[daniel_hokkaido]

Interesting ..thanks for the impressions. How do you compare the bass on the z5 vs se846? esp how it affects the mids. 
 
Also which iem has better treble detail iyo? 

 

[joey99]

that's a hard question to answer. Now days I just enjoy the music and really don't go into deep analysis. Overall they both are very full body sounding and I just love it. I think the Z5 is more layered, mids/vocals are more in front of you instead of in your head like the 846. I really can't tell which bass is better ... both can go deep as I find necessary. With my C5d bass boost on .. both can have a vibrating sub woofer effect in movies that goes through your body. Maybe the Z5 overall is more balanced as I find the vocals only very slightly in front but balance is just really good and very 3d. The 846 is more vocal focused but very dreamy. treble wise, I used the white filter on the 846 and I find the treble perfectly fine but the Z5 has a bit more shimmer I think. Overall, I think the Z5 is more impressive but only by a small margin. Alot of people I let people listen to the 846 and they find it quite ordinary but after you find those songs that make them special, you will know they are very special as well. I haven't found anything that sounded bad on the Z5.

 

[johnwamp55]

The 846 with BA Drivers did wonders to create bass (Sub Bass) but the Z5 doesnt create the feel of Bass it really pushes air with its Bass thats why it has a vent to push air just like a floor standing home woofer.

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

Very interesting. SO the vent is to let air into the z5 so its driver can move more into your ear?  not to just let air out to calm resonances?? 

 

[daniel_hokkaido]

  that's a hard question to answer. Now days I just enjoy the music and really don't go into deep analysis. Overall they both are very full body sounding and I just love it. I think the Z5 is more layered, mids/vocals are more in front of you instead of in your head like the 846. I really can't tell which bass is better ... both can go deep as I find necessary. With my C5d bass boost on .. both can have a vibrating sub woofer effect in movies that goes through your body. Maybe the Z5 overall is more balanced as I find the vocals only very slightly in front but balance is just really good and very 3d. The 846 is more vocal focused but very dreamy. treble wise, I used the white filter on the 846 and I find the treble perfectly fine but the Z5 has a bit more shimmer I think. Overall, I think the Z5 is more impressive but only by a small margin. Alot of people I let people listen to the 846 and they find it quite ordinary but after you find those songs that make them special, you will know they are very special as well. I haven't found anything that sounded bad on the Z5.

 
thanks for the impressions. Yeah I was looking for the hd650 in iem form. I found it in the z5 and next up looking to getting a pono to run em balanced. I am still not sure if Ill ultimately find the sound im looking for with iems though ... and may look into a good portable sealed hd650 like hp next. Any suggestions? 

 

[johnwamp55]

  Very interesting. SO the vent is to let air into the z5 so its driver can move more into your ear?  not to just let air out to calm resonances?? 

Like a home floor speaker if one makes that hole bigger then bass is wider and pounds hard if one makes that hole smaller then tighter bass and not as forward. Try covering that hole and hear the difference. BA Drivers like in JH Audio or Shure 846 no air movement it just reproduces the sound of bass.

 

[joey99]

   
thanks for the impressions. Yeah I was looking for the hd650 in iem form. I found it in the z5 and next up looking to getting a pono to run em balanced. I am still not sure if Ill ultimately find the sound im looking for with iems though ... and may look into a good portable sealed hd650 like hp next. Any suggestions? 

from all the headphone I tried from my trip to hong kong and tokyo, I myself bought the sony Z7 but that's because I didn't want something that sounded like the 846 as my other one I really liked was the shure 1840. I think it is the most comfortable and light HP and it sounds great like the 846 but just much wider soundstage.

 

[Kerouac]

I found it in the z5 and next up looking to getting a pono to run em balanced. I am still not sure if Ill ultimately find the sound im looking for with iems though ... and may look into a good portable sealed hd650 like hp next. Any suggestions? 

Oh yeah, you should definitely consider a Pono. Although the Z5 also sounds great single ended from my DX90 & X5/C5 stack.
Both Z5 & Z7 sound superb out of the Pono in balanced mode! I probably would never had bought those 2 on the hf classifieds if they didn't have the balanced cable already included...but now I'm so glad I did

 

[RedJohn456]

  from all the headphone I tried from my trip to hong kong and tokyo, I myself bought the sony Z7 but that's because I didn't want something that sounded like the 846 as my other one I really liked was the shure 1840. I think it is the most comfortable and light HP and it sounds great like the 846 but just much wider soundstage.

Did you have a chance to try out the closed back sure 1540? I hear it is a warm headphone like the Z5 and lachlanlikesathing sold his Z7 in lieu of the 1540, so I am wondering if its a good compliment to the Z5
 
Nice collection you got there mate. 

 

[dweaver]

Did you have a chance to try out the closed back sure 1540? I hear it is a warm headphone like the Z5 and lachlanlikesathing sold his Z7 in lieu of the 1540, so I am wondering if its a good compliment to the Z5

Nice collection you got there mate. 

I know your question is aimed at another person. But I have owned the 1540 and prefer to Z7 and Z5 over that headphone. There was something about the 1540 vocals that didn't sit right with me, a bit to v shaped I think.

 

[RedJohn456]

I know your question is aimed at another person. But I have owned the 1540 and prefer to Z7 and Z5 over that headphone. There was something about the 1540 vocals that didn't sit right with me, a bit to v shaped I think.

Not at all, I really appreciate your input and since you have owned it, even more so! Hmm, so the midrange is more recessed in comparison? Compared to the Z5 I mean. Would love to hear your thoughts on how the Z5/Z7 compares tot he 1540

 

[joey99]

 
Not at all, I really appreciate your input and since you have owned it, even more so! Hmm, so the midrange is more recessed in comparison? Compared to the Z5 I mean. Would love to hear your thoughts on how the Z5/Z7 compares tot he 1540

I actually went on holidays to asia thihnking the 1540 will be the one I come home with but I didn't like it at all. It was too muddy and warm for me ... it didn't have the crispness the 1840 had or the lush vocals the Z7. 1840 also had very nice vocals that stand out ... but I just don't have use for an open headphone so went with the Z7 with kimba cable and it's just amazing. Everything was also so much cheaper in tokyo.
 
So Sony has certainly been doing a good job with their products ... came home from Christmas holidays with a Z5, Z7 and a RX100 mk3 camera. 

 

[dweaver]

Hmmm, I never thought of the 1540 as warm and muddy but the way the lower midrange in particular was recessed in comparison to the bass, upper midrange, and treble that might be an apt description of what bothered me about the 1540. I also found the bass to go deep but not be as engaging as the Z series. So you have what can in some ways be a more detailed headphone but not nearly as engaging a headphone. What's more the Z5 gives me the same level of detail as the 1540 while only sacrificing some sound stage width but having better 3D imaging and that wonderful lush midrange.

 

[RIQUE]

Has anybody upgraded from the XBA-H3  to the XBA-Z5?   I would really appreciate comments and comparison. I want to know if there is
really a significant improvement rather than mere difference in sound signature.  

 

[gerelmx1986]

  Has anybody upgraded from the XBA-H3  to the XBA-Z5?   I would really appreciate comments and comparison. I want to know if there is
really a significant improvement rather than mere difference in sound signature.  

Upgraded in which sense, new cables or adding an amp?