The bass out of the Z1R smokes the Xb950. It's no comparison. The Z1R has clean sub bass. It sounds amazing in fact. And it doesn't distort the highs, mids. No comparison from my own judgement.
The Official Sony MDR-Z1R Flagship Headphone Thread (Live From IFA 2016)
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The bass out of the Z1R smokes the Xb950. It's no comparison. The Z1R has clean sub bass. It sounds amazing in fact. And it doesn't distort the highs, mids. No comparison from my own judgement.
TSAVJason
Sponsor: The Source AV
My friend in New Jersey is becoming a great listener of quality audio ...awesome!
Z1R complete. Now i need a new amp to power them. Then next stop on my trip is Utopia highway. Then after that. I hope there isn't anything new coming out.
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I agree that the DAC2's DAC section is by no means the last word. I myself have moved on to the Questyle CAS192D, but the Benchmark's headphone amp stage is quite superb, IMO. Though I did listen to the Ayre with my own headphones, it wasn't an extended session, so perhaps it'd grow on me. I also admit to having something of a bias against Ayre perhaps due to heightened expectations generated by the gushing reviews their gear routinely gets in Stereophile and elsewhere. I've auditioned monoblocks and an integrated from them in my main system, and been underwhelmed both times. But certainly if the OP wants to exceed his stated budget, the Ayre would merit consideration. Cheers.
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Indeed, and the reason why the Z1R has quite mediocre bass for a £1700 headphone. Its sub-bass distortion is quite high. I suspect the magnet system is far too weak to control the 70mm transducer it possesses, resulting in a significantly weaker slam and tautness in the very lowest registers compared to the TH900. Its also inferior in clarity and instrument separation, particularly with dense acoustic music and live performances. But its a nice looking headphone with a very wide sound stage, good for wowing casual, uncritical listeners.
TSAVJason
Sponsor: The Source AV
The air must be good in Jersey today! Thanks for the humor you brought to my day
No problem Jason. My pleasure. I always have some funny sht on my mind. When i see a new opportunity i'll let the EL oh EL's rip.
Sonic Defender
Headphoneus Supremus
I guess we are all a bunch of fools who like bad quality bass. I take it you owned a Z1R and sold it? Now I am going by audio memory as I sold my TH900, but Idon't hear any large discrepency is taughtness or slam with the Z1R. Ultimately the mids on the TH900 were a little too distant for me, not very bad, but not what I was hoping for and the treble was a tad challenging at times so when looking at the totality of the package the Z1R is the winner for me.
fullranger
100+ Head-Fier
Well, this is a surprise...
Indeed, and the reason why the Z1R has quite mediocre bass for a £1700 headphone. Its sub-bass distortion is quite high. I suspect the magnet system is far too weak to control the 70mm transducer it possesses, resulting in a significantly weaker slam and tautness in the very lowest registers compared to the TH900. Its also inferior in clarity and instrument separation, particularly with dense acoustic music and live performances. But its a nice looking headphone with a very wide sound stage, good for wowing casual, uncritical listeners.
-I didn't think this was a discussion page for uncritical headphone listening. I thought there were other forum pages here to deal with such gear. (Chuckles) I guess it's a good idea I didn't splurge on this "lousy" set of cans. Oh, I'm on the floor with that account on the Z1R you guys all love.
Indeed, and the reason why the Z1R has quite mediocre bass for a £1700 headphone. Its sub-bass distortion is quite high. I suspect the magnet system is far too weak to control the 70mm transducer it possesses, resulting in a significantly weaker slam and tautness in the very lowest registers compared to the TH900. Its also inferior in clarity and instrument separation, particularly with dense acoustic music and live performances. But its a nice looking headphone with a very wide sound stage, good for wowing casual, uncritical listeners.
-I didn't think this was a discussion page for uncritical headphone listening. I thought there were other forum pages here to deal with such gear. (Chuckles) I guess it's a good idea I didn't splurge on this "lousy" set of cans. Oh, I'm on the floor with that account on the Z1R you guys all love.
Sonic Defender
Headphoneus Supremus
Well, not everybody is as obviously of the "upper crust" of audio processing as the OP. Some of us are just simple fools attracted to bloomy bass and good looks without a clue about quality sound reproduction. Thankfully there is only one right way to enjoy music and if the OP hadn't come along to teach us I would have continued to enjoy the Z1R steeped in my muddled ignorance. I don't know what I was thinking enjoying these "joke" headphones.
The Bass sounds phenomenal to me. More enjoyable then the bass in the SZ2000 and we all know that is the king of headphone bass. It's quality. And it has great sub bass. Bass slam is not a necessity to me. Most of my music contains sub style bass.
TSAVJason
Sponsor: The Source AV
Just out of curiosity what material do you listen to and what levels do you listen at. My experience with these headphones is not at all as you describe it and while I don't drive the headphone to extreme ear damaging levels I have punished them significantly.
phonomat
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He just quoted Kyle 491.
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