[MatthewWeflen]

Try Beck’s Sea Change album. The first track is very interesting for the Z7 ‘s. The second track starts with a good deep shot of Z7 bass.

Will do when I get home. Guero should have some interesting tracks, too?

 

[fullranger]

Don’t recognize, but will look up Guero.
Enjoy you new cans!

 

[fullranger]

Listened to Guero. Not a bit like Sea Change. Give it a try. Totally different.
Very good with the Z7...
Guerno may sound good with cheap cans, but Sea Change is amazing with good cans.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

Listened to Guero. Not a bit like Sea Change. Give it a try. Totally different.
Very good with the Z7...
Guerno may sound good with cheap cans, but Sea Change is amazing with good cans.

I did, and you're definitely right, the first two tracks especially of Sea Change are really great to listen to on these headphones.

I also re-listened to PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love," and I'm turned around - I don't know what I was thinking yesterday, the bass is far from anemic - it's just not boomy.

Time to dive into more classical for me, though. And soon I will have the NW-ZX300 and a balanced cable to test. I am very curious to see what if any effect this has on the sound quality.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I am listening to Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" (FLAC 44/16 CD rip) from my NW-A45. It's hard to imagine it sounding better. Very roomy sound, tons of detail on the cymbals, sax, and keyboards, solid but not overpowering bass but with tons of detail (I can hear the strings vibrate on the wood), and everything seems very directional, like I know where each instrument is in the room.

The ZX300 player is coming tomorrow, and I have a balanced cable in hand. I am very dubious with respect to possible improvements in sound, but I will give it the most objective test I can manage.

 

[Sp12er3]

Waiting to hear your impression running it off the ZX300! I missed a fantastic deal for a used one for 150 usd and i havent been able to track one like it ever since.
For now, gonna try to source a balanced adapter to change the dual 3.5 to 2.5 and run it off my Shanling.
I've tried the output once with my A3 and it was quite a nice change.
XZ premium is one heck of a good phone indeed Snapdragon 835 devices are getting pretty cheap these days peoppe should try finding those if they want an android DAP indeed. Just pop a DF Black-Red-Cobalt to them and bam the best sounding android dap ever.

 

[beautiophile]

Waiting to hear your impression running it off the ZX300! I missed a fantastic deal for a used one for 150 usd and i havent been able to track one like it ever since.
For now, gonna try to source a balanced adapter to change the dual 3.5 to 2.5 and run it off my Shanling.
I've tried the output once with my A3 and it was quite a nice change.
XZ premium is one heck of a good phone indeed Snapdragon 835 devices are getting pretty cheap these days peoppe should try finding those if they want an android DAP indeed. Just pop a DF Black-Red-Cobalt to them and bam the best sounding android dap ever.

There's a MMCX(female) to 3.5mm(male) adaptor so that you can use A3 cables on Z7. I have a pair and once tried DP-X1 >> 2.5mm balanced >> 2x(MMCX-3.5mm) >> Z7. The combo is quite fun.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

Waiting to hear your impression running it off the ZX300! I missed a fantastic deal for a used one for 150 usd and i havent been able to track one like it ever since.
For now, gonna try to source a balanced adapter to change the dual 3.5 to 2.5 and run it off my Shanling.
I've tried the output once with my A3 and it was quite a nice change.
XZ premium is one heck of a good phone indeed Snapdragon 835 devices are getting pretty cheap these days peoppe should try finding those if they want an android DAP indeed. Just pop a DF Black-Red-Cobalt to them and bam the best sounding android dap ever.

Well, I've been listening critically and comparing the two setups (ZX300/hi-gain/balanced vs A45/unbalanced) and I'll be damned if I can detect any difference. I've tried to normalize volume, and I've listened to a variety of genres (Haydn Symphony 84, Thelonious Monk, PJ Harvey, Thriller) in a variety of resolutions. They both sound equally amazing, spacious, punchy, detailed. If there is a difference, it does not hold up to switching players and unplugging-replugging the cans to each source. I would have to rig up some sort of incredible ABX switching setup.

So while I don't have enough information to declare it snake oil, I am definitely done buying stuff. I don't know if I'll sell the ZX300, because it's certainly a lovely piece of kit. But it's time to just enjoy my music.

 

[Sp12er3]

prob the ZX300 would have higher ceiling for future upgrade, dont know when someone may change up their gears to ones that need higher power. also more tactile buttons, it is bigger tho, so yeah its up to you which to keep

 

[MatthewWeflen]

prob the ZX300 would have higher ceiling for future upgrade, dont know when someone may change up their gears to ones that need higher power. also more tactile buttons, it is bigger tho, so yeah its up to you which to keep

I will probably keep the ZX300 because it will be nice to have one player for home use and one for commuting. I very much doubt I'll be buying any new headphones, since the Z7 for home and the MDR-1000X for work is more than enough, and I am quite satisfied with the sound of each. I would probably only replace the 1000X if they died (and I would certainly try to replace the battery before that).

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I was just reflecting on how silly the audiophile criticism of the Z7's supposed "recessed mids" seems. I'm at my parents' house for the holiday, and I tried out my Dad's Audio-Technica ATH-AN27 noise canceling headphones. Those mids were so recessed I could hardly hear the vocals on pop music. And the comfort level.... yikes.

Sometimes it feels like people are arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Anyway, I'm still digging the Z7. Listening to "Kind of Blue" in 192/24 presently. Sounds like I'm in the room, every part of the ensemble is crystal clear and separated.

 

[lugnut]

Anyway, I'm still digging the Z7. Listening to "Kind of Blue" in 192/24 presently. Sounds like I'm in the room, every part of the ensemble is crystal clear and separated.

I had not used my Z7 for several months, listened to all my Miles albums and it was great ! May be just in the recordings of the cd's I have, as all the cd's are a little hot in the treble. Using the Z7 takes care of that issue and Miles never sounded better. I do use them balanced and have a couple cd players that I listen with them. I am actually thinking about buying a streamer after the holidays. This will be a total new experience for me and a huge learning curve !

 

[fullranger]

I stream Tidal on my home iMac.on the go I have music downloaded on Tidal so I don’t have to stream on the go. The hi-fi version is $19.99/month, but I haven’t bought a cd ina long time now.

 

[nephilim32]

Hello Z7 family.

I found a great live recording that was actually released this year (2019).

it is Simple Minds “Live: In the City of Angels. “

you can get a 4 cd set of it on Amazon for under 25$ !
Anyhow. What a great recording. Huge impactful bass that is audiophile grade and the Z7’s are absolutely glorious with this recording. Hope you all find it as amazing as I do.

long live the Z7’s!!!

 

[Sp12er3]

Nice rec, gotta listen to t hem