[phaeton70]

Thanks. Looks like something I can try to replicate in Roon....



Yeah the pads on the Z1R don't feel like pleather at all. I have Ultrasone Edition 8 and Denon D7200 here and they both claim to use sheep skin leather. Now all there feels very similar to me, so when Sony said Z1R also uses sheep skin I'm going to believe them.

I also have the Beyer T1 of which the headband is leatherette (ie fake leather), now THOSE feels different.

dont' know about Ultrasone, but I know for sure D7200 pads are pleather. a very good one, really high quality, but pleather not real leather. Denon claim to use real leather only for the upper side of the headband

 

[phaeton70]

well it may be sony's definition but it's not mine

nor mine IMHO Z1R is definitely not an headphone that can be classified as "airy"

and, for the leather "smell", it's true when new the leather Sony used smells very much like as some kind of synthetic pleather. but it's defintely real leather (IMHO of good quality too), and the strange smell will disappear in a couple of weeks

 

[phaeton70]

These are comfy, sexy headphones. How do they sound to me?

Uneven.

They're choc full of bass...and lower midrange. Mid to treble transition sounds fairly v-shaped. The sibilance these things produce is inescapable, unnatural. Cymbals lack body, they just kind of...hiss and ring. I noticed faults a little less while listening to classical and jazz, but once electric guitars and vocals kick in in rock and pop it's pretty obvious where these things could use some tweaking.

Comparing them to other closed cans reveal stark differences to me. Audioquest NightOwl Carbon is much more neutral and natural sounding, though still a bit v-shaped in the mid-treble transition. B&W P7 is more natural sounding with less bass emphasis and a better bass-mid transition. These are more open and natural sounding between 1-7khz than the Z1R. Sibilance isn't as piercing as the Sony. These are slightly shouty though, soundstage isn't great. B&W P9 has similar boosted bass and lower mids, possibly these are a bit boomier. Kinda mushy sounding to me compared to the Z1R, but they don't have the sibilance javelin of death.

Ultimately I think the NightOwl Carbon beats these handily at every turn, and they are pretty comfy. There is less coloration inbetween the recording and your ears with them. The Z1R isn't at all neutral or natural sounding, but I guess not everyone is looking for that.

Comparo rigs:
Sony ZH1ES+WM1Z
Naim V1+Tidal

I think this is all about the strong characterization that Sony has engineered inside these cans. it's not an error, or a wrong headphones. it's exactly like Sony has engineered these cans. leave or take.
the FR is actually quite peculiar, strong bass and midbass with recessed mids and higher mids, a strong spike around 10k (going by ears, don't know the exact freq) but overall recessed highs. perfect for some kind of music IMHO (and in fact I really like them for electronic music for example), but definitely too much un-linear for acoustic jazz and the like. of course, just IMHO.

 

[up late]

Actually that is what he has changed it to if you read the comments at the end of the review

i didn't read the comments actually - just the review. whether the reviewer edited the content of his review or not is immaterial to me. he published it online and that's what i cited in my previous post.

 

[fullranger]

Ok. They smell. Wow

 

[nordkapp]

Ok. They smell. Wow

Haha. Classic. I love it!

 

[up late]

it's ok if they smell as long as they don't stink

 

[NoMythsAudio]

Thanks. Looks like something I can try to replicate in Roon....



Yeah the pads on the Z1R don't feel like pleather at all. I have Ultrasone Edition 8 and Denon D7200 here and they both claim to use sheep skin leather. Now all there feels very similar to me, so when Sony said Z1R also uses sheep skin I'm going to believe them.

I also have the Beyer T1 of which the headband is leatherette (ie fake leather), now THOSE feels different.

Please let me know you settings in Roon if you succeed, I will like to give it a try.

 

[nanaholic]

dont' know about Ultrasone, but I know for sure D7200 pads are pleather. a very good one, really high quality, but pleather not real leather. Denon claim to use real leather only for the upper side of the headband

I rechecked and you are correct - for the D7200 the headband is real leather while the earpads are pleather.

They do feel almost identical on the D7200, I'd even say the pleather is smoother than that real stuff.

 

[ervin192]

I think this is all about the strong characterization that Sony has engineered inside these cans. it's not an error, or a wrong headphones. it's exactly like Sony has engineered these cans. leave or take.
the FR is actually quite peculiar, strong bass and midbass with recessed mids and higher mids, a strong spike around 10k (going by ears, don't know the exact freq) but overall recessed highs. perfect for some kind of music IMHO (and in fact I really like them for electronic music for example), but definitely too much un-linear for acoustic jazz and the like. of course, just IMHO.

Frankly speaking if your Z1R sounds like that then the sound is just as Tyll has measured, and I don't think it worth listening; maybe because I do not really like EDM.

 

[ervin192]

The pads for D7200 should be the same with those of Th900, made of some 'protein' material as they announced. That material feels very soft but still needs to be taken care of, Fostex advises that one should wipe the pads with tissues after usage, or it would break.

 

[phaeton70]

Frankly speaking if your Z1R sounds like that then the sound is just as Tyll has measured, and I don't think it worth listening; maybe because I do not really like EDM.

honestly I don't care about measurements, sometimes the best measured cans are simply lifeless , and I don't believe in "universal" headphones, much prefer the best fit for the kind of music
I do think that Z1R are very funny cans, perfect with electronic music, that's why I bought them and will keep them, since I'm quite omnivorous in terms of music going from experimental jazz to electronic and classical music

 

[nc8000]

I’m continually amazed how different these phones sound to different people. I don’t hear any treble peak or piercing shrill treble nor any recessed mids and to me they work great with everything I throw at them. They do have emphasised lows though, probably more than I thought I would like, but I find that it doesn’t bother me at all.

 

[ervin192]

I’m continually amazed how different these phones sound to different people. I don’t hear any treble peak or piercing thrill treble nor any recessed mids and to me they work great with everything I throw at them. They do have emphasised lows though, probably more than I thought I would like, but I find that it doesn’t bother me at all.

I think it's mainly because of the amplifiers. The TA-ZH1ES is not perfect but it treats the Z1R fairly in most situations.

 

[phaeton70]

the important thing is if we like our cans, not how the cans sound to other's ears
happy music