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tiad
40
Aug 26, 2017
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.. the Z7 is a fantastic headphone that provides a very fun sound. It sounds very similar to Focal Elear. The bass from Z7 is little inaccurate but it is much more spacious, more comfortable to wear and is superbly built. Moreover The cable is changeable. It has 70 mm monster drivers. I love my MDR-MA 900, but always missed little trebles. Z7 does it really better here. I use them unbalanced with Toxic Silver Poison cable. Compared to the Fostex TH-X000 the Z7 has the better bass and it sounds more spacious. It is better built also.
Aug 26, 2017
Silverion77
59
Aug 26, 2017
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tiadOn the contrary, having compared the E-MU Teaks directly to the Z7, I found the bass on the Z7 to be extremely loose and flabby. Not to mention the relaxed treble on the Z7 compared to the X00. All said, they aren't really comparable. The Z7 is laid back while the X00 is a much more forward and engaging presentation. Personally, if I was looking for a laid back headphone like the Z7, I think there are straight up better options depending on other criteria (e.g. ergonomics).
Aug 26, 2017
WildMurph
131
Aug 26, 2017
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tiadI agree. I absolutely love them... Baby Z1R's... So comfortable. Most comfortable headphones I have ever worn.
Aug 26, 2017
gb21011971
159
Aug 26, 2017
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tiadI have the Z7, Elear and TH-X00, T1 and T5p. I recently sold my Z1R
IMO the Z7 does not sound anything like the Elear. The Elear has a much more neutral tonality and while it's upper registers are not as bright as the T1's or the TH-X00's, the Elear does ot lack treble or mids like the Z7 or Z1R do.
I agree that the Z7 is super comfortable and light. I terms of sound, I am not saying that I don't like it, it just has a very distinct sound signature (dark, bass heavy and far from neutral) and I would not use it for all genres. Rock and acoustic music sound veiled due to recessed treble and mids. On the other hand, e.g. EMD sounds terrific on the Z7's!
I view it as a specialty headphone and there it excels. Not as much like the Z1R, but the signature is similar. The Z1r is more spacious, resolving and the bass goes even deeper. But the overall characteristics are similar. I modded my Z7 with surgical tape (very popular mod, just google Z7 mod and Currawong) and it cleanes up the mid bass nicely. For my purposes it did not make sense to keep the much more expensive Z1R, even if that one is better.
The X00 is V shaped. Elevated bass and elevated treble, whereas the Z7 has mostly elevated bass. The bass quality of the Z7 is better, cleaner and deeper. My biggest complain about the X00 is too much and fuzzy mid bass.
The Elear, T1 and T5p play in a different league than the aforementioned. The T1 is highly resolving, very musical, and the best choice for classic, acoustic and even rock. It has less bass quantity, but the quality is very high.
The T5p is closed, has less brilliant top range, but more bass than the T1, but less than the Z7.
The open Elear is probably the best allrounder, very neutral, but with good bass slam.
Aug 26, 2017
WildMurph
131
Aug 26, 2017
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gb21011971I agree... I love my Z7.. However the majority of my listening is to Electronic and hiphop.. And for those purposes I think the Z7 is as good as I need. I think their sound signature is perfect for my needs. Also, one thing to remember about sony products, it they have AWESOME synergy. But I use an Xperia a PHA-3 and the Z7.. They play very very well together.
Aug 26, 2017
Skynet6
6
Aug 26, 2017
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gb21011971For someone that owns the fidelio x2, do u think the elear or mrspeaker aeon would be a better choice as an upgrade, i don't mind what ever the sound signature is, just want to get the wow factor, i mean an Upgrade rather than sidegrade, Also i don't mind any other recommendation, thanks
Aug 26, 2017
Silverion77
59
Aug 27, 2017
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Skynet6You're discussing completely different beasts and I'm not sure how sound sig doesn't matter. An 'upgrade' is irrelevant if you don't like it, or it doesn't play well with your preferred genre/use case. Not to mention, closed vs open. My first thought is that if you like the X2, then you like a little bass in your face. Aeon is fairly neutral and laid back. Elear has a noticeable bass thump to them, but who knows without caring about sound signature ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Aug 27, 2017
Skynet6
6
Aug 27, 2017
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Silverion77Thanks,. You're right, That was stupid, am not really an audiophile but i think i hate v-shaped headphones, neutral & little bass would be good, i also own the over ear momentum 2 and really hate it, vocals doesn't seem to be natural at all not even close to the x2 if that means anything, i might be wrong tho. I searched more on the aeon and i think its my next headphone.
Aug 27, 2017
Silverion77
59
Aug 27, 2017
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Skynet6Totally understandable. I haven't personally listened to the Aeons (unfortunately none at the recent meet). There are a number of options to go depending on musical tastes. An 'interesting' sidegrade would be to consider grabbing the Sennheiser HD650s. It's in a similar tier as the X2, but will drive down a different path of amping and upgrades to the rest of the chain. The 650s (or 600s) is a headphone that can scale unreasonably far which is why it has become a go to staple and reference. Elear is certainly pretty neutral with a solid bass bump. Aeons being planar will have planar bass. It will extend far, but lacks a little bit of quantity for my taste. Do note with the Aeons, you will lose that open staging which I always find to be the most 'wowing' factor (especially when I first got my Beyers)
Aug 27, 2017
Skynet6
6
Aug 27, 2017
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Silverion77For sound stage i still got the x2, so i only need a closed back headphone that's why i decided with aeon, also my ears are large so its a win win, i couldn't believe how small the ear cups of the momentum was for me which got me super depressed X"D
Aug 27, 2017
tiad
40
Aug 27, 2017
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gb21011971I found the bass on the Z7 to be extremely loose and flabby- I can’t confirm this “extremely” statement at all. It is not the most accurate, like from Elear or HE-6, that’s true. But it is imho not that bad. Listen e.g. to Mickey Hart “Planet Drums” or Yello "Jungle Bill". Z7 produces the drums extremely well and natural. When I compare the TH-X00 Magohany with TH-900 it is similar. The bass on the TH-900 seems to sound thinner, but more accurate and deep. The Z7’s bass is similar to D7000. It's little flabby depending on the recording and volume level. But both Z7 and D7000 provide a very fun sound.
The Z7 is laid back while the X00 is a much more forward and engaging presentation.- Yes, with Z7 you can listen to any recording without any fatigue. You can call it laid back sound. But the TH-X00 has somewhere too much treble in comparison. So, even „Graceland“ from Paul Simon can be problem to listen because of “zzsss”.
I have the Z7, Elear and TH-X00, T1 and T5p- That’s cool. Me too.
IMO the Z7 does not sound anything like the Elear.“ - OK. Every headphone has its own sound. If two headphones sound similar (never 100% identical) other aspects like comfort, finish, design, price etc. will make the difference. Z7 is closed-back whereas Elear is open-back. Even though the Z7 sounds more spacious than the Elear. The Elear is really a perfect Allrounder. I agree. With very forward mids, fantastic voice presentation, especially at higher volumes. The bass is present and very accurate without supressing the trebles. But, my comparison was about the fun listening factor. When one puts on the Z7 he won't think of changing it no matter which music he listens. I also have the impression that Focal copied some of the features from Z7. The impedance and sensivity is nearly the same (Z7/Elear: 70/80 Ohm, 102/104 dB), also the usage of 2 x 3.5 mm mini-phone connectors and the headband mechanic (better on Z7). Z7 has the better cables and input connectors also...
The Elear has a much more neutral tonality- I wouldn’t say much(!) more, because there is also a permanent bass bump over the Elears, but yes it has the tighter bass and present midrange. But, do one needs a neutral sound to have fun? Especially when listening to all kind of music with diferent quality available...
“..while it's upper registers are not as bright as the T1's or the TH-X00's, the Elear does not lack treble or mids like the Z7 or Z1R do.- A lot of people don’t like beyerdynamic because of the highs. So, e.g. the 1st gen of T1 has the “famous” 8 Hz peak, which is no problem for me. With the TH-X00 it can be problematic even with recordings like Paul Simon’s “Graceland”, whereas the Z7 does a great job in those case. Check also Eva Cassidy "Live At Blues Alley", inaudible with bright sounding headphones. But with Z7 just fanstastic. Listen also to Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker”, you will love the Z7 with its its extremely relaxing sound.
..Z7 it just has a very distinct sound signature (dark, bass heavy and far from neutral) Dark? Did you ever listen to an Audeze LCD-2 (non Fazor) or Sennheiser HD 650? Z7 is far away from dark. Again, if you take T1 (typical beyer) or Fostex or the Grados as baseline, it seems to be darker. For sure. But one could also say the other ones are brighter. Listen to one of my favorite test tracks from Mike Oldfield’s “The Songs of Distant Earth”, Track “Ascension”. At 4:05 min. Turn up the volume as loud as you bear and you will understand why I am not confirming that Z7 is dark. I could post an endles listing about such tracks that are awesome to listen over the Z7...Supertramp "Breakfast in America" - Child Vision, "Brother Where You Bound" - Better Days", "Cannonball",.... Bob Marley "Exodus" - purely fun.
For someone that owns the fidelio x2, do u think the elear or mrspeaker aeon would be a better choice as an upgrade, i don't mind what ever the sound signature is, just want to get the wow factor, i mean an Upgrade rather than sidegrade.I do not know Philips Fidelio X2 but own X1. It's a headphone with superb value for the money. But the bass is really flabby. If you can afford go for Focal Elear. It has definitely those Wow effect.
Cheers
P.S.: I use as Headphone Amplifier Violectric V281 (balanced and non-balanced), Lehmann Black Cube Linear Pro, C.E.C. HD53N (fully balanced), beyerdynamic A2, Hifiman EF5
Aug 27, 2017
WildMurph
131
Aug 27, 2017
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tiadOnce again, I completely agree. Honestly, some people just like to act high and mighty because Sony is a "big company".. .But your descriptions are accurate. The Z7 is a great headphone and has earned it's spot on my shelf.
Aug 27, 2017
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