[phonomat]

Question for fellow MDR-Z1R lovers: do you have another headphone (not IEM) you love as much or better?

I ask because I have been auditioning phones from $1500-$4000 looking for an upgrade and have not found anything I like as much as my Sony cans. I thought the Focal Stellia was getting a lot of praise and might be my next upgrade; nope, they are too sterile in the mids and anemic in the bass. Not sure what the hype is about.

I love my MDR-1A and MDR-Z1R cans at home, and I like my MDR-1AM2 for mobile, so I obviously like the Sony House sound. Sure, I had to EQ out some of the peaks and valleys in the Z1Rs, but I love the bass and do not touch that end of the frequency response.

So for Z1R lovers, what other favorite headphones do you listen with?

Cheers,
Gus

Pioneer SE-Master1 all the way! But it's very different.

 

[Slim1970]

Pioneer SE-Master1 all the way! But it's very different.

That's one headphone I haven't heard but really want to hear. Not sure how it compares to the sound of the Z1R.

 

[Slim1970]

Question for fellow MDR-Z1R lovers: do you have another headphone (not IEM) you love as much or better?

I ask because I have been auditioning phones from $1500-$4000 looking for an upgrade and have not found anything I like as much as my Sony cans. I thought the Focal Stellia was getting a lot of praise and might be my next upgrade; nope, they are too sterile in the mids and anemic in the bass. Not sure what the hype is about.

I love my MDR-1A and MDR-Z1R cans at home, and I like my MDR-1AM2 for mobile, so I obviously like the Sony House sound. Sure, I had to EQ out some of the peaks and valleys in the Z1Rs, but I love the bass and do not touch that end of the frequency response.

So for Z1R lovers, what other favorite headphones do you listen with?

Cheers,
Gus

You should give the Klipsch HP-3's a listen. They are very good and don't get a lot of attention. I think they are very underrated headphones. Another set of cans I like is the ZMF Auteur and the Verite. Both are musically dynamic with a hint of warmth. The Verite's have beryllium coated drivers which help give them a unique tone. If you're looking for a good closed headphone you should try the Denon AH-D9200's, which are superb and probably will be my next purchase.

 

[Roybenz]

Question for fellow MDR-Z1R lovers: do you have another headphone (not IEM) you love as much or better?

I ask because I have been auditioning phones from $1500-$4000 looking for an upgrade and have not found anything I like as much as my Sony cans. I thought the Focal Stellia was getting a lot of praise and might be my next upgrade; nope, they are too sterile in the mids and anemic in the bass. Not sure what the hype is about.

I love my MDR-1A and MDR-Z1R cans at home, and I like my MDR-1AM2 for mobile, so I obviously like the Sony House sound. Sure, I had to EQ out some of the peaks and valleys in the Z1Rs, but I love the bass and do not touch that end of the frequency response.

So for Z1R lovers, what other favorite headphones do you listen with?

Cheers,
Gus

I listen to LCD4. Its much more transparent and more detail and you get closer to the music in a way. But z1r is the closed i like best.

 

[beowulf]

The Z1R band made of a beta titanium alloy, won't be easy to shape/tighten permanently unless you do it with a lot of heat.

You can deform it as with regular bands, but it will tend to return to original shape after some time.
It's a drawback in that sense, or a plus, depending on desired use case.

 

[Benno1988]

Yeah, bummer.

I just prefer a bit more clamp than they give.

 

[omegaorgun]

My modded Z7M2 makes me eager to try a Z1R.

 

[Benno1988]

Do it!

Been enjoying my HD6xx off the new Darkvoice I got lately. Stuck the Z1R from a Fiio BTR5 on. Ooof. So good still.

 

[ChijiroKuro]

Greetings from Spain.

I listen to LCD4. Its much more transparent and more detail and you get closer to the music in a way. But z1r is the closed i like best.

I think the same. I fell in love at first sight with the LCD4, I always come back to them.

Cheers!

 

[Lookout57]

I was seriously considering the LCD-4 before I bought the MDR-Z1R. But I felt they weren't that much better than my LCD-X to justify 2x the cost.

Even now I rarely use the LCD-X as they are so heavy and the dry sound compared to the warm Z1R.

 

[musicman59]

Question for fellow MDR-Z1R lovers: do you have another headphone (not IEM) you love as much or better?

I ask because I have been auditioning phones from $1500-$4000 looking for an upgrade and have not found anything I like as much as my Sony cans. I thought the Focal Stellia was getting a lot of praise and might be my next upgrade; nope, they are too sterile in the mids and anemic in the bass. Not sure what the hype is about.

I love my MDR-1A and MDR-Z1R cans at home, and I like my MDR-1AM2 for mobile, so I obviously like the Sony House sound. Sure, I had to EQ out some of the peaks and valleys in the Z1Rs, but I love the bass and do not touch that end of the frequency response.

So for Z1R lovers, what other favorite headphones do you listen with?

Cheers,
Gus

Try the RAD-0. I got a pair and love them.

 

[Maelob]

Question for fellow MDR-Z1R lovers: do you have another headphone (not IEM) you love as much or better?

I ask because I have been auditioning phones from $1500-$4000 looking for an upgrade and have not found anything I like as much as my Sony cans. I thought the Focal Stellia was getting a lot of praise and might be my next upgrade; nope, they are too sterile in the mids and anemic in the bass. Not sure what the hype is about.

I love my MDR-1A and MDR-Z1R cans at home, and I like my MDR-1AM2 for mobile, so I obviously like the Sony House sound. Sure, I had to EQ out some of the peaks and valleys in the Z1Rs, but I love the bass and do not touch that end of the frequency response.

So for Z1R lovers, what other favorite headphones do you listen with?

Cheers,
Gus

While I am happy with my Sony, I am really curious on trying the Mr. Speakers Aeon 2C since it looks like the issues (somewhat anemic signature) with the original were fixed and now they have a warmer tone with increased bass. But what I like about the Z1R that no other headphone provides is the combination of weight, comfort and sound signature that I like. Some argue that there are better sounding closed headphones but for me they are either too heavy (ie. ZMF, Audeze), not as comfortable or not as fun sounding. I am on my third pair of Z1R because I keep selling them to try other stuff. In the end I came back to the Z1R because I just like them. My only concern with the Z1r is in the support department if something goes wrong, for how long Sony will keep spare parts? Will somebody repair broken headphones out of warranty?

 

[Slim1970]

I'm about to unload my HD820's. I prefer the fit, comfort and sound of the Z1R's over them. I've tried and owned other closed back headphones that I thought could replace the Z1R's but none have been able to unseat them. I'm coming up on 2 years of ownership and the Z1R's have been my signature closed back headphone. Next on the list of tryouts is the Denon AH-D9200's

 

[inseconds99]

I'm about to unload my HD820's. I prefer the fit, comfort and sound of the Z1R's over them. I've tried and owned other closed back headphones that I thought could replace the Z1R's but none have been able to unseat them. I'm coming up on 2 years of ownership and the Z1R's have been my signature closed back headphone. Next on the list of tryouts is the Denon AH-D9200's

What makes you love the Z1R’s over watch specific headphone you’ve compared them directly against?

 

[Slim1970]

What makes you love the Z1R’s over watch specific headphone you’ve compared them directly against?

The bass impactful and is very well rendered on the Z1R's. The mids are balanced and full sounding. The treble has plenty of clarity and detail. The soundstage is big and it's not that far off from the HD820's. The Z1R's are refined, musical and not amp picky. They play all genres equally well. I can put them on a not have to worry about a gap in the sound like what I hear in the LCD-XC's. The Z1R's aren't missing treble extension like the Denon AH-D7200's. They don't have the oddities in the sound spectrum like the Beyerdynamic T5P Gen 2's. The LCD-2CB's were good but against the Z1R's you could clearly hear they lack resolution and the bass is still better on the Z1R's. The only closed headphone that I thought was just as musical as the Z1R's were the ZMF Verite Closed. Although I think the Z1R's renders the lowest of notes with more authority than the ZMF VC's. I haven't heard the Stellia's but I will soon.