[VladYR]

Yeah, unfortunately they don’t scale all that well because they are so easy to drive. I’m finding the same thing out with my Beyerdynamic T1.3’s. The Z1R’s straight out of the TT2 sound great. The Z1R’s sound even better with the TT2 as the DAC for my Luxman. If you’re not a purist, maybe try an external amp.

I’ll soon have a Dave as I’m upgrading my TT2. I’ll try the Z1R’s straight out of the Dave and see if I hear what you hear with them. I don’t plan on letting my Z1R’s go. They’re still my favorite closed headphone.

They worked great with the TA-ZH1ES but I traded that toward Dave since I knew I wouldn’t use it much. It’s not that they sounded bad; just too closed in. I get the impression that the Dave seems to accentuate the aspects of closed back and open back headphones in both directions.

 

[sp33ls]

I've heard many good things about Chord's products over the years, but I've not yet listened to any. I just can't get past their design aesthetic (superficial, I know, but when you're spending that kinda money...) Reminds me of high-end electronics in the early 2000's with that contemporary, bubbly aesthetic.

Reminiscent of this^ I so badly wanted this GameCube back then.

In fact, even cars had that similar, rounded design cue back then.

But, I don't think I'm really Chord's target audience, so that makes sense.

 

[VladYR]

I wasn’t particularly taken with the looks of Hugo TT2. Dave looks interesting but its not everyone’s cup of tea. The only thing that I don‘t like about it is it’s always on display, which is rather bright. Other than that it‘s very functional.

 

[sp33ls]

Yeah, no doubt. It sounds like their circuit design and quality are top notch. Gratz on the upgrade btw!

 

[ervin192]

No. 925 owner here.
Wonder if any new owners already have a serial greater than 9999? Since all previous rumors about discontinuation seem dead by now.

 

[sp33ls]

No. 925 owner here.
Wonder if any new owners already have a serial greater than 9999? Since all previous rumors about discontinuation seem dead by now.

Yeah, I'm 10062

 

[MatthewWeflen]

Yeah, I'm 10062

10148 here.

 

[musicday]

Well, I’m leaving the Z1R club. It’s been a fun 2+ years with these headphones. It’s a shame they don’t pair particularly well with the Chord Dave. Hopefully someone will appreciate them. I ended up trading them in towards an M Scaler. The difference that it makes with Dave is simply transformative.

For Dave I will say the Empyrean is the best pairing. I know both Romanian and British companies very well and I know what I am talking about.
At least for my tasting was perfect, see if you can try them both together for few hours at least

 

[Verificateur]

Can anyone share some first-hand impressions of Sony MDR Z1R vs. Fostex TH900Mk2?
And, another question, somewhat unrelated... how would the RME ADI-2 DAC pair with the Sony MDR Z1R?
I have seen some people say the RME is too plain, analytical or bland, hoping someone who owns both could comment.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Hinomotocho]

Can anyone share some first-hand impressions of Sony MDR Z1R vs. Fostex TH900Mk2?
And, another question, somewhat unrelated... how would the RME ADI-2 DAC pair with the Sony MDR Z1R?
I have seen some people say the RME is too plain, analytical or bland, hoping someone who owns both could comment.
Thank you in advance.

I owned the RME for a few months, it is a very nice dac, has features galore, well built and seems well priced - and has the cool LED graphic equaliser.
I purchased it to go with my Z1R but could not demo so bought a bargain secondhand one based on the great reviews. Ideally I wanted the TA-ZH1ES but had issues sourcing one as they aren't sold in my country and importing secondhand pushed prices up a lot. I have a history with Sony gear and follow many Sony threads so the appeal of Sony synergy plug and play always had me wanting it.
I was coming from mainly using a WM1A using direct source as I don't like fiddling with settings. The default RME sound was superb with my Oriolus iems but it did nothing for me with the Z1R. I messaged a couple of members that had the same pairing and they shared some EQ settings that improved on the sound, but it just didn't satisfy me, I preferred the Signature of my WM1A.
Perhaps more experimenting with the many sound settings and EQ adjustments may have brought better results or maybe it is as people describe the nature of the amp and I just didn't like the pairing.
I sold it and ended up with the TA-ZH1ES and I am very happy with the Sony special sauce synergy.
I am just sharing my experience, you may like the default RME sound or be able to tweak it to your tastes. I'm not sure if you want an all in one or could look at adding an amp that may steer it to something that may match the Z1R as the dac is very good.
A couple of other dac/amps I tried were the Topping DX7 Pro and the iFi iDSD NEO and from memory they were both more appealing than the default RME.

 

[Terriero]

Can anyone share some first-hand impressions of Sony MDR Z1R vs. Fostex TH900Mk2?
And, another question, somewhat unrelated... how would the RME ADI-2 DAC pair with the Sony MDR Z1R?
I have seen some people say the RME is too plain, analytical or bland, hoping someone who owns both could comment.
Thank you in advance.

@Malevolent would help you with the first question. He made a lot of requested comparisons between TH900 MK2 and AH-D9200, but I can't remember the Z1R vs TH900.

 

[up late]

comparisons between the two can be found in this very thread. perhaps he could give the search function a try.

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

[Redcarmoose]

Here I do direct comparisons between the MDR-Z1R, IER-Z1R and MDR-Z7!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sony-mdr-z1r.21971/reviews#review-21989

 

[ervin192]

Here I do direct comparisons between the MDR-Z1R, IER-Z1R and MDR-Z7!

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sony-mdr-z1r.21971/reviews#review-21989

The Z7's an elegant looking headphone. Like its appearance more than the pure black Z1R.