[EllieFant]

I see. So you can confirm the z1r synergizing good with hugo 2 then. Have u also heard mojo with the z1r.

Yep the combination is excellent. Works quite well with the Mojo too but to me sounded a little flat somehow.

 

[HONEYBOY]

the 846 were great with other amps such as the Mojo I used to use them with, but I never found the different filters to make much of a difference, they just didn't seem to be a good match for the H2, and once I'd heard the Z1R there was no going back.

I too have settled on the Hugo 2, IER-Z1R and find the tone of the combo to be spot on. It’s the best combo I’ve had in a long time. I thought also that it would’ve been too bright, but some how it works. I previously used them with the Mojo, which I still like. However, there is a marked improvement in clarity, transparency and detail with the H2. You can also get a better sense of the tempo or changing dynamics in the music. I can better capture not just where the instrument or vocals are coming from, with the H2, you can understand more the interplay in energy and timing between the various parts of the ensemble.

I often say that I don’t always notice these differences immediately. It sometimes takes time before I can recognizably appreciate the differences. Sometimes I listen with with my phone then Mojo then compare to the H2, and the difference is minimal if any, but due to the connoisseurship nature of this activity, when you know, or have come to learn what to expect, or some other variable that just puts you in the zone then the differences can become much more readily apparent.

 

[Sp12er3]

Was excited to see tons of IER Z1R post to catch up on......
Only to find them well filled with gibberish again, head-fi as usual eh?

 

[jmills8]

Was excited to see tons of IER Z1R post oo catch up on......
Only to find them well filled with gibberish again, head-fi as usual eh?

 

[simon740]

Not necasarily. I want something that I find pleasing and that I enjoy and that might not be what the original signal sounded like or looked like. And since I wasn’t present at the recording time I don’t even know what it looked or sounded like

exactly

 

[toranku]

Not necasarily. I want something that I find pleasing and that I enjoy and that might not be what the original signal sounded like or looked like. And since I wasn’t present at the recording time I don’t even know what it looked or sounded like

This struck a chord in me. The engineers producing the music are just creating a sound that translates well into other transducers. They want the audio to sound great even on things like airpods or beats headphones. Even from speaker to speaker the characteristics of the sound changes. There is no "flat" unless you're using the same chain used to produce the music. The same speakers AND the same room they were mixed in.

For us consumers we just have to find something we really enjoy and use them to play the hell out of the music we listen to.

 

[EllieFant]

I too have settled on the Hugo 2, IER-Z1R and find the tone of the combo to be spot on. It’s the best combo I’ve had in a long time. I thought also that it would’ve been too bright, but some how it works. I previously used them with the Mojo, which I still like. However, there is a marked improvement in clarity, transparency and detail with the H2. You can also get a better sense of the tempo or changing dynamics in the music. I can better capture not just where the instrument or vocals are coming from, with the H2, you can understand more the interplay in energy and timing between the various parts of the ensemble.

I often say that I don’t always notice these differences immediately. It sometimes takes time before I can recognizably appreciate the differences. Sometimes I listen with with my phone then Mojo then compare to the H2, and the difference is minimal if any, but due to the connoisseurship nature of this activity, when you know, or have come to learn what to expect, or some other variable that just puts you in the zone then the differences can become much more readily apparent.

An excellent choice if I may say so I know what you mean, it's when you go back to what you were previously listening to that you notice something missing.

I think the IER-Z1R/Hugo2 combo is hard to beat. After being romanced by reviews of the Hugo TT2 and M-Scaler with statements like 'jaw dropping' and 'Don't listen unless you are prepared to buy them' etc. my HiFi dealer has let me borrow these pieces of equipment and I was expecting to be blown away. After 2 weeks of listening I can say that I will not be shelling out the required £7500 for them. Maybe with other headphones there is a big difference but with the IER I could not really hear that much and I would say that the M-Scaler upscaling everything to 768KHz actually sounds worse on some tracks!

 

[candlejack]

This struck a chord in me. The engineers producing the music are just creating a sound that translates well into other transducers. They want the audio to sound great even on things like airpods or beats headphones. Even from speaker to speaker the characteristics of the sound changes. There is no "flat" unless you're using the same chain used to produce the music. The same speakers AND the same room they were mixed in.

For us consumers we just have to find something we really enjoy and use them to play the hell out of the music we listen to.

I'm not going to disagree with the conclusion, but to suggest that producers in general are intentionally reducing the quality of their output to better suit airpod users is ridiculous. However I do agree that for some genres, considerations of final playback equipment plays a part in sound engineering decisions. Some of the metal I listen to probably and unfortunately suffers from this.
Everyone can decide for themselves how to deal with it, but in my case, I still want the highest fidelity possible to be delivered by my gear (up to the limit of what is audible). If needed, I can then use EQ or other filters to get the sound closer to my preference. So I have no need for HiFi equipment manufacturers to try and add their own hardcoded flavor to the sound and thus forget what HiFi even stands for.

 

[GiullianSN]

Studio hours, Studio quality, engineers, producers...all means cost. When an small band or dj is mixing for the masses, that's a balance that always wins against quality.

 

[raelamb]

Quick anecdote for you all. I am a Hi Rez fanatic. No music is listened to on my gear including the IER-Z1R's that is not in 24bit. I'm in the music business and one of my dearest friends is a very famous and successful engineer and mixer. I recently asked him what bit rates he liked to record at and his answer was "whatever the engineer that used the board before me had it set at".

 

[candlejack]

Quick anecdote for you all. I am a Hi Rez fanatic. No music is listened to on my gear including the IER-Z1R's that is not in 24bit. I'm in the music business and one of my dearest friends is a very famous and successful engineer and mixer. I recently asked him what bit rates he liked to record at and his answer was "whatever the engineer that used the board before me had it set at".

That's not very professional of him, is it?

Btw, how are you involved in the music industry and is 24-bit your preferred sampling resolution, or would you like to see 32-bit or even higher?

 

[candlejack]

Looking for some suggestions (in case there are still some people here who haven't unfriended me).

As previously confessed, I didn't hear any significant differences when comparing portable sources on the IER-Z1R and my ZX300 seemed to do an already excellent job. If you wanted to blow my mind, what DAP or DAC/Amp would you suggest I try with the Z1R? Buget is not an issue at this point, as this is more an experiment to see if I can discover something new and exciting. Availability on the other hand probably is, so if you have 2-3 options, please list them all and I'll see what I can get my hands on.

Thanks!

 

[toranku]

I'm not going to disagree with the conclusion, but to suggest that producers in general are intentionally reducing the quality of their output to better suit airpod users is ridiculous. However I do agree that for some genres, considerations of final playback equipment plays a part in sound engineering decisions. Some of the metal I listen to probably and unfortunately suffers from this.
Everyone can decide for themselves how to deal with it, but in my case, I still want the highest fidelity possible to be delivered by my gear (up to the limit of what is audible). If needed, I can then use EQ or other filters to get the sound closer to my preference. So I have no need for HiFi equipment manufacturers to try and add their own hardcoded flavor to the sound and thus forget what HiFi even stands for.

I meant it as more in the vein of if the mixing and mastering is done well, it will sound good even with subpar gear. And of course the quality "scales" better with gear we think are better. There is no point if the audio quality sounds fantastic out of the engineer's own speakers but translates poorly into other transducers

 

[Damz87]

Looking for some suggestions (in case there are still some people here who haven't unfriended me).

As previously confessed, I didn't hear any significant differences when comparing portable sources on the IER-Z1R and my ZX300 seemed to do an already excellent job. If you wanted to blow my mind, what DAP or DAC/Amp would you suggest I try with the Z1R? Buget is not an issue at this point, as this is more an experiment to see if I can discover something new and exciting. Availability on the other hand probably is, so if you have 2-3 options, please list them all and I'll see what I can get my hands on.

Thanks!

DMP-Z1

 

[Redcarmoose]

Looking for some suggestions (in case there are still some people here who haven't unfriended me).

As previously confessed, I didn't hear any significant differences when comparing portable sources on the IER-Z1R and my ZX300 seemed to do an already excellent job. If you wanted to blow my mind, what DAP or DAC/Amp would you suggest I try with the Z1R? Buget is not an issue at this point, as this is more an experiment to see if I can discover something new and exciting. Availability on the other hand probably is, so if you have 2-3 options, please list them all and I'll see what I can get my hands on.

Thanks!

DMP-Z1

DMP-Z1, then also try the 1Z and 1A with mod-firmware.....or TA?

You already knew all this though.