[TokenGesture]

I only wish they isolated better

 

[joey99]

I just got home from Tokyo and finally got to try out the upgrade cable for the Z7 
http://store.sony.com/high-performance-home-audio-cable-for-mdr-z7-zid27-MUCB30UM1/cat-27-catid-All-Portable-Audio-Cables
 
Just had a few quick songs swapping back and forth to compare with the stock cable.
I would say that the upgrade cable is smoother and warmer than the stock cable but I thought it took away the vocals a bit. I think maybe what it did was make the sound flatter overall. It's nice but I like more forward vocals. For the price, I should've just bought a 1A for a portable hp instead. What a great looking cable ...  I will listen to it for a week or 2 before passing real judgement though as I've also only used my Z7 for less than 10 hours. I've been using the Z5 more and really love it.

 

[Fatsosixsixsix]

Anyone else have any opinions on the upgrade cables? Currently in Tokyo and bought the Z7 for a cheap price, but wasn't sure whether it would be worth also getting the cable as I'd be running the headphones via my sonar STX soundcard.

 

[Bill-P]

I'd love to hear how to do your mods, especially if they're reversible

 
Sorry, I can't write a detailed guide this time... because there is too much to be done. But essentially...
 
Felt on the plastic rim/lip surrounding the driver. Then shelf-liner material in the slot left by the angle. This shelf-liner will absorb some excess resonance in order to reduce the midrange harshness that I mentioned (2-4KHz), I have used this technique with a similar headphone with good results.
 

 
Next: circular foam piece covering the edges of the metallic part in the back of the driver. This absorbs reflections that mess with the mids, too. Then another piece of shelf-liner in the lip here, too.
 

 
And here's the cup: treated to shelf-liner with bigger openings and dots. The bigger dots absorb reflection better than the smaller ones, so this one will allow for higher frequencies to come out better as they don't get reflected and cause destructive interference with the wave coming to the front. Edit: not visible from photos: dynamat under each piece of shelf-liner on the cups to dampen every possible resonance of the cup from lower frequencies. So essentially, I wanted to make the cup disappear...
 

 


And here are frequency response measurements before and after... I used my iPhone's microphone to record a sine wave sweep, so please ignore bass below 125Hz. iPhone mic sucks at recording bass. But midrange and especially treble showed some improvements.
 
Before:

 
 
After:
 

 
16KHz peak gives more air IMO. The Sony R10 also had that peak from one measurement I have seen.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Using my Z7s with my AK100II and some Avenged Sevenfold and man, this is one killer "on the go" combination. I just wish that they came with a carrying case and a shorter cable and they'd really hit on all cylinders.
 
For closed headphones, they sound quite "big and open"...the mids are also very, very good considering they are under $1k.

 

[mangler]

Wow @Bill-P , thanks for the description and pics! It'll probably be a while before I can try it, seeing as how involved it is, plus the fact that my free time had dropped to nil sounds promising though.

 

[Bill-P]

Well, I have since tried out new things, and came up with a better (but much more elaborate) version.
 
I'd say... there's almost no way to damp this headphone well. My mods are tuned specifically to my preference, and may not fit someone else.
 
Anyway... right now, I'm wishing for a shorter cable for mobile use, and then maybe I can retire my primary mobile headphone, the ATH-ES10.

 

[Brazenways]

So what the extra gear requirements suggested?
Cable-500$
Pha-3-900$
Mods-100$

Adding up here Sony! Looks like the z7 is a good starting point.

 

[Oregonian]

Well, I have since tried out new things, and came up with a better (but much more elaborate) version.

I'd say... there's almost no way to damp this headphone well. My mods are tuned specifically to my preference, and may not fit someone else.

Anyway... right now, I'm wishing for a shorter cable for mobile use, and then maybe I can retire my primary mobile headphone, the ATH-ES10.

FYI the Denon D600/7100 short portable cable works as a straight drop in.

 

[yakkosmurf]

The Z7 has been on my Amazon wishlist for sometime.  I noticed it was telling me the price has dropped.  This is being fulfilled by Amazon, so does that mean warranty and such are intact?  $499.99 is a very good price.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NW357PK/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p23_d26_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0FS0EWFNSHVYXC56FYJM&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop

 

[dweaver]

That's about as low as I have heard it go. You might get it a bit cheaper from Japan but any customs fees will negate any savings. Not sure about warranty and how that works.

 

[yakkosmurf]

That's about as low as I have heard it go. You might get it a bit cheaper from Japan but any customs fees will negate any savings. Not sure about warranty and how that works.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of gray market stuff.  I'm not that price sensitive.  So, if this is more that kind of deal, I'll just pay $699.99.

 

[grizzlybeast]

Got mine from japan no extra fees. Perfect condition, warranty, return instructions, and a thank you letter. Japan in my experience (some cases) is even better than the US in customer satisfaction.

 

[satish89]

So I went a little crazy over Xmas and just before the December sales ended I picked up a PHA-3 heavily discounted. Finally get to try that balanced cable!

I'm not sure if its just me, but the difference isn't what I'd describe as night and day; it's audible for sure, there is more control and less bloat I suppose you could say, especially at the bass end. Questionable value, but as I've said before in my first ever post to head-fi, value is so subjective that it's really futile to try and define what represents good "value" on the whole IMO. Considering I paid more for the PHA-3 than the Z7 itself, I feel the difference in sound isn't really a huge upgrade over my sound card (Xonar D2X) or the ZX1. Still satisfied though, it does sound great, rounds out the Z7 and makes it more neutral.

 

[Lorspeaker]

  The Z7 has been on my Amazon wishlist for sometime.  I noticed it was telling me the price has dropped.  This is being fulfilled by Amazon, so does that mean warranty and such are intact?  $499.99 is a very good price.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NW357PK/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p23_d26_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0FS0EWFNSHVYXC56FYJM&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop

 
 
wow thats fast... a scramble to clear stock has started? 
i am eL8ed.... ( thats another mixbag for now )
...maybe a "z10" is about to hit ? Anyone in the know...?