[lubczyk]

Quote:

Actually, I'm quite happy with it primarily due to the balance of super comfy vs SQ ratio. Naturally from a pure SQ perspective the 1R sounds more natural but the BT sounds more aggressive (DSEE technology "over compensating"?) but for a wireless headphone that's comfy and convenient, I'm personally happy to take some small sacrifices in the SQ.
It's funny that last Friday I literally spent the whole say with it (yes the battery did last & no I didn't even charge it fully before that) & at night I went to karaoke with friends & they wanted to try these headphones hanging around my neck. Now they're not audiophiles nor would I say big audio enthusiasts, but your average listener. They were blown away by the 1RBT.
Honestly if I were in the market for a wireless solution, I think these would be my personal pick out of what's offered on the shelves now. Note though I've not tried UE's 9000 yet. But as a balance of comfort, weight, & SQ, the 1RBT keeps me quite happy.
Unfortunately I would have to return these (MDR-1R & BT - my colleagues have the NC & PHA-1) but if Sony were nice enough to say "you can keep one" I think I'd pick the BT over the 1R seeing that I have other corded headphones which I prefer over the 1R.

I know this might be a stupid question, but (did) the 1RBT sound identical or similar to the 1R when using the wired mode on the 1RBT (non-powered mode)?
 
Also, did you try making and taking phone calls with the 1RBT? If you could comment on that?

 

[William007]

Hmm interesting, looking for a portable, closed back headphone good for rock. Tell me what you think about these cans with rock.

 

[dweaver]

How would you say the MDR-1R handle Rock and Heavy Metal? Take your time, if you want to answer at all. I don't want to make any demands of you.

I listen to a fair amount of rock and really like how this handles that genre. As for heavy metal I don't have much. I do have some hard rock like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin and really like both of those bands on these. In the rock genre I have listened to Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Eagles as some examples and liked them all. These handled Hotel California extremely well.

Listening to Patricia barber when I fell asleep last night was also wonderfully clear and lush.

I only have one album with anything close to an electronic type sub-bass and liked how the bass was presented. I could feel the sub-bass. It was not quite as impact full as the XBA3 but better than my SRH-1440 in the bass area.

So far I have not had a genre where I thought to myself I wish I had a different headphone on. BUT I am only starting out with these. Let me see what one full day of using them is like.

One final comment about isolation. In the house I find these offer an excellent level isolation. I sat in the living room and listened to music while my wife watched TV and found the TV barely noticeable when I had my iPhone at around 1/3 volume. I will report how they work on the buss and train later.

 

[Cornell77]

How does the MDR-1R compare to the Shure SRH-940? If you had to choose one closed headphone out of these two, can you say which one you would choose? Or is it still to early to reach a conclusion?

 

[lubczyk]

Quote:

I listen to a fair amount of rock and really like how this handles that genre. As for heavy metal I don't have much. I do have some hard rock like AC/DC and Led Zeppelin and really like both of those bands on these. In the rock genre I have listened to Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Eagles as some examples and liked them all. These handled Hotel California extremely well.
Listening to Patricia barber when I fell asleep last night was also wonderfully clear and lush.
I only have one album with anything close to an electronic type sub-bass and liked how the bass was presented. I could feel the sub-bass. It was not quite as impact full as the XBA3 but better than my SRH-1440 in the bass area.
So far I have not had a genre where I thought to myself I wish I had a different headphone on. BUT I am only starting out with these. Let me see what one full day of using them is like.
One final comment about isolation. In the house I find these offer an excellent level isolation. I sat in the living room and listened to music while my wife watched TV and found the TV barely noticeable when I had my iPhone at around 1/3 volume. I will report how they work on the buss and train later.

Thank you for your impressions. I and the rest on Head-fi appreciate it.

 

[dweaver]

Because I want portability I choose the MDR-1R almost by default.

As for sound I have to wait until my 940's are back from Shure for repairs. But the MDR-1R definitely has deeper bass. The mids are probably close. The treble may be the on area the 940 trumps the MDR-1R but I need to hear both to be sure.

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

I know this might be a stupid question, but (did) the 1RBT sound identical or similar to the 1R when using the wired mode on the 1RBT (non-powered mode)?
 
Also, did you try making and taking phone calls with the 1RBT? If you could comment on that?

 
 
Actually not a stupid question. It actually does sound slightly different. The 1R seems to have a slightly richer sound.
 
Yes I did try calls with the 1RBT. Average sound, possibly a little digital but can understand with the remote party.

 

[Cornell77]

Thanks. Does the Sony MDR-1R headphone offer a reasonable soundstage for a closed headphone? Does it make you miss the capability of the open-back Shure SRH-1440 in that regard?

 

[lubczyk]

Quote:

 
 
Actually not a stupid question. It actually does sound slightly different. The 1R seems to have a slightly richer sound.
 
Yes I did try calls with the 1RBT. Average sound, possibly a little digital but can understand with the remote party.

Now , that's bizarre! Different tuning even in passive mode.

 

[dweaver]

Thanks. Does the Sony MDR-1R headphone offer a reasonable soundstage for a closed headphone? Does it make you miss the capability of the open-back Shure SRH-1440 in that regard?

I am quite satisfied with the sound stage of the 1R so far. But I have yet to A/B them to the 1440. I will post an update after I do that.

 

[vkvedam]

Could anyone compare these to Z1000s please? Do they have the same level of timbre/texture and tonality? And are they as neutral as Z1000s?
 
Thanks...

 

[sofastreamer]

dweaver you are the death of my wallet. now i really need those xba3s and the mdr1. 

 

[Arkyle]

Quote:

Actually, I'm quite happy with it primarily due to the balance of super comfy vs SQ ratio. Naturally from a pure SQ perspective the 1R sounds more natural but the BT sounds more aggressive (DSEE technology "over compensating"?) but for a wireless headphone that's comfy and convenient, I'm personally happy to take some small sacrifices in the SQ.
It's funny that last Friday I literally spent the whole say with it (yes the battery did last & no I didn't even charge it fully before that) & at night I went to karaoke with friends & they wanted to try these headphones hanging around my neck. Now they're not audiophiles nor would I say big audio enthusiasts, but your average listener. They were blown away by the 1RBT.
Honestly if I were in the market for a wireless solution, I think these would be my personal pick out of what's offered on the shelves now. Note though I've not tried UE's 9000 yet. But as a balance of comfort, weight, & SQ, the 1RBT keeps me quite happy.
Unfortunately I would have to return these (MDR-1R & BT - my colleagues have the NC & PHA-1) but if Sony were nice enough to say "you can keep one" I think I'd pick the BT over the 1R seeing that I have other corded headphones which I prefer over the 1R.

Does the 1RBT's SQ benefit from using it in corded mode?

 

[Retrias]

you guys will kill my bank account one day , when I finally cross that 500$ mark

 

[AnakChan]

Quote:

Now , that's bizarre! Different tuning even in passive mode.

 
I know, I'm not certain why. I should drop a mail to their engineer to ask. But there's more electronics in the 1RBT naturally than the 1R, and not just the BT portion but also the DSEE stuff. So when it's corded we're assuming that it bypasses all that. The other thing is that at least to my ears, the padding on the 1RBT feels somewhat more padded than the 1R. Design-wise there are differences (woops! I forgot to put up pix of the 1RBT...later) and I do know that something simple like the padding can cause sonic changes. Similarly the porting/venting are in different positions too.
 
i.e. there are lots of variables in play that may cause the signatures to be slightly different.
 
Quote:

Does the 1RBT's SQ benefit from using it in corded mode?

 
IMHO, yes somewhat since I do believe the DSEE is being bypassed (despite what I said above, the operative above being "all" as bolded).