siruspan
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2010
- Posts
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I may be in a minority of one here, but I just don't get the hype around the IER-Z1R. I tried to love them. Honestly. I'd jump at the chance to not have to carry an eletrostatic amp. But there's something about the IER-Z1R's very uneven frequency response that just sounded off to me. Unnatural sounding. There's also a coarseness and a veil over their sound. They do have better treble extension than the SE846, but I'd still choose the latter any day, because the IER-Z1R reminds me, every microsecond I'm listening to it, that I'm most definitely listening through a pair of headphones. And that's only because of the sound - you've also got to contend with the fact that the earbuds are pretty large and heavy - they're not the worst for ergonomics, but some people are surely going to have fit issues. They're nothing like the comfy secure fit of a Shure earbud.
I found the FiR Audio M5 to be a least a couple of levels ahead of the IER-Z1R.
Yea they are big and heavy. I find them comfortable for about 2 hours and then starts being worse. After a whole day my ears are sore.
As for the sound they are kinda v-shaped but not really. A lot of subbas, midrange that could be closer and very nice, extended higs. They are quite bright but warm at the same time. I find them quite natural sounding but definately not neutral, far from it. Big and open soundstage. Thicker note weight which gives more of a substantial feeling to everything. I like them a lot but not as a KSE replacement because they are quite different.