[jackson1]

Remember guys, every person's hearing/perception is (most likely) unique. One man's "overly bright and sibilant" is another man's "clear and open".
I appreciate every single input in this thread. And about time the 7520 finally got some users feedback.

 

[Mike F]

  Remember guys, every person's hearing/perception is (most likely) unique. One man's "overly bright and sibilant" is another man's "clear and open".
I appreciate every single input in this thread. And about time the 7520 finally got some users feedback.

 
Absolutely, and, just to make it totally clear, I think the 7520 is a fantastic sounding headphone!

 

[starfly]

   
Absolutely, and, just to make it totally clear, I think the 7520 is a fantastic sounding headphone!

 
I second that. I've only compared them to other mid-fi headphones (so no comparison to other studio models) such as the P7, 1R, H6, L2, Momentum and M500 and these have certainly come out on top.
 
I'm glad to see these gems are finally getting the recognition they deserve

 

[starfly]

  I decided to give Shure 940 pads another chance.
Couple of things I did differently this time:
- Properly adjusted them on the mounting rim, they are slightly bigger than stock and need extra care to make sure that lip goes all way in the slit.
- Extended headband by one click to have them seal around ears properly
So now after all that I can't really tell which I like better, stock or these.
It does seem that bass became drier and there a bit more treble, but depending on how you look at it, on 7520 it actually could be a positive thing. 
I'll probably spend more time with them before jumping to any conclusion.
It would definitely helped if I had two pairs side by side to do a proper A/B as switching pads takes time and when the difference is not so obvious auditory memory does not serve that well, accordingly to some researches it's just 2 sec for "subtle" differences and I am not that fast (yet) LOL. 

 
 
EDIT: There is some clarity loss in midrange, guess due to thicker foam filter, on OEM it's just thin transparent mesh.
Going back to stock and it feels just "right", something is off with that velour, doesn't sound as balanced and clear as OEM pads.

 
I'd listen to it a bit more, I've come to appreciate the sound of the 1840 pads (which I suspect is the same or very similar as the 940 pads). Only on bass heavy music do I not like the relatively recessed bass.
 
Edit: and if you find that the mids are too filtered, you can try cutting it out and sewing on a more sonically transparent material. It's what I did on the 840 pads and brought the clarity right up to par with the stock pads, though still have to do this on the 1840 pads. The bass will still be affected though, that's not so sensitive to the filter material, and responds more to material used and thickness of pads, etc.
 
I honestly haven't listened with the stock pads for over a month, because I mostly immediately feel the drivers pressing on my ears and I've gotten used to not feeling that. Perhaps the stock pads to provide the most balanced sound (I mean, that's the pads they were designed with so it would make sense), but I can live with the trade off I have to make when using either the 840 or 1840 pads, as the comfort is so much greater (the main reason I went through so many headphones to finally arrive at the 7520).
 
I think no matter what, when you change the pads you'll change the sound. Even thickening the stock pads changes the sound. I've never realized before how much pads impact the sound, but it makes perfect sense the more I think about it. It's one of the first things the soundwaves reflect off when they are emitted from the driver.

 

[mannkind246]

  7520's have more bass and an overall darker sound
Z1000's have satisfactory bass and possibly more detail
Z1000's brightness is not at the very top, it's not "sizzle",

 
a) When you said 7520's have more bass than Z100's, did you mean the bass of 7520 is darker, punchier, tighter, deeper, faster than Z100's by a "big margin"?
 
b) When you said Z100's have satisfactory bass and possibly more detail, did you mean Z100 has more detail or micro detail than 7520 by a "big margin"?
So you can hear "more things" in Z1000 than in 7520?
 
c) When you said Z1000's brightness is not at the top, it's not "sizzle", did you mean that Z100 has less "hissing sound" than 7520?
 
d) Can I say that 7520 is good for dance/pop/trance music and Z100 is good for vocal/jazz/acoustic/classical music?

 

[M-13]

The Z1000 does not have more micro-detail. In fact the 7520 has a tiny bit more resolution IMO. I'm not sure if you've run any seraches on Head-Fi, but you should look up other threads where me and several other people have compared the Z1000 against the 7520 in depth. I was a long time owner of the Z1000 who bought a 7520 after reading Jude's post after his meeting with the engineers of Sony who designed and built the 7520/Z1000. In my personal opinion the 7520 is the superior product and I have zero doubts about making the switch. I feel like the 7520 is the fulfillment of all the promise the Z1000 held. I don't miss the Z1000 at all. There is no reason for you to buy the Z1000 (IN MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION) unless you find it for significantly cheaper than the 7520.
 
As for the messy bass. Give it some time. Run music through for many days and the problem will get better and then eventually pretty much go away. (This has been my personal experience, nothing more)

 

[mannkind246]

  The Z1000 does not have more micro-detail. In fact the 7520 has a tiny bit more resolution IMO. I'm not sure if you've run any seraches on Head-Fi, but you should look up other threads where me and several other people have compared the Z1000 against the 7520 in depth. I was a long time owner of the Z1000 who bought a 7520 after reading Jude's post after his meeting with the engineers of Sony who designed and built the 7520/Z1000. In my personal opinion the 7520 is the superior product and I have zero doubts about making the switch. I feel like the 7520 is the fulfillment of all the promise the Z1000 held. I don't miss the Z1000 at all. There is no reason for you to buy the Z1000 (IN MY OWN HUMBLE OPINION) unless you find it for significantly cheaper than the 7520.
 
As for the messy bass. Give it some time. Run music through for many days and the problem will get better and then eventually pretty much go away. (This has been my personal experience, nothing more)

Thanks for your valuable input.
Well the Z1000 is always higher price than 7520.

 

[M-13]

  Thanks for your valuable input.
Well the Z1000 is always higher price than 7520.

Well now it is. I bought the Z1000 because at the time it was cheaper than the 7520 and people were saying they were the exact same headphone. Oh how they were very wrong. LOL.
 
The situation now is even better because the better headphone is actually cheaper so win win for you jumping into the Sony monitoring headphone game now. The one thing the Z1000 has over the 7520 I must give credit to is timbre. The Z1000 has one of the best most natural timbre I've heard from headphones, up there with the very best. But every other aspect of sound the 7520 is beter (IMHO only!)

 

[grizzlybeast]

   
Having owned the 7509HD's, and the 7520's at present, I must respectfully disagree with your comments about them.
The 7520's IMO are far, far superior headphones in every aspect,
except perhaps build quality as both are very well made.
 
As it's largely the realm of opinion, I guess it won't do much good to bounce back and forth comparing the SQ of the two,
but from comments, reviews, and other indicators it's got to be clear that the 7520's have achieved greater
recognition and acceptance not only from music professionals, but from the music listening community at large.

what the !!!!! the 7509 hd costs how much!!!??!?!?! and looks like that.. i know looks shouldn't be a factor but really... They should sound 2times better. 

 

[Mike F]

The one thing the Z1000 has over the 7520 I must give credit to is timbre. The Z1000 has one of the best most natural timbre I've heard from headphones, up there with the very best. But every other aspect of sound the 7520 is beter (IMHO only!)

 
So, would I be correct in thinking that in your opinion the Z1000 gives a more relaxed and 'natural' listening experience (is that what you mean by natural timbre?), whilst the 7520 is more analytical and accurate? If so, it would seem to me that Sony has tailored the sound of the two headphones to suit the expected demands and preferences of the intended markets, and in the end one is not 'better' than the other - it's just a matter of preference.

 

[Mike F]

  what the !!!!! the 7509 hd costs how much!!!??!?!?! and looks like that.. i know looks shouldn't be a factor but really... They should sound 2times better. 

 
$1000 - $1200 for the 7509HD is clearly ridiculous, but IMO they don't look worse - just different. They're physically somewhat bigger and heavier than the 7520's, but also somewhat more comfortable IMO. The ear cups are truly circumaural and you'd have to be related to Big Ears for your ears not to fit comfortably inside. I find the 7520 to be comfortable too, but I understand why some might not - they are certainly pretty snug.

 

[mannkind246]

Don't mind if I ask for those who personally owned the Sony MDR-7520 if you have encountered the "Left earcup faint rattle/noise with low frequencies"?
I found this problem was previously discussed in below thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/652242/sony-mdr-7520-possible-wide-spread-problem-left-earcup-faint-rattle-noise-with-low-frequencies

 

[Shinnbone]

  Don't mind if I ask for those who personally owned the Sony MDR-7520 if you have encountered the "Left earcup faint rattle/noise with low frequencies"?
I found this problem was previously discussed in below thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/652242/sony-mdr-7520-possible-wide-spread-problem-left-earcup-faint-rattle-noise-with-low-frequencies

 
I have not encountered this. My pair does creak, though. I am about to ope them up to lubricate them.

 

[Shinnbone]

   
So, would I be correct in thinking that in your opinion the Z1000 gives a more relaxed and 'natural' listening experience (is that what you mean by natural timbre?), whilst the 7520 is more analytical and accurate? If so, it would seem to me that Sony has tailored the sound of the two headphones to suit the expected demands and preferences of the intended markets, and in the end one is not 'better' than the other - it's just a matter of preference.

 
I have not heard the Z1000, so I can not comment on its sound. But a lot of Japanese blogs / industry reviews / articles say the 7520 is the more "consumer" oriented version of the Z1000. They consider the Z1000 to be more for recording studios, and the 7520 to have more of a "fun" sound signature (I'm translating and therefor paraphrasing here). Most of them seem to think they are just different, and one is not necessarily better than the other.
 
According to some, Sony brought the Z1000 to the States, had some experts audition it, then implemented their input to create the 7520. That is why the 7520 was first introduced as the "overseas" version of the Z1000. At first the 7520 was only available in Japan as an import.
 
Again, all of this is according to what I've read.

 

[M-13]

   
So, would I be correct in thinking that in your opinion the Z1000 gives a more relaxed and 'natural' listening experience (is that what you mean by natural timbre?), whilst the 7520 is more analytical and accurate? If so, it would seem to me that Sony has tailored the sound of the two headphones to suit the expected demands and preferences of the intended markets, and in the end one is not 'better' than the other - it's just a matter of preference.

Umm... well no... did you not read what I wrote? The 7520 is better. haha. Sorry. Unless you're talking specifically about timbre. If you're talking about resolution/soundstaging/imaging/tonality and pretty much anything sonic/technical related the 7520 is clearly the winner, so yeah it's the better product except for a very small niche of people who value timbre over everything. But I do get what you're trying to say about Sony trying to please different markets (and this is true according to Jude)
 
What I mean by timbre is how realistic/organic instruments and voices sound. Like do wooden instruments sound like actual wooden instruments or do they sound synthetically generated? What about brass and voices? This has to do with the harmonics of the princple fundamental notes and the Z1000 has more accurate harmonic propogation IMO. The 7520's timbre is fine, and is above average btw, so people won't miss what they've never known in the Z1000, unless you have them both side by side like me. The Z1000's other main downside is the clausterphobic soundstaging, where you feel like you're listening to music in a very narrow hallway, very narrow. The only other headphone that's probably better than the Z1000 in terms of timbre is the Sennheiser HD650 which remains my personal champion in that category.
 
Neither are very relaxing, they're both super analytical and extract every micro-detail, nuance that can be extracted from the music. You'll hear every annoying fart, snort, and breeze of the wind etc. It's a typical studio monitoring type of sound it's either a love or hate thing IMO. I fall on the love side of it obviously.