SonyMDR-Z1R High-Resolution Audio Premium Over-Ear Headphones - Black

(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.

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.

Best designBest builtBest 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 emotionsDarker sound signature over-all which helps the mid and the high carry more density and meats in it timbresLush and smoothExcellent soundstage for closed design with enclosed atmosphere which is different than openess atmosphere vs opened headphones. Very Airy tooExcellent instruments presentations, layering, positioningExcellent trebles just only darker timbres but meaty and speedyExcellent isolation and sound leak-out is very minimalExcellent 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