Sony MDR-Z1R

These are fantastic. They'll give you that They are in many ways a more relaxing all-rounder than Other headphones I have here except maybe the mr. Sp...

So, not recommended, beautiful headphone, fine one to look at, it's a lovely thing, comfortable to wear but I just don't think they deliver on the sou...

It's definitely really cool looking, it's extremely comfortable, very light, I can easily let it disappear on my head for long periods of time. Nice.

* piercing treble, even after two months of usage, sometimes I had to put them off after 5 minutes, sometimes I could survive two hours with them. * lack of warmth in the base (drop around 100Hz) results in dry, analytical sound, very annoying while trying to enjoy the music, not analysing music. * bass gets distorted very easily when bass-heavy music is played louder. * my ears are touching inside of the cups, annoying and painful; the comfort of these headphones is so over-hyped!.

Off the bat I want to say that this is intended to be a generally good review. I just think that you the buyer should know what you're getting. I jumped on these as soon as they became available. Coming after the very mixed reviews of the MDR-Z7 and with the design being both bold and touted as revo...

The one thing I learnt having owned Sony IEMs (N3, M9, Z1R) is that their build quality is seriously second to none. Anyway, I wanted to venture into high end closed back headphones, and wanted something that would definitely last. Also, I felt that I needed some variety in the character of my headphones, therefore I just pulled the trigger on the MDR-Z1R and prayed for the best (and also because there was a good return policy). Oh boy was I blown away.

These headphones got mostly terrible reviews, ranging from a guy called Tyll to many, many others... complaining about spikes in the 10.000 kHZ range, and whatever not. I initially listened to these "experts" and did not consider the Z1R for me at all. But then I did some further research and ... go...

So, I decided to look into Sony cans again... and I went for broke: my Sony MDR-Z1R headphones finally arrived yesterday morning. These Z1Rs are fucking incredible. The soundstage is huge, they are incredibly comfortable, the treble a mids are very natural/clean, and the bass is rich and deep but not boomy.

I am a big fan of Sony products. I've owned Sony XBR TVs for years, plus I have two other very good Sony headphones, a Sony NW-WM1A Walkman, and a TA-ZH1ES headphone amplifier. So, I expected to be pleased with the Z1R. It has had mixed professional reviews, including a critical review from InnerFid...

My wife put on my MDR-Z1R and listened to some music. Her verdict? "There's too much sound."

Oh well. :-)