[Fifty five]

I have MA900 too.

Before I have the Z1R I think MA900 sound very smooth.

But now when I return to listen MA900 they sound little bit harsh and defuse.

 

[pietcux]

I have MA900 too.

Before I have the Z1R I think MA900 sound very smooth.

But now when I return to listen MA900 they sound little bit harsh and defuse.

I had a used one long ago and resold it quite cheap. So seems I was not too impressed. I think I preferred the HD650 big time.

 

[buzzlulu]

I originally posted this in the"locked" thread however it got lost in all the "chatter"


What are people's take on how these headphones respond to balanced vs. unbalanced cables? My only experience, when I had them on lengthy demo, was balanced 4.4 into the WM1Z.
Now that I am coming back (with my pair arriving today) most of my use will be in combination with my 1Z and the balanced Sony/Kimber cable 4.4.

My balanced question specifically refers to when I want to use them with my big rig (2 channel) as an alternative to the Utopia's. I can remain single ended with the Sony supplied 1/4" single ended cable - purchase the Sony/Kimber cable (still single ended) - or go balanced with a third party cable in which case it would need to be terminated with either a 4 pin XLR or twin 3 pin mini XLR's.

I do not think the included 3 meter SE cable can be re terminated to balanced ????

Am I spinning my wheels with a balanced cable w/ my Moon 430 amplifier and should I simply stick with the SE included in the box - or will these cans step up significantly when going from SE to Balanced?
Using them with the 1Z is easy - balanced - the question remains what to do when in non portable mode

 

[Fifty five]

but one thing that MA900 did very well is on this track



they make Sound of Violin piercing my soul. hard to explain... and I like it.

 

[pietcux]

I originally posted this in the"locked" thread however it got lost in all the "chatter"


What are people's take on how these headphones respond to balanced vs. unbalanced cables? My only experience, when I had them on lengthy demo, was balanced 4.4 into the WM1Z.
Now that I am coming back (with my pair arriving today) most of my use will be in combination with my 1Z and the balanced Sony/Kimber cable 4.4.

My balanced question specifically refers to when I want to use them with my big rig (2 channel) as an alternative to the Utopia's. I can remain single ended with the Sony supplied 1/4" single ended cable - purchase the Sony/Kimber cable (still single ended) - or go balanced with a third party cable in which case it would need to be terminated with either a 4 pin XLR or twin 3 pin mini XLR's.

I do not think the included 3 meter SE cable can be re terminated to balanced ????

Am I spinning my wheels with a balanced cable w/ my Moon 430 amplifier and should I simply stick with the SE included in the box - or will these cans step up significantly when going from SE to Balanced?
Using them with the 1Z is easy - balanced - the question remains what to do when in non portable mode

The 3m cable sounds very good to me when I use my desktop amp (Meier Jazz FF) I personally only buy additional cables for conveniance. I have a Forza Audio 1.2 m terminated into 3,5 mm from my Z7 that can be used on the Z1r too. They sound very much the same, maybe a tad more bass, but maybe not.

 

[nordkapp]

Save your money. No need for balanced HP cables.

 

[daddyo1973]

Save your money. No need for balanced HP cables.

...unless you have a balanced amp that you want to take advantage of.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

...unless you have a balanced amp that you want to take advantage of.

This is correct ha. But what I think nordkapp was saying (and please correct me if I am wrong) the Z1R is very easy to drive so it does not require the extra power being balanced. Is that correct?0

 

[nordkapp]

Actually, that's not what I meant. It doesn't matter though. People going to spend their money the way they want to. I do not want to derail this thread. Lets stay on topic. This thread is listening impressions only. Thanks.

 

[TokenGesture]

For what it's worth I didn't find the Z1R benefited from a balanced connection to my V 280.

 

[nc8000]

I certainly prefer Z1R from the balanced output on my 1Z rather than the single ended. Have not tried it balanced from my home amp, still waiting for someone to release a 4.4 female so I can get an adapter made to 2 x 3-pin xlr

 

[buzzlulu]

Actually, that's not what I meant. It doesn't matter though. People going to spend their money the way they want to. I do not want to derail this thread. Lets stay on topic. This thread is listening impressions only. Thanks.

The amplifier is the Moon 430HA so yes a balanced connection is available.
My understanding is that a balanced connection is not specifically used simply for greater power output as there are other advantages that it brings.
Some headphones benefit from it - others see a negligible gain. Thus my question re my big amplifier.
When it comes to portable use it is universally acknowledged that the balanced output of the WM1Z is significantly better than the unbalanced one - so for that usage scenario the answer is obvious

 

[pietcux]

In case of the WM1A /Z we must remember that each output stage is completely separate. To compare them each should show the same amount of usage (says the developer 200 hours is the recommendation). Mine has 130 hours in total, 100 balanced and 30 unbalanced. So for me the balanced output sounds more mature right now. It would be unfair to compare. From what I learned from HaedFi, if an amp is balanced internally, the best way to use it is balanced out, even if it has a single ended output. In case of the aforementioned WM1A /Z you have both output stage's at hand and can use whichever you prefer. Only that the balanced has more juice for power hungry cans. The EX-1000 IEM runs just fine single ended and the Z1R loves the plus of power from the balanced out. My Meier Jazz FF has enough power to run the Z1R single ended. So I have all cables that I need.

 

[nordkapp]

These Z1Rs are simply a joy. Bass definition is precise and potent with all the dynamic slam of the Focal Elear. Listening to .WAV files again of Milieu. They just make things more fun! Poor science guys........

 

[Sp12er3]

How would you compare the MA 900 to the Z1r?

This is what I wrote in my notes when I A/B the two of them a while back (the ones on parentheses are what I added on right now)
"Compared to the MA900, the MA has bigger soundstage, a bit of more warm, analogue sound, it's less prone to sibilance also (is it that 3khz peak on the Z1R?), and has less bass emphasis, even with bass boost on, the bass on the MA900 is more on the midbass, unlike the Z1R that has a lot more sub bass. Surprisingly, on most Jpop, especially ones with female Vocal, I like the MA900 more, maybe because I'm already too used to the sweetness it gives, it’s a possibly because of the grain on the midrange it has?

MA900 definitely lose in other aspect though, Bass in both Quality and Quantity, it's amazing just how dynamic the Bass on Z1R are, detail retrieval, clarity (i think the MA900 is as veiled as HD650 on that regard) instrument placement (its more diffused), even speed, yeah the 70mm of the Z1R is just as fast as my K702 that I also brought along, must be the magnet, as the MA900 falls apart a bit on fast music. (Though while listening to more relaxed music like "The Deep" by Shelly Berd and David Finck (yep thanks head-fi home page it's veery fine~)

All that Z1R does while keep sounding very natural, non fatiguing (other than that slight sibilance), open, and big sounding (despite being a closed, and I compared it to both the K702 and MA900, man it doesn't feel like losing any air at all) Also, Very, Very comfortable, it doesn't disappear on my head like the MA900 does, but It felt like being enveloped by soft pillows on the Z1R. Build Quality? A different beast entirely, The Z1R is just on different level, and that while doesn't feel that much heavier than the featherweight MA900."

In a lot of things the Z1R is more similar to my XBA A3 rather than the MA900, and that's quite surprising for such a small thing. One more thing is I come out of it thinking I'm interested to hearing the Z1R but with a Tube Amp, sadly I didn't bring my BravoAudio Ocean with me at that time, and Jaben doesn't have any other DAC/ AMP I can play it with.. so.. the Q1 in high Gain must do.

Cheeky shot of the 70mm brothers