Sorry for the photo quality, I'm still using iphone 4 and my photo taking skills are quite poor T_T , but that will soon to change with the Samsung Galaxy S8 hopefully. Indonesian Song (it's basically the Indonesian version of pop, guitar used is mostly acoustic guitar, sounds natural and relaxing however, mastering of the song is usually poor, this is good to test how good a headphone/Iem handle poorly recorded material) Treble: The treble in this headphone is a bit weird as it has a dip on the 4-5KHz region but goes sharply up thru the 10Khz regions, due to this, sometimes I get a zing but it is not annoying nor harsh, is just okay, reminds me of the sparkly XBA-A3 highs. High pitched notes from piccolos, sounds sparkly, as do well female voices very smoothly and fluid. Sparkly harpsichord harmonics. The Mozart's glass harmonica pieces are just a prime example of sparkly zingy highs as this instrument features bowls of different sizes or wine glasses filled with water, where wet fingers are slid thus creating some screechy nature to them with a zing in the upper frequencies. Violin sounds very authoritative and well presented.. You can hear the most minuscule sounds. and microdetails. I boxed up the Z1R after three days and returned it. I didn't expect that listening to it for more days would help much, nor should it be necessary.

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. It’s important to note the playing field has been leveled with all headphones being used with the same equipment and music. Only with this methodology could the differences be accurate and comparable. It also should be said, all this equipment was designed to be part of one ecosystem, all sounding optimized yet slightly different. Your choice as best would really be a matter of taste in the end. MDR-Z1R housing exploded with housing frame at left, acoustic filter at center, and housing protector at right. What Sony calls Xtra Bass, mostly cheap non-audiophile headphones --> Can be used for every genre but tends to sound mushy and boring and consists of mostly bass. If you're older than 20, you're most likely not enjoying these. When you hear vocal decay on The Z1R, you literally can hear everything from start to end, while I'm not too sure about this with the C and EF.

I choose an IEM and two full-size headphones as these three actually represent Sony’s recently introduced top of the line models. Being the level they are at they were/are completely hand made in-house at Sony’s headphone factory in Tokyo Japan. This in itself remains in strict contrast to everything else Sony has released recently except the Z5 IEM and DMP-Z1 desktop unit; which are also in-house builds. The drive is protected by a cloth mes and a beautiful fibonnaci-sequence patterned grille, it actually looks like nice flower petalals. The side of the head band has nice numbered slotted positioning to adjust the headband to your head. At the top of each cup near the edge there is bass port, so i consider there headphones semi-open (perhaps 1/4th open?). Excellent pairing considering I'm comparing DAP with desktop set up, but for some reason it does not seem as powerfull as my other setup, the sound is not as impactfull and full in my mind. I usually spare readers an extensive overview of materials used. Since the MDR-Z1R combines so many exciting approaches in itself, I would like to make an exception. In addition to the obvious and already described materials, the most interesting details take place in secret.

The company celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016 with a range of new reference products that were designed to impressively demonstrate the company’s accumulated engineering knowledge under the Signature Series label. The MDR-Z1R headphones tested here have been designed with a clear focus on detail-coded component selection and a “novel” audio design to give the listener the feeling of real-world sound as authentically as possible. In terms of comfort and material selection—as much as anticipated—the MDR-Z1R delivers impressive qualities. Sony’s engineers claimed to seek nothing less than the perfect reproduction of every subtle nuance. Keywords, such as micro-sounds, sound details, dynamics and atmosphere, are mentioned in interviews when it comes to the ideal translation of actual sound events with headphones. At a suggested retail price of €2,199, these claims should have been implemented… First Impression

First Impression

Okay let’s hit the ground running. Bass-wise, the Audeze cans lean toward powerful impact with good speed with variations on this general theme. LCD-2 bass sounds fuller and richer, but isn’t as well controlled as the X/XC. Extension on all three cans is good. However, is clear that Z1R is is able to retrieve much more detail from the lowest frequencies, articulating them with better body as well. Unfortunately, the Z1R is correspondingly slower in comparison. The LCD-X/XC comparison stands out in particular. My personal preference for a general listening can would rest somewhere in between these two types of bass.