[gerelmx1986]

An oldie but goodie. I had the Oppo HA-2se twice. The bass boost isn’t done as cleanly as the Centrance products, but the Sony’s don’t need more bass anyway. The sound of the HA-2/se is very organic and musical. I bet the pairing sounds good.

It aounds nice yes. But the WM1A does a better job in the areas of aoundstage expansion, separation, micro/macro detqils ans high extension and bass texture and depth

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I got a request to do some comparative listening with the Z1R’s and my new HE-R10P’s. Keep in mind that my Sony’s are over 3 years old and well broken in and my Hifiman’s are only a week old. Some other things to note are the Z1R’s are a little more efficient than the HE-R10P’s. So I had to turn the Dave up on the HE-R10P’s to volume match them as best as I could. Secondly, I have an all silver cable on the Z1R’s, which helps tightens up the bass, add more clarity to the midrange and smooth out the treble. It also helps improves the Z1R’s resolution and speed. As I found out while comparing the two headphones the Lavricables Grand really helps to bring the performance of the Z1R’s closer to that of the HE-R10P’s, but not exceeding them is sound quality or technicalities.

Both headphones are being driven directly out of the Dave although at different volume levels. During my listening there are few things that stoodout. The HE-R10P’s have more resolution. Bad recordings sound worse on the HE-R10P’s, while the Z1R’s have a tendency to smooth things over and make poor recordings more listenable. The HE-R10P’s have better instrument separation, soundstage and imaging. On the HE-R10P’s the artist occupy their own space, individual instruments can clearly be heard and the artist can be placed on the stage with more space in between them. The Z1R’s soundstage width is a bit smaller and the artist sound closer together. Soundstage depth isn’t as deep on the Z1R’s either. This puts the artist more in a straight line than spread out on the stage. Imaging isn’t as clear as I had trouble placing where the artist is on the stage in regards to each other.

Next there’s a difference in transient speed. The HE-R10P’s sound faster, more snappy. The silver cable on the Z1R’s help improve their transient response but the HE-R10P’s still sound more crisp, sharper.

Bass is really good on both headphones. Quantity wise they are just about even. The HE-R10P’s has a little bit more impact. Bass sounds tighter with better decay than the Z1R’s. The bass on the Z1R’s again benefit from the use of a silver cable. The big bass you get from the all copper Sony/Kimber cable get replaced with a tighter more controlled bass with the silver cable. The Sony/Kimber cable sounds a little boomy, loser in comparison.

The midrange on the Z1R’s is slightly more forward than the HE-R10P’s. Vocals, guitars standout more. I enjoy this about them. The midrange is more inline with rest of the frequency spectrum on the HE-R10P’s, making them sound more balanced. You can also hear a bit more going on in the midrange of the HE-R10P’s because it’s better defined, more expressive.

Other than that, the performance of these two headphones is top notch. They are two of the best closed back headphones I’ve had the pleasure of owning. I’ve had the Z1R’s is my collection longer than any headphone I own. I love their sound and their tuning. Adding the silver cable to the Z1R’s improves their performance tremendously. It is by far my favorite closed back headphone. The HE-R10P’s are joining them as one of my favorites. At the same time it exceeds the Z1R’s performance. Namely in soundstage depth and width, speed, detail, imaging and resolution. I’ll be seeking a silver cable for the HE-R10P’s soon. Thanks for reading.

Thanks very much for this post! I would love to see more comparisons of Z1R with high end cans from other manufacturers. Even those in your collection, such as Susvara or Utopia.

 

[di5mal]

I was really excited to find this setup at my local Sony store in Thailand.

Sent from my SM-N920C using Tapatalk

Love the Z1R's, never tried that amp with them though i dont really have enough hps that dont need much juice

 

[Slim1970]

Thanks very much for this post! I would love to see more comparisons of Z1R with high end cans from other manufacturers. Even those in your collection, such as Susvara or Utopia.

Both of those are open back headphones and pose a problem sonically for the closed back Z1R’s. You should expect them to sound more open, have more resolution and have better air around the notes. Simply because they are not confined by space and acoustic resonance won’t be an issue.

The Z1R’s may be one of the best closed back headphones to my ears in its perspective category. The Susvara’s are one of the best headphones period. The Utopia’s are also in my top five of best sounding headphones and it is the best sounding dynamic driver headphone. That’s some tough competition for the Z1R’s. Since they are in two different categories, open vs closed, it would be an even tougher comparison from a sound standpoint.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Love the Z1R's, never tried that amp with them though i dont really have enough hps that dont need much juice

You only need one headphone to utilize that amp.........the MDR-Z1R.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

Both of those are open back headphones and pose a problem sonically for the closed back Z1R’s. You should expect them to sound more open, have more resolution and have better air around the notes. Simply because they are not confined by space and acoustic resonance won’t be an issue.

The Z1R’s may be one of the best closed back headphones to my ears in its perspective category. The Susvara’s are one of the best headphones period. The Utopia’s are also in my top five of best sounding headphones and it is the best sounding dynamic driver headphone. That’s some tough competition for the Z1R’s. Since they are in two different categories, open vs closed, it would be an even tougher comparison from a sound standpoint.

I see what you mean. I have seen reviewers state that the Z1R competes with high end open-backs. Would you say this is not the case? Either way, I liked seeing your observations, so if you did them vs other closed-backs in your arsenal that would be appreciated, too.

 

[nc8000]

I see what you mean. I have seen reviewers state that the Z1R competes with high end open-backs. Would you say this is not the case? Either way, I liked seeing your observations, so it you did them vs other closed-backs in your arsenal that would be appreciated, too.

For a closed headphone the Z1R has a very open sound but it’s never gonna compete on those paramaters with true high end open headphones

 

[Slim1970]

I see what you mean. I have seen reviewers state that the Z1R competes with high end open-backs. Would you say this is not the case? Either way, I liked seeing your observations, so it you did them vs other closed-backs in your arsenal that would be appreciated, too.

The Z1R's do have sound quality that is better than a lot of open back's, but not the Susvara's or Utopia's.

 

[xanlamin]

And I don't expect the Z1R to do so since there is a significant price gap between Susvara/Utopia and it.

 

[Arthur Weston]

I’ve heard so many incredible things, but how do they compare to the older reference R10s?

 

[Redcarmoose]

I’ve heard so many incredible things, but how do they compare to the older reference R10s?

I have spent a short while with the R10. Keep in mind at the time I wasn’t interested in them for a purchase, just learning about them. Also it was a long time ago, 2010. I heard them with one of the best systems ever. They were in a 100K set-up. But my take was that they did really well in the midrange, also of course the highs were great! Bass was lacking a little but something that maybe I could get used to with time? Soundstage was super nice....Fast forward to 2018 and I purchased the MDR-Z1R. I would never buy something as old as a 1989 headphone............ no matter what it sounded like. Foam doesn’t last forever. Though I don’t use the MDR-Z1R all the time, they do great. Way more feeling of room reverberations and basic excitement than R10. I baby my pair of MDR-Z1Rs...I use my pair of Z7s more....that said they stay in an water-proof air-tight box, they still smell like new.

 

[nc8000]

I have spent a short while with the R10. Keep in mind at the time I wasn’t interested in them for a purchase, just learning about them. Also it was a long time ago, 2010. But my take was that they did really well in the midrange, also of course the highs were great! Bass was lacking a little but something that maybe I could get used to with time? Soundstage was super nice....Fast forward to 2018 and I purchased the MDR-Z1R. I would never buy something as old as a 1989 headphone............ no matter what it sounded like. Foam doesn’t last forever. Though I don’t use the MDR-Z1R all the time, they do great. Way more feeling of room reverberations and basic excitement than R10. I baby my pair of MDR-Z1Rs.......that said they stay in an water-proof air-tight box, they still smell like new.

I tried the R10 about 10-15 years ago (don’t know if it was the bass light or bass heavy version) and it didn’t impress me that much. At the time I had the Audio-Technica L3000 which I liked a lot more but later sold when the price went through the roof and I needed the money

 

[Arthur Weston]

I have spent a short while with the R10. Keep in mind at the time I wasn’t interested in them for a purchase, just learning about them. Also it was a long time ago, 2010. I heard them with one of the best systems ever. They were in a 100K set-up. But my take was that they did really well in the midrange, also of course the highs were great! Bass was lacking a little but something that maybe I could get used to with time? Soundstage was super nice....Fast forward to 2018 and I purchased the MDR-Z1R. I would never buy something as old as a 1989 headphone............ no matter what it sounded like. Foam doesn’t last forever. Though I don’t use the MDR-Z1R all the time, they do great. Way more feeling of room reverberations and basic excitement than R10. I baby my pair of MDR-Z1Rs.......that said they stay in an water-proof air-tight box, they still smell like new.

Well said

 

[Redcarmoose]

I tried the R10 about 10-15 years ago (don’t know if it was the bass light or bass heavy version) and it didn’t impress me that much. At the time I had the Audio-Technica L3000 which I liked a lot more but later sold when the price went through the roof and I needed the money

Well said

Well in 2010 I had just purchased a used pair of Denon AHD-7000s and was happy with them? I’m actually not sure if the Sony R10 was bass lite or not either. It was a show but in a house. No one really was all that interested in equipment at the time. I went upstairs and there they were. I actually knew the owner of the house who had the system, but the R10s were just siting there in their box. Actually I think the owner of the house started the system up for me as I would never touch it. So I spent maybe 45 minutes listening and finding out what the big deal was. I’m sure after a while I could have acclimated to them. Who knows, I could have fallen in love with them in a day? But the MDR-Z1R is more fun maybe? The MDR was instantly natural to me. Also for me it plays all genres, but I listen more to IEMs. Every once in a while I take the MDR-Z1R out and use it for a day. It instantly sounds correct to me. There is no getting used to it or anything? Maybe that’s why I love it?

 

[kefs]

Well in 2010 I had just purchased a used pair of Denon AHD-7000s and was happy with them? I’m actually not sure if the Sony R10 was bass lite or not either. It was a show but in a house. No one really was all that interested in equipment at the time. I went upstairs and there they were. I actually knew the owner of the house who had the system, but the R10s were just siting there in their box. Actually I think the owner of the house started the system up for me as I would never touch it. So I spent maybe 45 minutes listening and finding out what the big deal was. I’m sure after a while I could have acclimated to them. Who knows, I could have fallen in love with them in a day? But the MDR-Z1R is more fun maybe? The MDR was instantly natural to me. Also for me it plays all genres, but I listen more to IEMs. Every once in a while I take the MDR-Z1R out and use it for a day. It instantly sounds correct to me. There is no getting used to it or anything? Maybe that’s why I love it?

Yep, just put them on and the world is good