[takato14]

Been a while since I posted here...
 
I now own all three of the DR-Z line, except the Z5 (which I sold due to it being obsoleted). The review I mentioned a while ago is still in progress; I lost a lot of it to a power outage so I've been slow when it comes to working on it.
 
However, I will say this much now: the Z7 is aeons ahead of either of the other two; its absolutely ridiculous how different all three of these headphones sound despite having the same driver topology. It is also the brightest of the three so a lot of people wont like it, and unfortunately its the least comfortable (with the Z6 being the clear winner there). But, it sounds so incredible that I don't even care. For me, they're a perfect match. The best I've heard... bar none.
 
Cheers.

 

[hrbballman]

Just picked up a pair of these. I was initially disappointed but after allowing my ears to adjust to their Initially bright presentation I was blown away by how detailed the sound is. These puppies are fast and detailed. Bass is all their, howeever, the drz6 lacks that emotive slam I sometimes like. Overall they seem to be a pretty great headphone. They also react very well to amping. Straight from my computer they still sound good but when hooked to the phonitor they really shine.

 

[takato14]

Just picked up a pair of these. I was initially disappointed but after allowing my ears to adjust to their Initially bright presentation I was blown away by how detailed the sound is. These puppies are fast and detailed. Bass is all their, howeever, the drz6 lacks that emotive slam I sometimes like. Overall they seem to be a pretty great headphone. They also react very well to amping. Straight from my computer they still sound good but when hooked to the phonitor they really shine.

Are you insane? The Z line hits harder than any headphone I've ever used, it's unreal how much impact they can provide.
 
They are however mostly devoid of bass noise and bloom, so if you listen to other dynamics or even orthos you won't notice it for a while. Their bass is extremely tightly controlled without any bloat or fart. They are unique in that sense relative to other dynamics.

 

[hrbballman]

Are you insane? The Z line hits harder than any headphone I've ever used, it's unreal how much impact they can provide.

They are however mostly devoid of bass noise and bloom, so if you listen to other dynamics or even ort. hos you won't notice it for a while. Their bass is extremely tightly controlled without any bloat or fart. They are unique in that sense relative to other dynamics.

Theses were just my impressions after listening for 1-2 hours with very select music(not anywhere close to enough time to actually evaluate the headphone). I should have prefaced the post with it being an initial impression. I agree that the bass is fully represented and extends down quite low, however, compared to the lcd-2 or the d-7000 they lack real head-hitting slam(which Isnt a bad thing). Overall, I prefer a more neutral can.My experience may be due to listening at low levels and because I was listening to pretty bass-light chamber music. I will listen to them more tonight with some different genres and at higher volumes and post back how it goes.

 

[MDR30]

Well, well...
 
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Sony-DR-Z6-Stereo-Headphones-Kopfhorer-1978-OVP-NEU-nur-einmal-genutzt-/371060419705?pt=Kopfh%C3%B6rer&hash=item5664ecac79

 

[GREQ]

Hehe... that Z6 has been on German ebay for quite some time now.
I think it used to be well over 800 euros when it started.

 

[takato14]

  Hehe... that Z6 has been on German ebay for quite some time now.
I think it used to be well over 800 euros when it started.

Nope, the price hasn't changed at all, surprisingly enough. 
 
Also, I should probably post this here too...
 
I just got my Z7 back after a few months of them being loaned out, so it has been monopolizing my eartime. I also got out the manual and did a little bit of poking around on the internet... and I noticed something. It turns out that the measurements in the manual are with the "Loudness" function of the amplifier used to test them enabled. There has always been some confusion among consumers as to what the loudness switch actually does, so I'll explain it breifly, as it's pretty interesting.
 

Spoiler: Loudness Compensation Explained:

  
 
The ELC, or Equal Loudness Curve, is essentially the frequency response of the average human ear. This response changes as the gain/volume of a heard sound increases; basically, as volume increases, the perceived volume of midrange frequencies also increases. The loudness button applies an EQ curve based on the output level of the speakers in order to compensate for this and make it sound more linear.

 
What this means is that the Z7 was literally designed around the use of the loudness button. With this compensation available, they were able to overdampen the bass (which makes it so flat and clean) while keeping it even with the rest of the sound. Don't believe me? Here are some graphs. 
 

Spoiler: Warning: Objective Measurements!

 

​	​	​
Raw Frequency Response (courtesy of BMF) ​	Official Measurement Chart​ (courtesy of Sony)​	Equal Loudness Curve​ (look at the 80-110dB variations)​

 

 
After manually applying the 110dB variation of the ELC using Foobar's EQ, they sound a lot more even, the upper midrange congestion is gone, the soundstage opens up, and everything sounds as if the Sony graph is 100% spot-on accurate. Pretty crazy, huh?
 
I still prefer the non-EQ'd version, though; mainly because the use of EQ sort of feels like an artificial performance enhancer to me, but also because it doesn't adapt to the source volume and because Foobar's EQ introduces some IMD and clarity loss. My current plan is to get a big, nice receiver with a loudness button specifically for these headphones. Hopefully a Sansui AU-G99X. 
 
Cheers.

 

[GREQ]

 

  Hehe... that Z6 has been on German ebay for quite some time now.
I think it used to be well over 800 euros when it started.

Nope, the price hasn't changed at all, surprisingly enough. 

Ah, I probably first saw them appear through U.S. fleabay in $$$ 

 

[Harris]

Hi,
 
When I first joined Head-Fi it was in search of information about my DR-Z6 headphones, and I've really enjoyed learning about other folks experiences. 
 
Recently we published a review of the new Oppo HA-1 Headphone Amplifier/DAC, and for kicks I pulled my DR-Z6's out and tried them. it was quite the revelation. Especially in comparison to the Oppo PM-1.
 
What I wrote is below, the full review of the HA-1 is at: http://maceditionradio.com/node/6006
 
Cheers,
 
Harris
 
-------
 
While I’ve always enjoyed Mumford and Sons’ album Babel, I’ve never thought it particularly well recorded. The various instruments should have their own distinct sonic signatures, but on most systems they blend to a bit of a morass. Even the HD Tracks high-resolution version of Babel didn't entirely eliminate that confusion, but in combination with the HA-1, and the PM-1, I finally felt as if the mix made sense, especially in lifting a bit of the murkiness. In the bonus track featuring Paul Simon and Jerry Douglas on The Boxer, Simon’s voice and Douglas’ Drobo guitar blend to a greater good, with a rich bass line supported without a hint of distortion. Just for fun, I pulled out my vintage Sony DR-Z6 headphones, with their palladium coated drivers. The DR-Z6 were famed almost one-off products built to showcase Sony's new line of then state-of-the-art television and audio line, and despite their cult status among audiophiles, I've always found them to sound like, well, like headphones. Accuarate, fast, and clean, but they always sounded like I had headphones on. Using them with the HA-1, and listening to Babel I can honestly say that for the first time, they didn't sound like headphones, instead the soundstage opened up, and the murky morass of the lower timbre of The Boxer suddenly cleared. When I tried the DR-Z6 with my collection of USB DACs, they were back to being fatiguing and uminpressive. Clearly, they needed the audio heft that the HA-1 provided, which I chalked up to that lovely Class A topology. The lesson is that you should dust off your old headphones and see what they can deliver when paired with the HA-1, you might be surprised, I certainly was.

 

[takato14]

  Hi,
 
When I first joined Head-Fi it was in search of information about my DR-Z6 headphones, and I've really enjoyed learning about other folks experiences. 
 
Recently we published a review of the new Oppo HA-1 Headphone Amplifier/DAC, and for kicks I pulled my DR-Z6's out and tried them. it was quite the revelation. Especially in comparison to the Oppo PM-1.
 
What I wrote is below, the full review of the HA-1 is at: http://maceditionradio.com/node/6006
 
Cheers,
 
Harris
 
-------
 
While I’ve always enjoyed Mumford and Sons’ album Babel, I’ve never thought it particularly well recorded. The various instruments should have their own distinct sonic signatures, but on most systems they blend to a bit of a morass. Even the HD Tracks high-resolution version of Babel didn't entirely eliminate that confusion, but in combination with the HA-1, and the PM-1, I finally felt as if the mix made sense, especially in lifting a bit of the murkiness. In the bonus track featuring Paul Simon and Jerry Douglas on The Boxer, Simon’s voice and Douglas’ Drobo guitar blend to a greater good, with a rich bass line supported without a hint of distortion. Just for fun, I pulled out my vintage Sony DR-Z6 headphones, with their palladium coated drivers. The DR-Z6 were famed almost one-off products built to showcase Sony's new line of then state-of-the-art television and audio line, and despite their cult status among audiophiles, I've always found them to sound like, well, like headphones. Accuarate, fast, and clean, but they always sounded like I had headphones on. Using them with the HA-1, and listening to Babel I can honestly say that for the first time, they didn't sound like headphones, instead the soundstage opened up, and the murky morass of the lower timbre of The Boxer suddenly cleared. When I tried the DR-Z6 with my collection of USB DACs, they were back to being fatiguing and uminpressive. Clearly, they needed the audio heft that the HA-1 provided, which I chalked up to that lovely Class A topology. The lesson is that you should dust off your old headphones and see what they can deliver when paired with the HA-1, you might be surprised, I certainly was.

What did you think of the Z6 versus the PM-1? 

 

[Harris]

Well, a good question. The Sony's are much brighter, more pin-pointing in terms of high-end response and as a result the lower end is more open, but they are also nowhere as comfortable, have a brighter overall sound then the Oppo PM-1, and are less warm and enveloping. The Sony's seem more demanding of the headphone amp then the PM-1's, but given the right amp the Sony's are a very good set of phones, and certainly competition for any current high-end offering.

 

[Bingturong]

Hello everyone, I just got a DR-Z6 along with a bunch of other headphones, they in great condition except there's no sound coming from the left side. Usually it's a problem with the plug but when I opened the plug up (Surprisingly it's removable) all the connections are alright. I then tested the connections with a voltmeter and by applying a signal to each of the connections, only the right side has any response and the voltmeter sound each connection working fine. I'm faced with having to disassemble the damn thing. Any words of advice in disassembling them, I already know the pads are sticked on and not replaceable.

 

[GREQ]

They should be identical mechanically to the DR-Z7, therefore very easy to disassemble.
 
Under the pads (remove them very slowly to avoid tearing - the pads are very old and easily separate in the middle circumference) are 3 screws. Just unscrew the screws and that will reveal the driver so you can test it and the cable very easily.
 
You might need to get some double-sided tape to re-attach the pads securely. It takes about 10 minutes to cut the tape properly to fit, but it's worth the effort. 
Just don't add too much tape, as quite a big part of the under-inside of the pad is not stuck down to allow some breathing room for the entire driver/baffle.

 

[Bingturong]

Thanks for the advice, small question though. I removed a bit of the pad and is the supposed under-inside of the pad simply just foam? I'm worried a bit.

 

[GREQ]

Yes you should be worried - that's the pad tearing in half.
The under-side of the pad should be slightly thick plastic.... or do you see the screws?