Wow, just wanted to drop by after my previous 'bad' feedback that I've just had the opportunity to finally get what is the Z1R is all about!.
Not sure what happened and why it toke me awhile to understand the sound quality, and, even with not a matched amp and only 320k mp3 file, the magic finally reveled .
I must say they are so different then anything heard so far and probably what i needed is a time to get used and adjust my ears to their nature.
They are amazingly detailed and fun, making you want to stay and listen more and more. Needs a better AMP & Cables now (will the search for better ever ends?)
Wow, just wanted to drop by after my previous 'bad' feedback that I've just had the opportunity to finally get what is the Z1R is all about!.
Not sure what happened and why it toke me awhile to understand the sound quality, and, even with not a matched amp and only 320k mp3 file, the magic finally reveled .
I must say they are so different then anything heard so far and probably what i needed is a time to get used and adjust my ears to their nature.
They are amazingly detailed and fun, making you want to stay and listen more and more. Needs a better AMP & Cables now (will the search for better ever ends?)
I love the sound of the Z1R's. I had them playing out of my Hugo 2 yesterday and I'm just amazed at what I was hearing. They are such a unique headphone that for some it may take a moment to hear and appreciate what they are doing. Once you allow your ears to adjust to that uniqueness you're in for hours on pure musical enjoyment. They do so many things well to my ears.
Wow, just wanted to drop by after my previous 'bad' feedback that I've just had the opportunity to finally get what is the Z1R is all about!.
Not sure what happened and why it toke me awhile to understand the sound quality, and, even with not a matched amp and only 320k mp3 file, the magic finally reveled .
I must say they are so different then anything heard so far and probably what i needed is a time to get used and adjust my ears to their nature.
They are amazingly detailed and fun, making you want to stay and listen more and more. Needs a better AMP & Cables now (will the search for better ever ends?)
Have you tried also other amp & dac other then the Hugo 2? looking for a replacement to my Musical Fidelity and the Hugo 2 or TA-ZH1ES are around the same price here so wondering which one will drive the Z1R better.
I think i might have hearing problem in the side that i mentioned via this past post. When switching cable sides (right side to left side and left to right) i still had this problem, and when putting them with right headphone side on the left ear, i still felt that some sounds (mainly highs) are missing. Will go to check that soon .
Now that you have discovered the Z1R my recommendation is to discover the elation of tube amplification, I know that on paper Class D MOSFET Hybrid D/A DAC DSD offer more DR, FR, blah blah, but I discovered that Class A SET offers magic.
After discovering this magic on my 300B SET
(30sec exposure) I wasn't amazed by the TA-ZH1ES + Z1R (retail store audition), and now I'm only considering tube amps like the Woo Audio WA22 or the WOO AUDIO WA5-LE if I can find it for a decent price.
My amp doesn't drive the headphone socket hard enough for the Z1R but what's there is pure wow (spatial, enveloping, detailed, dynamic), it makes everything else just sound boring and lifeless.
I'm sure somebody has classified the Z1R as dark/warm and something that shouldn't be paired with a tube amp, but I can categorically tell you that they are a match made in heaven which have provided me with a kind out of body experience I have never experienced with any other audio gear.
Btw I couldn't really tell much difference between the ZX300 Walkman and the TA-ZH1ES when I was feeding the TA-ZH1ES with the ZX300 (3.5mm>RCA), so it's fairly transparent or my testing wasn't ideal. How else could I compare same audio track?
Maybe in about 60 days I'll have my Woo 5LE to try with the Z1R while still using the TA-ZH1ES as the DAC in line out mode. The Woo has very little tube sound. In fact it's known to be one one the most solid-state sounding of all tube amps. What you do get is some relative extra harmonics and the tube sound stage. So it'll be about 60 days, then I'll also be able to do a side by side with the TA-ZH1ES to see which amp makes the Z1R sound better.
Still your not going to be in balanced mode with the Woo 5 LE. Still I'm curious as last time I used my Woo 5 it didn't sound near as highly detailed as the TA-ZH1ES. The other thing that effects audio is the source, that's why I'm getting the dedicated dock and upgraded USB cable this week. Using the side USB is the least quality way to go with the TA-ZH1ES.
The TA-ZH1ES and Z1R is fairly forgiving but it's hard to believe a ZX300 and cable would be the same as the TA-ZH1ES internal DAC?
The Woo has very little tube sound. In fact it's known to be one one the most solid-state sounding of all tube amps. What you do get is some relative extra harmonics and the tube sound stage. So it'll be about 60 days, then I'll also be able to do a side by side with the TA-ZH1ES to see which amp makes the Z1R sound better.
That's not what I have read and looking at the amp stage circuit (photo below, I don't have the diagram) a little hard to believe as it seems to have minimal -feedback which makes it totally reliant on the tubes for it's signature, whereas my GFA-534B has significant -feedback so tube rolling has about as much effect as cable changing at least that's the case w/ the driver stage, I haven't rolled the rectifier yet.
In any event what I enjoy about tube sound is the spatial details with the ethereal presence and airyness, this combined with the ample soundstage and lush details of Z1R's is really appealing.
Just picked up stuff at the Tokyo Flagship store.....
Well, the Woo 5LE sounds very detailed and solid-state to me, but then again I was coming to it from the lower powered W3, and also had other tube amps before, like HH Scott. But my 5LE is not with me, need to get it in California, so I have not heard it with our Sony Flagship headphone! But yes, I don’t think it will be too warm?
The Z1R should to well with the Woo and single ended may be just as good as balanced?
I wouldn't hesitate to invest in a single-ended quality home amp if it did everything I wanted. The great benefit of having balanced outputs in a portable, battery powered device is the much greater output per the same voltage, i.e. you can carry a wallop of power around in your pocket. With an AC powered home amp, given enough output power, there's no disadvantage to a single-ended amp. Or so says that dude.
Are you in Tokyo on vacation, or do you live there? I've been in that Sony Plaza building before, but Ginza is probably the Tokyo district I've visited the least. Did you get to see the fancy Seiko musical clock do its thing?
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