[Oregonian]

   
I have compared the two.  No going back to stock.  The difference is quite audible. 

Where did you get the cable?  I thought they were not available yet...................

 

[drgajet]

I have compared the two.  No going back to stock.  The difference is quite audible. 

Great, now I have to buy the cable too, thanks mike(said with sarcasm)!

Jim

 

[mangler]

One word impression of the MDR-Z7:


Terrible.

More later.

Isn't that pair from pirates' loaner program? If so, hasn't it been modded?

 

[x838nwy]

Where did you get the cable?  I thought they were not available yet...................

According to our local shop, right now the cables are only available for sale in Japan and a few other distributors as demo only. The should be abailable for purchase towards the early december here in Thailand. I'm not sure how concrete this is as this is what he was told be a Sony rep and not an official press release or anything.

If anyone can buy the cable right now, can you let us know what connections they're available in? There seems to be no mention of a 4-pin xlr cable in sony catalogues??

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Great, now I have to buy the cable too, thanks mike(said with sarcasm)!

Jim

 
I know.... I shouldn't have compared the two cables.  Now I have to buy the Kimber too!  
 
Quick pic.  Meridian Explorer with iPhone 6 for Z7.  Sounds better than PHA-2.  
 

 

[Bill-P]

Isn't that pair from pirates' loaner program? If so, hasn't it been modded?

But the problem is the modded pair measures better, and is said to sound better than stock, too.

 

[Byrnie]

One word impression of the MDR-Z7:


Terrible.

More later.

Another takato exaggeration...

Oh I forgot to add that I bought a pair and will report back later.

 

[thatBeatsguy]

Another takato exaggeration...

Oh I forgot to add that I bought a pair and will report back later.

What can you do? He's Takato. He doesn't like anything.

 

[mangler]

But the problem is the modded pair measures better, and is said to sound better than stock, too.

That's true. I just think it should be clear that the statement is about a modded pair, if that is indeed the case ( I suspect it is, but I don't actually know, which is why I asked). I guess that would mean the stock Z7 is extremely terrible, but maybe I'll find out for myself if I buckle and order a pair, despite the criticisms. If it really does have that denon/fostex sound, I imagine I'll enjoy them

 

[Mickice]

Just bought the 1 available unit of stock from SONY kiosk Parramatta, Sydney.

MDR-Z7 - $799.95au
+ bonus free
SWR10 Smart Band - $150au

Truthfully even listening to the Demo unit, I couldn't hear audio 7x better than my $100 V6.

V6 are legendary and you all should own one.

Tonight will be telling.
Probably watch Grease and Fantasia tonight on BD.

----

PHA-1 on computer running CD flacs, holy crap.
I feel the air.

 

[1c3d0g]

So the general verdict on the Z7 is...don't buy? As an owner of both the MA-900 and XB1000, this question is extremely important for me. Will the Z7 be an upgrade to these particular headphones, or should I save it for something else?

 

[Mickice]

  So the general verdict on the Z7 is...don't buy? As an owner of both the MA-900 and XB1000, this question is extremely important for me. Will the Z7 be an upgrade to these particular headphones, or should I save it for something else?

It's not as simple as buy or don't buy. 

They are well crafted pieces of audio equipment, they are also quite expensive.
If you own either of those you should be happy with what you own already, but you could also spend a life-time and a fortune looking for something sonically better. 

If you can listen to a pair, I did and bought them on the spot only to like them more later on.
The real key is to be content with life and the stuff you have and watch your bank balance grow 

 

[zhenya]

So the general verdict on the Z7 is...don't buy? As an owner of both the MA-900 and XB1000, this question is extremely important for me. Will the Z7 be an upgrade to these particular headphones, or should I save it for something else?

I think it's quite a bit more complex than that. First, I think it really depends on where you are coming from, what music you like, and what your sound preference is. For those coming from lower tier equipment, these will likely be amazing. They have excellent soundstage and a large sense of space. This is primarily what you get when you spend more money on headphones. (This is absolutely the case with the V6 which sounds ok, but is very narrow and congested in space compared to better cans) In my experience inexpensive headphones may sometimes sound great, but they can never sound spacious like this. These are fantastic with some electronic genres, and rock, but in my opinion they are dark and slow for jazz, acoustic, classical, etc. if you are into those latter genres and coming from a higher tier headphone, these may sound disappointing. I would suspect these would be a big upgrade from what you have, but it depends on what kind of sound you want - dark with deep bass extension like these, or more neutral as many other cans in this price range and above aim for.

 

[dabotsonline]

  Now I'm getting more interested. I dig the 7520 and have the AP on order. This sounds like the Z7 is making the leap from AD and ZMF to AP is not worth it. And I, too, am curious about the comparisons to the 7520.

  To anyone here with MDR-Z7 that also own MDR 7520... how does it compare?

Someone did a very quick comparison on the 7520 thread. I also believe Jude will have a final draft of a review for the Z7 which he will touch more between the two.

  How do these compare to the mdr7520?

 
@starfly posted his/her thoughts:
 

  Hard to say given my short listening session. Tonality wise mids a bit more forward compared to 7520, which might make the 7520 seem a bit darker (or the Z7 seem brighter, however you want to put it). I wasn't really interested in full-size cans at CanJam, especially not closed cans as I'm still very happy with the 7520 and don't plan on replacing those until they break. Was more interested in listening to open cans (of which I have none) and CIEMs, which I'm actually in the market for. I just more wanted to hear the difference between the 7520 and Z7, and the more forward mids of the Z7 was the most obvious difference.
 
I actually spoke to Jude about the Z7 after I listened to them (Jude is a big fan of the 7520) and he said that he agrees on my observation that the Z7 has more forward mids and that whenever he writes up a second impression of the Z7 he would mention that (I suppose he didn't mention that on his first write up / preview of the Z7).
 
Oh, another thing I noticed about the Z7 was the cable. The cable they were using at CanJam (don't ask me what brand, a copper braided cable it was) made this annoying creaking/clicking/clacking sound. At first I thought it might be cheap build quality of the Z7, but upon further inspection the build quality of the Z7 seemed great and it was just the cable itself, specifically the plugs that connect to the headphone. Would be easy to fix by just taping around it, but I thought it was stupid that it had that problem to begin with. Not sure if these cables will ship with the Z7 if you buy them or if they were using different cables at the show.

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/682534/sony-mdr-7520/1755#post_10978057

 

[Boffy]

Lachlan has his unboxing and first impressions of Z7 up.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yW3n3_kerQ&feature=youtu.be
 
 
Sound quality aside, I am appalled that Sony is not learning from their past mistakes. Cable rattling issue from MDR 1R, hiss issue with Walkmans, for me I had a severe cable tangle issue in the Y splitter of XBA H1 and H3, and this time with their return Flagship Z7. Hope they go back to the basics before attempting anything fancy.