[pietcux]

Speaking of crossfeed... Sony's MDR-MA900 had that built into the headphone. It's a successor of the legendary MDR-F1 open-back series, so it has ultra-wide soundstage and good resolution. Very comfy. But poor choice of leather and headband quality due to price point and eventually ceased production. A hidden gem in Sony's vast headphone offerings.

I owned the MA 900. It has no crossfeed built in, here are the specs from the user manual:
Features
 Newly-developed 70 mm driver units for high-resolution and wide dynamic range sound
 Comfortable full open headphones with wide stereo soundstage
 Acoustic Bass Lens delivers rich bass sound for music, movie, gaming, etc., by concentrating bass sound at the centre of the driver units
 360 kJ/m3 neodymium magnets for clear mid-range and rich bass sound
 Flexible-fit head cushion for wearing comfort
 Light-weight design for long-term wearing comfort
 Impedance compensators (resistor network inside driver units) eliminate variances in sound quality between amplifiers of different output impedance
 Comfortable fitting with fabric earpads
 Single-sided cord

Maybe you refer to the very unusual Impedance Compensators, don't you?
It is a good open can, but it cannot compete to the Z7 and even less to the Z1r. The headband construction, even though made from sturdy Magnesium remains a miracle to me that can slipped on my head with every move. But yes there is a 70mm driver... but made from Mylar only.
And Lachlan liked it a lot...

 

[up late]

Crossfeed doesnt really help the soundstage, at least won't make it wider, as it degrades the separation. Most speaker systems, when compared to headphones, only occupy a larger sound space, but not a better soundstage. The sound is more relaxed and natural but not neccesarily better in quality.

i'm not sure what you mean by soundstage but headphones are incapable of creating the illusion of it as convincingly as loudspeakers. there really is no comparison.

So your saying headphones create a better illusion of being at a live event better than loudspeakers?

if so, then he is mistaken - with the exception of "silent discos"

 

[Sonic Steven]

Man... I used to think my TH-X00 were comfortable. Then the Z1R steps in and is like, "Hi. I'm 2 round pillows that swallow your ears. Oh, and I play music."

Wore the Z1R's for 12 hours in the past 2 days at the office. Sound good or bad, I find it quite nice to be able to do that. In an office setting, good sound for unlimited time is better for me than fantastic sound for 5 minutes.

 

[ervin192]

I'm saying that most speaker systems don't create such illusions. They only present a soundstage based on their rooms. This is actually not even better than many phones, only that the rooms are naturally bigger so the soundstage becomes much bigger. Only with proper acoustic treatments will a system be able to recreate something, and this is not the case for many speaker setups. On the other hand all TOTL headphones do have careful acoustic designs. So the result is not so obvious if judged by quality, but not size nor comfort.

 

[up late]

I'm saying that most speaker systems don't create such illusions. They only present a soundstage based on their rooms. This is actually not even better than many phones, only that the rooms are naturally bigger so the soundstage becomes much bigger. Only with proper acoustic treatments will a system be able to recreate something, and this is not the case for many speaker setups. On the other hand all TOTL headphones do have careful acoustic designs. So the result is not so obvious if judged by quality, but not size nor comfort.

with respect, i think that you're very mistaken about this

 

[thanatosguan]

I owned the MA 900. It has no crossfeed built in, here are the specs from the user manual:
Features
 Newly-developed 70 mm driver units for high-resolution and wide dynamic range sound
 Comfortable full open headphones with wide stereo soundstage
 Acoustic Bass Lens delivers rich bass sound for music, movie, gaming, etc., by concentrating bass sound at the centre of the driver units
 360 kJ/m3 neodymium magnets for clear mid-range and rich bass sound
 Flexible-fit head cushion for wearing comfort
 Light-weight design for long-term wearing comfort
 Impedance compensators (resistor network inside driver units) eliminate variances in sound quality between amplifiers of different output impedance
 Comfortable fitting with fabric earpads
 Single-sided cord

Maybe you refer to the very unusual Impedance Compensators, don't you?
It is a good open can, but it cannot compete to the Z7 and even less to the Z1r. The headband construction, even though made from sturdy Magnesium remains a miracle to me that can slipped on my head with every move. But yes there is a 70mm driver... but made from Mylar only.
And Lachlan liked it a lot...

You can hear the other channel. That is crossfeed. Regardless of Sony’s marketing terminology. You can try to not wear the other side and blast a tone to the other side and see.

 

[pietcux]

You can hear the other channel. That is crossfeed. Regardless of Sony’s marketing terminology. You can try to not wear the other side and blast a tone to the other side and see.

I sold mine long ago, cannot proof that.

 

[pietcux]

I am in the office. Listen to the Miles Davis Tutu album. Sony WM-1A>balanced stock cable> Sony MDR-Z1R. I absolutely dig the performance of this rig. Just saying...

 

[beowulf]

After a long vacation, I'm back home and looking at the Z1R. Been a while, I think it's time to grab it for a listen.

On an offtopic note, gotta say I'm not happy with its brother 1000X regarding noise cancelling in airplanes. The same applies to any other BT ANC model out there at this time, they're just never as good for me as some IEMs with good foam tips.

 

[Sp12er3]

i can try, also i don't think there's any leather on it so I dont know what bad design it has. It choose to be featherweight and non intrusive, and i find it unique in its price range, which is why I bought it and still love it to bits.

The MA is why im very much interested by the Z1R in the first place, and yeah it improves on almost every aspect of the 70mm predecessor.

What's it not improves on you ask? (caution very subjective) it has slight sibilance on it, which makes it less relaxing than the MA, also puts its vocal a tiny bit behind the front stage, both makes me feel its less analogue somewhat, which makes me want to try it again, now with a Tube amp
Edit: adding last paragraph

@beowulf, it's always the opposite for me, ANC headphones cuts hum sounds like from airplane or bus sound way better, even only using My old (in tech standard) UE6000. granted I don't really use foam tips, my T500 and TS200 comply just wont fit my ear somewhat, always losing seal with them... Is it because it's too big?

 

[MozartMan1201]

gotta say I'm not happy with its brother 1000X regarding noise cancelling in airplanes. The same applies to any other BT ANC model out there at this time, they're just never as good for me as some IEMs with good foam tips.

That's surprising to hear. I have also listened to 1000X but not on an airplane. I found the ANC and sound quality to be excellent, although it did get quite hot after a while. I would be interested to hear Sony's new noise-cancelling wireless IEMs (WF1000X).

Personally I also prefer IEMs for less bulk and greater convenience. Those Comply foam tips really work wonders!

 

[Sp12er3]

You can hear the other channel. That is crossfeed. Regardless of Sony’s marketing terminology. You can try to not wear the other side and blast a tone to the other side and see.

TLDR: Yeah, I can hear the other channel only while wearing one side, using test tones from http://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_stereo.php BUT, some other headphones do that also.

Sorry, yeah, this is so OT. Moved this to MA900 thread so reply better go that way
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-mdr-ma900-impressions-thread.663121/page-159

 

[Bart Goyens]

Hi looking for a closed back Utopia... I don’t know if the Z1R is that, or the Mr Speakers Ether flow C? Any suggestions? Or comparison?
Source MBP running audirvana and Hugo2

 

[nanaholic]

Hi looking for a closed back Utopia... I don’t know if the Z1R is that, or the Mr Speakers Ether flow C? Any suggestions? Or comparison?
Source MBP running audirvana and Hugo2

No the Z1R is not a closed Utopia. It's something else entirely.

 

[dannybgoode]

I would be interested to hear Sony's newnoise-cancelling wireless IEMs (WF1000X).

Slightly OT but since you asked. They sound very very nice for a pair of BT IEM's but the ANC is essentially useless. It's almost impossible to tell if it's on or off it's that poor.

Bitterly disappointed and mine are going straight back. Given Sony make what are basically the same headphones without ANC you might as well get those of you're interested in the sound.

If you're interested in ANC don't even bother...