[Whitigir]

Its me again.  I was wondering if you heard the Grado PS1000 (orig, i or e variants) or the BeyerDynamic T1 (gen 1 or 2) against the Z7 with its improved cables and wanted to know your impressions between them.


I may purchase the Z7 as the on-the-go headphones, with improved cables, while the BeyerDynamics T1 or the Grado PS1000 as a reference headphones.  I was able to audition these two headphones and fell in love with them both.  I also auditioned the Sennheiser HD-800 as well and found them to sound similar to the Grado PS1000, with less bass.  All three of those are absolute winners in my book, with the Grados as the absolute winners.

My apologies, I have none of those above to audition against Z7, I can't help you here.

 

[Hi 5]

  I doesn't liked this combo, Sony Z1 - Fiio E17 - Z7, but I listened for too short period. The Z7's sounded somehow dull with the Fiio. You have to try yourself.

 
 
I run mine off the Fiio X3II and E17K Combo..
and I LOVE IT!
 

 
So if this is considered bad sounding then I can't wait to do some Upgrades!
 
As I'm sure there is much more potential to be had with the Z7
 
But as for the Z7's I don't plan on ever letting them go!!

 

 

 

 

[DBX1]

My apologies, I have none of those above to audition against Z7, I can't help you here.

Well then you owe it to yourself to go out there and audition thm for me. Go go GO!!!

 

[AeroSatan]

  I'm on a all-in-one PC, I can't 

 
I used to have a Lynx Studio L22, Xonar Essence and an X-Fi Titanium, but now I'm on a bum rig...
 
And at the local Best Buy they have both the cards you named...
 
But as far as volume goes, it is still alright, sure it ain't cinema or nightclub loud but... okay
 
It's just that the Realtek software applies compression/normalization of the sound and prevents going beyond 100% volume.

Check out Audioquest's Dragonfly external USB DAC, incredible portable DAC and amplifier in a tiny package

 

[pietcux]

I'm on a all-in-one PC, I can't 

I used to have a Lynx Studio L22, Xonar Essence and an X-Fi Titanium, but now I'm on a bum rig...

And at the local Best Buy they have both the cards you named...

But as far as volume goes, it is still alright, sure it ain't cinema or nightclub loud but... okay

It's just that the Realtek software applies compression/normalization of the sound and prevents going beyond 100% volume.

Another good external dac/amp/sound processor is the Sound Blaster X7. You can find tons of info on HeadFi about it.

 

[Nhare90]

just put mine up for sale on the forum. i would have to say I'm the worlds dumbest man in the headphone purchasing area- so many pairs not listened to and these are one of the many. any offers considered! just trying to help someone off my silly decision making.

 

[tokyoskies]

  just put mine up for sale on the forum. i would have to say I'm the worlds dumbest man in the headphone purchasing area- so many pairs not listened to and these are one of the many. any offers considered! just trying to help someone off my silly decision making.

I was thinking to buy a 2nd set, but getting in the country is always a pain. Customs will slap me with 30-35% import tax

 

[Nhare90]

i have no experience with customs but from what i have read.. well quit frankly they can go pound sand!

 

[tokyoskies]

So I am starting to mod the phones, mostly following Whitigir's and Peterek's advice. I will be trying to document all the steps as good as I can with the equipment I have at hand and then post it in the DYI forum. 
 
I believe there is a clear benefit to replace the internal wiring with solid silver. For anyone who wants to do this I would recommend to get familiar with the internals and take your time. There is no way and no need to complete this in 2h or less. Especially dressing the insides in the tape can be time consuming, if you wanna get this done right.
 
There are ample of chances to poke a hole through the driver membrane or break something else in the process, but generally these cups are very easy to disassemble and there is plenty of room to work. 
 
Also the headphone jacks are way smaller than the pictures would suggest and the glue holding them is rather soft. A little wiggle will do the trick (after desoldering from the drivers)
 
Here some photos from my initial screening and starting to add tape.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

 
Its me again.  I was wondering if you heard the Grado PS1000 (orig, i or e variants) or the BeyerDynamic T1 (gen 1 or 2) against the Z7 with its improved cables and wanted to know your impressions between them.

I may purchase the Z7 as the on-the-go headphones, with improved cables, while the BeyerDynamics T1 or the Grado PS1000 as a reference headphones.  I was able to audition these two headphones and fell in love with them both.  I also auditioned the Sennheiser HD-800 as well and found them to sound similar to the Grado PS1000, with less bass.  All three of those are absolute winners in my book, with the Grados as the absolute winners.

 
I've only auditioned the headphones you mentioned, but one thing I must warn you about.  The Z7 will be way more laid back then all 3 of the headphones you mentioned (I haven't listened to the the T1v2 or the current PS1000e both were older models)
 
Also keep in mind that the Z7 isn't a super-isolator.  Those bass ports do bleed some sound in/out.  They aren't TH600/TH900 bad, but still worth mentioning.  Especially if you are on noisy mass transit...

 

[HiFiGuy528]

Has anyone seen counterfeit aka FAKE Z7 in the wild? There are some questionable low price listings on the Bay from Korea. 

 

[Whitigir]

Has anyone seen counterfeit aka FAKE Z7 in the wild? There are some questionable low price listings on the Bay from Korea. 

Not that I have known off, the lowest would be from Japan ? Much lower than that is used one ? Even lower ? I have no clues, but that is not a good thing. Understandable though, Z7 design is rugged and built like a tank with the comfy level of high-end gears

 

[laelle]

 
Check out Audioquest's Dragonfly external USB DAC, incredible portable DAC and amplifier in a tiny package

Yes, it seems this and the Audioengine D3 among others...

Another good external dac/amp/sound processor is the Sound Blaster X7. You can find tons of info on HeadFi about it.

It looks like a high end receiver.

 

[laelle]

Hey guys today I went into a store and got the chance to audition the following

Sony z7
Sony pha3
Sony zx2

Honestly this was not a good experience at all, the z7 was connected balanced to pha3 and I just hated what I heard

Tried to mess around with sound enhancenments and it just was bad

I tired to figure out what device was the bad device in the chains, was it the headphones, or the zx2 or the pha3

The bass was flappy and bad the sound was cold and not musical and can get harsh

I asked the retailer if I can just listen to the z7 and zx2 but they lost the cable for single ended use

I was so bummed from what I heard that I decided not to go for this setup

Tomorrow I am going in again and I will install on the zx2 hibby and try the setup again as I don't like the eq of the stock music player anyway so maybe I can eq this system

I thought the zx2 has amazing bass and is musical but to me not at all

Also I thought the z7 had great bass but to me not at all and to me it so so bad soundING

Any tips before I go again to the store tomorrow

I just got my MDR-Z7 shipped.
 
Didn't open the box yet (can still be returned).
 
And those thoughts hykhleif has figure among my "what if" thoughts.
 
I also ordered Skullcandy Hesh 2... which I received yesterday, didn't open the box too...
 
I just keep wondering, wondering, wondering if I didn't make a mistake... or if they're equal to my expectations...
 
My ideals: big deep boomy bass and sharp crisp thundering highs AT THE SAME TIME for a glorious dynamic sonic range and a movie theater-like experience!!!
 
My expectations: not as low as I thought bass, no highs, just mids...

 

[Whitigir]

I just got my MDR-Z7 shipped.

Didn't open the box yet (can still be returned).

And those thoughts hykhleif has figure among my "what if" thoughts.

I also ordered Skullcandy Hesh 2... which I received yesterday, didn't open the box too...

I just keep wondering, wondering, wondering if I didn't make a mistake... or if they're equal to my expectations...

My ideals: big deep boomy bass and sharp crisp thundering highs AT THE SAME TIME for a glorious dynamic sonic range and a movie theater-like experience!!!

My expectations: not as low as I thought bass, no highs, just mids...

Z7 or th900