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