[onurco]

You should try deadmau5 - "Whelk Then" with these settings, one more time.

 

[up late]

i know what the reviewer wrote about the th900, which was measured compared to your extreme take on it. that was absolutely the point of my post.

re. bass: as i said, there's nothing in the review that supports your claim that the th900 suffers from "lean midbass". an absence of bass "bloom" and "natural fatness" are not necessarily indicators of that. those descriptors could also be interpreted as meaning that the bass is taut rather than fat or bloated. the reviewer did rate the th900's bass highest after all.

re. midrange: again, the th900's recessed midrange is acknowledged but that's not the same as calling it "nonexistent" as you did, which is an exaggeration.

re. treble: you've been selective in your quoting by leaving this section out: "easily the best in treble quality yet the most annoying in balance. most crisp and snappy with good body and excellent definition and extension. surprisingly avoids splashiness and when things get busy it holds up well."

the th900 4th and the z1r last on "overall performance", "which most would consider not an unimportant aspect."

i can cherry pick too, so there.

 

[Kukua]

@gelocks
 In all fairness, very few people paid that full retail price. I would bet the average is below $2000 people paid, some got these for quite an amazing price. I would think that at around the $1700-1800 price point the value would be excellent considering the totality of the headphone.

absolutely spot on sonic defender...accurate assumption in my experience!
Consequently at under $1000, you'd agree with me that the p9s is a steal or would you!!!

 

[onurco]

EQ is our friend. Equalizer APO would probably be the invention of our decade, you just need a person with a feel for sound and miracles could happen from the same headphone that you were listening with B&W P9 is out irrelevant to our topic right now

 

[Sonic Defender]

absolutely spot on sonic defender...accurate assumption in my experience!
Consequently at under $1000, you'd agree with me that the p9s is a steal or would you!!!

I'm not quite there yet, but getting there. I'm actually about to start using the P9 right now.

 

[onurco]

www .youtube. com/watch?v=v35YhhzCrYk
 
Just check this link and see how it is possible to have more clear and fuller soundstage with my eq settings

 

[nephilim32]

You should try deadmau5 - "Whelk Then" with these settings, one more time.

Or Depeche Mode's newest album "Spirit." Wow! Incredible low end depth. Great production. James Ford hit it out of the park!!

 

[drbobbybones]

# Filter: ON LS Fc 80 Hz Gain -1 dB

# Filter: ON PK Fc 100 Hz Gain 0 dB Q 10

Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 100 Hz Gain -2 dB

Filter: ON PK Fc 130 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 4

Filter: ON PK Fc 2700 Hz Gain 4 dB Q 3

Filter: ON PK Fc 3250 Hz Gain -8 dB Q 10

# Filter: ON PK Fc 3250 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 10

Filter: ON PK Fc 3400 Hz Gain -2 dB Q 20

Filter: ON PK Fc 4100 Hz Gain 4 dB Q 10

Filter: ON PK Fc 4900 Hz Gain 4 dB Q 5

Filter: ON PK Fc 5800 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 5

Filter: ON PK Fc 6600 Hz Gain 4 dB Q 10

Filter: ON PK Fc 9200 Hz Gain -3 dB Q 5

Filter: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain -6 dB Q 15

Filter: ON PK Fc 15000 Hz Gain -6 dB Q 10

Filter: ON PK Fc 19000 Hz Gain -4 dB Q 10

Filter: ON HSC 20 dB Fc 11000 Hz Gain -2 dB


Add these parameters to Equalizer APO as a file and you will thank me in the end. MDR-Z1R becomes incredibly transparent.

This is great--will have to try this out tonight!

 

[emptymt]

   
 
 
 
That is definitely a reason (not a 'purist' headphone) as well as not doing as well on microdetails vs others (i.e. I did think that Ether Flow-C was a bit better on that regard but simply liked the Z1R more as a whole) why the Z1R is not universally loved. The tonality and frequency is basically geared towards people that like a "fun" sound which also brings up to what I think it is the MOST important reason and that is: PRICING.
 
I think this is why the headphone gets a lot of flak on other sites. At that kind of price, people, especially ones who have tried TOTL open-backs, expect a whole lot more regarding micro-detail, bass control, smoothness of treble, etc. Due to the Z1R having a "fun" signature, it actually places it almost "on par" to lower tiered headphones. I remember mentioning that diminishing returns is a REAL thing. We have up above someone who likens the Z1R to the Denon D7100/D600 line and that is NOT far off (I did have the D600 and liked it). I did the same mentioning the Ultrasone Signature DJ (which I still think is one of the most underrated closed backs). But really, take those two (D600/Sig DJ) and a host of similarly tuned headphones and for a fraction of the price you get something you could probably enjoy the same way. ZMF headphones seem to offer a similar approach at better/cheaper prices. So of course, the reaction is definitely expected.
 
I will definitely try ZMF's newest one of these days (did tried a couple of his older Fostex builds, just wasn't too much of a fan of the Fostex driver). But in the meantime, I'll keep enjoying the Z1Rs...
 
 
Pretty sure it will be lean as well compared to any fun headphone including the Z1Rs... will definitely wait for impressions on this one from ppl I trust. Going blind buying the Ether Flow-Cs was a mistake (for my preferences).

nice summary mate, I'm in Australia and it's one of those regions where the Z1R is priced more reasonably.
The Eikon seems like an interesting one, the biggest downside on paper is the weight.
Had the ZMF has an official dealer here, I might be interested to give it a try, but they don't and I don't blind purchase headphone, but so far the Z1R is doing it for me, very happy with it especially for the price I paid.

 

[canali]

This is great--will have to try this out tonight!

I have no clue how to do this as my laptop doesn't have an EQ,
nor do I have a separate device allowing me to do so
(however, the new Roon Labs 1.3v  now offers a parametric EQ, and cross feed filtering etc so will try it there)
but I do admire others who are more technically proficient in this area.
 

Coming over the hill: the monstrous Roon 1.3

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/01/coming-over-the-hill-the-monstrous-roon-1-3/

 

[onurco]

Equalizer APO is a system-wide EQ for Windows. You can find a tutorial on how to install and use the program here:
www. youtube. com/watch?v=Cyb1r5E9K3I
 
For the installation files, you should visit this site:
sourceforge .net /projects/equalizerapo/
 
You should copy the text EQ parameters I pasted in the forum to file such as mdr.txt and put it in .../EqualizerAPO/config and write in config.txt :
Preamp: 0 dB
Include: mdr.txt
 
and it will start system-wide EQ on Windows.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Yes, just installed Equalizer APO now going to play around.

 

[onurco]

Editor.exe is GUI for parametric equalizer, so you can use it to create your own parameters. I compared a couple of frequency responses and came up with my parameters. In my opinion, it would be easier to find the optimal values, if you start from my parameters.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Editor.exe is GUI for parametric equalizer, so you can use it to create your own parameters. I compared a couple of frequency responses and came up with my parameters. In my opinion, it would be easier to find the optimal values, if you start from my parameters.

So it is all working well, and I did import your settings thanks mate. To defeat the EQ do you simply close the program? That way I can more easily tell what the effects are. Thanks, this seems like a great EQ APO.

 

[onurco]

Just go to configurator.exe and uncheck your device and restart or just for temporary comparison with original sound and eq sound:
 
You can go to config.txt and delete 
 
Include: mdr.txt
 
 
mdr.txt and save with ctrl+s
 
If you wanna get back eq, just ctrl+z and get back mdr.txt string and save again with ctrl+s.
 
So you can temporarily disable eq or remove eq totally by unchecking your device in configurator.exe.
 
mdr.txt was the name of my file, if you named your file differently, it should be the name of your file, it was just an example