Thanks - I tried the M7 and M9 in Japan when they came out and now I remember the stock cable being of much better design and quality. My upgrade cable wasn't the Kimber so I assume it would be of similar quality to the standard upgrade cable. It took a few years, but the design, fit and cables of the new iems are leap years ahead of the XBA range.
The Sony IER cable you are using at the moment for your Z5 is there any wiggle or looseness at the connection or is it a tight fit? Just want to be sure before I get it.
The Sony IER cable you are using at the moment for your Z5 is there any wiggle or looseness at the connection or is it a tight fit? Just want to be sure before I get it.
Sold my Z5 and ended up keeping the Blon 03, but now I miss the z5. Thinking about rebuying them, but wondering if I should try something else. I know @redrol loves the A8, but I can't imagine the bass impact comes close. I know some folks really love the Tapes. Currently running on my G8, but plan to purchase M11 again. The Blons are pretty good, but don't have the same bass impact or detail as Z5, and the fit is still weird. I tried the m7, and Bravado. Bravado wasn't right for me and too open. M7 has that little tab at the bottom that rubbed my ears. N3 is good, but not as good as Z5, so feels fairly parallel to Blon as far as sound, but for $300 more. Thoughts?
Sold my Z5 and ended up keeping the Blon 03, but now I miss the z5. Thinking about rebuying them, but wondering if I should try something else. I know @redrol loves the A8, but I can't imagine the bass impact comes close. I know some folks really love the Tapes. Currently running on my G8, but plan to purchase M11 again. The Blons are pretty good, but don't have the same bass impact or detail as Z5, and the fit is still weird. I tried the m7, and Bravado. Bravado wasn't right for me and too open. M7 has that little tab at the bottom that rubbed my ears. N3 is good, but not as good as Z5, so feels fairly parallel to Blon as far as sound, but for $300 more. Thoughts?
Your comments in this thread over the last few months were very helpful for my journey into Sony IEMs, so the least I could do is offer my take...
1) I owned the N3 for about a week, but ended up returning them. They didn't have the Z5 tuning at all. While I wanted some variety, their tuning didn't appeaI to me, and no amount of EQing fixed that.
2) I would give the M7 a hard look. We are all of course built differently, but if you could live with that tab, I think you would be impressed. (the tab is the solution to vacuum issue - once inserted in place, just lift up on the tab to equalize pressure)
The M7 is the perfect compliment to the Z5 that I hoped it would be. On some songs and in some situations, I now prefer it to the Z5 (gasp!).
3) You may want to give the Final E5000 a listen. It is very comfortable. It's bass is similar to the M7's bass (ie, solid and impactfull, but not Z5 bass). With SpiralDots, the soundstaging and midrange texturing are also similar to the M7. (Note that although I generally like Final tips, they make the E5000 way too thick and reduce the soundstaging substantially).
Ultimately it is still a bit warmer than the M7 though. (the E4000 might be a closer match to the M7, but I have not heard it). I view the E5000 as a bit of a cross between the Z5 and M7 - it has many of those IEM's strengths, but simply isn't as good as either of them in any area. For its $300-ish price, it is a solid value...
I started comparing the M7 and Z5 over in the M7/M9/Z1 thread.
Josh, it occurred to me that you also may want to consider the EX800ST - it sounds like a slightly thinner, less bassy version of the Z5, and can still be found new for about $240. I can put in some time comparing the two if the EX800ST sounds interesting to you.
Thanks, man. I had the 800's. Really prefer the z5. They just had a bit more ... idk. 800 were dry, so maybe z5 is... wet? Still nothing compares to the Z5 for me. I'm sure the Z1R would work, but I can't (and won't) spend that much. I tried the final E5000. Didn't do it for me. I like big bass and big stage. z5 was what I fell in love with. I have a commission coming up that I think will go toward Z5 and M11 repurchase. If anyone is parting with their Z5, hit me up.
Thanks, man. I had the 800's. Really prefer the z5. They just had a bit more ... idk. 800 were dry, so maybe z5 is... wet? Still nothing compares to the Z5 for me. I'm sure the Z1R would work, but I can't (and won't) spend that much. I tried the final E5000. Didn't do it for me. I like big bass and big stage. z5 was what I fell in love with. I have a commission coming up that I think will go toward Z5 and M11 repurchase. If anyone is parting with their Z5, hit me up.
Sold my Z5 and ended up keeping the Blon 03, but now I miss the z5. Thinking about rebuying them, but wondering if I should try something else. I know @redrol loves the A8, but I can't imagine the bass impact comes close. I know some folks really love the Tapes. Currently running on my G8, but plan to purchase M11 again. The Blons are pretty good, but don't have the same bass impact or detail as Z5, and the fit is still weird. I tried the m7, and Bravado. Bravado wasn't right for me and too open. M7 has that little tab at the bottom that rubbed my ears. N3 is good, but not as good as Z5, so feels fairly parallel to Blon as far as sound, but for $300 more. Thoughts?
That’s the funny part of this hobby; that hindsight is 20/20. You never really know what you like at times. The best we can hope for is to settle down with an IEM. I actually have no advice other than just get the XBA-Z5 again. I’m not really experienced with all the IEMs out there but in my experience the Z5 is unique. To me it’s way way better than the N3. But......I had to buy the N3 to figure that out. I go through phases where I like other IEMs but when I do come back to the Z5 it’s reminds me how special it is.
The Z5 seems to be passed by in ways by all the multi-BA Chi-Fi IEMs in the Z5 past and present price range......still it has something over them in my experience? I think much of the historic confusion with the Z5 was people just didn’t drive them right in the past. In 2014 there really wasn’t hard to drive IEMs around? To me the XBA-Z5 is not that special from a low power source.........but get them juice and the soundstage goes out, imaging becomes clear and the bass and lower midrange clear up.
One interesting IEM could be the $389 Fearless S6Rui? Still you would need an aftermarket cable as the cable the S6Rui has a bad included cable. Also..........the S6Rui is probably for a very different listener. It may have some special qualities and is a great deal for the price, but nothing comes close to the Z5 bass impact and cohesive imaging. IMO
The Fearless S6Rui does rule the $400 price range, but most likely some who loves the XBA-Z5 sound profile will not like it. Really the XBA-Z5 and Fearless S6Rui are opposites. They may actually work as complementary IEMs together in a collection?
I parted ways with mine a year ago due to frustrating design/fit issues (believe me I tried to make it work - I would have happily retired with them). My replacement is satisfactory, but I still often remember how the sound was so perfect for my tastes. As a secondary knock-around pair I got the N3, which gives me a taste of what the Z5 were, but I miss that smooth sound with glorious bass. You could really crank them up and they never harmed you.
I parted ways with mine a year ago due to frustrating design/fit issues (believe me I tried to make it work - I would have happily retired with them). My replacement is satisfactory, but I still often remember how the sound was so perfect for my tastes. As a secondary knock-around pair I got the N3, which gives me a taste of what the Z5 were, but I miss that smooth sound with glorious bass. You could really crank them up and they never harmed you.
Thanks, man. I had the 800's. Really prefer the z5. They just had a bit more ... idk. 800 were dry, so maybe z5 is... wet? Still nothing compares to the Z5 for me. I'm sure the Z1R would work, but I can't (and won't) spend that much. I tried the final E5000. Didn't do it for me. I like big bass and big stage. z5 was what I fell in love with. I have a commission coming up that I think will go toward Z5 and M11 repurchase. If anyone is parting with their Z5, hit me up.
I hoped the MDR-Z7 might be the Z5 in overhead form but was totally disappointed, I dreamed the new M7 and M9 might cater for my Z5 tuned ears but nothing compares to that dynamic bass (Z1R is about as far as the moon for me price wise)
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