[JerryHead]

Sounds like you need to stay away from leather or leather type earpads. My ears get sweaty too from all my leather ear padded headphones but I never once considered sending a pair of headphones back because they made my ears hot. I mean what are you doing in these things, doing jumping jacks or something? To me it seems a bit ridiculous to send a pair of headphones back because of a little sweat on the ears. Especially a headphone you enjoy the sound of. My LCD2C is open backed and it makes me sweat too. It's the leather.

Actually, my ears aren't getting sweaty, they're getting too warm. And I'd tolerate it, but after a relatively brief time, it's a distraction from that sweet sound. And no, I'm not moving when they heat up, I'm just sitting completely still. I realize I'm a little unusual, but the fact is, I'm particularly sensitive to this issue. But, you may be correct about the ear pads. The pair I had before this were the Shure SRH1840s, which had velour pads, and my ears were fine. But those were open-backed too. I have the Focal Clears on the way, and those have leather pads, but are open-backed as well. I was just hoping that they'd sound as least as good as the Z7M2s. Who knows, maybe I can even find some velour pads for them, but yes, my guess is that there aren't, as the material fo the pads are probably crucial to the sound signature of each headphone. That would seem to make sense to me.

 

[dazzerfong]

Actually, my ears aren't getting sweaty, they're getting too warm. And I'd tolerate it, but after a relatively brief time, it's a distraction from that sweet sound. And no, I'm not moving when they heat up, I'm just sitting completely still. I realize I'm a little unusual, but the fact is, I'm particularly sensitive to this issue. But, you may be correct about the ear pads. The pair I had before this were the Shure SRH1840s, which had velour pads, and my ears were fine. But those were open-backed too. I have the Focal Clears on the way, and those have leather pads, but are open-backed as well. I was just hoping that they'd sound as least as good as the Z7M2s. Who knows, maybe I can even find some velour pads for them, but yes, my guess is that there aren't, as the material fo the pads are probably crucial to the sound signature of each headphone. That would seem to make sense to me.

Err, Focal Clears definitely have velour pads. They're perforated too so they're especially cool.

Utopia's the one that's leather.

 

[JerryHead]

Err, Focal Clears definitely have velour pads. They're perforated too so they're especially cool.

Utopia's the one that's leather.

Awesome, actually, I was unsure, so thanks for clarifying. Now I just hope they sound at least as good as the Z7s. I have to say, I'll miss the Z7s. Any idea how the Focal Clears sound vs the Z7s?

 

[Vitaly2017]

Awesome, actually, I was unsure, so thanks for clarifying. Now I just hope they sound at least as good as the Z7s. I have to say, I'll miss the Z7s. Any idea how the Focal Clears sound vs the Z7s?

I think you will be crying for a while. Z7m2 is really good

 

[Gamerlingual]

I think you will be crying for a while. Z7m2 is really good

After what I sampled, it’s true. Very good

 

[KuroTaka]

Are there any Z7M2 owners out there who also own a pair of Focal Clears? I was wondering how they compare. I have a pair of the Z7M2s, but it looks like I'll be sending them back, as although I LOVE the sound, my ears are heating up after 30 minutes, making them uncomfortable. It's a damn shame, as they sound soo good! I know for a fact that open-backed headphones are much more tolerable to me. I was just wondering how the two sets of headphones compare musically.

I actually auditioned both the Z7M2 and the Focal Clear in store for a bit (provided I did not have a proper dap to run these off so I went straight from phone source via poweramp + some flacs), I could definitely tell the Focal Clear was noticeably more detailed in the mids and highs however sounded thin and less musical compared to the Z7M2s and given the Z7M2s were about a quarter the price, it was a no brainer.

 

[dazzerfong]

Awesome, actually, I was unsure, so thanks for clarifying. Now I just hope they sound at least as good as the Z7s. I have to say, I'll miss the Z7s. Any idea how the Focal Clears sound vs the Z7s?

I tried it for 3 hours whilst I bought the Z7M2's, and I will say this: the Focal Clears where, in my opinion, the best headphones I have tried in terms of tonality.

Is it the best in soundstage? No, you have the HD800 for that.
Is it the best in bass? No, you have the LCD2's for that.
Is it the best in detail? No, you got Utopia for that.

However, you don't get a bright piercing image like the HD800, you don't get a dark sound like the LCD2C's either nor do you have tonality quirks with the Utopia.

The Clears easily stomped the Z7M2s. Z7M2s suffer from resonance issues which hold back an otherwise decent headphone, especially for the price I got it for. The only place the Z7M2s marginally are better than the Clears is the bass if you decide to jack it up, because in their infinite wisdom Sony didn't take advantage of that massive driver and make it bassy.

The reason I didn't get it at the time? I didn't have $1800 to spare: the Z7M2's, however, were only $440 or so.

Powered from a Ragnarok + Yggdrasil combo that was on demo on both for what it's worth. Focal Clears don't drive well out of a phone due to high impedance around 50-100 Hz (it peaks at around 300 ohms @ 50Hz): not quite like the ruler-flat impedance of the Z7M2.

I think you will be crying for a while. Z7m2 is really good

Really?

 

[XM3orZ7m2]

@JerryHead are you located near Austria? If you're done with the z7m2, I'm wondering if they could take a detour by an audio engineer to get them measured and EQd before sending them back to the store.

 

[JerryHead]

I tried it for 3 hours whilst I bought the Z7M2's, and I will say this: the Focal Clears where, in my opinion, the best headphones I have tried in terms of tonality.

Is it the best in soundstage? No, you have the HD800 for that.
Is it the best in bass? No, you have the LCD2's for that.
Is it the best in detail? No, you got Utopia for that.

However, you don't get a bright piercing image like the HD800, you don't get a dark sound like the LCD2C's either nor do you have tonality quirks with the Utopia.

The Clears easily stomped the Z7M2s. Z7M2s suffer from resonance issues which hold back an otherwise decent headphone, especially for the price I got it for. The only place the Z7M2s marginally are better than the Clears is the bass if you decide to jack it up, because in their infinite wisdom Sony didn't take advantage of that massive driver and make it bassy.

The reason I didn't get it at the time? I didn't have $1800 to spare: the Z7M2's, however, were only $440 or so.

Powered from a Ragnarok + Yggdrasil combo that was on demo on both for what it's worth. Focal Clears don't drive well out of a phone due to high impedance around 50-100 Hz (it peaks at around 300 ohms @ 50Hz): not quite like the ruler-flat impedance of the Z7M2.



Really?

Great, THANK YOU! Everything you wrote is what I had assumed, based on other reviews I’ve read, so you likely nailed it on all fronts. I found the Clears factory refurb for $999 USD. The other headphones I’d was looking at were the HD660S, but they’re out of stock for a month, and I’d likely need to buy an upgraded cable for those ($200), so price wasn’t that much more. I plan to use a Sony TA headphone amp.

 

[JerryHead]

@JerryHead are you located near Austria? If you're done with the z7m2, I'm wondering if they could take a detour by an audio engineer to get them measured and EQd before sending them back to the store.

I am not, I’m in the USA. Open box price I paid for the Z7M2 was $440 USD : BuyDig

 

[dazzerfong]

Great, THANK YOU! Everything you wrote is what I had assumed, based on other reviews I’ve read, so you likely nailed it on all fronts. I found the Clears factory refurb for $999 USD. The other headphones I’d was looking at were the HD660S, but they’re out of stock for a month, and I’d likely need to buy an upgraded cable for those ($200), so price wasn’t that much more. I plan to use a Sony TA headphone amp.

The HD660 is......interesting. I have no idea what Sennheiser was aiming for, but they somehow managed to make the 660 darker than the HD 650 in the upper treble. Oh, and the Clears have vastly superior bass to the HD 660. Honestly, if given the choice, I'd choose the 650 over the 660 any day of the week.

Honestly, I think Sennheiser's been losing their magic in their higher-end segment. The HD700 was, as much as I hate to admit it now, the first sign of trouble, and the HD820 was the death knell.

Funny thing is that the Clears are considered by many to be the 'successor' to the HD650. A bit better bass, a bit more treble extension. That being said, I've never tried the 650 and the Clears together so I can't attest to the accuracy of that statement.

 

[JerryHead]

The HD660 is......interesting. I have no idea what Sennheiser was aiming for, but they somehow managed to make the 660 darker than the HD 650 in the upper treble. Oh, and the Clears have vastly superior bass to the HD 660. Honestly, if given the choice, I'd choose the 650 over the 660 any day of the week.

Honestly, I think Sennheiser's been losing their magic in their higher-end segment. The HD700 was, as much as I hate to admit it now, the first sign of trouble, and the HD820 was the death knell.

Funny thing is that the Clears are considered by many to be the 'successor' to the HD650. A bit better bass, a bit more treble extension. That being said, I've never tried the 650 and the Clears together so I can't attest to the accuracy of that statement.

Were the Clear’s mids and highs also superior to the 660s?

 

[dazzerfong]

Were the Clear’s mids and highs also superior to the 660s?

Considering the 660's highs get peaky then just plummet after 12k, yes. Generally not too bad, but if you listen to instrumentals of stuff with cymbals, it's obvious there's a notch somewhere in the 660.

Mids are a bit of a hazier affair - I must confess, until recently I didn't care much about mids.

 

[Gamerlingual]

Are these cans still readily available outside Japan? What’s the demand been so far as I’m not sure if it’s in high demand or not. Don’t think there’s anything that states headphone sales?

 

[Rurouni]

I’m still looking for a set of headphones that are designed to give a speaker like presentation. So far MDR Z1R from what I’ve read is designed this way, and I have that experience when I listen to the IER-Z1R but those are IEMs.

Does the Z7m2 have a similar presentation as above?