[TokenGesture]

I have a 70mm smile on my face right about now

 

[TokenGesture]

Right out of the box I know these are worthy contenders. Look good, smell good

Only time for a real quick sprint through some test tracks tonight. Very smooth, no grain. They are not bass cannons, rather I would say they are built from the bass up by lwhich I mean the bass is clearly the foundation stone of the presentation. Smooth highs, not much air but also no glare, no harshness, can't imagine these being fatiguing ever. Rich, melodic, speaker like are the words coming to mind right now. Decent soundstage certainly by closed standards. Isolate well but leak.

For my tastes these are sounding pretty great right out of the box.

Compare to Pioneer Master 1 the latter sounds more v shaped in comparison, more highs, more air and atmosphere, plus that big bass, maybe a heavier bass than the Sony. But early days and I haven't attempted anything even quasi scientific. But the Sony sound rounder and more relaxed than the Pioneer which I find pretty energetic at both extremes.

 

[kman1211]

Talked to the someone at the local Best Buy Magnolia store today and they said they will be getting the Z1R. Could be a place to audition them.

 

[purk]

  Talked to the someone at the local Best Buy Magnolia store today and they said they will be getting the Z1R. Could be a place to audition them.

Nice....that will be great.  However,  I doubt however that they will have them available soon.

 

[kman1211]

  Nice....that will be great.  However,  I doubt however that they will have them available soon.

He was acting like they would get it around when they are officially released, so it could be soon. But who knows.

 

[jibzilla]

  I can see why you are having a second thought.  It seems that even the Ether Flow C maybe a better choice compared to the Z1R.  $2200 or so is a good sum of money.  I personally would use half of it and get a really nice amplifier for your HD800s including a balanced cable.  Perhaps the HDVD600 will be a really good choice.  Of course if you absolutely need a closed can then the HD800s is a no go option and the Z1R is the choice.
 
I could see why someone would rate the Z1R as not even a good deal for $1000.   The HD800 is dirt cheap these days plus he may already have a really good amplifier to drive them  well and the Elear is pretty darn amazing for just 1K.  The HD800 isn't anemic in bass if you have a good amp to drive them.  Again, I can't recommend an ECP audio highly enough.  Heck the Apex Peak/Volcano (thanks James!) if you can find one...is splendid at driving the HD800 as well.

 
I don't care if the hd800's are cheap. I got mine demo from ttvj for $1k even. Combine them with a $4k Teton or Ravenswood (what the headphone amp portion costs) and you have something that is very hard to best at the $5k headphone/amp combo. Stax will best it but stax has its own caveat's. Really interested in Apex's new amp. Really low impedance, but the mention's of house sound and more tubey than peak/volcano really lend itself to the hd800's.
 
The Z1R and many other headphones really do have their hands full at $1k and I was really not a fan of the hd800's the first time around when I heard them on a selection of budget gear. Was even less of a fan the second time around on mid level gear. This third time around though has been magic and I also found some less expensive options that do a great job. The $1k wheatfield ha-2 along with the hd800 is amazing and despite being rather pricey at $2k I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's the best deal in audio and still $200 left over to get some tubes compared to the Z1R's price.

 

[XERO1]

  Talked to the someone at the local Best Buy Magnolia store today and they said they will be getting the Z1R. Could be a place to audition them.

 
You must have been at a Magnolia Design Center (MDC), of which there are 84 locations in the US, because there is no way the more common Magnolia Home Theater (MHT) locations will be getting these. The easiest way to tell them apart is by using the MDC location list.  If your local Best Buy has a Magnolia in it and it's not on the list, it's a MHT.
 
https://www.magnoliaav.com/locations/

 

[Sonic Defender]

   

OT I know, but you may want to consider the Sonarworks software correction for the HD800 which many experienced members swear by.

 

[purk]

   
I don't care if the hd800's are cheap. I got mine demo from ttvj for $1k even. Combine them with a $4k Teton or Ravenswood (what the headphone amp portion costs) and you have something that is very hard to best at the $5k headphone/amp combo. Stax will best it but stax has its own caveat's. Really interested in Apex's new amp. Really low impedance, but the mention's of house sound and more tubey than peak/volcano really lend itself to the hd800's.
 
The Z1R and many other headphones really do have their hands full at $1k and I was really not a fan of the hd800's the first time around when I heard them on a selection of budget gear. Was even less of a fan the second time around on mid level gear. This third time around though has been magic and I also found some less expensive options that do a great job. The $1k wheatfield ha-2 along with the hd800 is amazing and despite being rather pricey at $2k I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's the best deal in audio and still $200 left over to get some tubes compared to the Z1R's price.

Yup, can't agree more.  BTW, "Ravenswood" is the top-end ECP audio amplifier.  
 

 OT I know, but you may want to consider the Sonarworks software correction for the HD800 which many experienced members swear by.

 
That as well.  

 

[beowulf]

Right out of the box I know these are worthy contenders. Look good, smell good

 
Welcome to the pool. What's your serial? No photos?

Do you have Sony's address? (This is not important at all but for some reason I'm curious)
 
Box/Case is epic. Build quality is epic. Design is epic. On this part, I have absolutely no complaints

That's one of the reason why I think they belong near the current price tier (but a bit below) and comments about being worth significantly less are nonense. You can tell these are properly built headphones even before you start listening.
 
I have them on right now, playing Jordi Savall - La Folia. Suits the sonic signature pretty well, airy, detailed, very natural.
Oops, Savall just ended and next in the playlist is Kiesza's Hideaway.. I know, I know, that was a weird sequence, don't ask.
Hideaway isn't bad actually, I expected the bass to blow me to the other side of the room but it's just right.
 
Talking about bass, checked out Hans Zimmer's "Why so serious?" from the Dark Knight soundtrack earlier... the punchy sub-bass turned out to be very well tamed in this one too. Which is good since I hate this track in pretty much any bassy headphone.
 
 

Only time for a real quick sprint through some test tracks tonight. Very smooth, no grain.

 
Yes, that's one of my peeves. I want a bit more brightness, a bit more grain. A little nudge in the direction of the CD3000 (and supposedly, R10). Harsh isn't always bad unless you overdo it. The resolution is all there but to me there's a little bit of veil that should be removed. Maybe it's just my old ears... maybe not.
 

They are not bass cannons, rather I would say they are built from the bass up by lwhich I mean the bass is clearly the foundation stone of the presentation.

 
Agree. Been saying that form the beginning, although the "OMG OMG OMG THE BASS" panic spread early. But that is unjustified.
 

Smooth highs, not much air but also no glare, no harshness, can't imagine these being fatiguing ever.

 
Agree on all of that, except the air. For fully closed and given the amount of isolation, they are quite airy. But of course, perhaps you have a few open sets in mind.
 
Smooth highs and totally non fatiguing sound can be a plus with many recordings. Had enough with Kiesza and pushed my playlist back to Winterplay's "Billy Jean"... smothness compared to the HD800 and CD3K is considerable. A tiny little bit too much, I'd still prefer it grainier, but it's definitely more mellow and easier to enjoy after long sessions, the cello and bass become very silky smooth.
 

Decent soundstage certainly by closed standards. Isolate well but leak.
 

 
I'd give the soundstage a bit extra points. It's beyond decent for closed cans, pretty good. Far from most good open sets tho, but there's the difficult and then there's the impossible.
 

For my tastes these are sounding pretty great right out of the box.
 

 
They're pretty good, right? I see you had a good start.
And again, how about that feeling of quality in everything except the sound? (er, and the documentation)
 
 

Compare to Pioneer Master 1 the latter sounds more v shaped in comparison, more highs, more air and atmosphere, plus that big bass, maybe a heavier bass than the Sony. But early days and I haven't attempted anything even quasi scientific. But the Sony sound rounder and more relaxed than the Pioneer which I find pretty energetic at both extremes.

 
I'd like more air and grainier, brighter treble and high mids, but in the the rest the Z1R are just about right. In terms of bass, I definitely don't need anything heavier.
 
I like these, and I want to keep them. But I want them to cost 1.500 max, then they'd be the best closed set in the market. 1.900? Still ouch.  2.200? Just no. (EUR btw, add +10% for USD)
 
 

  Seriously tho, the HD800S can be a bass monster as well as the CD3000...I have heard them with plenty of bass before.  You simply need to open up and give it a try.  For instance, my ECP DSHA-0/1 has plenty of bass for the HD800...and the Questyle Monoblock is also capable but to a lesser degree.  The HDVD600 used is a  steal if you want to amp the HD800/S.

 
Can't join you on this one purk, I think the 800S can get a lot of body with the right sources, but it will never reach the Z1R in terms of bass quantity (and quality). The same applies to the CD3000, which have the quality but - for certain tracks - not the quantity. And it's not something cabling or amping will change.
I hope you get to hear the Z1R soon, will be very interesting to compare them with the R10, you'll see what I mean regarding bass body and tightness.
 
In a way, times are better now, we have many interesting choices, some highly superior in certain areas. So more excuses to have multiple units instead of just one all-rounder.

 

[kman1211]

   
You must have been at a Magnolia Design Center (MDC), of which there are 84 locations in the US, because there is no way the more common Magnolia Home Theater (MHT) locations will be getting these. The easiest way to tell them apart is by using the MDC location list.  If your local Best Buy has a Magnolia in it and it's not on the list, it's a MHT.
 
https://www.magnoliaav.com/locations/

Yes it is a MDC as it is on the list, it had a Z7, Nighthawk, EL-8's, McIntosh MHP1000, plus many more they said were not on display such as the Audeze LCD series, I believe the HD 800, etc. They also had electrostatic speakers(not well versed in speakers sadly) with a McIntosh tube amp on display.

 

[fullranger]

I decided to offer my unmodded Z7 to ZR-1 buyers to do a side-by-side comparison. They have a few hundred hours on them so they should be pretty settled in by now. Will send boxed as close to new as possible to give that new unboxing review experience :0)
We can share shipping costs, as my gift to you early subscribers.
Serial numbers 18729.
PM to keep this thread clean...
Chris

 

[XERO1]

  Yes it is a MDC as it is on the list, it had a Z7, Nighthawk, EL-8's, McIntosh MHP1000, plus many more they said were not on display such as the Audeze LCD series, I believe the HD 800, etc. They also had electrostatic speakers(not well versed in speakers sadly) with a McIntosh tube amp on display.

 
If the Z1R becomes available through MDC's they will most likely be a 'special order only' item, and when I last worked at a MDC a few years ago, any special order item could not be returned unless the item was still new in the box.

 
Just something to keep in mind if you are considering purchasing the Z1R from a MDC.

 

[fullranger]

That is, I'll lend them to interested reviewers.
I also have a set of MDR-EX1000 Japanese IEM, if someone is willing to offer comparisons with the ZR-1.
Maybe we could do a swap comparisons when you get your fill. Epic HP's for a loan...

 

[kaneren13]

Hope the price drop a little bit.