Got my Z1R a few months ago, for me they are 1 of my end game IER's. Tip rolling is a thing with them and to get a good seal. They have the thumpiest bass that I actually LOVE. They fit my ears like a glove so I guess I was quite fortunate in that regard. Will not sell them for any money.
Here's the steps that i took to fit the z1r. 1. Fit the z1r into the ears without your regular size tips. I usually use m sized tips and when i did that i wasnt able to make the shell sit flush to my ears, but i did get a seal. 2. Remove tips and insert z1r directly into ears, if they're able to be inserted more deeply, your regular tips are too large. 3. Slowly increase tip size till the z1r cant fit as deep, and then go down 1 size. You'll still be able to get good seal while solving fitment issues. 4. Once you know what size you need now's the time to do tip rolling and finding different tips. I found that the divinus velvet gave me the best fit out of all the tips I've tested and tips like spinfit w1 don't fit well with the iem since they make them protrude out from the ear.
Z1R are one of my three end-games making the Holy Trinity for me - the Helios, the Monarch Mk2 & the Z1R. These three compliment each other perfectly and give any enjoyment and quality of replay I need.
Well, according to me, yes. And, some notices: 1/ depends what rock - Foreigner, Dire Straits, Whitesnake, Pink Floyd, that kind, are marvelous on Z1R since these bands' vocals are fairly forward and cymbals are not prominent; 2/ Deep Purple, Rainbow, Dio have pulled back vocals and very prominent cymbals and that combo is very well portrayed, but sone do not like that. Otherwise, Z1R has quite better bass and bigger and more holographic soundstage.
I have the Z1R and love rock too. And yes, I quite like them for rock. I fully reccomend you test them on a Sony dap (specially the WM series), even a used W1A will be very good for rock even on recordings with prominent treble, because their DAPs adjusts very well with Z1R's "spicier" treble.
The Sony Z1Rs have been around for some years now. It's worth noting that it was made by Sony to specifically sound its level best when paired with their flagship WM1Z/WM1A DAPs. Do invest in a set of customt tips to help it fit into your ears and a top class pure silver cable and you'll be amazed what this thingy can do.
I can't find anything better for imaging and bass detail than z1rs for my big old ears. I eliminated the treble peak with a" linsoul lsco8 pure copper cable and firm deep fit deconi bullet foam tips. Using aksp2000 & 3000. For "female vocal soul r&b" I eq just the sub bass to zero, arr beautiful forward dominant vocals.For edm no eq & with no treble peak the volume is up so wow.
No question the stock cables, eartips are of decent quality and Sony has provided a bucket full. However there is little point buying the Z1R (not cheap) and not extracting maximum performance. A key thing to note is the Z1Rs are equipped with super tweeters and this kind of tech do benefit from using better quality cables to extract maximum level of sonic performance especially if dynamics, soundstage and transparency are of some value to you. All said, it won't cost you a cent by going to the shops and checking some cables and earths out.. For bass freaks, give the Sony Kimber cable a try and for those who want the very best out of the Z1Rs...go give a top notch pure silver cable a try. And while you are there checkout the Electech Baroque eartips as well. As said previously you may be amazed by what the Z1Rs can really do.
I've owned my Z1R (both fullsize and IEM) for 2+ years now, and yes the treble can be spicy on the IER, but sometimes i just forgot that deep insertion yes actually tame the treble quite a lot. it's no longer zingy and sibilant. sometimes you can actually find better fit and comfort with small size tips, I usually use mediums and put them in shallow-ly but i always carry an ms size tips in the case for then I want them.
I'll make sure to take small and medium-small eartips with me when I go to the Sony store in a couple of weeks. Which brand do you normally use with the IER-Z1R?
I’ve spent thousands on TOTL iems and associated gear and if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t. They just are not worth the price. Having said that, the Z1R has remained my favourite IEM since I got it in 2018. If you absolutely have to make the mistakes I made to realize what you already have is good enough, I recommend the Z1R.
I used the Z1R for about a year and it was my go-to every time I had to sit on long flights or long rides. I tried the mk2 as well because everyone was hyping it up, however the clear winner was Z1R for me. Even when my ears wasn't blessed and the fitting was kinda horrendous, it still sounded godly to me. Sold my Z1R because I had an ear infection. After recovering and testing the mega5est awhile back, I realised that fit is so important and that even though I was not particularly blown away by it, it was addictive to listen to due to its comfort and forward mids.
For years, I was more of a wireless earbuds person. Less than 2 years ago, I kinda reconnected with music more seriously when I saw the cheap KZ IEMs online. Very quickly, I bought a few and some cables. I soon realized they can’t stay in my ears properly and have to use my hands to hold on it. So, I moved to headphones and have been at it since. The Tin T2 is the most expensive and probably best IEM I still have. Now, it’s Bluetooth earbuds daily and headphones for listening time.
Great review Loki! Yeah definitely the treble is spicy on the treble, but for me just pairing it with something that isn't that analytical such as a Chord Mojo does wonders
I started ti write if there is a reason to own both Mach 70 and IER-Z1R, in the sense that is the presentation different enough, and I pause to go on their website. Not only thy put their T2 connection on an IEM, something in itself cringe enough, but even their adapter (yes becasue someone spending 1500 Euro should need an adapter 🙄) is for you to adapt your MMCX IEM to their cable, not the other way around. Good, we need their dumb cable.... no 4.4mm. This chanel does more to make them sell products then they are doing themselves, because in the minds of those people if you have gear that is primarely a balaced device so you need balanced cable, you need to obviously change your gear to use their product... the level of entitelment of those guys is literally of the chart. Outstanding video, very informative, very well done, it is a shame some brands are taking themselves way to seriously. ps. in case isn't clear I am not buyin any Weastone
Sorry to hear that you didn't like their approach to cables and adapters. Their products are more directed to the pro monitoring market so they have different priorities than audiophiles.
@@PassionforSound I don't like their lack of options. If they want a connection that that nobody uses, at least offer a balanced cable for it . At this point it is lack of consideration for customers, but it is what it is. Some times brands do make dumb decisions for no reasons.
Z1R had the very best vocal performance I have ever heard. Aful Cantor (pre-release version at CanJam) and Elysian Diva were close. Meze Advar a baby Z1R, like 90-95% of the way there.
@@nikhilchandra3778 People are really loving the bass of the Crinacle x Moondrop Dusk. Haven’t heard it myself. And yeah, Advar’s bass performance really matched my preferences. IE900 up there too for bass. But Advar equals it at much lower price.
I think it's now time for both Sony and Hifiman to release new versions with planar magnetic drivers. Hifiman could also consider releasing an electrostatic version.
The Sony match my ear perfectly, i have a big ear canal but not so big ears, but my ear it self makes them for perfectly. I bought the Sony IER Z1R for 900$ used, with a missing 4.4mm cable.
Great video as always Lachlan. I've never been a fan of IEM's until recently. I have MANY pairs of the 'under a few hundred dollars' but now looking above that. Lucky for me, I am about to move from the Gold Coast to Melbourne where there are many stores I can go broke in. I have a pair of Sony MDRZ1R and I love them (and also, Audeze/Dan Clark/Hifiman) I have been looking at the IER-Z1R but I too have the smaller ear-well and think they'd pop out and I'd be very annoyed spending hat sort of coin on them. As I am a bit weird on a plane, I use some noise cancelling headphones (over ear) just to mute the outside world but then pop in IEM's for the music. My go to's are the PSB M4U 4. But now thanks to this channel I need to expand 😃
I love my ones and still after 2 years still top 2 of my iems. They fit perfectly for my ears but it really needs the chin slider to be tighened up to under my chin to hold them in properly.
I have a pretty large space for IEMs but have small ear canals. I would think the shell would fit but the actual nozzle may have trouble staying. If I were to buy these, I’d probably buy some custom tips form adv sound or something considering they have a custom tip dedicated to the IER-Z1R
Looking forward to the video about the frequency range perception research you mentioned! The widespread dogma on this question has always bothered me as reductive. Even if we can't identify some stimuli as immediately perceptible in a way we expect them to be (which isn't even always the case with sound waves falling out of the established frequency range of 20-20000 Hz), that absolutely doesn't mean that we are completely insensitive to them and they have no impact on our body and perceptual system in particular. Claiming that the frequency range purportedly covered by these IEMs doesn't and couldn't in principle make any difference is just as unscientific as claiming that it does indeed make a meaningful and positive difference for the inadequate amount, scope and depth of the research on the issue at the moment. I absolutely hate the pseudoscientific dogmatic overzealousy espoused by many people claiming to be scientific objectivists while having inadequate understanding of science, scientific meta theory and philosophy os science.
That's a tough one. I never compared them directly and the IER-Z1Rs have gone back to Sony. I suspect they'd be pretty comparable, but I can't be certain.
I know that metal shells are seen as premium but I'd rather have lightweight resin plastic in my ear canals. And some iems barely qualify as their namesake: in ear, with their giant chungus sized shells sticking out of your ears
Fair points! The size of the Z1Rs is necessary with their internal driver layout and the metal can be a better choice for resonance control, but I definitely get what you mean and an IEM is only enjoyable if you can keep it in your ears!
Hey friend, I have these headphones and I'm lucky enough to have very large ear canals, so they fit perfectly! I only complain that I find the mid-range quite behind... I was thinking about purchasing the Empire ears ODIN; It would be great if you could do a review of them; There are many on RU-vid, but the best are yours 😊
Hi, by looking at the shots in which you are wearing the iem I think you are not getting the proper fit that is why you are hearing 6k peak. My advice is to use as small eartips as you can but with wide bore that give you the required isolation that would result in deeper subbass in addition with sweeter treble.
I tried lots of tips and I am only guessing at the 6k peak - it might be elsewhere and we all have different internal ear canal resonances. For me, they're just a bit spicy regardless of the tip. They still sound amazing though, when they stay in my ears.
You have them way too far out of your ears, which will pull the treble insertion resonance down into the more audible range and severely affects the treble sharpness. You need to get them right in there for the treble to sound right. As you say this is the critical flaw with them but if you Google "Sony IER Z1R fit" you'll get pictures of what the fit is meant to look like. Typically you need to use smaller tips than usual and just really shove them in, keep pushing them in until the body of the IEM contacts your ear and it can't go any further. This does feel somewhat violating, but it's the way they are meant to fit. I sold mine because although I could get them in for a deep fit, it just wasn't very comfortable, I sold my Etymotics for the same reason. If you can't get them in, it's not the IEM for you, beyond the comfort issue they just won't sound right.
Within the same price bracket as these, do you think the IEM's offer as good sound and experience as over ear headphones. If not, could you please recommend one or two over ear headphones based on me enjoying Sennheiser IE600 and Meze Audio Rai Penta (I'm not keen on the fitting of the Meze but find the Sennheiser incredibly comfortable and well fitting)
IEMs will often deliver a greater sense of detail/technicality than headphones at the same price, but at this level, there are some awesome headphones. I'd consider the Focal Clear (either MG or the original), HiFiMan Arya Organic (or the older Stealth version), or Meze 109 Pro. All three are excellent with slightly different presentations and signatures.
IEMs usually sound better for less money. When I say “better”, i just mean general sound quality like details, clarity, tonality etc… because ultimately IEMs and Headphones offer 2 different sound presentations. But when you move up to the super high end, most headphones will have the same level of details while having advantages in soundstage. I find IEMs more fun though since you can find a lot of different sound signatures.
@@BassSlamyou should try using some smaller bore tips, maybe like the Final Audio Type E’s for less treble. I personally find their treble to be great and extended in well recorded tracks but sibilant in poorly recorded ones
@@slothninja5180ye, probably the Mk2 as the Mk3 has a bit more treble and bass. More neutral overall I think. Only if you have decently sized ears ofc 😅
They're definitely chonky! On pure volume, they're probably not that different from the Monarchs, but the shape and weight make them a much more difficult fit.
So true. I'm playing around with this new style and will probably find a balance point soon so see what you think. I've just uploaded my HEDDphone 2 review for public release soon and I think it sits somewhere between this style of video and my older ones. There's more onscreen content, but a little less of the whimsical. That will probably fluctuate depending on my mood and the product. 🙂
I prefer the original style of your videos, where we just listened to you speak without random interjected content that sort of cheapens its seriousness. My 2c.
I'm still experimenting with the exact style of videos and editing and will keep watching the data from RU-vid to see what people seem to like the most. I've been a little extra energetic and whimsical in the last few, but some of the upcoming ones are more similar to the old style (although not the same). We'll see where I land ultimately...
@@PassionforSound Thanks for replying. Either way though, we’ll keep watching. I appreciate the informative, balanced approach you have. One request for us newbies - it would be great to have a ‘starter video’ where you explain the different terms you use to describe sound.
@@Abhi-wn7sw Differences between TOTL products are very subtle, unless you’re comparing totally different tuned IEMs. There’s no v-shaped IEM in the high end that’s next level from the Z1R.
Overall? Definitely not. They have a sense of clarity that's very different from the Rn6 due to the treble emphasis in the Sonys, but I'd take the Rn6 every single time. That's why they cost so much more too!
LOL. When compared to some IEMs put there (e.g. Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor) these seem cheap! But I do agree, they're not cheap in real terms by any stretch.
@@PassionforSound I want a pair tho. I've been Minecraft creepin into my dad's spare change drawer for the past month. That old man got no idea I've been day light robbing him for at least $118 in change 👌
@@buenahora001I've seen these gibberish comments on other channels too. I can't tell if they're attention seeking or they've got some other "problem." No point in trying to figure it out, you'll only give yourself a headache lol
