MDR-ZR1

(Update Jan 2017: After almost 3 months ownership, the initial opinion remains. To my ears these are the best closed cans you can get. Emphasis to -closed-. There are limitations by design, but otherwise, the Z1R are indeed the new R10) Build quality is absolutely fantastic... you can tell they were assembled by a human with great care, and I'm even including the case. The no-nonsense minimalist design of the Z1R - where nothing is added beyond what is necessary for the sound signature and comfort is a 10/10. Still, this might be as closest as Sony got to the R10/CD3000 in recent years... Are they very good sonically? Yes. Are they good enough to surpass the old classic or even justify the current MSRP cost? I'm not sure yet... I'll tell you in a few days. But whoa... have I mentioned how outstanding they are in materials/assembly? PROS: -Outstanding build quality. Top notch materials and machining/assembly. Super simple design, nothing added beyond what is necessary for sound. No decoration, no useless plastic, nothing. Function over form. Even the case is very well built, wood frame, about 5kg. -Excellent soundstage/imaging/positioning for closed cans. This is the closed cousin of the the HD800[S] in sense of space. -Great sound isolation (Truly closed, not semi, which can be a plus in some scenarios). Despite that, they still sound airy and resonance is very low. -Nice thin, light cable, not microphonic, nice ridges and great grip. No need for 2kg cables (cof-cof-Utopia-cof) -Sweet,sweet mid-range.Not laid back but not in-your-face. Diana Krall on DSD sounds natural and captivating. -Higher mids and treble are on the warm side but still excellent resolution. All the detail is there without being sibilant or harsh. -Tight, punchy bass with great extension. Not a silly bloated Z7. Combined with the previous darkish-tonality and soundstaging you get a signature that does give a sense of live speakers. Massive Attack's Blue Lines? Check. Hotel California? Check. Chemical Brothers? Check. Telarc's classical and opera? All Chesky binaural recordings? Check. and so on and on... -Very easy to drive. Impedance/sensitivity help. No need to spend 30-100% of the headphones cost in amping. -Comfort is excellent, they fit and feel lighter. Despite a sense of warm up normal with leather pads, they're flawless. LESS GOOD: -Despite high quality, bass can be fatiguing in some tracks. They're very rare but I hit a few, "few" as in single digit amount. They're great on jazz, classical, pop, rock and pretty much anything without an insanely bloated bass mastering. Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" Live is a negative exception, it's like a punch in the face when the bass guitar enters at around 1:30s. But I didn't experience that bass fatigue with many tracks, the deep sub-bass extension on Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy"? No problem! It sounds tight and precise, just right. The murderous sub-bass on "Why So Serious"of the Dark Knight OST, that makes many headphones pop and die...Just perfect, a visceral thump that is a close to full-size speaker sound as you're going to get with headphones. -Soundstage is airy and holographic but still not as good as on the HD800/HD800S. But good luck finding closed headphones that match those... -Just realized I don't have enough complaints, so I'll complain about the price and say that these should be landing in the 1.6-1.7K bracket for perfection. What else.. hmmm, you might want a slightly brighter sound if that's your style, but I usually prefer very bright signatures and still enjoy the Z1R a lot. Put Chesky's Macy Gray's "Stripped" or Melissa Menago's "Little Crimes" albums playing in these and you will see how amazing they are. The level of detail in both is fantastic, bass, mids, treble just right. The airy sense of the recordings, the great positioning and layering. All there. In fact, I recommend these two Chesky albums to any audiophile who wants to test gear. OVERALL: -95/100. I'm taking the other 5% because I do prefer a bright sound in general and these are bright, but could be a tiny bit brighter to please my old ears. They are good, very very good. MDR-CD3000/MDR-R10 level of good? I think so, if you get past the aura of untouchable godliness of the R10, these are a totally modernized superior new tool (this has been admitted by the designer of the R10, now mentoring one of the Z1R designers). The only question is if they're worth the full MSRP price. Maybe. -I'd recommend these for any type of music that isn't very bass-heavy naturally, and from that I mean ridiculously poorly mastered super bassy. [Disclaimer] All photos are of my set and I didn't get anything for this review except spending my own money. Ah. That's how reviews sound better.

Best design Best built Best bass, especially deep bass and sub bass that only surface when called for, and powerful when needed. The bass is clean and distortions free, grains free. The bass carries emotions Darker sound signature over-all which helps the mid and the high carry more density and meats in it timbres Lush and smooth Excellent soundstage for closed design with enclosed atmosphere which is different than openess atmosphere vs opened headphones. Very Airy too Excellent instruments presentations, layering, positioning Excellent trebles just only darker timbres but meaty and speedy Excellent isolation and sound leak-out is very minimal Excellent comfort on wearability, so light, so soft, and no heat accumulated over hours of wear. Cons: too large, and so the position placed on a person ears and head do affect the sound performances. Too much forward and details and everything else suffer, too much rearward and bass become overpowering while trebles is not well presenting. The correct position to wear is to have the middle 33mm Dome projecting right down your ears canals. Simply put, Right down the middle it goes. Expensive pricing

Spiff already mentioned its stellar build and manufacturing quality. But what impresses me the most is as big and heavy they are the light and comfortable they feel while wearing. Listening experience-wise they are easily the best headphones I ever had on my ears. First time I put them on, I thought I forgot to set up my audio receiver correctly, muting speakers when headphones are plugged in just to notice it is the incredible sound stage created by them which made that impression. MDR-Z1R give you a seat ten feet from the orchestra positioned in a semiarch around you in a midsize hall. They do a great job isolating and placing sound objects three dimensionally giving them splendid fresh texture. Higher tones have a smooth coat but skyrocket without any effort. Mids have the details they deserve, giving especially female voices a natural crispness. For me amidst all superlatives bass is the star of this headphones. In this regard JBL S700 has been my personal party bomb and in some respect still are but they are no match for the Z1R. S700 may have more bass power but the Z1R foundation goes deeper still drawing pictures where others just sound. Never heard Leonard Cohen more goosebumpy before. Are the Z1R the best headphones? For me they have the best overall package. I still love my S700 at work which are really a positiv punch in stressful situations and are more than sufficient when listening with not too much attention. I really love my Shure SE530 which provide hi fidelty and resolution in difficult situations. Regarding strings and guitars for me Grado RS1 are the closed thing to acoustic orgasm as headphones can get with no other including Z1R getting even close. Anyway I have never experienced Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells ever in such details, the vibrant deep bass gives you subsonic sensations listening to the Interstellar soundtrack like sitting close to a real organ, Hoist The Colours of the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack sends you shivers down the spine. This can be continued for hours. The downside of those headphones is they are relentless. You will notice any enconding/mastering imperfection you never noticed before. Z1R are the first headphones which very clearly revealed quality differences between 192 and 320bit encoding to me, mostly notably at background instrument resolutions. Bottom line. I will keep them and don't regret the expense. General recommendation? Not necessarily. Like whisky for 1700 it depends if you can/want afford them. Like whisky aside craftsmanship and technicals specs every headphone has its own character which is subject to personal taste. I hope the review can give you a little impression but if you have the possibilty try it yourself.

Leyendo muchos comentarios sobre estos auriculares me hacían estar poco seguro sobre si cuadrarían con mi gusto. Especialmente por dos razones: tratarse de unos auriculares cerrados (no había escuchado ningún cerrado que me diese ni de lejos la apertura de sonido que me gusta) y varios comentarios sobre que tienen un sonido excesivamente cálido. Pues bien, solo puedo decir que es el auricular que más me gusta de todos los que tengo y he probado. Me parece una absoluta delicia en cuanto a su equilibrio general, naturalidad en la presentación del sonido, increíble apertura y definición espacial (máxime cuando son unos auriculares cerrados) y una calidad de construcción y presentación absolutamente acorde con un producto de élite. Cada vez que los escucho refuerzan más y más la sensación de encontrarme ante un producto muy madurado, muy afinado/refinado y en el que se han empleado muchos recursos y cuidado en su desarrollo. Para mi es un absoluto clásico y una demostración magistral de lo que se puede lograr cuando se aunan el saber hacer y los recursos casi ilimitados que pone una gran compañía cuando quiere crear un producto bandera. Extraordinario. P.D.: Tal y como se comenta son unos auriculares que, si bien son fáciles de mover incluso con un móvil o un reproductor portátil, agradecen y se muestran en todo su esplendor con amplificadores dedicados de enjundia. Por cierto, no hacerse una idea total de su sonido recién estrenados...Efectivamente, son auriculares que necesitan de unas buenas 200 de horas de uso para empezar a "abrir" su sonido. Y no, esto no es placebo o acostumbrarse a ellos.

Qualità del suono ECCELLENTE! Consigliate sopratutto a chi davvero è appassionato di alta fedeltà ed ha un hi fi a componenti di fascia alta. Devo dire che hanno superato le mie aspettative che erano già alte. Oltre all’eccellente qualità del suono sono anche molto confortevoli da indossare. Non so nella storia di Sony se, a parte le MDR-R10 KING risalenti a fine anni Ottanta inizio anni novanta, siano state prodotte altre cuffie di questo livello. Grazie ad Amazon per avere reso facilissimo l’import!

Exquisite, a thing of beauty it is Gorgeous and is packed like a precious jewellery with every part of this headphone being premium and MADE IN JAPAN very nice and powerful sound on the warm side and clear and crisp non fatiguing treble very fun enjoyable experience if your budget allows get one and experience this pure bliss

I don't consider myself an audiophile by any standard, but just love listening to music. My best analogy is that Jay Leno isn't a race car driver, but he does own and enjoy driving a lot of fast cars. These headphones deliver that in spades. Going from a $300 pair to an $800 pair to these I can tell the difference immediately. I forgot to bring these to work today and had to 'suffer' with my Bose QC25s (the at the time $300 pair) and it was brutal. That's how spoiled these make you. Listening to Z1Rs after either of my previous cans is like OMG. Despite how large these are, they are extremely comfortable. These are the first pair of headphones I've owned that have 'new car smell.' Sound quality and detail is excellent and you don't need an amp to use them on your phone. However, I'm using a Dragonfly Red and it just makes them even better. If you're willing to drop a few mortgage payments on a set of cans, get a Dragonfly because at this point lol. My amp on my PC can make these bang if I choose to, but it's not really a great idea. They have a very relaxing feel to them - you can have music blasting and fall asleep with these on. Don't get me wrong, if you listen to something like metal or hardstyle these can still deliver, but it's kind of like being knocked out by silk gloves instead of a baseball bat. If you plan on going deaf and absolutely blasting music these are not ideal, my $800 Audeze pair does much better at this. If you blast music sound quality will fall apart, but again I'm talking deafening levels. Anything else, just wow. You'll listen to genres you never listen to just because how good these sound. Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture, Indiana Jones - Theme Song, Technotronic - Move This, etc. I listen to a lot of trance music and one of my favorite DJs is DJ Tiesto from the late 90s/early 2000s. I find most of his recent stuff unlistenable. Driving to work the other day I listened to his Ultra set at Miami 2018 in my car. Bad at best. I put the same set on these headphones and thought, "yeah this is pretty good." That's what these things do, they make you love listening to music. The other feature that I love with these is the *option* of your wires locking into the headphone or being detachable. This is almost the sole reason I didn't buy a pair of Mr Speakers Ether C Flows. Snag the wire once and you're done. I go the the gym every other day and I don't want to worry about losing a few mortgage payments because I snagged a stupid wire. Yes it's happened since purchase. The negatives to these are the wires. The wire quality is excellent, but the user friendliness is nonexistent. You have two wires - a 10 foot wire with a traditional headphone jack and a ~4 foot wire with a 4.4mm Sony headphone jack. This means for portable use, you have to either buy a custom made wire elsewhere for at least $150 (generally twice that) or have this massive 10 foot wire. Awful. The other wire won't connect to anything except Sony products and buying a converter cable is difficult and costly. Etsy currently has a converter jack that's $169. Just for the jack. The Ebay wires I bought for $50 from China don't work with an iPhone as you'll only get sound through one ear. Out of spite, I will never purchase any Sony product made for this wire. If you are purchasing these for home use, the wire length doesn't matter, but if you want to use them elsewhere keep that in mind. I currently have a Moon Audio Dragon wire, and I think the entire 'wire will bring better sound' is complete crap, but I don't want to have some 10 foot wire when working out and other options are closer to $1000 - *for a wire*

Utilisé dans mon studio personnel. Parfait !