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Lowest price ever for this Japanese made beauty.
Don't forget Cashrewards.
Sony MDR-Z1R Headphones $1283.38 Shipped @ Amazon AU
230
TRANCE on 31/01/2020 - 12:23 amazon.com.au (1444 clicks)
Last edited 31/01/2020 - 12:52 by 2 other users
Last edited 31/01/2020 - 12:52 by 2 other users
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For domestic harmony just put these on and turn up the volume
Thanks OP, bought 0
Strewth they are expensive!!
if you think 1k headphones are expensive, then you dont know headphones
How do these compare to sennheiser PXC550 Mk1?
These compare like a supercar to a pedal bicycle.
nice
The Sennheiser's are wireless travel headphones with noise cancellation.
It would be like comparing a Prius to a Ferrari.So Sennheiser will save the world from global warming while Sony destroys it? Got it.
Glad we cleared that up Greta.
Thanks OP, was going to buy these a few days ago for $7,077.88. I'm glad I waited!
These or Beats Pro;-)
Dr Dre wud know!
https://store.sony.com.au/headphones/MDRZ1R.html $2,399.00 AUD ,, BUILT TO ORDER: Orders may take up to eight (8) weeks ,, —— of course :)
plus 12% cashback :)
So the MDR-Z1R is the same as MDR-Z1R WW2. What does WW2 stand for?
World War 2
Where's Wally Book 2 (aka Where's Wally Now)
There's a treble peak, there's no hiding it. I have one. At a certain frequency, the sibilance sounds really unnatural.
You have a treble break?
Does it make lengthy conversation awkward?
Headphone reviews will always be all over the map because there's no such thing as a neutral headphone - between 5khz and 20khz they sound completely different to different people. https://i.imgur.com/JI2xpND.png
I saw this earlier and still mulling over it. Absolutely good price.
officeworks anyone ?
need to upgrade my ears first
so you can detect frequency response from 4hz to 120Khz.
Headphones are awesome and all, but damn, just how many people that buy them will even notice the difference or listen to music that has a high enough bit rate that benefits from this purchase?
At least one:)
just how many people that buy them will even notice the difference or listen to music that has a high enough bit rate that benefits from this purchase?
The kind of person to drop $1.2K on some headphones is going to be the kind of audiophile who has invested the necessary research and money into extracting the most performance out of these headphones via properly-encoded/formatted lossless audio streams, sound cards, DACs, amps and other signal processing equipment.
There's a specific use case for these headphones and it's not being plugged into a generic smartphone, listening to 128Kbp/s Spotify Free streams.
So a bit like “professional” photographers who spend thousands on full frame cameras & expensive lenses yet just shoot in auto settings?
Sure, some audiophiles are into it just for the bragging rights, but I'd say the majority of audiophiles are chasing that perfect setup that can unlock all of the hidden notes and details they've never heard before in their all-time favourite playlists (which is a somewhat rewarding past time, up to a certain level of investment) and they do spend a lot of time playing around with their gear to try an achieve further, real or imagined, improvements in sound quality.
Low bitrates do not make expensive headphones sound like cheap headphones. This is yet another myth.
True but, expensive headphones make crap recordings sound even more crap.
Maybe I'm odd. But I'm happy to spend $10k+ on my Hi-Fi system, yet baulk at spending more than $300 on headphones.
@Tiggrrrrr: Possibly not. Some people prefer headphones, some people speakers. I swing to the headphone camp as I don’t have a room with decent acoustics. In any case descent headphones are far cheaper than decent speakers.
@mostlygordon: Room doesn't need to be acoustically treated. Just need to set your ears up in an equallateral triangle with the speakers.
There's really no comparison in the singer singing in front of you vs in your head.
@krisspy: Try some Beyerdynamic T1 G2's for imaging. I'm thinking around 20K speakers might match them:-) BTW, I do have 20K Polk's, they do sound good, but don't match any of my good cans in my odd shaped house.
@mostlygordon: I've got the first gen T1 lol, and I also got a pair of bw 685 set up in the corner of a small room and there's no way in hell any headphone can match the imaging and soundstage on speakers not even the hd800 with its exaggerated width.
The only time headphones got close was when I was experimenting with binaural audio like out of your head software.
@krisspy: Even my old Mission 753's still sound better than any headphones I've tried.
But again, it's probably personal taste. I like to feel the music hit me, not just hear it.
Exactly. I'll use $1500 Westone w60 to listen to Spotify over an aptxhd Bluetooth connection, and yeah it's still way way better than some $300 Sennheiser hd25s or $100 shures.
Transducer is 90% of the quality, format cables dac and amp are 10% or less, assuming none of those are seriously malfunctioning.
I've owned these for 2 years, and they sound great regardless of Tyll's review.
I also recently aquired the other Z1R's which get rave reviews, but I prefer the MDR.It's kind of like Whisky… when you're ignorant skulling Jim Beam is awesome, but once you develop a palate for single malts there's no way you can go back.
What you get is wide airy soundstage w/ great detail resolving… think 128kbs vs 320kbs mp3… it's not a huge difference but it's nicer.
They're also SUPER comfy.
just how many people that buy them will even notice the difference
That's not how it works. You don't have to be able to pass a double-blind test.
These feel superior because you paid more. Anything else is incidental.
It is exactly the same as wine. ( Which is not to excuse either bad wine or bad headphones. )
Say in theory a normal pleb bought this item. How would you go about getting the most out of this? Would you have to source your own lossless audio files for the songs you liked and upgrade audio hardware specifically to get a better output for this? I doubt a phone with a Spotify stream will do these justice and that's 99% of how I listen to my music so these are probably wasted on me.
Obviously depends on your budget, but there's often deals for Tidal going around to give you cheap access to lossless media. In double blind tests, many people can't tell the difference between 320kbps compressed files and lossless though, so Spotify might not be as limiting as you think.
From a source/amp perspective, your phone will be limiting, but there's a number of amps/DACs that can suit all budgets. You also need to consider where you want to use them - being closed back, they would be OK for outdoor/office use, but whether you want some gear that is portable or not also impacts on your choice.
Do your research and stick to second hand where possible and you can easily get a quality setup that you should be able to sell for virtually no loss if you decide to upgrade/change
many
Meaning everyone.
Many audiophiles believe they are a special case, because they either don't understand or are irrational, but the special cases have never been found in studies.
Cool thank you for the detailed response. I've come back to reality and realised there is no way I can justify spending 1K+ on a pair of head phones, tis was but a pipe dream.
You would need a headphone amp as your 2nd purchase…
Would you have to source your own lossless audio files for the songs you liked and upgrade audio hardware specifically to get a better output for this?
Yes.
I doubt a phone with a Spotify stream will do these justice
No, it won't.
that's 99% of how I listen to my music so these are probably wasted on me.
Yes, they would be completely wasted on you.
In fact, if you have to question the utility or purpose of very expensive headphones, then you're really not the intended target audience.
I have iTunes Match, and uploaded all my Music there as a backup years ago. I gave it a try the other day, I think it's 256K AAC. I've got much better gear since setting this up, and now find it basically unlistenable. I don't understand how people can't hear the difference, all the better for their wallets I guess. Viva la DSD;-)
Low bitrates does not negate high end headphone, they still sound better.
high end headphones will expose flaws in the recording that you didn't hear previously. They're being wasted if you're listening to 128kbps.
Smol Cat… More or less what I wrote above.
You just need a source which supplies >200mW.
So I'm assuming these probably wouldn't work if I just plugged them into my iPhone then? lol
IMPEDANCE (OHM)
64 Ω at 1 kHzJoke aside, your iPhone may be able to drive it, but it would be a travesty if you connect to your iPhone
It will handle it, but it won't get very loud and some of the dynamism will be lost. 200mW is really the minimum for appreciation.
$1,599 at addictedtoaudio.com
Time to get sony to price match.
price back to 2,399…
WOW that was the original price?!!
Can't believe it! Just ponied up $22 for a pair of SoundPEATS True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds. If only I'd waited!
Thanks for the warning, Amazon. Not safe for your wallet and not safe for domestic harmony.