Each earbud is a piece of art crafted to perfection. The quality is not just skin deep; every building aspect has been thought through. It's all top-notch, from the premium materials to how they feel in your ears. First of the entry level I bought was Moondrop Aria. Its okay, certainly huge difference, but okay for the price.

IER-Z1R Impressions and Measurements – In-Ear Fidelity Sony IER-Z1R Impressions and Measurements – In-Ear Fidelity

With the IER-M9 this happens much later compared to the IER-Z1R and the reason is exactly this push in the treble. That is not an issue as nobody should listen at loud volumes (especially for longer times) anyway, but if you have songs with a lot of dynamic range, this can make you run into issues. Especially with Hans Zimmer i noticed that things just got too loud at peaks too early. I end this not technical review or thoughts by apologizing to my Z1R because trying to cheat on it. Even with my Dumbo ears, the IER-Z1R becomes uncomfortable after a few hours of continued use. And of course, the sound quality depends greatly on your insertion depth. Deeper is better, but also less comfortable.

Cymbals, Rides and Crashes having natural timbre with decent amount to treble extension, giving it pleasurable decay Disclaimer 2: the Z1R is not a free unit, but I did get it at a fat discount because I have badass buddies that shan't be named

IER-Z1R | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org SONY IER-Z1R | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

The bass is a standout feature, delivering a deep, controlled, and textured presence. Unlike bass that drowns out detail, the IER-Z1R's bass is an articulate storyteller. It’s not boomy or overemphasized; it's musical and rich. It seems to me The Mojo sounds the thinnest(not bad just compared to the others) out of all my combination and provides and excellent change to the theme here, oh and it sounds great too. High frequencies are a delicate balance, and the IER-Z1R handles them with breathtaking elegance. There's an airiness to the highs, a sparkle that illuminates without ever becoming piercing or sibilant.for normal size ears though, there is no problem at all, the headphone is very enjoyable to use for long periods due to its lightness and excellent clamping force with soft earpads with leather that feels nice to the skin. On the technical side, the mids come across natural in both timbre and tone. As a whole, no parts seem unnaturally gritty or thin like they can with other headphones that are have either too much / too little treble and mids. From all the Headphones i've listened and/or owned so far (HD800S, HD820, Several Focal and LCD, pretty much everything from Meze and Hifiman, Moondrop VENUS and so on) nothing ever sounded as Live as the MDR-Z1R

SONY IER-Z1R | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org SONY IER-Z1R | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

In this regard, it is unbeatable by other TOTL, you can't really use an open headphone in your workplace, it might disturb someone else unless on really low volume, but then it's not as enjoyable isn't it? Crazy as it sounds you would probably like the 1A the best. People that are after a reference tone are going to be happy with the 1A. The IER-Z1R adds so much of the intrinsic qualities of the 1Z when used with the 1A, it’s not funny. I would actually suggest people get the IER-Z1R and 1A combo first, as it is the best value and most middle of the road.Strangely this forwardness is also shared by the Z7. It’s the openness of the full-size Z1R which makes it the odd-man-out. 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?). This definitely more of the flavour that the Z1R already offered, but I don't think it makes the Z1R sounds too warm at all. Vocals from Stromae sound more sharp, rough and dominant within the mix ever so slightly, but is never shadowed, nor-overemphasized compared to the entire ensemble (eg. Fils de joie)

Sony MDR-Z1R - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion Sony MDR-Z1R - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion

Dirty Heads “Sound of Change” opens with a deep bass line and it sounds excellent on the Z1R, the vocals still further away, but the instrument separation is excellent and you can hear the fingers running over the strings of the guitars from 1:09 to 1:12 (which is kind of annoying, but detailed.) Compared to the Z1R, the XTC-C bass comes in with a little less quantity, but no less quality - the vocals are more forward and clearer/cleaner on the XTC-C. The fingers on strings mentioned previously are still there, but less grating than on the Z1R (which seems to struggle a little with sharpness in the highs.) This will by my first review as I go through and finally review my collection. The IER-Z1R is one of my favorites and seemed like a great place to get started. Between The Ether C and Z1R, I'm not sure on this one since it's been a while and this is the part where the difference is minor, I'd say it's about the same, but The Z1R sounds really wide for a closed headphone. but it's not a stark enough difference to say one is better than the other.The comfort is very nice, no sense of pressure or cramping arrounf your head/ears, very nice cushioning, the pads feel very comfy, like pillows. winner: I don't know on this one honestly, The C I feel is too thin so I don't like it, but The EF is very good and overall is a bit better than the Z1R despite it sounding scooped out at times. Very clean sounding pair of headphones with a gargantuan stage giving you that live or speaker-like experience. They have very nice bass extension without intruding the mids. Very nice mids and sprakly highs that give the most minute nuances of music asw ell nice macro details. They remain coeherent even in complex passages. Often based on Monitoring with pushed, piercing upper mids, sometimes in combination with pushed bass (no midbass though, we're audiophiles!). Tries to be as much as possible to be the opposide of Club to make sure, you know you're listening to an audiphile headphone. If it doesn't hurt, its not audiophile. If you can't bear the pain, you're not audiophile enough. --> Only plays well with selected audiophile songs. You are not an real audiophile if you listen to anything, that doesn't sound well with these. If anything sounds wrong and off with these, its always the song and the quality of your recording.