[candlejack]

It has arrived and yes the stock cable is great and the fit is fantastic coming from Z5, I reckon I’ll actually be able to lie on my side with these. Have just had 5 minutes with Patricia Barber from my 1Z and WOW ....

Time to update the good ol' signature.

 

[JustJoseph]

I have listened to many of the new hybrids and find the Z1Rs to be the best out of them all.

The Noble Khan sounds very clear with crystal-like treble and good imaging. However, the mids are thin and the vocals lean.
The Vision Ears Elysium sound very clear too with very good treble imaging. However the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble, the timbre on the vocals is a little off and the bass extension is poor and unacceptable for the ridiculous price of 2900 euros.
The 64 Audio Tia Trio is good but doesn't have any area that it seem to excel in. To me, it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
The Campfire Solaris's midrange sounds off. There seems to be a dip in the upper midrange which make female vocals sound a little weird. Its not a turn off but its definitely noticeable.
The Jomo Trinity Brass has the most bass out of them all, with very aggressive midbass and subbass. It is fun sounding. However, I feel that The Z1r are a more complete package.

The Z1rs have the widest soundstage of them all with superb imaging and detail. The bass is the cleanest of them all with almost no bleeding into the lower mids. The subbass is very powerful. The mids aren't as warm or lush as some iems, but it is tonally accurate and very detailed. The treble is perfect (I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Overall, I find that the Z1rs have the most complete package in terms of bass response, clarity and imaging and treble. To me, the second-best is the Jomos simply because of their bass response.

 

[candlejack]

I have listened to many of the new hybrids and find the Z1Rs to be the best out of them all.

The Noble Khan sounds very clear with crystal-like treble and good imaging. However, the mids are thin and the vocals lean.
The Vision Ears Elysium sound very clear too with very good treble imaging. However the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble, the timbre on the vocals is a little off and the bass extension is poor and unacceptable for the ridiculous price of 2900 euros.
The 64 Audio Tia Trio is good but doesn't have any area that it seem to excel in. To me, it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
The Campfire Solaris's midrange sounds off. There seems to be a dip in the upper midrange which make female vocals sound a little weird. Its not a turn off but its definitely noticeable.
The Jomo Trinity Brass has the most bass out of them all, with very aggressive midbass and subbass. It is fun sounding. However, I feel that The Z1r are a more complete package.

The Z1rs have the widest soundstage of them all with superb imaging and detail. The bass is the cleanest of them all with almost no bleeding into the lower mids. The subbass is very powerful. The mids aren't as warm or lush as some iems, but it is tonally accurate and very detailed. The treble is perfect (I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Overall, I find that the Z1rs have the most complete package in terms of bass response, clarity and imaging and treble. To me, the second-best is the Jomos simply because of their bass response.

Yeeeyyy, go Z1r!

Ricka-racka, fire cracker, sis-bum-ba! Z1r, Z1r, ra-ra-ra!

 

[gerelmx1986]

I have listened to many of the new hybrids and find the Z1Rs to be the best out of them all.

The Noble Khan sounds very clear with crystal-like treble and good imaging. However, the mids are thin and the vocals lean.
The Vision Ears Elysium sound very clear too with very good treble imaging. However the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble, the timbre on the vocals is a little off and the bass extension is poor and unacceptable for the ridiculous price of 2900 euros.
The 64 Audio Tia Trio is good but doesn't have any area that it seem to excel in. To me, it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
The Campfire Solaris's midrange sounds off. There seems to be a dip in the upper midrange which make female vocals sound a little weird. Its not a turn off but its definitely noticeable.
The Jomo Trinity Brass has the most bass out of them all, with very aggressive midbass and subbass. It is fun sounding. However, I feel that The Z1r are a more complete package.

The Z1rs have the widest soundstage of them all with superb imaging and detail. The bass is the cleanest of them all with almost no bleeding into the lower mids. The subbass is very powerful. The mids aren't as warm or lush as some iems, but it is tonally accurate and very detailed. The treble is perfect (I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Overall, I find that the Z1rs have the most complete package in terms of bass response, clarity and imaging and treble. To me, the second-best is the Jomos simply because of their bass response.

Aren't the vision ears the ones who used a BA for bass and the DD for mds, the opposite way as traditionally are wired (BA mid/high DD bass)?

 

[Rockwell75]

I am finding the isolation on these quite good. I was

I have listened to many of the new hybrids and find the Z1Rs to be the best out of them all.

The Noble Khan sounds very clear with crystal-like treble and good imaging. However, the mids are thin and the vocals lean.
The Vision Ears Elysium sound very clear too with very good treble imaging. However the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble, the timbre on the vocals is a little off and the bass extension is poor and unacceptable for the ridiculous price of 2900 euros.
The 64 Audio Tia Trio is good but doesn't have any area that it seem to excel in. To me, it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
The Campfire Solaris's midrange sounds off. There seems to be a dip in the upper midrange which make female vocals sound a little weird. Its not a turn off but its definitely noticeable.
The Jomo Trinity Brass has the most bass out of them all, with very aggressive midbass and subbass. It is fun sounding. However, I feel that The Z1r are a more complete package.

The Z1rs have the widest soundstage of them all with superb imaging and detail. The bass is the cleanest of them all with almost no bleeding into the lower mids. The subbass is very powerful. The mids aren't as warm or lush as some iems, but it is tonally accurate and very detailed. The treble is perfect (I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Overall, I find that the Z1rs have the most complete package in terms of bass response, clarity and imaging and treble. To me, the second-best is the Jomos simply because of their bass response.

The Jomo is the one I was most curious about when I was looking at the Z1R (apart from Solaris, which I own). Very hard to demo Jomo in NA, though, and that price-tag...woosh.

 

[Misson07]

(I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Khan didn't have electrostatic driver but a piezo electric which have different characteristic compare to a true electrostatic. Even the Sonion electrostatic driver implemented in Trinity (and many other) is not a true electrostatic, actually.

 

[JustJoseph]

Aren't the vision ears the ones who used a BA for bass and the DD for mds, the opposite way as traditionally are wired (BA mid/high DD bass)?

Yes. It doesn't sound as weirdbad as it would seem on paper (I have heard the JH Audio Layla sounds bad). But the biggest turn off to me is the lack of subbass! Leaving one BA to power the bass compared to the rest of the competition. Very interesting choice

 

[phonomat]

Yes. It doesn't sound as weirdbad as it would seem on paper (I have heard the JH Audio Layla sounds bad). But the biggest turn off to me is the lack of subbass! Leaving one BA to power the bass compared to the rest of the competition. Very interesting choice

Does the Z1R have plenty midbass (as opposed to subbass) in your opinion?

 

[nc8000]

The price on Amazon UK has just dropped from £2000 to £1714

 

[candlejack]

The crazy thought I used to have regarding lenses has resurfaced: I am tempted to buy a second pair of Z1R's, to have just in case something happens to my original set. Luckily, Sony has priced these just high enough where my wife would slaughter me right as I open the package, which is a very compelling argument for not going ahead with that crazy plan.

 

[Jalo]

I have listened to many of the new hybrids and find the Z1Rs to be the best out of them all.

The Noble Khan sounds very clear with crystal-like treble and good imaging. However, the mids are thin and the vocals lean.
The Vision Ears Elysium sound very clear too with very good treble imaging. However the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble, the timbre on the vocals is a little off and the bass extension is poor and unacceptable for the ridiculous price of 2900 euros.
The 64 Audio Tia Trio is good but doesn't have any area that it seem to excel in. To me, it doesn't have the "wow" factor.
The Campfire Solaris's midrange sounds off. There seems to be a dip in the upper midrange which make female vocals sound a little weird. Its not a turn off but its definitely noticeable.
The Jomo Trinity Brass has the most bass out of them all, with very aggressive midbass and subbass. It is fun sounding. However, I feel that The Z1r are a more complete package.

The Z1rs have the widest soundstage of them all with superb imaging and detail. The bass is the cleanest of them all with almost no bleeding into the lower mids. The subbass is very powerful. The mids aren't as warm or lush as some iems, but it is tonally accurate and very detailed. The treble is perfect (I find that the electrostatic hybrid iems, eh Khan have crystal clear treble but it does not sound tonally accurate).

Overall, I find that the Z1rs have the most complete package in terms of bass response, clarity and imaging and treble. To me, the second-best is the Jomos simply because of their bass response.

In my opinion and having owned the Solaris, Trinity and Z1R for the last six months, I will rate the Trinity higher than the Z1R. Both the Z1R and Trinity have great bass but in slightly different flavor. The Trinity bass is more fun, fast, and dynamic with PRaT. The Z1R bass to me has slightly more resolution and foundation. To me they are equally good just different flavor. As for mid I will give a slight edge to Z1R for its high resolution, reproduction of nuances or as the designer's stated objective of a sense of realism. For Treble, the Trinity takes the trophy home with its sense of airiness and ethereal holographic presentation which is the hallmark of any good treble. The Trinity with its dual Estat drivers beats the Z1R hands down. The Trinity is the cleanest and clearest iems that I have owned or listened. In fact after I listened to the Trinity for three weeks and went back to Solaris, I thought the Solaris was veiled by two to three levels and consequently sold the Solaris.

I agree with you on the Elysium particularly with regard to "the mids sound tonally different from the bass and treble" and that is because of the using and tuning the DD for the mid. I actually went to audition the Elysium but came out owning the Erlkonig. By the way it is the JH Lola not Layla that has the same DD for mid and BA for bass tuning.

The problem with the Noble Khan to me is more with the lack of bass impact and not the mids. To me for the price range the Khan is in, I should not have to go looking for bass. It should come to me and present itself to my liking.

 

[Jalo]

The price on Amazon UK has just dropped from £2000 to £1714

Don't count your pennies and sweat every minute. You can walk into most Sony authorized dealers in Hong Kong and pick one up for around US$1550.00 any day.

 

[nc8000]

Don't count your pennies and sweat every minute. You can walk into most Sony authorized dealers in Hong Kong and pick one up for around US$1550.00 any day.

A bit far away

 

[marvin3003]

@candlejack
How is the wear and tear of your set?
Scratches?

 

[candlejack]

@candlejack
How is the wear and tear of your set?
Scratches?

Pristine! But I keep the ladies separated at all times. And anyhow, I am now so sure these are keepers that I wouldn't mind some wear and tear so much. On the other hand, I've started to notice a bit of soft play in the mmcx connectors, especially the R side, where I have been unintentionally pressing against the base of the connector when I am shoving the IEMs in my ears for that optimal (maximum) insertion (I stop when the blood starts). I'm trying to relax and accept that they will be used, perhaps even break at some point. I will have them repaired and then continue to enjoy them.

What about your pair, how are holding up? Open question to whoever else wants to share their experience so far.