[JerryHead]

Received the MDR-Z7M2 today and here are my first impressions, using my very limited vocabulary with regards to sound evaluation. My headphone amp isn't due to arrive until tomorrow, so I'm currently listening out of the Sony WM1A at between 70 and 90 volume levels. My only real recent comparison set is a pair of Shure SRH1840s, which are open-back: The Z7 is definitely more lively and energetic than the 1840s. I can tell that there is more synergy with these headphones and my Sony DAP than with the 1840s. The vocals are more forward, which I appreciate, and the sound is more exciting in general, with slightly better highs and more bass which is nice. The sound is less neutral as a whole, which is what I was looking for. However, the soundstage is more narrow, and the separation of instruments is not as defined as the 1840s. I had them on for only ten minutes and had to remove them because my ears were heating up. I will give further impressions after listening though a headphone amp.

 

[XM3orZ7m2]

Received the MDR-Z7M2 today and here are my first impressions, using my very limited vocabulary with regards to sound evaluation. My headphone amp isn't due to arrive until tomorrow, so I'm currently listening out of the Sony WM1A at between 70 and 90 volume levels. My only real recent comparison set is a pair of Shure SRH1840s, which are open-back: The Z7 is definitely more lively and energetic than the 1840s. I can tell that there is more synergy with these headphones and my Sony DAP than with the 1840s. The vocals are more forward, which I appreciate, and the sound is more exciting in general, with slightly better highs and more bass which is nice. The sound is less neutral as a whole, which is what I was looking for. However, the soundstage is more narrow, and the separation of instruments is not as defined as the 1840s. I had them on for only ten minutes and had to remove them because my ears were heating up. I will give further impressions after listening though a headphone amp.

Where did you buy your z7m2 from? You might be able to get a price match if you bought on Adorama or BH for the full price since they went on sale for $400 not too long ago.

And in regards to Soundstage, closed backs aren't going to be good in that regard, but I think z7m2 may be near the best for closed backs due to the driver size.

Do you also happen to have a MacBook pro? They are very easily driven by them because their headphone jack is rated at 2 Vrms. You might be surprised that listening to them with your laptop might sound just as good.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Received the MDR-Z7M2 today and here are my first impressions, using my very limited vocabulary with regards to sound evaluation. My headphone amp isn't due to arrive until tomorrow, so I'm currently listening out of the Sony WM1A at between 70 and 90 volume levels. My only real recent comparison set is a pair of Shure SRH1840s, which are open-back: The Z7 is definitely more lively and energetic than the 1840s. I can tell that there is more synergy with these headphones and my Sony DAP than with the 1840s. The vocals are more forward, which I appreciate, and the sound is more exciting in general, with slightly better highs and more bass which is nice. The sound is less neutral as a whole, which is what I was looking for. However, the soundstage is more narrow, and the separation of instruments is not as defined as the 1840s. I had them on for only ten minutes and had to remove them because my ears were heating up. I will give further impressions after listening though a headphone amp.

They need a burn in of 200hours before they start signing.
Let them play 24/7 for at least 8days then see how it sounds

 

[XM3orZ7m2]

200?
I would play your favorite playlist on low volume 8 hours, then medium for 8 hours and then the loudest volume that I would typically listen to for 8 hours.

 

[Vitaly2017]

200?
I would play your favorite playlist on low volume 8 hours, then medium for 8 hours and then the loudest volume that I would typically listen to for 8 hours.

Just set it on high or low gain and listen. Set it to the volume you feel comfortable at and then add 5 volume clicks. There you have it a perfect volume match.

But it might annoy you as you will hear your headphones music lol

 

[JerryHead]

Just plugged the Z7M2 into my Hiby R5. With around 500mw on balanced, these headphones are sounding MUCH better! I understand what others have been saying now about these needing to be properly powered. Oh man, it makes me want to cry. These sound so sweet. Love the bass, and the highs. But I'm so torn. Can't see myself tolerating the warm ears for more than ten minutes at at time.

 

[XM3orZ7m2]

Just plugged the Z7M2 into my Hiby R5. With around 500mw on balanced, these headphones are sounding MUCH better! I understand what others have been saying now about these needing to be properly powered.

How much does 500mW translate to in terms of Vrms? Also where did you buy your z7m2?

 

[JerryHead]

How much does 500mW translate to in terms of Vrms? Also where did you buy your z7m2?

I bought it online, open box, from a retailer who offers free returns. Not sure how it translates to Vrms. From the Amazon description of the R5: "Thanks to battery space and efficiency optimizations, this palm-sized powerhouse outputs balanced power up to 1040mW+1040mW@16Ω and 564mW+564mW@32Ω, yet manages to last up to 11 hours balanced / 18 hours SE." Anyone interested in a truly portable DAP should check out the R5. It packs a punch, and has some great features.

 

[Vitaly2017]

How much does 500mW translate to in terms of Vrms? Also where did you buy your z7m2?

If I am correct 500mw = 1/2 watts...
And ussualy headphones require only 100mw to run at full potential.
What is important is at what mw is the peak of the power output of the dap example at 32 ohm it can output 500mw. That means if your z7m2 is set at 40ohm then your dap will only put maybe 400 mw at ohm. As further you derive from the peak (32ohm) more power will decrease. It goes both way up or down will reduce the mw output.

So it so always best to use headphones the closest possible to the rated ohm peak of a dap or you can chose a dap to get closest to the headphone rating.....

But neither the less just increase volume and problem fixed lol

 

[XM3orZ7m2]

Thanks for the great reply! I'm learning a lot from head-fi. I'm so excited about our incoming z7m2! I still haven't gotten an email yet, I'm pretty sure they are shipping out June 22nd

 

[Rurouni]

Has anyone tried to eq them to sound similar to the Z1R?

Reading around the web, it seems that with some +eq dialed it particularly for the sub 1k frequencies, these cans will sound v close to the Z1R with the exception of the soundstage. Wondering if this is accurate.

 

[dazzerfong]

Just plugged the Z7M2 into my Hiby R5. With around 500mw on balanced, these headphones are sounding MUCH better! I understand what others have been saying now about these needing to be properly powered. Oh man, it makes me want to cry. These sound so sweet. Love the bass, and the highs. But I'm so torn. Can't see myself tolerating the warm ears for more than ten minutes at at time.

I gotta say, that's a bit on the extreme side. I get warm ears at around the 2-3 hour mark, but it's not particularly awful over here.

How much does 500mW translate to in terms of Vrms? Also where did you buy your z7m2?

No-one's pulling 500 mW in headphones that aren't the HE-6. Then again, he listened to it with the WM1A at volume 90. For reference, around 70 on a weaker DAP (ZX300) is when it gets ridiculously loud for me.

If I am correct 500mw = 1/2 watts...
And ussualy headphones require only 100mw to run at full potential.
What is important is at what mw is the peak of the power output of the dap example at 32 ohm it can output 500mw. That means if your z7m2 is set at 40ohm then your dap will only put maybe 400 mw at ohm. As further you derive from the peak (32ohm) more power will decrease. It goes both way up or down will reduce the mw output.

So it so always best to use headphones the closest possible to the rated ohm peak of a dap or you can chose a dap to get closest to the headphone rating.....

200?
I would play your favorite playlist on low volume 8 hours, then medium for 8 hours and then the loudest volume that I would typically listen to for 8 hours.

Why?

But neither the less just increase volume and problem fixed lol

When a manufacturing gives a power rating, it's usually given as xxx mw @ yyy ohms. The problem with giving only one number is that I don't know if it's current-limited or voltage-limited at that point.

Don't have to find headphones with the closest ohm peak: just use a calculator to find out how much power it has at a certain ohm. This ties back to impedance swings: the HD 600 swings to about 600 ohms at certain places, which means that if you're theoretically OK at 300 ohms, you could be running into issues.

This is a complicated problem which requires a bit of nuance. Don't know where you pulled the 100mW number from, because it's certainly not a fact. Hell, just look at the sensitivity numbers for most headphones: they're usually in the realm of 100 dB/mW. Pumping 100 mW into would put it at 120 dB/mw, which is about the sound of a chainsaw next to you.

 

[Gamerlingual]

Well I dont like EQ if others do thats fine.
And there is no such a thing a perfect iem or headphones. I think its more about so you like it as it is or cant stand it? Then decide...

I got into z7m2 cause I heard it at canjam and really enjoyed it. I felt it had something special in sound timber.

I heard mdr-z1r many times and always end up not liking it. It has something strange with high peaky treble it really unpleasant the treble of mdr...
Z7M2 was love right away!

I also will add that I had the original tia fourte and didnt like it sold it, for the price its sold I found it was incoherent and very treble piercing.
Though the noir I really love them.

I might play around with z7m2 and do some physical moding, like change internal wires ) and see if that bring better sound quality.

Find a good aftermarket cable, I got Gold plated copper on mind or the pw audio xerxes!

Of course hooked to my modified wm1z Romi mod!

Reading back through these pages, for some reason I thought you liked the MDR-Z1R. So the Z7M2 is still the best for you? Is it end game for you?

 

[Vitaly2017]

Reading back through these pages, for some reason I thought you liked the MDR-Z1R. So the Z7M2 is still the best for you? Is it end game for you?

I am not that well implemented with headphones as iems. But I heard many headphones as well.
I havent yet received my z7m2 I only heard them at canjam..

To me they are more fun and not treble painful as mdr-z1r.
The z7m2 are like my tia trio I used to own.

I hear good things about denon 9200 audio technica aw something there new model.

Z7m2 are not ToTl lvl they are just very fun and pleasant

 

[Gamerlingual]

I am not that well implemented with headphones as iems. But I heard many headphones as well.
I havent yet received my z7m2 I only heard them at canjam..

To me they are more fun and not treble painful as mdr-z1r.
The z7m2 are like my tia trio I used to own.

I hear good things about denon 9200 audio technica aw something there new model.

Z7m2 are not ToTl lvl they are just very fun and pleasant

No wonder I thought the MDR-Z1R felt similar to the 1AM2 in terms of sound quality. The 1AM2 is treble painful if I use it with my FiiO M6, and when I compared the MDR-Z1R to the MDR-1AM2, the sound signature seemed to similar with both needed more bass. However, for the price, I jumped on the 1AM2 after sampling it with the 1A and 1Z because they sounded so good. I haven't really tried the Z7M2 much, so that's why I ask since your information of music is so vast.