[akãjerovia]

Yeah for me I value immersion way more than any edge in competitive gaming, and in separation and placement I feel he Z1R isn't losing in any way to the T1, it's just I guess sometimes I feel the Z1R can fumbles in busy environments where it's just messy, unintentional chaos, I feel on dynamics it can be a tad better on that part.

Immersion is something that the Z1R excels at IMO, is like your head is submersed in helmet of sound, i even starting to listen and appreciate some classical recordings thanks to the Z1R. Also if you tone down the sub-bass a bit, a lot of detail retrieval comes up, makes me realize that the Z1R has more technicality that some people portraits it.

 

[Quadfather]

Immersion is something that the Z1R excels at IMO, is like your head is submersed in helmet of sound, i even starting to listen and appreciate some classical recordings thanks to the Z1R. Also if you tone down the sub-bass a bit, a lot of detail retrieval comes up, makes me realize that the Z1R has more technicality that some people portraits it.

Have you ever compared it to Shure SRH1540 headphones?

 

[Terriero]

-

 

[crewcut]

I want to trade my 5 month old Denon AH-D9200 (with warranty) for Sony Z1R (Europe). If someone is interested, please PM me.

Interested to know if you are thinking of keeping the mdr-z7 as well

 

[akãjerovia]

Have you ever compared it to Shure SRH1540 headphones?

Sorry man, i haven't. I tend to prefer warm headphones, my current list is: Sony MDR-Z1R, Sony MDR-Z7, JVC HA-SZ2000, FiiO FH3, they all pair great with the 1A. According to what i read, the Shure SRH1540 is more neutral, with great detail retrieval, so if that is correct, they may complement each other signatures, but keep in mind the Z1R can be really bassy sometimes, and i tell you this as a person who likes a lot of bass. Also if you buy them new, give them a good burn-in, before thinking about returning it. IME the Z1R opened at around 150 hours and when it hits the sweet spot, you will understand why owners gush about this headphones.

 

[Quadfather]

Sorry man, i haven't. I tend to prefer warm headphones, my current list is: Sony MDR-Z1R, Sony MDR-Z7, JVC HA-SZ2000, FiiO FH3, they all pair great with the 1A. According to what i read, the Shure SRH1540 is more neutral, with great detail retrieval, so if that is correct, they may complement each other signatures, but keep in mind the Z1R can be really bassy sometimes, and i tell you this as a person who likes a lot of bass. Also if you buy them new, give them a good burn-in, before thinking about returning it. IME the Z1R opened at around 150 hours and when it hits the sweet spot, you will understand why owners gush about this headphones.

The Shures seem fairly warm. Thanks for the response.

 

[kumar402]

Well I have Z1R since it was launched in late 2016. Over a period of time I have moved towards ZMF and R2R DAC and tubes for that organic mids and somewhere I lost love for Z1R. It’s difficult to come back to it after listening for ZMF. However recently I got an entry level DAP, Shanling M3X and plugged in Z1R with Sony Kimber cable and at low volume listening it is actually very nice. Comfort is best and I have tried almost all including Empyrean and nothing dethrones Z1R. Just the right weight. 800s is also comfortable but is too light. Seal and outside noise blockage is top notch. Nothing comes close. Bass and mid bass at low volume is top notch and due to right amount of impedance it doesn’t need high OI from amp so perfect for bed side and portable use within home with DAP. Just the treble has some issue with those peak but at low volume since the amplitude is not too high it doesn’t bother me that much and with satisfying bass even at low volume from a DAP, I have actually found a use case for Z1R in my life and ya it has soundstage that is close to Verite Close and does sound like an open headphone.
Yes, Verite is better headphone but they do need tubes or high end solid state to deliver what they are capable of.

 

[sp33ls]

.es, Verite is better headphone but they do need tubes or high end solid state to deliver what they are capable of.

Do you find you use your VC or VO more often?

Yeah, I imagine the VC is also awesome for bedside listening as well, but the Z1R is great for just chilling out or playing music while focusing on work.

 

[kumar402]

Do you find you use your VC or VO more often?

Yeah, I imagine the VC is also awesome for bedside listening as well, but the Z1R is great for just chilling out or playing music while focusing on work.

I find VC to sound best out of desktop setup and hence I don’t use it anywhere else as I don’t have high end portable setup.
VO is more comfortable then VC but if I have to own one then I will keep VC. Currently I’m in India and open back is difficult to use here and hence I’m using VC more these days. You won’t go wrong with either and if you have preference for open back then I would get VO
I had so much fun and musical evening out of VO and ZDT Jr with Metrum Onyx

 

[PointyFox]

I had both and preferred the VO. The VC has an odd muffled sound to it.

 

[kumar402]

I had both and preferred the VO. The VC has an odd muffled sound to it.

I see where you are coming from. In my case I have R2R DACs which bring vocals in front and helps me in mitigating the issue. But no doubt vocals are sweeter in VO.

 

[PointyFox]

I see where you are coming from. In my case I have R2R DACs which bring vocals in front and helps me in mitigating the issue. But no doubt vocals are sweeter in VO.

Yeah, tube amps help as well.

 

[sp33ls]

So, I'm also finding that the Z1R doesn't like to be pushed too hard. The bass doesn't seem to keep up with the higher freqs. This is the case at least for the Dragonfly Red on my work PC.

It's made me curious to go test this out with my higher end sources and report the differences here.

But @kumar402 is on to something here wrt volume and bass/treble.

It's kind of funny because the HD800S seems to be the opposite -- the bass really comes more alive when you push it a bit louder.

 

[PointyFox]

So, I'm also finding that the Z1R doesn't like to be pushed too hard. The bass doesn't seem to keep up with the higher freqs. This is the case at least for the Dragonfly Red on my work PC.

It's made me curious to go test this out with my higher end sources and report the differences here.

But @kumar402 is on to something here wrt volume and bass/treble.

It's kind of funny because the HD800S seems to be the opposite -- the bass really comes more alive when you push it a bit louder.

Maybe it doesn't have enough power? It IS super tiny after all.

 

[Verificateur]

So, I'm also finding that the Z1R doesn't like to be pushed too hard. The bass doesn't seem to keep up with the higher freqs. This is the case at least for the Dragonfly Red on my work PC.

Seems like this could be due to the source (dongle)… I think your combo doesn’t push the Z1R “hard enough” for them to open up?

Have been listening extensively to Z1R (and pushing them pretty hard) on Shanling M8 with great success and coherence. I am using the Turbo gain mode that delivers 840mW, as it (perhaps psychologically) sounds better and more dynamic to me than the Low Gain setting.