buzzlulu
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2003
- Posts
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I am back into this hobby after a 15 year absence - wandering along in two channel land (which I still inhabit).
Back in "my day" the only cans around were the Sennheiser 650's, Grado's and a few outlying stragglers (back in 2003/2004). Coming back here last October definitely showed me that "Dorothy we are not in Kansas any more"
My journey these past few months has had me audition a number of headphones and attend CanJam NY in February. I have now settled in and own pairs of B&O H9 bluetooth ANC for airline travel, B&W P7W for at home bluetooth listening, and finally a pair of Focal Utopia's as my main open back headphone. A pair of Elear's also passed by these shores however they did not stay.
I have had the Sony Z1R's here two times - each for multi week auditions. Each time they went back - HOWEVER - they still have left an indelible impression in my mind - and there is a good chance they will make a return yet again - this time to stay.
I continue to search out a pair of closed back headphones which I can use in the same room when my wife watches television - a pair which does not leak enough to bother her - and which adequately block out sounds from the television. For now the only reason they left my house is that I felt that each time I needed to grab a pair of headphones - it would be the Utopia's. As such it seems like quite a bit of money spent for something which may spend a lot of time on the shelf.
During both of the times I had the Z1R I thoroughly enjoyed their engaging presentation. I did not find the bass to be overwhelming and agree with others who have commented that ultimately there is a significant amount of detail retrieval present - perhaps it does not manifest itself during the initial listens. If you listen though you will see that it is there. What they do have is a somewhat "darker" presentation - I have inquired several times on the previous thread about peoples experiences with different cables. So far many do not seem to have much experience with these however several have mentioned the Wireworld Nano Platinum Eclipse Silver cable. While I preferred, and bought, the Kimber Axios Copper cable for my Utopia rather than the Wireworld which I had on demo - I realize that I cannot pass judgement on the Wireworld/Sony pairing as I have not listened to it.
The build quality, construction and comfort, imho, is off the charts. I found the Z1R's to be more comfortable than my Utopia's.
If there is one negative to them, one which very well may be particular to me and my ears, I would say that it is with the large drivers and the tight seal they make against my head. The 70mm drivers pump out quite a bit of energy - the tight seal means that this energy remains trapped - and it did cause me to notice it and give a bit of pressurized discomfort to my ears. Up until now I have only seen only one other poster mention this.
Thats all for now - coming from someone who actually has heard these wonderful headphones!
If someone can point me in another direction for a pair of TOTL closed back cans which can stand toe to toe with my Utopia's then I am all ears to listen.
Back in "my day" the only cans around were the Sennheiser 650's, Grado's and a few outlying stragglers (back in 2003/2004). Coming back here last October definitely showed me that "Dorothy we are not in Kansas any more"
My journey these past few months has had me audition a number of headphones and attend CanJam NY in February. I have now settled in and own pairs of B&O H9 bluetooth ANC for airline travel, B&W P7W for at home bluetooth listening, and finally a pair of Focal Utopia's as my main open back headphone. A pair of Elear's also passed by these shores however they did not stay.
I have had the Sony Z1R's here two times - each for multi week auditions. Each time they went back - HOWEVER - they still have left an indelible impression in my mind - and there is a good chance they will make a return yet again - this time to stay.
I continue to search out a pair of closed back headphones which I can use in the same room when my wife watches television - a pair which does not leak enough to bother her - and which adequately block out sounds from the television. For now the only reason they left my house is that I felt that each time I needed to grab a pair of headphones - it would be the Utopia's. As such it seems like quite a bit of money spent for something which may spend a lot of time on the shelf.
During both of the times I had the Z1R I thoroughly enjoyed their engaging presentation. I did not find the bass to be overwhelming and agree with others who have commented that ultimately there is a significant amount of detail retrieval present - perhaps it does not manifest itself during the initial listens. If you listen though you will see that it is there. What they do have is a somewhat "darker" presentation - I have inquired several times on the previous thread about peoples experiences with different cables. So far many do not seem to have much experience with these however several have mentioned the Wireworld Nano Platinum Eclipse Silver cable. While I preferred, and bought, the Kimber Axios Copper cable for my Utopia rather than the Wireworld which I had on demo - I realize that I cannot pass judgement on the Wireworld/Sony pairing as I have not listened to it.
The build quality, construction and comfort, imho, is off the charts. I found the Z1R's to be more comfortable than my Utopia's.
If there is one negative to them, one which very well may be particular to me and my ears, I would say that it is with the large drivers and the tight seal they make against my head. The 70mm drivers pump out quite a bit of energy - the tight seal means that this energy remains trapped - and it did cause me to notice it and give a bit of pressurized discomfort to my ears. Up until now I have only seen only one other poster mention this.
Thats all for now - coming from someone who actually has heard these wonderful headphones!
If someone can point me in another direction for a pair of TOTL closed back cans which can stand toe to toe with my Utopia's then I am all ears to listen.