[slumberman]

Also files make a big difference, no matter if you have super duper high end dap and headphones to listen to 64 -240kbps mp3 files vs to listen to FLAC/DSD

goes without saying!Forgot to mention that!

 

[candlejack]

You know you're a true audiophile when you finally upgrade your flagship cable with some headphones and a music player.

Damn, this is so funny, I keep coming back to it.

 

[gerelmx1986]

You know you're a true audiophile when you finally upgrade your flagship cable with some headphones and a music player.

You'rea true audiophile when you say:"I only listen to 24-bit/DSD. CD sounds bad!" Lol

I remember this dude in a hi-fi shop (he had an AK380) and I lended my wm1A, and to me his astell&kern.

He said IS THAT A CD?!
me- yes why? It sounds very good.
He : OMG, Ican hear the notes CRASHING INTO A WALL, THE CRYSTAL BOX AND THE NOTES CANT ESCAPE. I only listen to 24-bit and SACD, there the music IS FREE RANGE, FREE TO FLOW AND EXPAND

Just grabbed my wm1A and gave his AK back, and he says otherwise your player sounds ok. And I retired Tom my homs

 

[slumberman]

@candlejack i forgot to answer your question regarding how long it’s been:
I started in November 2019 with a dragonfly and phone and tidal. Then got tired of battery drain on phone and being on the phone all the time... so I moved to DAPs. All lossless or hi res files.
really fell in love with music listening again....since then I have been listening to music probably between 5 to 7 hours every day on headphones or IEMs. Mostly leisurely but attentively enough to notice differences In familiar music pieces across different components. Not always meaningful differences, but differences nonetheless.
If you are asking if I think that hearing these things is partly in function of how much time I have been listening I personally would say a lot, since there was a time I couldn’t tell the difference between MP3 and hi res. There are still compressed files that don’t differ much sure but as an OVERALL experience I feel the upgrades have made me enjoy music exponentially and in the end that is all that matters... happiness

 

[gerelmx1986]

@candlejack i forgot to answer your question regarding how long it’s been:
I started in November 2019 with a dragonfly and phone and tidal. Then got tired of battery drain on phone and being on the phone all the time... so I moved to DAPs. All lossless or hi res files.
really fell in love with music listening again....since then I have been listening to music probably between 5 to 7 hours every day on headphones or IEMs. Mostly leisurely but attentively enough to notice differences In familiar music pieces across different components. Not always meaningful differences, but differences nonetheless.
If you are asking if I think that hearing these things is partly in function of how much time I have been listening I personally would say a lot, since there was a time I couldn’t tell the difference between MP3 and hi res. There are still compressed files that don’t differ much sure but as an OVERALL experience I feel the upgrades have made me enjoy music exponentially and in the end that is all that matters... happiness

I has airways been fan of mp3 192kbps for years, until I got an ipod classics. Yeah that apple product and not a sony DAP made me change to lossless (sony DAP made magic with their upscaling engine "DSEE" on mp3 files hence I never noticed they sounded awful). Since 2012 I started my lossless journey.

 

[candlejack]

[...] I feel the upgrades have made me enjoy music exponentially and in the end that is all that matters... happiness

I wholeheartedly agree. Personal enjoyment is what matters most.

That's why I have no problem when I see someone buying something I consider to be grossly overpriced, or outright snake-oily. If it brings them more enjoyment, then the money wasn't wasted. I sometime protest when, besides their personal enjoyment they make absolute claims about the greatness of the product, but that's a different story.

I don't know if this is common among audiophiles (OK, I'm lying, I do have an idea), but I'm interested in all aspects that affect my enjoyment of music, including the psychological one. I wish there was more reliable information about the relationship between audio gear, the senses and the mind. I have a feeling that the mind plays a much bigger role than audiophiles are willing to admit (even though it's known that sighted and blind tests often yield different results). On a rational level, I find this kind of strange, since manipulating the mind might be a lot cheaper than that super-duper $10k DAC.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Perceived sound quality is important but that’s not why we are here, maybe? I mean I had a headphone system in 2008 which was more expensive than all the gear I had ever spent money on since 1982 until 2008. Yet, there was good sound quality part of the time. A couple vinyl records sounded good and a coupe CDs sounded good, but that was it.

Could you say the sound quality was only somewhat good at that point? I just want stuff to be musical and sound quality was secondary.

You forgot scotch.. that's about a solid 50% override typically.

My breakdown of contributions to perceived sound quality is:
Headphones (including pads/tips) ..........: 50%
DAC/Amp ...................................: 10%
Mood ......................................: 20%
Other (chair, lighting, cable, etc.) ......: 20%

I try to split my budget according to the above but I sometimes just treat myself to something nice (e.g. the Tazzy).

I like the drinking/mood 20% suggestion, as attitude is everything. We construct our attitude while wondering around in purchases. And because we may have believed what someone said and did, our attitude suggests similar results. Our confirmation bias can insist that what we were told is true. Though of course reality breaks through at times and pulls the curtain of placebo down and things sound as they are.

I could not make a list of priority of gear as I think it’s all equally important. But.....I’d say the biggest quality with this Sony gear is musicality? I like even 320kbps files now, where before my expensive audio microscope just showed me too much detail.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I has airways been fan of mp3 192kbps for years, until I got an ipod classics. Yeah that apple product and not a sony DAP made me change to lossless (sony DAP made magic with their upscaling engine "DSEE" on mp3 files hence I never noticed they sounded awful). Since 2012 I started my lossless journey.

Some milestones
Mid 2012 start of my switch to lossless
2013 around March knew presto classi
and qobuz
2014 finished 99% of my library to lossless
2015 or so started my 24-bit additions
2016 last CD in mp3 192 (and converted then to Aac 256)finding in flac.
2017 I hear that weiß saracon converted makes bad DSD to flac conversions. I start my DSD download frenzy
2018 finished with my DSD upgrades in partial sense
2019 few months after I left mexico to Germany, bought my BDP-170, I start ripping and upgrading to SACD

 

[Maelob]

At home with Z1r I just stream Tidal at highest level. The days of dealing with files are over for me.

 

[gerelmx1986]

At home with Z1r I just stream Tidal at highest level. The days of dealing with files are over for me.

Tidal is lossy the only lossless part is 13bit/44.1the and the rest is.lossy

 

[nc8000]

Tidal is lossy the only lossless part is 13bit/44.1the and the rest is.lossy

Most Tidal hifi is 16/44 lossless flac. Masters are mqa at various rates and then they have some aac all the way down to 95kb

 

[Maelob]

i am at peace with good enough - the Z1r likes it LoL

 

[kefs]

Exactly, you dont have to chase the 'ultimate sound', my library of Q7 ogg files put a smile on my face everytime, the fact that there maybe some 'bits missing' makes no difference to my enjoyment. I do use Qobuz hi-res currently as well as spending the Lock Down ripping 700 cds to FLAC.

 

[Maelob]

Just thinking about it, I think the one thing that Sony missed the mark is the service of the Z1r . I believe that since they were hand made in Japan all service- in or post warranty- issues should go straight to Sony Japan. I just don’t have any confidence in sending my headphones to a service center in NY that didn’t have anything to do with building the headphones. I would prefer to pay the extra money in shipping if I knew that a proper technician will take care of any issues. So far they seem to be reliable but once they start getting older I think Sony should have a central location for repairs. Thoughts?

 

[nc8000]

Just thinking about it, I think the one thing that Sony missed the mark is the service of the Z1r . I believe that since they were hand made in Japan all service- in or post warranty- issues should go straight to Sony Japan. I just don’t have any confidence in sending my headphones to a service center in NY that didn’t have anything to do with building the headphones. I would prefer to pay the extra money in shipping if I knew that a proper technician will take care of any issues. So far they seem to be reliable but once they start getting older I think Sony should have a central location for repairs. Thoughts?

Somebody posted earlier in this thread that according to the US Sony service parter this headphone is considered a non servicable product meaning that if something goes wrong after the warrany periode you are plain f...cked