I bought these headphones from the head-fi classifieds for £260 in good as new condition.



Build

Simply beautiful. Everything a high end headphone should be. Every part you touch is metal, leather or high quality pleather. The headband extends with satisfying clicks, the cups rotate smoothly. A truly impeccable build worthy of a flagship headphone.



Looks are understated and attractive. Black and silver, with small red accents to indicate right are the only colours visible when worn. Large black cups have the timeless Sony logo etched into them, silver in colour. When not being worn, within the cup you can see the huge 70mm driver, greenish gold in colour. Very impressive.



Comfort

Exactly as comfortable as you would expect having seen the huge pads. Soft with a large opening then envelops your ear, the headphones are very comfortable for extended listening periods. Being closed, however, I do find that they can get a little warm at times. The headband has ample padding, evenly distributing the (little) weight over your head. I don't get any hot spots from this headband.

Sound

Bass: Big and boomy. Bass is accentuated a lot, likely satisfying most bass heads. Bass lacks some articulation and tightness, also lacking the very lowest rumble, but makes a great effort for a dynamic driver. The bass also has a strange feel to it, in that it sounds detached from the rest of the music at times, like you are using a subwoofer in your room. Perhaps this is due to the very large driver, I like it a lot.

Mids: The worst part of the headphone, the mids are distant and lacking a certain realism at times. Some vocals can sound fine, albeit recessed, but other just sound messed up, particularly female vocals. Disappointing for such an expensive headphone. Bass can also bleed into the mids a little, making them sound muffled.

Treble: Detailed, but a little hard. Treble presentation is on the darker side but manages to retain most detail. I also don't hear any nasty peaks or sibilance. The overall treble presentation is a little hard, however. A downgrade from the liquid smooth treble of the MSR7s.

Soundstage / imaging: Soundstage is quite large, not huge but good for a closed headphone. It does not ever sound congested and instruments have quite a bit of air around them. Imaging is precise, not as pinpoint accurate as the MSR7s, but still impressive. These would make quite good gaming headphones.

Summary

I want to love these headphones, but there are simply too many flaws in the sound. It seems some strange choices were made in making these headphones. The physical presentation is that of an audiophile flagship, but the sound is more consumer oriented, as if Sony is trying to appeal the a more average listener. I feel like in trying to appeal to the larger audience, Sony has made an even more niche product, an expensive, consumer oriented headphone with most of the technical competencies of an audiophile headphone, with the price of an audiophile headphone to boot.

In the end, do I recommend these at their £550 asking price? Absolutely not. If you can get them second hand around the price I did (£260), they are a reasonably good deal.

At retail I'll give them 2.5/5

I've had the Audio Technica MSR7s for about a year and a half now. I purchased them myself from amazon for £145. I won't bother with specs/accessories since every other review has already been over that.
 
Build and comfort
 
When you first hold the MSR7 the build feels very premium, it is  weighty with aluminum cups and plush, high quality pads. However, the plastics used leave something to be desired, with a fair amount of creaking developing at the hinges and a general feeling of "don't stretch them too far" when you go to place them on your head. I think it was a mistake to use plastic on the hinges, it in no way inspires confidence. Luckily, that is the only real complaint about build, the rest of the headphone feels fairly solid and about in line with what you'd expect for the price. 

 
 
 
Pads are plush, using what I presume is high quality pleather (materials are not mentioned anywhere). They provide great comfort for me, going all around my ears whilst being deep enough to keep my ears from touching the plastic behind the pads. If you have larger ears, I could see these pads being a little too small for you. The headband uses the same material as the pads but for some strange reason has more padding on top than on the bottom, where it will rest on you head. This, combine with the curved shape that will not conform to most heads, can create a bit of a hot spot on your head during long listening sessions.  
 
Obviously, the MSR7 is an exceptionally handsome headphone, so no qualms there.

 
Sound quality
 
Highs
 
Truly the star of the show, the treble is stunning. In quantity, the treble could be seen as having just the slightest hint of warmth, preventing any harshness whilst preserving the details and excitement. The headphones resolve even the slightest detail with ease, never sounding congested or too upfront. In quality, the treble is liquid smooth, no harshness or even sibilance to speak of. The best highs I'm yet to hear in any headphone.
 
Bass
 
Robust. Bass extends reasonably low, perhaps missing the lowest rumble, but what it lacks in extension it makes up for in, well, everything else. In quantity the bass feels neutral with the treble and has no midbass hump or bleed into the vocals. Not really for bassheads. In quality, the bass in tight and fast with no distortion. Like I said earlier, the best word to describe the bass is "robust".
 
Mids
 
Mids are where the MSR7s fail to impress quite so much. The upper mids are a little too forward for my taste, introducing a leaness to the presentation of vocals that sounds a little unnatural. Instruments suffer the same flaw, although to a lesser extent. They sound detailed, but lack realism.
 
Imaging and soundstage
 
Soundstage is very small, with it feeling like everything is happening within a space the size of the cups. However, this is not to say they sound congested, in fact, its entirely the opposite. Thanks to the smooth, detailed treble and fast bass, imaging is pin point accurate with each instrument and singer given their own spot around your head. This results in none of the congestion and confusion associated with the small soundstage of closed headphones. 
 
Conclusion
 
To sum up, the MSR7 is a handsome, well made headphone with reasonable comfort and fantasticly detailed sound. A solid offering at the price point.  

 
Update: Forgot to mention that I find this headphone responds incredibly well the the Fiio E10k's bass boost. Great for if you feel these lack bass quantity. The above impressions were all made without the bass boost, however. 

I will use the review I posted on reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/4o1i03/the_surprisingly_fantastic_venture_electronics_zen/
 
First things first: Why earbuds? I like earbuds because they are so practical and easy to use, Pop 'em in your ear and you're good to go. No headphone hair, no fussing about with a seal (for the most part) and once they're in I can't even feel them. After getting the monk I was really curious about the Zen so when I saw it for a great price on head-fi I took the dive. I got the Zen 2.0, Asura 1.0, all the accessories and then some for £65. A pretty fantastic deal.

Accessories: These come with loads of foams and stuff to try and alter the sound/fit to your liking. Included is also some earhoox-type things and a great carry case (which can be found here.) Unfortunately, these sound best with not foams or other fittings, so it's kind of a waste I guess.

Build: Kind of disappointing really, but I'm also not sure where it could be improved. Shells are plastic, cable very strong and good looking although a bit grippy (but never seems to tangle) and personally I can't stand 45 degree jacks so there's that. The shells being plastic keep the weight down and comfort up and the cable is of a high quality, they just feel insubstantial for the asking price is the problem.

 

 
 
Sound: this is the most important part and where these earbuds really live up to their hype. The general sound signature is on the bassy/warm/thick side, giving them a forgiving, natural presentation that is very easy to listen to for long periods of time. 

Mids are my favourite part of the Zen's sound. Vocals are incredibly lifelike, no thinness or forward upper mids like the MSR7s and not recessed like the Fidelio L1. Really can't fault them at all.

Bass is where things perhaps fall apart a little. Bass doesn't extend low enough for any real rumble, it's all mid bass. This isn't noticeable in most music but if you are a fan of electronic then you'll definitely be missing out on a good portion of low end. On the up side mid bass is fantastically tight and raised in level giving them a slightly more fun sound. What I find most impressive is that I am not using any foams with these, so there is no seal. How the driver manages this kind of bass with zero seal is beyond me and very impressive. This does make me think however, wouldn't it be better to tune the driver to be used with foams, so you can have the bass extension and comfort? Btw if you use foams with these bass is too overbearing and not very good sounding to my ear.

Treble: Probably the worst part of these earphones. Has sever ringing what can be very bothersome. Definite room for improvement here.Highs are a little muddy but free of sibilance and harshness completely. They don't sound quite as smooth as the highs on my MSR7s nor as detailed, however. 

Soundstage/imaging is what you'd expect for a full sized open headphone. Soundstage is large and out of you head, which combined with the precise imaging makes these great gaming earbuds.

All in all these are fantastic buds. A little overpriced, but given the lack of other competent earbuds it is likely worth the extra cash.