manuvajpai
100+ Head-Fier
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_______________REVIEW: SONY MDR-ZX700___________________
Hello everyone,
The new Sony MDR-ZX700s are Sony's new entry into the $100 segment. They were released in the beginning of 2011 during CES and have gathered some minor head-fi love in the period. Sony claims that they are very easy to drive headphones with a balanced sound. I saw them on sale in India recently and read some impressions from Head-fi and decided to buy a pair for myself. My old Audio Techncias were getting a bit old in the tooth and I wasn't a big fan of their colored sound, ever since I got used to their huge (but artificial) soundstage and poor tonality.
I have had these phones in my possession for about 2 days and have clocked about 15 hours on them so far. I am not a staunch believer of burn-in and would like to proceed forward from this moment on to start this review. In case there are any substantial changes in their characteristics, I'll try to document them in this thread itself. I will also make some comparison with my Audio Technica AD700s.
Cans
Sony MDR-ZX700
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
Head-direct RE2 (from memory)
Sources
Asus Xonar Essence STX with LT1358*2
iPod Classic 6th gen 80GB
Music
An assorted collection of classic rock, psychedelic rock, electronic, western classical, Indian ghazals, soundtracks from movies and anime, Jazz etc.. Pretty much every genre besides metal. Important point to note: vocals are important in most of these genres.
MDR-ZX700 - A nice blend of industrial design and modern lines.
The package that arrived contained just the phones and an extension chord for desktop use.
Construction
The material used for the construction of these phones is good quality ABS plastic. The pads themselves are made of fake leather but have a very nice texture and are very comfy. Unfortunately the right side of my headband creaks at the joint and its a bit distracting, but its not the scary type still. The construction I'd say is above average but it could have been better. The design itself is a great blend of industrial shapes and modern rounded lines, giving them a very purposeful but elegant look. The all-black construction with that hint of silver is great for the eyes as well.
The cable itself is thick (thinner than the AT cable) and it appears that it will last the test of time. The strain relief near the plug (which is straight) is great and improves confidence in the build-quality. The cans are closed but the cups have small vents at the back, probably to improve bass response.
Ergonomics
The phones are very comfortable thanks to the soft fake leather pads. The clamping force is also in control and does not cause any major irritation after long usage. The very small distance between ears and the transducer mesh will cause some people to feel claustrophobic and also may irritate the outer ears in case the grills start brushing against them. But this hasn't happened to me so far, although I have a pretty average ear size. One noteworthy thing is that the ears start heating up inside the closed cans and those fake leather pads. I noticed mild sweating after about 30 mins in a moderately cold environment. But it can be solved by removing the cans for a short interval and letting the air cool your ears. Not a major discomfort in my books. They are fairly large in size but still are very portable. This is helped even more by the 1.2m cable. They isolate a lot of sound with the music playing and leak very less. Isolation with the music off is a bit low though. Haven't tried them in a bus or plane so can't comment on usability from that perspective.
The contenders. Whilst the Sony appears big when held alone, it is handily beaten by AD700s in terms of sheer size. The ATs appear to be stuck halfway between utilitarian and "nice" as far as looks are concerned, when compared to the Sony. No goofiness like those antenna thingies with the Sony.
The fake leather pads are very comfy, although cause sweating fairly quickly (around 20-30 mins with 20 degrees celcius environmental temperature.)
The ABS plastic used in the construction is fairly strong and looks nice.
In comparison the ZX700s are very very polite. Starting with the bass - it is a soft rumbly kind of of bass with no immediacy and no hurry. It isn't slow either but it just moves as the recording wishes. If the recording wishes for bloat, you'll get bloat. If it requires you to crave for bass so much that you'll squeeze the cups into your ears just to get a bit more bass response, the cans will make you do that. That is the extent of their self-sacrifice and devotion towards producing neutral bass. It is a bit more flabby than the AD700 bass though, but in a good way. The AT bass was so fast that the instruments were not getting enough time to "ring" properly. The lower harmonics sounded flat and the overall sound was clean but too squeaky clean. With the Sony's however the bass is laid-back and slightly flabby but still sounds fantastic. Not interfering in any way, but with good texture. If I were to score them for the bass, they would get about 7/10, and the ATs would get about 6.5/10
Mids are the bread and butter of the Sony's. This is the only region in the frequency response which steps out a bit from the balance, but with great results, if you can ignore the slight boxiness caused by this and the closed nature. The mids are very transparent, liquid and lush in nature. By transparency I mean the extent to which the original recording is presented cleanly. Moreover, because of thicker notes the Sony's have an amazing texture in the mids. Listening to wind and string instruments and vocals is a pleasure on them, although the ATs win with female vocals and violins because of the silkiness it introduces to them. However, as soon as acoustic instruments enter the picture the Sony's beat the ***p out of the ATs. The timbre of instruments is spot-on with the ZX700s. The sound is simply startling with instruments which ring (bells for instance) because of the wonderful representation of the ringing. I'd rate them at 8.5/10 for their mids, and the ATs score 7/10
Finally the treble... The ATs have a much more pronounced treble than the Sony's. But, the ZX700s do not sound dark by any means, nor do they appear lacking in the highs. They just won't smack you with treble details and airiness, one area where the ATs excel. The lesser treble detail also means more forgiving reproduction of bad recordings and less hiss overall. I find them fairly balanced in the highs after cribbing about the sharp response of my ATs. YMMV in this regard though. I'd give their trebles a 7/10, while my ATs get a 7.5/10
Soundstage is much bigger on the AD700s, but it sounds artificial and distant. The coloration of their mids helps their soundstage but not in a good way. AD700s are not good for music, period. The Sonys simply trounce them as far as naturalness of the soundstage is concerned. Sure, its not as expansive, but the instrument separation is good and its very cohesive. The soundstage is the 3-blob type - left, right and centre. This however does not make them bad performers for music and the intimacy they carry because of their mids is great with jazz recordings, for example.
Timbrel accuracy is spot-on with the Sony's I have not heard a better can or IEM as far as accurate reproduction of acoustic instruments is concerned (not that I have heard many). It is exceptional with acoustic guitars and piano. This is one area where the Sony's simply destroy the Audio Technicas. Although the coloration of ATs is very pleasing with female vocals and violins.
As far as requirement of an amp is concerned, I find them fairly easy to drive. My iPod classic was fairly capable of driving them to ear-splitting levels and so was the Sony E363. My Essence STX had no problems dealing with them. They can be managed without amping with great results. However, amping them helps a good deal (YMMV) by tightening the bass and bringing the mids more in line with the rest of the spectrum. They sound simply staggering with my Essence STX.
Overall, I'll rate them at 8/10, and the AD700s at 6.5/10 for music.
The headphones are very efficient. They can be powered to earquaking levels with this puny Sony E363 (not volume capped). Thanks girl for lending me the E363!
The Layman Opinion - My girlfriend contributed to the review with some of her own observations. She isn't much into headphones but my head-fi infection is getting to her slowly but steadily. After listening to "The Girl from Ipanema" by Gilberto and some more tracks, her exact words were that the ATs have a more silky reproduction of female voices, while the Sony's present female voices the way they should be presented, without the extra gloss (Man, I am lucky!). However she could also immediately notice the better timbre of the Sony's and didn't find them lacking in treble either. She did find the mids a bit overpowering in the begging with the song - "The Grid" from Tron legacy OST. The synths sounded a bit piercing in the beginning, so the mids may be a bit too much for some people.
Overall Impressions
I believe they are very good cans for the price (6000 INR or roughly 120 USD in India) and have an exceptional balance with a great laid-back character for long-term listening. They are wonderful with acoustic instruments and voices but have a 3-blob soundstage like the Senn HD6xx. Overall they satisfy with their warmth without losing any transparency and details. The sound they produce is cohesive and music.
One area where I find them lacking is the reproduction of impactful music like metal and some electronica. For any other genre, I'd pick them over the AD700s. Oh, and my girlfriend gets the AT for her contribution to this thread!
EDIT 11/10/2011 - Updated impressions on cable quality. Made some corrections in the Sound quality section.
Hello everyone,
The new Sony MDR-ZX700s are Sony's new entry into the $100 segment. They were released in the beginning of 2011 during CES and have gathered some minor head-fi love in the period. Sony claims that they are very easy to drive headphones with a balanced sound. I saw them on sale in India recently and read some impressions from Head-fi and decided to buy a pair for myself. My old Audio Techncias were getting a bit old in the tooth and I wasn't a big fan of their colored sound, ever since I got used to their huge (but artificial) soundstage and poor tonality.
I have had these phones in my possession for about 2 days and have clocked about 15 hours on them so far. I am not a staunch believer of burn-in and would like to proceed forward from this moment on to start this review. In case there are any substantial changes in their characteristics, I'll try to document them in this thread itself. I will also make some comparison with my Audio Technica AD700s.
Cans
Sony MDR-ZX700
Audio Technica ATH-AD700
Head-direct RE2 (from memory)
Sources
Asus Xonar Essence STX with LT1358*2
iPod Classic 6th gen 80GB
Music
An assorted collection of classic rock, psychedelic rock, electronic, western classical, Indian ghazals, soundtracks from movies and anime, Jazz etc.. Pretty much every genre besides metal. Important point to note: vocals are important in most of these genres.
MDR-ZX700 - A nice blend of industrial design and modern lines.
The package that arrived contained just the phones and an extension chord for desktop use.
Construction
The material used for the construction of these phones is good quality ABS plastic. The pads themselves are made of fake leather but have a very nice texture and are very comfy. Unfortunately the right side of my headband creaks at the joint and its a bit distracting, but its not the scary type still. The construction I'd say is above average but it could have been better. The design itself is a great blend of industrial shapes and modern rounded lines, giving them a very purposeful but elegant look. The all-black construction with that hint of silver is great for the eyes as well.
The cable itself is thick (thinner than the AT cable) and it appears that it will last the test of time. The strain relief near the plug (which is straight) is great and improves confidence in the build-quality. The cans are closed but the cups have small vents at the back, probably to improve bass response.
Ergonomics
The phones are very comfortable thanks to the soft fake leather pads. The clamping force is also in control and does not cause any major irritation after long usage. The very small distance between ears and the transducer mesh will cause some people to feel claustrophobic and also may irritate the outer ears in case the grills start brushing against them. But this hasn't happened to me so far, although I have a pretty average ear size. One noteworthy thing is that the ears start heating up inside the closed cans and those fake leather pads. I noticed mild sweating after about 30 mins in a moderately cold environment. But it can be solved by removing the cans for a short interval and letting the air cool your ears. Not a major discomfort in my books. They are fairly large in size but still are very portable. This is helped even more by the 1.2m cable. They isolate a lot of sound with the music playing and leak very less. Isolation with the music off is a bit low though. Haven't tried them in a bus or plane so can't comment on usability from that perspective.
The contenders. Whilst the Sony appears big when held alone, it is handily beaten by AD700s in terms of sheer size. The ATs appear to be stuck halfway between utilitarian and "nice" as far as looks are concerned, when compared to the Sony. No goofiness like those antenna thingies with the Sony.
The fake leather pads are very comfy, although cause sweating fairly quickly (around 20-30 mins with 20 degrees celcius environmental temperature.)
The ABS plastic used in the construction is fairly strong and looks nice.
Sound
Lets come to the impending comparison between the two cans. In short, the AD700s have a huge soundstage and have a very airy sound. The have scooped out lower mids which further increases their soundstage by making the singer and most instruments appear distant to the listener. Overall it is a can with upfront treble and laid back mids. It is a great choice for electronic music and for listening to female vocals, owing to its spatial presentation, but it falls head on heels when it comes to reproducing acoustic music. The timbre of instruments is waaay off and the metallic ring that it adds to each of them is simply irritating.In comparison the ZX700s are very very polite. Starting with the bass - it is a soft rumbly kind of of bass with no immediacy and no hurry. It isn't slow either but it just moves as the recording wishes. If the recording wishes for bloat, you'll get bloat. If it requires you to crave for bass so much that you'll squeeze the cups into your ears just to get a bit more bass response, the cans will make you do that. That is the extent of their self-sacrifice and devotion towards producing neutral bass. It is a bit more flabby than the AD700 bass though, but in a good way. The AT bass was so fast that the instruments were not getting enough time to "ring" properly. The lower harmonics sounded flat and the overall sound was clean but too squeaky clean. With the Sony's however the bass is laid-back and slightly flabby but still sounds fantastic. Not interfering in any way, but with good texture. If I were to score them for the bass, they would get about 7/10, and the ATs would get about 6.5/10
Mids are the bread and butter of the Sony's. This is the only region in the frequency response which steps out a bit from the balance, but with great results, if you can ignore the slight boxiness caused by this and the closed nature. The mids are very transparent, liquid and lush in nature. By transparency I mean the extent to which the original recording is presented cleanly. Moreover, because of thicker notes the Sony's have an amazing texture in the mids. Listening to wind and string instruments and vocals is a pleasure on them, although the ATs win with female vocals and violins because of the silkiness it introduces to them. However, as soon as acoustic instruments enter the picture the Sony's beat the ***p out of the ATs. The timbre of instruments is spot-on with the ZX700s. The sound is simply startling with instruments which ring (bells for instance) because of the wonderful representation of the ringing. I'd rate them at 8.5/10 for their mids, and the ATs score 7/10
Finally the treble... The ATs have a much more pronounced treble than the Sony's. But, the ZX700s do not sound dark by any means, nor do they appear lacking in the highs. They just won't smack you with treble details and airiness, one area where the ATs excel. The lesser treble detail also means more forgiving reproduction of bad recordings and less hiss overall. I find them fairly balanced in the highs after cribbing about the sharp response of my ATs. YMMV in this regard though. I'd give their trebles a 7/10, while my ATs get a 7.5/10
Soundstage is much bigger on the AD700s, but it sounds artificial and distant. The coloration of their mids helps their soundstage but not in a good way. AD700s are not good for music, period. The Sonys simply trounce them as far as naturalness of the soundstage is concerned. Sure, its not as expansive, but the instrument separation is good and its very cohesive. The soundstage is the 3-blob type - left, right and centre. This however does not make them bad performers for music and the intimacy they carry because of their mids is great with jazz recordings, for example.
Timbrel accuracy is spot-on with the Sony's I have not heard a better can or IEM as far as accurate reproduction of acoustic instruments is concerned (not that I have heard many). It is exceptional with acoustic guitars and piano. This is one area where the Sony's simply destroy the Audio Technicas. Although the coloration of ATs is very pleasing with female vocals and violins.
As far as requirement of an amp is concerned, I find them fairly easy to drive. My iPod classic was fairly capable of driving them to ear-splitting levels and so was the Sony E363. My Essence STX had no problems dealing with them. They can be managed without amping with great results. However, amping them helps a good deal (YMMV) by tightening the bass and bringing the mids more in line with the rest of the spectrum. They sound simply staggering with my Essence STX.
Overall, I'll rate them at 8/10, and the AD700s at 6.5/10 for music.
The headphones are very efficient. They can be powered to earquaking levels with this puny Sony E363 (not volume capped). Thanks girl for lending me the E363!
The Layman Opinion - My girlfriend contributed to the review with some of her own observations. She isn't much into headphones but my head-fi infection is getting to her slowly but steadily. After listening to "The Girl from Ipanema" by Gilberto and some more tracks, her exact words were that the ATs have a more silky reproduction of female voices, while the Sony's present female voices the way they should be presented, without the extra gloss (Man, I am lucky!). However she could also immediately notice the better timbre of the Sony's and didn't find them lacking in treble either. She did find the mids a bit overpowering in the begging with the song - "The Grid" from Tron legacy OST. The synths sounded a bit piercing in the beginning, so the mids may be a bit too much for some people.
Overall Impressions
I believe they are very good cans for the price (6000 INR or roughly 120 USD in India) and have an exceptional balance with a great laid-back character for long-term listening. They are wonderful with acoustic instruments and voices but have a 3-blob soundstage like the Senn HD6xx. Overall they satisfy with their warmth without losing any transparency and details. The sound they produce is cohesive and music.
One area where I find them lacking is the reproduction of impactful music like metal and some electronica. For any other genre, I'd pick them over the AD700s. Oh, and my girlfriend gets the AT for her contribution to this thread!
EDIT 11/10/2011 - Updated impressions on cable quality. Made some corrections in the Sound quality section.
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