seen many reviews on many sites with which, for any of a number of reasons, I did not agree. That goes for any number of popular audiophile sites up to, and including, ZReviews. In fact, I have to say I've noticed many reviews on this site seem more like out of body experiences than down-to-brass-tacks product analyses. But who cares? If one does not like a reviewer's methodology, taste in music, source equipment, literary skills, or hair gel then ignore him (or her). Additionally, if a reviewer you respect trashes a product you happen to like, then simply ignore the review and move on. I was in the wine business for fourteen years and I've read many a wine review on a very popular site or a respected publication that left me baffled and wondering if the reviewer and I were tasting the same wine, but I put it out of my mind and pushed on  The bottom line is that becoming angry or upset with the reviewer is pointless. If you know what you like then ultimately no one else's opinion matters. If you are looking for advice on a product with which you are unfamiliar, take the advice you get with a grain or two of salt. In the end, it's all subjective. Period.

 

[227qed]

  With regard to Z and his reviews,it needs to be pointed out that no one should accept the opinions of any reviewer at face value. I've read/seen many reviews on many sites with which, for any of a number of reasons, I did not agree. That goes for any number of popular audiophile sites up to, and including, ZReviews. In fact, I have to say I've noticed many reviews on this site seem more like out of body experiences than down-to-brass-tacks product analyses. But who cares? If one does not like a reviewer's methodology, taste in music, source equipment, literary skills, or hair gel then ignore him (or her). Additionally, if a reviewer you respect trashes a product you happen to like, then simply ignore the review and move on. I was in the wine business for fourteen years and I've read many a wine review on a very popular site or a respected publication that left me baffled and wondering if the reviewer and I were tasting the same wine, but I put it out of my mind and pushed on  The bottom line is that becoming angry or upset with the reviewer is pointless. If you know what you like then ultimately no one else's opinion matters. If you are looking for advice on a product with which you are unfamiliar, take the advice you get with a grain or two of salt. In the end, it's all subjective. Period.

 
I like this post.  If I listened to reviewers I would not have bought the SZ2000.  And I would be so sad if I knew better because the SZ2000 have been one of the best purchases of my life.  Along with the iCAN, they are worth their weight in gold to me.  I started with a Fiio A3, moved up to a Cayin C5, then up again to the iCAN.  Every step along the way, the SZ2000 just had fantastic progression.  I don't know what the limit is, but they are incredible out of the iCAN.  
 
And yesterday I read a review that said the iCAN XBass and 3D switches were gimmicks.  I couldn't disagree more so I (kindly) let the reviewer know that in my own review below his.  I didn't want people to be deterred by the negativity there, so I offered my own experience to counter it.  The XBass and 3D for gaming and movies with the SZ2000 and EQ is something that was previously intangible to me before stepping into the realm of basshead.  
 
The best analogy is the one about seeing in black and white your whole life and then being shown a picture in color.  Negative reviews are just from people who don't like or appreciate the colors.  They have their own palette and that's fine, but you'll never truly know if you like them until you see them for yourself.  
 
But I can tell you that if bass is blue, than the SZ2000 is the sky and a good amp and EQ are the windows you see it through.

 

[paradoxology]

    They have their own palette and that's fine, but you'll never truly know if you like them until you see them for yourself.  
 
 

Well said.

 

[vapman]

I have no idea if i'm going crazy, my SZ2k's are going bad, or what's up, but I swear the right side is just slightly quieter than the left side. I've done all sorts of tests but I can't be sure.
 
Has anyone modded these to have a Y style cable?