[Sonic Defender]

   
Thanks much for feedback.. Kind of making a choice between the Z7 and the Beyer t70p..

For sure if you like a more energetic, and immediate sense of the music, the Beyer sound may work better for you. I owned the DT 770 and 880 for quite some time and yes they are going to have more live feel to them, certainly the 880 did. Try the Z7 if you get a chance as it may surprise you.

 

[Bengkia369]

For sure if you like a more energetic, and immediate sense of the music, the Beyer sound may work better for you. I owned the DT 770 and 880 for quite some time and yes they are going to have more live feel to them, certainly the 880 did. Try the Z7 if you get a chance as it may surprise you.

DT880 mids sounds thin compared to Z7.
After listening to Z7 for sometime, it really makes me dislike the DT880 how thin sounding it is compared to the thick, smooth mids with a slight hint of warmth and how Z7 ability to excel the intoxicating female vocals.
Side by side, DT880 sounds dull and lack of life.

 

[Allanmarcus]

DT880 mids sounds thin compared to Z7.
After listening to Z7 for sometime, it really makes me dislike the DT880 how thin sounding it is compared to the thick, smooth mids with a slight hint of warmth and how Z7 ability to excel the intoxicating female vocals.
Side by side, DT880 sounds dull and lack of life.

Well, this just goes to show you why everyone needs to audition headphones for themselves. I pretty feel the opposite as Ben here. The Z7's to me have a bloated upperbass that bleeds into the rest of the sound, which ruins the "live-ly-ness" for me. Jude mentioned in the CanJam preview video the Z7s have some "sparkle", but I find that lacking, which is why I like the 770's better. Now I'm almost 52 and attended way too many Grateful Dead concerts in my youth, so my hearing is not as good as the young folk here, so I may need more treble to compensate. 
 
The Z7s sure are smooth, especially on female vocals, and forward on male vocals, and have a strong bass, but the 770's extend a little lower, although not as pronounced, and have a more "fun" signature. Let me also say the Z7s grow on you very fast.
 
Unless you have some headphones to compare, or you can listen to these headphones, you will just never know. 

 

[Allanmarcus]

 
I really like Beyerdynamic, and you nailed it. The Z7 by way of comparison is the more forgiving warmer headphone (which is absolutely fine and often a good thing). I'll repeat myself here and say that once you cut some of the muddy bass out of the Z7, you start to hear more balance and other aspects of the sound seem more clear.

Agreeon the EQ, but for me (and many), the need to eq translates to "move on". For me, not all my sources on my Mac or iPhone can be eq-ed. For me, here's my final review. My Sony's Z7s are going on the classified.
 
Very warm sounding. Bloated bass in the 100hz range. forward male voices. smooth treble/too polite. Upper posts in headband dug into my head causing comfort issues. Comfortable earpads.
 
Off to try one of the other dozen high end closed cans. I'm guessing the oppo or el-8s will attract my fancy. Just need to wait until they show up at a discount on the classified forum I'll probably end up with a T5p or a T51p, but I gotta try 'em all, right?
 
The sound of the Z7's really grew on me and I learned to appreciate better midrange, but the bottom line for me was comfort. The posts in the headband just press ever so gently against my head, building up into pain. Most likely my defective head. I'm really sensitive to things that press into me. I don't wear a watch or any jewelry (except a thin wedding band, 'cus I value my life).
 
That said, $400, paypal gift, and you pay shipping, and they are yours! Still under warranty until 10/24/15. Originally purchased from Sony US.

 

[Prophet293]

does the Z7 come with a case/bag/pouch? If not, how do you guys carry it when travel?

 

[akhyar]

does the Z7 come with a case/bag/pouch? If not, how do you guys carry it when travel?

I'm afraid not. Only the big box that it comes with.
You can try the Hippo large case from Amazon or Jaben store.
I believed some one post the Amazon's link few pages back.

 

[Kerouac]

 

  How many hours burn-in time are approximately needed for the Z7?

depends on if you subscribe to "burn in voodoo"
 
Better question to ask is "how many hours does it take for my brain to become used to the headphones?"
 
When they start sounding good to you, you are burned in. 

I see, in that case 3 minutes burn-in time will probably be enough for my poor little brain

 
Btw, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (that you mentioned) is a great classic album indeed...can't wait to hear it with Z7 (which will arrive this afternoon)

 

[Sonic Defender]

 
Agreeon the EQ, but for me (and many), the need to eq translates to "move on". For me, not all my sources on my Mac or iPhone can be eq-ed. For me, here's my final review. My Sony's Z7s are going on the classified.
 
Very warm sounding. Bloated bass in the 100hz range. forward male voices. smooth treble/too polite. Upper posts in headband dug into my head causing comfort issues. Comfortable earpads.
 
Off to try one of the other dozen high end closed cans. I'm guessing the oppo or el-8s will attract my fancy. Just need to wait until they show up at a discount on the classified forum I'll probably end up with a T5p or a T51p, but I gotta try 'em all, right?
 
The sound of the Z7's really grew on me and I learned to appreciate better midrange, but the bottom line for me was comfort. The posts in the headband just press ever so gently against my head, building up into pain. Most likely my defective head. I'm really sensitive to things that press into me. I don't wear a watch or any jewelry (except a thin wedding band, 'cus I value my life).
 
That said, $400, paypal gift, and you pay shipping, and they are yours! Still under warranty until 10/24/15. Originally purchased from Sony US.

I hear you brother, I'm almost 47 and attending many o loud rock concert in my day; still do, but much less now as I am trying to preserve my still pretty good hearing, plus Tool keeps delaying their next album so no tour! For me the bass can be solved easily enough I think and the rest of the sound signature is good enough to make it worth doing. Yes, the bass does suffer bloat, but so far as I have said, the Z7 responds quite well to EQ adjustment. I haven't played with anything below 250hz yet. How sure are you of the 100hz bloat? Maybe I need to monkey around there a bit. Another thing to consider is the DAC/amp. I know it sounds crazy, but the DAC and amp can be a big part of the equation.
 
I find on the PHA 3 that the bass is even more aggressive than it is through my home rig (NAD M3 and a Gungnir DAC). Both the players are the same, Dells running JRiver MC 20 under Win 7. I'm going to spend some more time getting to know the Z7 as I think it will be worth it. For certain the Z7 isn't going to best an HE 560 or an LCD 3 or make the TH900 look over it's shoulder, but it doesn't have to does it? It just needs to sound very good and it is most certainly more affordable. The question becomes is the price difference worth the compromises you make, and all headphone designs have some compromises. I had a DT 770 for about 2 years I think and I did love it, but I'm not sure I remember it being better than the Z7, although it has been a few years since I sold it.
 
I do notice the Z7 is puzzling where sub-bass is concerned. It doesn't have much attack or aplomb down low. It goes low, but the amplitude of the sub-bass seems low and perhaps makes that region of the sound seem a little disconnected? I need to listen more and see what is up. I could just be missing it, but after owning the D7000, DT 880 (which actually could surprise you in sub bass reach not impact) and the 560, I'm used to decent sub-bass performance so I think I can identify it. Not to mention in my near field listening I have two Rel T Zero subs that are very tuneful to augment my Neat speakers and I have them set just enough to balance the sub-bass without bloating it up which would sound awful. As I said, more testing needed. Regardless, I like the Z7 quite a bit and I aim to work the signature ever so slightly to get the most out of it before I will say if it stays for a year or so. I pretty much always sell a headphone after at most two years regardless of whether or not I really like. I grow bored by that point and need a new signature to explore.

 

[Kerouac]

Look what the cat just (2 hours ago) brought in...
 

 

[Robert777]

Wow. They look really nice in that photo. Must resist. Must not spend more money on headphones.

 

[pearljam50000]

Why are the pads thicker at the bottom?

 

[Kerouac]

  Wow. They look really nice in that photo. Must resist. Must not spend more money on headphones.

If you already own a Pono, you definitely should reconsider (because of the balanced connection) that

 

Why are the pads thicker at the bottom?

For more comfort and better seal I guess...

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

 
I do notice the Z7 is puzzling where sub-bass is concerned. It doesn't have much attack or aplomb down low. It goes low, but the amplitude of the sub-bass seems low and perhaps makes that region of the sound seem a little disconnected? I need to listen more and see what is up. I could just be missing it, but after owning the D7000, DT 880 (which actually could surprise you in sub bass reach not impact) and the 560, I'm used to decent sub-bass performance so I think I can identify it.

 
A quick look at the FR graph at innerfidelity shows that Z7 has significant roll off of sub bass, while D7000, DT880, HE-560 all show very extended sub bass in FR graphs. Still, I love the Z7 sound 

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

 
depends on if you subscribe to "burn in voodoo"
 
Better question to ask is "how many hours does it take for my brain to become used to the headphones?"
 
When they start sounding good to you, you are burned in. 

 
Most likely some of both going on....
 
Either way, I will always suggest a very, very long audition before forming am opinion.

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

  Look what the cat just (2 hours ago) brought in...
 

 
Its nice how the stock cable works with the Pono...