[Sonic Defender]

This is Craig from Music To My Ears in Pittsburgh, ...

Awesome, thanks for doing that. I would expect there to be more differences based on reading impressions so I'm a little surprised. Anymore input comparing the two would be welcome. Nice little headphone lineup there by the way.

 

[listen4joy]

i read what purk said about the Z1R compare to the R-10. its little dissapointed that after so many years with tech move forward the Z1R still cant beat the "old" flagship... i will pass this and wait for sony flagship that will superpass R10.

 

[purk]

  i read what purk said about the Z1R compare to the R-10. its little dissapointed that after so many years with tech move forward the Z1R still cant beat the "old" flagship... i will pass this and wait for sony flagship that will superpass R10.

It's a different tuning and a lot of people including myself do enjoy the Z1R.  This headphone is a very musical and forgiving closed headphones that work well from variety of setups.  The R10 is not as easy to live with especially if you need a lot of bass and own less than ideal setup.   I would not rule out listening to the Z1R because it does bring a lot to the table especially if your need a warm, lush, bassy, and musical set of semi-closed/sealed headphone with very good sense of soundstage.  I personally prefer the R10 due to its technical ability including a more refined presentation, better soundstage & imaging as well as greater sense of speed and details, but the Z1R is a lot more enjoyable than I once thought.  My Z1R has a moon-audio silver dragon on it however.

 

[Sonic Defender]

And over time Purk may start to really groove to the Z1R presentation as he I assume has spent years with the vaunted R10. I also think that many of us who gravitate to the Z1R are after just the musical, deep bass ability the Z1R provides and in these areas it sounds like with current production closed headphones, the Z1R may be at the front of the pack. Hopefully I'll know by around January 15th.

 

[Rowethren]

Listening to some Rush and Pink Floyd with my Z1R and the texture of the bass is immense, really sounds great! I can't wait to see how much of an improvement there will be when I get the new cable so I can run them balanced  

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Listening to some Rush and Pink Floyd with my Z1R and the texture of the bass is immense, really sounds great! I can't wait to see how much of an improvement there will be when I get the new cable so I can run them balanced  

Try some music with even better bass texture. Sorry, grew up on Pink Floyd and Rush, saw Rush live like 10 times easily, but man their albums are not well recorded. Pink Floyd, kind of the same, okay, but not great. Can you at all enjoy modern electronic music? I would also highly recommend Dead Can Dance Spiritchaser. I can Dropbox it for you if you like.
 
Edit: mind you some of the Rush has been reissued and my brother does say they are improved for sure. I remember back in the day being so impressed with Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves, but then when starting to hear other artists I began to realize the original albums were only so so mastered.
 
Hope that didn't come off as dismissive or challenging, I didn't mean it in that spirit. I'm 48 myself and while I of course grew up on much of this music, I pretty much only use it with speakers these days and find for headphone listening I can only handle really well mastered material if it is old, or newer electronica and even some pop, but the compression sometimes is an issue.

 

[Rowethren]

  Try some music with even better bass texture. Sorry, grew up on Pink Floyd and Rush, saw Rush live like 10 times easily, but man their albums are not well recorded. Pink Floyd, kind of the same, okay, but not great. Can you at all enjoy modern electronic music? I would also highly recommend Dead Can Dance Spiritchaser. I can Dropbox it for you if you like.
 
Edit: mind you some of the Rush has been reissued and my brother does say they are improved for sure. I remember back in the day being so impressed with Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves, but then when starting to hear other artists I began to realize the original albums were only so so mastered.

 
I like a some electronic music and that sounds great with the Z1R. I would agree a lot of music is not mastered very well, I seem to have become more tolerant to it though as I like a lot of classic metal and they seem to be some of the worst offenders 

. The remastered versions from the last 10 years of so for lots of the older classic rock/prog rock sounds way better than the originals though as you said. Not always an improvement though and is sometimes just a hashed job to sell more albums 

.

 

[Whitigir]

And over time Purk may start to really groove to the Z1R presentation as he I assume has spent years with the vaunted R10. I also think that many of us who gravitate to the Z1R are after just the musical, deep bass ability the Z1R provides and in these areas it sounds like with current production closed headphones, the Z1R may be at the front of the pack. Hopefully I'll know by around January 15th.

You will not have Z1R until 15th ? Wow....I somehow feel very itching for you. Sorry about that

 

[TSAVJason]

You will not have Z1R until 15th ? Wow....I somehow feel very itching for you. Sorry about that

Thats what happens when you shop off shore or hope you can get it from a non-authorized dealer. There are plenty of them in North America to purchase you just can't get deep deals.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Thats what happens when you shop off shore or hope you can get it from a non-authorized dealer. There are plenty of them in North America to purchase you just can't get deep deals.

Well I couldn't afford full retail. I had to quit work over a year ago to stay home with my disabled daughter so I sold gear to pay for these. I was able to find a US based dealer I know and secured a good price that without the discount, it wouldn't have been possible. I take it the Z1R is worth the wait so I'll wait.

 

[TSAVJason]

Well I couldn't afford full retail. I had to quit work over a year ago to stay home with my disabled daughter so I sold gear to pay for these. I was able to find a US based dealer I know and secured a good price that without the discount, it wouldn't have been possible. I take it the Z1R is worth the wait so I'll wait.

If you were in the US and your circumstances are verifiable as a dealer that cares I would present your case to Sony and ask for permission to help. I'd suggest you find a Canadian dealer and ask for assistance. It's a better bet in my opinion.

 

[Sonic Defender]

If you were in the US and your circumstances are verifiable as a dealer that cares I would present your case to Sony and ask for permission to help. I'd suggest you find a Canadian dealer and ask for assistance. It's a better bet in my opinion.

Thank you, that is kind of you to suggest, and nice to know that some people care. My source is a Sony dealer who I do have confidence and faith in and he swears that I will be receiving my Z1R. If by the 15th of January that still hasn't happened I'll either look at another headphone or just give up altogether. Thank you again for the suggestion, I may yet look into it if needed. Cheers and Happy New Year.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Yes, it is tough, but well worth it. My daughter has been diagnosed for high-functioning autism, severe panic disorder and agoraphobia and the poor kid isn't even 12 years old. She stopped being able to attend school in 2015 and I have been home with her since. Hopefully by next year she will be in a school for people with anxiety and panic disorders. In the meantime I have decided I'll use the time and get my Masters of Social Work.

 

[phonomat]

Hey, Sonic Defender, thank you for reminding me of SPIRITCHASER. As an old Dead Can Dance fan, I bought it when it came out but had almost forgotten about this hidden gem in my collection. Enjoying this immensely on the Z1R!

Best of health for you and your daughter in 2017!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Hey, Sonic Defender, thank you for reminding me of SPIRITCHASER. As an old Dead Can Dance fan, I bought it when it came out but had almost forgotten about this hidden gem in my collection. Enjoying this immensely on the Z1R!

Best of health for you and your daughter in 2017!

Thanks mate same to you and yours. Yes it is a stunningly well recorded album. I recently purchased it again as a MSFL 2008 re-issue, but I'm not sure I like it better than the original, although it sounds fantastic. I sadly don't like any other Dead Can Dance anywhere near as much as Spiritchaser which saddens me as I was hoping for another such gem. Might I also suggest a fantastic electronica album from Bluetech called The White Horse. It is only 5 tracks, 4 of them are awesome pieces, one doesn't do much for me, but the recording is excellent and should showcase what the Z1R excels at.