[nanaholic]

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

I firmly believe people hear differently - it's the nature of biology (some people have better eyesight, smell, taste than others, ergo this certainly applies with hearing etc), and that is then stirred with a large dose of subjective preferences.

I don't find or hear siblance in the Z1R and that is why I can listen to it for hours with no fatigue, yet others do. Just the way things are.

 

[phaeton70]

well, rather than "sibilance" I would say a "zing"... i.e. not something in the 5k (or so) range but something in the 10k (or so)
if you can use foobar, just try this simple experiment: create a new playlist, go to file->add location and insert "tone://100,30" (first number is freq, second time) then repeat for some more freq (500, 1000 and all the way up to 15000 with 1000 steps) and listen for yourself (disclaimer: this is just a game, don't take it too seriously )

 

[WraithApe]

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.

They aren't. I thought neutrality was what I was looking for at one stage, hence the HD 800 S, but the S paired with the Hugo 2 sounds so lean it's unreal - there's just no bass, or at least, nowhere near enough for my taste. I listen primarily to electronic music - house, techno, bass, DnB etc. - and for what I listen to, I personally can't imagine a better combo than H2 + Z1R, and I've tried many different combos of headphones + amps over the years. For electronic music, you want great detail retrieval and serious bass impact, and this has both in spades.

 

[nanaholic]

well, rather than "sibilance" I would say a "zing"... i.e. not something in the 5k (or so) range but something in the 10k (or so)
if you can use foobar, just try this simple experiment: create a new playlist, go to file->add location and insert "tone://100,30" (first number is freq, second time) then repeat for some more freq (500, 1000 and all the way up to 15000 with 1000 steps) and listen for yourself (disclaimer: this is just a game, don't take it too seriously )

That's just generating a test tone at a particular frequency for a duration of time, not sure how that proves any point. I mean if person A is ultra sensitive to a 10kHz spike while person B isn't, then playing a 10kHz test tone will just annoy person A and do nothing for person B, just like some people find nails on a chalk board a torture, while another person can shrug his shoulder and say "what's so bad about that?". So in the end, it's still a subjective preference mixed with biological differences.

 

[phaeton70]

that's exactly the point!! you hear with your own ears, and if you find (like me) that the 10k tone is much higher than the surrounding tone means that these specific cans are "zinging" for you, no matter if this is due to some specific "sensitivity" of your ears or just a peak in the FR of the cans.
as I said, just a game, but with some substance... it is not meant to prove anything, just to subjectively test how YOU hear THOSE particular cans

btw, you can repeat this test with other cans you have, and figure out your subjective audio test
for example, while the 10k tone is much higher for my hearing with the Z1R, it is not with any other cans I have

 

[nanaholic]

that's exactly the point!! you hear with your own ears, and if you find (like me) that the 10k tone is much higher than the surrounding tone means that these specific cans are "zinging" for you, no matter if this is due to some specific "sensitivity" of your ears or just a peak in the FR of the cans.
as I said, just a game, but with some substance... it is not meant to prove anything, just to subjectively test how YOU hear THOSE particular cans

btw, you can repeat this test with other cans you have, and figure out your subjective audio test
for example, while the 10k tone is much higher for my hearing with the Z1R, it is not with any other cans I have

But I don't need to do the test to confirm what I already know about my own subjective preference - I already know I don't hear it. Else I would've sold my pair of Z1R like those who do and finds the peak offensive instead of listening to them nearly every night.

 

[pietcux]

I listen to Pink Floyd The Wall right now. WM1A>balanced>Z1r. I cannot hear any Zing at all. To me the sound is perfect. Love how the bass is presented and how the guitar sings.

 

[BMFY]

Ughh I hope there's a place to listen in my city...

Were you able to try it with other source component?

 

[pietcux]

To be honest this is my best setup. I don't use anything else as of now. I love the WM1A as my end game setup. It drives all cans that I currently own with power and perfection. Especially the Z1r. And it's usage is so convenient.

 

[phaeton70]

chiming in just to say that I have tried a couple of different cables with the Z1R.... well, I'm quite shocked at the difference must be the widest improvement I have ever heard... ever.... simply changing the stock Sony cable (OFC copper) with the stock Denon D7200 cable (OCC 7n pure copper) made a good difference (more air, more details), and using the HEKv2 stock cable (OCC copper + OCC silver) with an adapter made really a huge difference and has really shown that the Z1R is really bottlenecked by the Sony stock cable.
now I will order an hybrid FAW, let's see if the Z1R will scale up again

 

[nanaholic]

Just based on eyeballing the Loki equaliser measurements provided by Jude. The far right nob is said to be centred at 8kHz and I freehanded the other points to smooth out the curve to mimic what the measurements look. This will brighten the Z1R by a fair bit, not for those already allergic to the 10kHz peak. (I still don't hear it)

 

[Sonic Steven]

Happy to say I'm a Z1R owner now! Have had them for only a couple days but am enjoying "getting to know them" and allowing the mind to adjust.

Before I even remotely try to say anything about their sound, I have to applaud Sony for the comfort, construction design/craftsmanship, and aura of "ownership pride" from the entire headphone package (presentation case, organized pocket bag for cables, metal serial number plate, etc). Being my first rather-expensive headphone purchase, opening & holding them for the first time gave me that moment of, "Wow - this is a true investment. This is more than a rudimentary 'purchase'. This is like owning your first fine watch - whether it keeps time any better than a Fossil is here nor there, but the emotions from ownership are pretty awesome."

Edit: Added some photos I snapped from yesterday. Hope you enjoy.

 

[fullranger]

Sweet guitar!

 

[NoMythsAudio]

Happy to say I'm a Z1R owner now! Have had them for only a couple days but am enjoying "getting to know them" and allowing the mind to adjust.

Before I even remotely try to say anything about their sound, I have to applaud Sony for the comfort, construction design/craftsmanship, and aura of "ownership pride" from the entire headphone package (presentation case, organized pocket bag for cables, metal serial number plate, etc). Being my first rather-expensive headphone purchase, opening & holding them for the first time gave me that moment of, "Wow - this is a true investment. This is more than a rudimentary 'purchase'. This is like owning your first fine watch - whether it keeps time any better than a Fossil is here nor there, but the emotions from ownership are pretty awesome."

Edit: Added some photos I snapped from yesterday. Hope you enjoy.

What cables do you have there? Those are not stock.

 

[Sonic Steven]

Sweet guitar!

Thanks! Wish I could play it as well as it looks....

What cables do you have there? Those are not stock.

Funny thing - they are Norne Vanquish terminated in XLR4, but I haven't been able to use them yet! Don't have an amp with XLR (yet), and haven't procured an adapter. So at the moment, they've only been used to make my photo look a little better haha. I've only listened through the stock, unbalanced Sony cable thus far from my Magni 2 Uber.