[FortisFlyer75]

  You know,
 
I have seen some recent meet coverage  over the last year and all, but never heard of anyone going with their 7520 or stating that they listened to it and were impressed or disappointed...
 
This would have been great to read about or hear. Always hear people talk about the Mad Dogs, the HifiMans the HD800s and $800+ cans, but not where I guess most people will probably spend their hard earned cash... between $100 -$500... at least in my opinion.
 
The 7520 is not the only can mind you, but it would have been rather interesting to hear how these compared to other headphones of similar price from people who would have never heard them or compared them to anything else.
 
I was asking in the Denon MM400 thread if anyone had heard and compared both and the sound of silence to that question is so deafening....

 
D 

I actually compared these to "sound of silence" and the results of my findings were resounding!
 
Never had a MM400 so cannot comment! 

 

[pcf]

   
The drivers are very good sounding only ruined by the cup design to sound like AM Radio mids overdrived, caused by those 3 big front grill.
Without inner dampening the mids are enhanced back to the front.
Transplanted into SA3000, they sound very overall pretty good balanced without extra headamp.
 

ZX700 Mids front grill reflectors.
 
 

Into SA3000 they become hifi sounding.
 

My question is- Do your SA3000 with ZX700 drivers sounds better than the stock SA3000?

 

[pcf]

  I like to continue or extend on the car analogies as I usually use such comparisons myself but yes going to a car show is the chance for normal folk to see Ferrari's, Lambos, Aston's, Mclarens close up and sit in them which they would not usually get to do especially under one roof.... Not often in Head-Fi land we all get to go and listen to the top line Senn's, Beyers, Hi-Fi Mans, Grado's, Stax, etc, etc under one roof so my 7520's get overlooked by peeple at meets apart from current Sony mid range can owners but I know from experience to listening to enough open/closed mid range/ top end  cans with same top end sources as I've heard my 7520's to know where they lay in the littered battlefield of mid range headphones. Never world beaters but in their price tier get very overlooked and with a very good source scales really well.   Some of or most of this is the seed sown by Sony in the first place as the 7520 was marketed in Europe as the consumer Z1000 which did sound different and had to major shortcomings which the 7520 corrects and the latter was meant for the pro market so marketing on release was never invested in been made a big thing of to the public so never would of been sold in masses like you see Senn's up and down the land at every major retail stockist.  So this are a gem that some will eventually stumble on and either get a better bargain the older these eventually get or due to them getting rarer in next several years could actually go full circle into a bit of a cult status and be in demand at some stage as there won't be many floating about, well I will dream about the last bit anyway! 

A lot of the higher end headphones are open ones. 
The reason I even bought the 7520 was because they were closed and sealed properly. Their sound quality level is high too so they tick all the boxes for me.
Sure, I have heard and own better headphones (My joe Grado phones; Stax...) but I use the 7520 a lot more.

 

[FortisFlyer75]

  A lot of the higher end headphones are open ones. 
The reason I even bought the 7520 was because they were closed and sealed properly. Their sound quality level is high too so they tick all the boxes for me.
Sure, I have heard and own better headphones (My joe Grado phones; Stax...) but I use the 7520 a lot more.

Same reason I got them also...

 

[cdsa35000]

My question is- Do your SA3000 with ZX700 drivers sounds better than the stock SA3000?

Yes, unmodded SA treble was unbearable too pierching and after modding inner damping.
Then Nope, the plastic diaphragm is too slow for fast vibrant lifelike airy high frequency vibrations, like the porous synthetic fibre diap. can.
Its the best electrostatic hp emulator for the dynamic types and the synthetic improvement from the former CD3000 biocellulose driver.
I had used the SA3000 drivers to repair my SA5000.

 

[Mike F]

  I like to continue or extend on the car analogies as I usually use such comparisons myself but yes going to a car show is the chance for normal folk to see Ferrari's, Lambos, Aston's, Mclarens close up and sit in them which they would not usually get to do especially under one roof.... Not often in Head-Fi land we all get to go and listen to the top line Senn's, Beyers, Hi-Fi Mans, Grado's, Stax, etc, etc under one roof so my 7520's get overlooked by peeple at meets apart from current Sony mid range can owners but I know from experience to listening to enough open/closed mid range/ top end  cans with same top end sources as I've heard my 7520's to know where they lay in the littered battlefield of mid range headphones. Never world beaters but in their price tier get very overlooked and with a very good source scales really well.   Some of or most of this is the seed sown by Sony in the first place as the 7520 was marketed in Europe as the consumer Z1000 which did sound different and had to major shortcomings which the 7520 corrects and the latter was meant for the pro market so marketing on release was never invested in been made a big thing of to the public so never would of been sold in masses like you see Senn's up and down the land at every major retail stockist.  So this are a gem that some will eventually stumble on and either get a better bargain the older these eventually get or due to them getting rarer in next several years could actually go full circle into a bit of a cult status and be in demand at some stage as there won't be many floating about, well I will dream about the last bit anyway! 

 
 
I'm as enthusiastic as you about the 7520's(!), but just for the sake of accuracy I have to pick you up on this. The 7520 was never marketed in Europe as the consumer version of thew Z1000 - in fact the 7520 was always intended as a 'Professional' studio headphone, and as such was never actually 'marketed' to the general public at all! I think the only reason why it received any attention was because people saw it as a replacement to, or in some way saw it as connected with, the Z1000 due to the similarity of their appearance, and because the Z1000 was a known consumer product people became interested in the 7520. Thinking about it, it's not dissimilar to the V6 / 7506 situation, except in that case they are actually virtually exactly the same!

 

[FortisFlyer75]

   
 
I'm as enthusiastic as you about the 7520's(!), but just for the sake of accuracy I have to pick you up on this. The 7520 was never marketed in Europe as the consumer version of thew Z1000 - in fact the 7520 was always intended as a 'Professional' studio headphone, and as such was never actually 'marketed' to the general public at all! I think the only reason why it received any attention was because people saw it as a replacement to, or in some way saw it as connected with, the Z1000 due to the similarity of their appearance, and because the Z1000 was a known consumer product people became interested in the 7520. Thinking about it, it's not dissimilar to the V6 / 7506 situation, except in that case they are actually virtually exactly the same!

Sorry for wasting your time, I know this, I wrote this in early hours last night and did not read back to myself! Long day! 
 
I was meant to put Z1000 as consumer European release of the pro 7520 which the latter of most of that paragraph would then make sense what I typed! 
 
This is why I kept the blue pro stickers on the side of mine so no one gets confused that I'm wearing the inferior over priced on release consumer Z1000 which I sold them for the 7520's!  lol
 
Thanks for picking me up on it though as I will change to make sense for any future readers who may come across it ; )

 

[mireque]

Has somebody tried these ear pads for replacement?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Foam-Ear-Pad-Cushion-F-Sony-MDR-Z1000-7520-ZX-700-500-701-Headphone-/261804569538?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf4c4b3c2

 

[starfly]

  Has somebody tried these ear pads for replacement?
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Foam-Ear-Pad-Cushion-F-Sony-MDR-Z1000-7520-ZX-700-500-701-Headphone-/261804569538?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf4c4b3c2

 
Nope, but they look like they would fall apart within a week.

 

[dudlew]

So, a few days ago, I got the chance to compare the 7520 with a shure 440...
 
 
I was using my setup, the ipod touch 3g with sendstation LOD to E11K and to amp.
 
So my conclusions, what I heard about the Shure headphones is both true and false..... They were a touch bright to me. The treble was definitely crisper and sharper sounding than the 7520. Also they sounded leaner in the mids. But now i know that the saying they had low bass quantity was just not the case. I found them rather good and with an obviously more spacious sound than the 7520. the bass was not as present or hard hitting, but still present and to me seemed to go as low. where to me they seemed to fall short was in the mids. they seemed lean to me not as rich as the 7520 and not as full sounding. But at 1/3 the price.... pretty good. I didnt get to listen to them for a long period, but  didnt leave with a bad impression at all. 
 
Still to my ears, but for the soundstage, I most definitely preferred the 7520, but the gap was not as big as I thought it would be.

 

[EriCCirE]

   
Nope, but they look like they would fall apart within a week.

What would one recommend for replacement pads then of quality?

 

[starfly]

  What would one recommend for replacement pads then of quality?

 
I'm using the Shure SRH-840 pads (pleather). You can also get the 940 (velour) but I think they reduce the bass too much. The 840 pads will enhance it slightly.

 

[Brazenways]

I'm using the Shure SRH-840 pads (pleather). You can also get the 940 (velour) but I think they reduce the bass too much. The 840 pads will enhance it slightly.

How deep are the 840s' pads? And are they memory foam within like the 7520's?

 

[starfly]

How deep are the 840s' pads? And are they memory foam within like the 7520's?

They're a lot deeper than the stock pads, which is why I got them.  With the stock pads the drivers were resting on my ear causing discomfort pretty quickly.  Don't know if they're memory foam pads, but I find them quite comfortable and can wear them for hours.

 

[groovyd]

I'm starting to think about selling my 7520's and just using my T5p out and about as they are already replace by my X/XC and don't get much head time otherwise.  I find the 7520 a bit too boomy and the T5p is just all around flatter better sound and more comfortable.  I have insurance so having them nicked on tour isn't really a concern after all I have them, I should use them.