[Mickice]

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.

Not an upgrade over a Xonar? Woah. Give it some time, most people think Xonar stuff is low end and PHA-3 should be way up there.

 

[satish89]

 
Not an upgrade over a Xonar? Woah. Give it some time, most people think Xonar stuff is low end and PHA-3 should be way up there.

 
Not a huge upgrade over the Xonar. The PHA-3 is audibly and noticeably better than the Xonar, don't get me wrong. It's just not what I thought $527 of upgrade would sound like, considering the Xonar set me back about $180 3 years ago. And from what I read, $527 is a lot less than most people have paid for the PHA-3. I think I'm just not used to what to expect from upgrades of different parts of the chain of gear. Dropping ~$500 on headphones would probably have a much bigger impact than the relatively more subtle effect of dropping the same amount on the DAC/amp components, or at least that's been my (albeit limited) experience so far. The law of diminishing returns is extremely prevalent in the audiophile world it seems!
 
Definitely enjoying the combo though. The Z7 has been nothing but immensely satisfying. I recently took them on a trip and used them on the plane, and to my surprise they worked rather well to block out most of the engine noise of the plane while not losing too much quality. They did take up half my carry on backpack though, and I did have to unscrew and separately pack the cable every time, and the cable is just a little too long for that kind of use I think. But definitely not impossible for travel use.

 

[yakkosmurf]

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.

How did you feel the Z7s sounded out of the ZX1?

 

[satish89]

How did you feel the Z7s sounded out of the ZX1?

 
Surprisingly good, actually. I was expecting to be underwhelmed and immediately feel like picking up an amp of sorts (maybe that is just the head-fi effect, gear acquisition syndrome striking again...) but the ZX1 seems to be able to drive the Z7 quite well. I use the ZX1 with ClearAudio+ on most of the time, and with that on the bass hits pretty strongly, and the trebles really sparkle, albeit somewhat at the expense of purity. Similar amounts of detail/clarity when driven by all of my sources. 
 
There's no doubt the PHA-3 handles the Z7 best though. It sounds like the most natural pairing to me. Where I have to turn the volume to around half on the ZX1 to get to my preferred listening volume, I'm sitting on around 1/3 on the PHA-3 for the same comfortable volume. It's very tempting to crank up the volume with the Z7's though... I think the PHA-3's biggest advantage is that you seem to be able to get more of the Z7's full potential at lower volumes, IMO. The ZX1 and Z7 pair sounds best at higher volumes, and the lower the volume gets on the ZX1 the more lackluster the sound becomes. Being new to over ear headphones, this is probably just a standard output power issue or some such though.

 

[TokenGesture]

Going to have to send these back to Amazon, the price is dropping way below what I paid plus I'm interested in the EL8

 

[purk]

   
 
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...?

The order is fulfilled by third party backed by amazon.  I'm not sure whether the warranty is intact or not but we have amazon to go for a warranty I guess.  I bought my Z7 from them actually and they are a legit seller.  My Z7 arrived in 2 days thanks to super fast shipment by amazon prime. 
 

   
Not a huge upgrade over the Xonar. The PHA-3 is audibly and noticeably better than the Xonar, don't get me wrong. It's just not what I thought $527 of upgrade would sound like, considering the Xonar set me back about $180 3 years ago. And from what I read, $527 is a lot less than most people have paid for the PHA-3. I think I'm just not used to what to expect from upgrades of different parts of the chain of gear. Dropping ~$500 on headphones would probably have a much bigger impact than the relatively more subtle effect of dropping the same amount on the DAC/amp components, or at least that's been my (albeit limited) experience so far. The law of diminishing returns is extremely prevalent in the audiophile world it seems!
 
Definitely enjoying the combo though. The Z7 has been nothing but immensely satisfying. I recently took them on a trip and used them on the plane, and to my surprise they worked rather well to block out most of the engine noise of the plane while not losing too much quality. They did take up half my carry on backpack though, and I did have to unscrew and separately pack the cable every time, and the cable is just a little too long for that kind of use I think. But definitely not impossible for travel use.

 
You will get more bang for the buck on $527 upgrade if you buy a dedicated home amp.  As great as the PHA3 is, it is still a portable solution.  Though it is able to compete with mid-grade home amps head-on IMO if you are only using easier to drive phones.  I found the PHA3 to lack that last bits of dynamics compared to good dedicate home amps with more power output.  Yes, the PHA3+Z7 pairing neutralized the bass on the Z7 to a degree and make the Z7 more neutral as well as additional clarity.  I replaced my Z7's cable with Silver and that help firming up the bass further while providing the needed sparkling at the top as well as improving the resolution/details.

   
Surprisingly good, actually. I was expecting to be underwhelmed and immediately feel like picking up an amp of sorts (maybe that is just the head-fi effect, gear acquisition syndrome striking again...) but the ZX1 seems to be able to drive the Z7 quite well. I use the ZX1 with ClearAudio+ on most of the time, and with that on the bass hits pretty strongly, and the trebles really sparkle, albeit somewhat at the expense of purity. Similar amounts of detail/clarity when driven by all of my sources. 
 
There's no doubt the PHA-3 handles the Z7 best though. It sounds like the most natural pairing to me. Where I have to turn the volume to around half on the ZX1 to get to my preferred listening volume, I'm sitting on around 1/3 on the PHA-3 for the same comfortable volume. It's very tempting to crank up the volume with the Z7's though... I think the PHA-3's biggest advantage is that you seem to be able to get more of the Z7's full potential at lower volumes, IMO. The ZX1 and Z7 pair sounds best at higher volumes, and the lower the volume gets on the ZX1 the more lackluster the sound becomes. Being new to over ear headphones, this is probably just a standard output power issue or some such though.

I'm pretty much share your impressions but i never turned the ClearAudio+ on as the Z7 is already very bassy sounding and I don't need the additional bass boost from the ClearAudio+ EQ.  Also, I've found that the Z7 is slightly more difficult to drive compared to the 1A out of the ZX1's headphones output.

 

[yakkosmurf]

I'll give it a shot and order them. Thanks for the info.

 

[satish89]

  The order is fulfilled by third party backed by amazon.  I'm not sure whether the warranty is intact or not but we have amazon to go for a warranty I guess.  I bought my Z7 from them actually and they are a legit seller.  My Z7 arrived in 2 days thanks to super fast shipment by amazon prime. 
 
 
You will get more bang for the buck on $527 upgrade if you buy a dedicated home amp.  As great as the PHA3 is, it is still a portable solution.  Though it is able to compete with mid-grade home amps head-on IMO if you are only using easier to drive phones.  I found the PHA3 to lack that last bits of dynamics compared to good dedicate home amps with more power output.  Yes, the PHA3+Z7 pairing neutralized the bass on the Z7 to a degree and make the Z7 more neutral as well as additional clarity.  I replaced my Z7's cable with Silver and that help firming up the bass further while providing the needed sparkling at the top as well as improving the resolution/details.
I'm pretty much share your impressions but i never turned the ClearAudio+ on as the Z7 is already very bassy sounding and I don't need the additional bass boost from the ClearAudio+ EQ.  Also, I've found that the Z7 is slightly more difficult to drive compared to the 1A out of the ZX1's headphones output.

 
I have an MDR-1RBT which can be driven wired as well, and in terms of ease of drive I agree, the Z7 is slightly harder to drive than my MDR-1RBT. Then again, this is the first pair of headphones I've had that has really given any of my gear any trouble with ability to drive - I had been using IEM's primarily until I stumbled upon the Z7 deal I ended up going with.

 

[Mink]

Tommorow my Z7s will finally arrive! Can't wait
Curiously the last week the price went up from 367 euro to 519 euro, and now it is back at the same 'low' price of 367 euro, so anyone in Europe who likes a good deal, follow this link:
http://www.bestekeus.nl/product_info-n-SONY_HOOFDTELEFOON_MDRZ7_ZWART-pId-238159.html

 

[Mickice]

Such sweeping price ranges. Crazy for a product made in Japan. 

 

[Wnuwk Siphon]

Tommorow my Z7s will finally arrive! Can't wait
Curiously the last week the price went up from 367 euro to 519 euro, and now it is back at the same 'low' price of 367 euro, so anyone in Europe who likes a good deal, follow this link:
http://www.bestekeus.nl/product_info-n-SONY_HOOFDTELEFOON_MDRZ7_ZWART-pId-238159.html

Nice. Please share your impressions.

BTW the price appears to fluctuate quite a bit in NL, I noticed that too.

 

[Lorspeaker]

arent u guys disturbed by the TV/ sound around u? 
each time i auditioned it ( yesterday again) those shop noises got to me again...
the isolation sucx...
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

that sony gal is pretty though...my 3rd visit  

 

[akhyar]

arent u guys disturbed by the TV/ sound around u? 
each time i auditioned it ( yesterday again) those shop noises got to me again...
the isolation sucx...

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

that sony gal is pretty though...my 3rd visit  

The isolation is not as good compared to other full size closed cans like LCD-XC, Alpha Prime/Dog but definitely better than Fostex TH600/900.
But I do find that it doesn't leak out the sound so much as my wife never complains when I'm blasting the Z7 while she's sleeping.
Can't say the same when I'm using HD800 though

 

[Lorspeaker]

yup agree with u...the leakage aint an issue. 
XC is superb on isolation, once that leatherclamp is on, the world outside is ...OUTSIDE.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

I wasn't impressed by the XC's isolation, but that could have been me in pain from the weight.....

 
But I agree that the Alpha Dog/Prime are killing it in isolation.  But wearing my Z7s around the house ain't much of an issue, even with my son killing hundreds of foes in COD, and my girl's Minecrafting and Mario Carting....