Sony MDR-Z1R High-Resolution Audio Premium Over-Ear Headphones - Black

Product Information

So why did I choose this over the other? I felt like z1r is an upgrade of Andromeda. Better bass, sub-bass, better Soundstage, same sparkle in high and mid. In terms of soundstage/imaging, the former goes to the IER-Z1R whereas the Andro 2020 has slightly better center-imaging than the IER-Z1R but similar cardinal/ordinal imaging otherwise.

Xeleto: More upper highs and more sub bass rumble on the Z1R, i think their was more bass impact with the xelento. Z1R has a much larger stage and greater clarity. The build quality is top notch, all metal and real After owning several budget-fi /chi-fi such as GR07BE, Kanas Pro, Fiio EX01, ATH E40, Intime Sora and many others, I decided to make a huge jump into TOTL.I've owned the IER-Z1R for a couple years now, since 2021. At the time, I was looking for the step up from the Blessing 2 and these seemed a perfect fit. Not that they were similar in tonality, but past me didn't pay enough attention to notice that before buying. With headphone shops few and far between, and often closed for pandemic restrictions, I bought them blind and eagerly waited.

Fortunately, this was a fight that i came out victorious. After a solid week of breaking my ears in and using Sony's own hybrid tips, i found a way to let them sit in my ear, without much discomfort, for hours on end. For once i actually used the cable clip included. Many said that the mid is recessed. The mid is not forward. However not so much recessed as well. For female vocal which I mainly listened, the mid is there. Well-textured and full bodied. Would i recommend the IER-Z1R over something like the Vision Ears EST, UE LIVE, 64 Audio Fourté and similar? Absolutely yes. Its significantly better than these and this is what makes it look cheap but(!), and here comes the caveeat, its still insanely overpriced imho. If the price is no issue for you and you already have an good reference like an IER-M9, Mach 70, TG335 or even SE846, then grab these. There is nothing for a lower price that gives you what it is.There are definitely sections of the audiophile community which will find the midrange fully scooped out. There will be folks simply wanting more frequencies and playfulness in the upper midrange. There may be a small group which are unable to get a good fit. In all the Sony extreme creations they seem to go and gain glory or go down in big flames. They are not attempting to please everyone. They have taken their ideas of correctness in tone and parlayed it into a legendary range of items. Definitely try these before you buy as your personal results may vary from mine described here. Some like blondes some like brunettes. After owning this headphone a couple of interesting concepts can come to mind. There are better recordings out there, but what about musicianship, what about sonically unearthing a classic? At times audio isn’t about the best sound possible. At times it’s about retrieving and excavating and old classic. For many Led Zeppelin’s first album is a liked album but not a favorite. Recorded prior to any fame, the album has a slightly rough recording style. At first it can seem minimalist in approach. But with the IER-Z1R the microscopic detail starts to unfold the classic in a new and profound way.

The IER-Z1R is pretty power-hungry for an IEM. No trouble driving it off of any of my sources, but I needed to give it a little more juice than usual. I also rarely listen any louder than 75dB, so take that for what you will if you’re a head-banger. I think this region is where the Z1R's get a lot right in. There a very good sense of air and clarity, but i think the tuning is where these shine. Some BA drivers can make the treble sound off-ish. My personal experience with BA-driver setups (Encore's, JHA Roxanne) are that they just don't quite sound as natural. I know i said that in my Encore review, that they had very natural sounding highs, but after listening and comparing to the Z1R's, something just sits more right with the trebles. Cymbals and crashes don't sound as holographic is the best way to describe it. Like most of the sound signature, it just sits right. Now the detail in this region is also impeccable. The air in the treble also lends a hand to the massive sound stage that these have.RCM builds are geared toward the great air-cooled superbikes of the 1970s-80s, including the Suzuki Katana, Kawasaki GPz1100, Kawasaki Zephyr, Honda CB, and the Kawasaki Z series, including the Z1-R like you see here. The MMCX connector feels pretty sturdy, very firm, no wobble (the problem of the XBA-Z5 MMCX), feels as solid as the MMCX of the XBA-H3 which i owned in the past. The MDR-Z1R belongs, without question, into the Musical Sound category. It can play pretty much every Genre without ever sounding offensive, off or wrong with anything. As I’m auditioning them I started to wonder, so Z1R is really are the best if not one of the best? But then, its subjective to everybody. Beauty lies on the eyes of the beholder. To me, The waifu on Aria box is more beautiful than the waifu on Kato box, and your might have different opinion. So yes, its subjective. Unlike the waifu where we can judge by their looks and character, we have the luxury to try the earphone before we buy them (if the store have the demo!). The infamous IER-Z1R Midrange: Can’t we have it all? I mean we are paying a lot of money here. Can’t we simply have everything? The best answer here is the word “perspective”. The midrange is a perspective. It’s actually there completely. Try listening to Bohemian Rhapsody, get yourself into a dark room. Turn-off your cell phone and close your eyes and listen to the Queen song in full while paying close attention and you tell me if the midrange is completely there? Also while your at it what’s your opinion of the vocal rendition? You decide for yourself. Still if that doesn’t work you may have to stay after school? Maybe some other dusty midrange album?

Z1000-D1 Z1R FRAME NUMBER: KZT00D-000001 >ENGINE NUMBER: KZT00DE-000001 >COLOUR: METALLIC STARDUST SILVER. These look and feel stunning in the hands. The way Sony presented them in the little jewelry box really solidifies what Sony wanted these to be; a halo product that is one of a kind. They're built very well and can easily last generations with the machining being super precise. I wasn’t going to use David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue),” since I don’t want to over use it. But while the bass sounds excellent, the synths came across very metallic and harsh sounding in the upper registers – definitely a weakness in these headphones that the XTC doesn’t have. You may like the IER-Z1R or you may not. It all rests on a persons subjective sound personality preference. But if your truly into the modern Sony sound, I recommend the IER-Z1R wholeheartedly; as there is nothing not to like about it. With the IER-M9 this happens much later compared to the IER-Z1R and the reason is exactly this push in the treble. That is not an issue as nobody should listen at loud volumes (especially for longer times) anyway, but if you have songs with a lot of dynamic range, this can make you run into issues. Especially with Hans Zimmer i noticed that things just got too loud at peaks too early.

Often based on Monitoring with pushed, piercing upper mids, sometimes in combination with pushed bass (no midbass though, we're audiophiles!). Tries to be as much as possible to be the opposide of Club to make sure, you know you're listening to an audiphile headphone. If it doesn't hurt, its not audiophile. If you can't bear the pain, you're not audiophile enough. --> Only plays well with selected audiophile songs. You are not an real audiophile if you listen to anything, that doesn't sound well with these. If anything sounds wrong and off with these, its always the song and the quality of your recording. Developed from thousands of listening tests, the dedicated film capacitors on the network give much lower distortion. Audio grade solder is also used throughout to ensure maximum signal transparency. For some the IER-Z1R could be that unicorn. And why not? There was a time in each of our lives when we had one headphone for years and years. It was a simpler time when only the music mattered and everything was magic. So what if? What if the audio landscape paradigm was changed, could we become monogamous again? Could there be one single IEM for everything, could there be the IEM that changes our ideas of what’s possible in sound reproduction? Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” is the best example of simbilance from the highs on the Z1R I’ve experienced. The intro opens really well with the instruments, but the vocals are extremely painful and the sibilance is extremely rough to the point where it feels like someone is stabbing me in the ear consistently as Brendon sings. Ahhh! I get none of that from the XTC-C. Everything just comes across really well, strings, vocals, bass, etc.