I had a chance to audition the new Z1000s at a headphones shop in Osaka yesterday. I was in a somewhat noisy store and was restricted to using my iPod as source and amp. There was a set of Edition 8s nearby so I could back and forth with those a bit. I probably spent close to 30 minutes with them in total. Certainly a less than ideal situation, so please take everything with a big grain of salt, but I know something is always better than nothing with these new releases, so I will share as best I can. However, these are just impressions and definitely would change if I could spend more time with them on a better rig in familiar surroundings. No doubt others will also come away with vastly different impressions as well. With that in mind…
The frame is very nice. It seems quite well built and sturdy. The pads are soft and very comfortable but did not leave a lot of room inside for big ears. I could not tell if there were leather or pleather. They do not really have a luxurious appearance- much more function oriented IMO.
I did not feel they clamped excessively at all; very light and very comfortable to wear. I felt they were slightly more comfortable than the Edition 8s.
Isolation is decent, pretty similar to the Edition 8s.
The soundstage was good for closed headphones, nothing unusual or distracting or particularly impressive. Imaging was good with nice separation between notes. The Edition 8’s seemed to be a notch or two better in these areas.
Detail was good but not quite the same level as higher end headphones I own.
Mids were clean. The highs seemed extended and smooth. For tracks I tried with known sibilance issues, they were there but not exaggerated nor muted. There was a touch more treble presence than the Edition 8s. I prefer a little more sparkle up top, but they seemed rather uncolored it that sense
Probably, I noticed the bass most of all. I was expecting a lot less, but there was plenty. It was deep and full and seemed bumped up more than many people are going to prefer. There was definitely greater bass presence than with the Edition 8s. And I would say more that the HD800s and LCD2s. Maybe not quite to the same degree as the Denon line, but I did not have a set nearby for direct comparison. A standard test track for me is Outkast’s The Way You Move. It starts out with three progressively lower deep bass notes. Few headphones can hit all three with the necessary oomph and maintain the same levels as the notes get lower. The D7000s do it very well. The HD800s do not. The LCD2s are fairly good but not quite there IMO. The Edition 8’s were not so good for this through my iPod. The Z1000s had no problem whatsoever hitting the lowest note while maintaining the same levels all the way down. The bass was appropriately full for what was being asked. Overall, it seemed like it could be a bit tighter though, but again, all this through my iPod. It will be interesting to hear others’ takes on this as I know a bumped up bass can cause some people to go into hysterics and is probably very disappointing news for fans of the SA5000s. (Again, my word should not be the last word on this.)
In a sort of overall refinement evaluation, the Edition 8s seemed like a level above as did the JH13Pros that I was listening to prior and afterwards. I liked what I heard but did not get the sense that these were exactly sporting a quality far exceeding their price range. I was prepared to buy them but do not have much use for another set of closed headphones and just did not get excited enough to bring them home. I did not completely rule them out either though. I will try them again when I have a chance and look forward to reading what others have to say off of their home rigs.
Essentially, all of the above should be considered nothing more than a little mental chewing gum to process just until someone actually has them in their possession and can write a more informed review.
The frame is very nice. It seems quite well built and sturdy. The pads are soft and very comfortable but did not leave a lot of room inside for big ears. I could not tell if there were leather or pleather. They do not really have a luxurious appearance- much more function oriented IMO.
I did not feel they clamped excessively at all; very light and very comfortable to wear. I felt they were slightly more comfortable than the Edition 8s.
Isolation is decent, pretty similar to the Edition 8s.
The soundstage was good for closed headphones, nothing unusual or distracting or particularly impressive. Imaging was good with nice separation between notes. The Edition 8’s seemed to be a notch or two better in these areas.
Detail was good but not quite the same level as higher end headphones I own.
Mids were clean. The highs seemed extended and smooth. For tracks I tried with known sibilance issues, they were there but not exaggerated nor muted. There was a touch more treble presence than the Edition 8s. I prefer a little more sparkle up top, but they seemed rather uncolored it that sense
Probably, I noticed the bass most of all. I was expecting a lot less, but there was plenty. It was deep and full and seemed bumped up more than many people are going to prefer. There was definitely greater bass presence than with the Edition 8s. And I would say more that the HD800s and LCD2s. Maybe not quite to the same degree as the Denon line, but I did not have a set nearby for direct comparison. A standard test track for me is Outkast’s The Way You Move. It starts out with three progressively lower deep bass notes. Few headphones can hit all three with the necessary oomph and maintain the same levels as the notes get lower. The D7000s do it very well. The HD800s do not. The LCD2s are fairly good but not quite there IMO. The Edition 8’s were not so good for this through my iPod. The Z1000s had no problem whatsoever hitting the lowest note while maintaining the same levels all the way down. The bass was appropriately full for what was being asked. Overall, it seemed like it could be a bit tighter though, but again, all this through my iPod. It will be interesting to hear others’ takes on this as I know a bumped up bass can cause some people to go into hysterics and is probably very disappointing news for fans of the SA5000s. (Again, my word should not be the last word on this.)
In a sort of overall refinement evaluation, the Edition 8s seemed like a level above as did the JH13Pros that I was listening to prior and afterwards. I liked what I heard but did not get the sense that these were exactly sporting a quality far exceeding their price range. I was prepared to buy them but do not have much use for another set of closed headphones and just did not get excited enough to bring them home. I did not completely rule them out either though. I will try them again when I have a chance and look forward to reading what others have to say off of their home rigs.
Essentially, all of the above should be considered nothing more than a little mental chewing gum to process just until someone actually has them in their possession and can write a more informed review.
