[courierdriver]

Ya right. Sometimes stuff happens for a reason. Recently had a buddy of mine ask about my experience with the IER Z1R. It was a one time audition a long time ago a preproduction unit at 2018 Can Jam before they released what has to be Sonys best earphones I have ever heard. Sony earphones all have coloration. big bold bass, lush precise mids and smooth extended treble. Sony house sound has been changing throughout the years but none of their previous offerings sound like the IER Z1R.

Well even though I told myself I wasn't gonna buy anything. Headfi got me again. I was browsing through the sales pages and found what supposed to be a mint condition Z1R. I bit. It will be surprising to hear these again but I had to do it. I came close to getting a set that was before the Luna hit. Love my Lunas but always wanted a set of IER Z1R. Then the MEST was a thing and so I went with the MEST. Then I had to grab a IT07 cus you know, I had to. All the while always wanting a set of IER-Z1Rs.

I have never heard a stage like the IER Z1R and this was playing out of my old Shanling M3s I took to Can Jam. Never heard such silky extended treble, Never heard that low end bass texture quite like what I heard on that day. It has been over 2 years since hearing them. As they say in our hobby. You can't unhear them.

I can't wait to hear them after over 2 years ago auditioning them.

I totally hear you, man! I've had a similar experience in my hifi journey. But not with iems, but with floor standing hifi speakers. Back in the late '90's, my brother in law (who is also an audiophile like me) was searching for an amp to drive his power hungry Energy Reference Conoseurs. We traveled to a hifi store 1 hour away from our city, to audition some amps. When we arrived at the store, we were taken to a listening room that had all the amps the store was selling. The speakers hooked up, were the B&W 801. My bil had brought a few CD's with him to audition the amps, as did I. He pulled out his Enya Sheppard Moons CD, and we listened to it on the system. OMG! That was the first time I ever got goosebumps. It sounded so live...like the performer was RIGHT THERE. It's like you said: I can't ever unforget the sound. We went to many hifi shops and shows afterwards throughout the years; but that experience was never rivaled or replicated. That experience, for me, is the BENCHMARK, for what reproduced music should sound like.

 

[chifihead]

My Whizzer HE-01 just arrived.

The fit and comfort is horrible. It keeps detaching itself from my ears until I switched to an M size AET07 and changed the cable to the TRN T2. The default cable has an angled QDC-like (but not quite QDC) connector, whose angle puts the housing at an off fit in my ears. These would benefit from using MMCX so you could rotate the cable so the angle is just right.

Now it sits there but still very easy to detach. Also, the fit is not good enough for me to be sure I'm getting the best sound from it.

The housing is on the plump side and I can feel the edges bumping my ears - I reckon they're going to hurt in the long run.

The overall sound is the middle point between fun and balanced. It never gets really fun, but too colored to be balanced. Warm, somewhat relaxed.

The sound is nice, but the fit is meh, almost yuck. I'll play around with some other cables and if I still can't figure it out I'll have to let this one go.

 

[superuser1]

@chifihead Whizzer lost me with A15

 

[chifihead]

@chifihead Whizzer lost me with A15

Oh? This is the first Whizzer I ever tried. No stores sell them here, I bought mine used from someone who bought them from Aliexpress. (I half suspect he sold it due to the fit issues?)

 

[chinmie]

i find whizzer similar to 1more: generally okay and not a bad buy, but nothing special at all..

 

[unifutomaki]

I can never get enough of the interplay and harmony between Mafu-kun's and Soraru-san's voices on this track. With the Moondrop SSP via balanced out on my ZX300, the experience becomes even more emotional, maybe a little bit magical...

 

[Nimweth]

I totally hear you, man! I've had a similar experience in my hifi journey. But not with iems, but with floor standing hifi speakers. Back in the late '90's, my brother in law (who is also an audiophile like me) was searching for an amp to drive his power hungry Energy Reference Conoseurs. We traveled to a hifi store 1 hour away from our city, to audition some amps. When we arrived at the store, we were taken to a listening room that had all the amps the store was selling. The speakers hooked up, were the B&W 801. My bil had brought a few CD's with him to audition the amps, as did I. He pulled out his Enya Sheppard Moons CD, and we listened to it on the system. OMG! That was the first time I ever got goosebumps. It sounded so live...like the performer was RIGHT THERE. It's like you said: I can't ever unforget the sound. We went to many hifi shops and shows afterwards throughout the years; but that experience was never rivaled or replicated. That experience, for me, is the BENCHMARK, for what reproduced music should sound like.

I had the same type of experience in the mid 70s in an amazing demonstration with the Cambridge Audio R50 speakers. I could never afford them then but in 2004 I found a pair in the free ads and I still have them now and enjoy them every day. There's nothing like transmission line bass!

 

[jmwant]

Which Norn is it? Urd, Skuld or Verdandi? Lol

Hehe I think all of them together.

 

[jmwant]

Not sure if this should be counted as new. Hidizs has released a Titanium Alloy version of the AP80 Pro.

 

[jmwant]

Hidizs has released dh80/dh80s dac-amp. This looks pretty interesting.

 

[DUNU-Topsound]

https://twitter.com/DUNU_Headphone/status/1363854208429096962

Yep, get ready for that Extra Screechy Tuning. Also rolls off at 112 Hz. Just dies. Can't hear a thing below it. But it rings like crazy at 112 kHz. Guaranteed to give you tinnitus.

 

[IEMusic]

Yep, get ready for that Extra Screechy Tuning. Also rolls off at 112 Hz. Just dies. Can't hear a thing below it. But it rings like crazy at 112 kHz. Guaranteed to give you tinnitus.

Nice!! Refreshing good ol‘ sarcasm. It’s great when a company doesn’t take themselves too seriously.

 

[superuser1]

Yep, get ready for that Extra Screechy Tuning. Also rolls off at 112 Hz. Just dies. Can't hear a thing below it. But it rings like crazy at 112 kHz. Guaranteed to give you tinnitus.

Bring it on

 

[drbluenewmexico]

Hidizs has released dh80/dh80s dac-amp. This looks pretty interesting.

Ordered one in Blue today! Seems like a great deal and good device

 

[FreeWheelinAudioLuv2]

I had the same type of experience in the mid 70s in an amazing demonstration with the Cambridge Audio R50 speakers. I could never afford them then but in 2004 I found a pair in the free ads and I still have them now and enjoy them every day. There's nothing like transmission line bass!

I haven't had that experience yet with either headphones or earphones. Maybe the closest for me would be listening to the UE Triple-fi 10 after using the Sennheiser CX300II's, and laying there and being sucked into a marvelous audio experience, but I was inexperienced with audio. Since then, i'm still waiting for that all-encompassing nirvana. Maybe one day? Maybe never?