The Z1R has a sort of funny design. The material on the headphones is two big earcups is clean and unique, and it also bulges outward. You’d think by the size that the Z1R would be a lot more weighty, but they actually have a lightweight feel to them. The earpads and headband material are also very soft and comfortable, being made from sheepskin and prioritizing a non-fatiguing fit after numerous listening hours. I thought the Z1R had great isolation and my ears still had enough room to breathe and avoided getting hot. Design Sony 1A (The 1A is at times better due to the IER-Z1R adding parallels to the 1Z sound, all by itself) All these headphones come in nice boxes; though the IER-Z1R comes with a cardboard jewelry box, with drawers. Also for the record, the IER-Z1R comes included with the greatest of cables, both 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced. Of all the headphones talked about here, it’s the IEM which is dependent on fit. Meaning they may not fit your ears, and if they don’t fit your ears the party is over. This single concept makes full-size headphones much easier to use in the end. Though for this extra effort we are gifted with a inner head-stage. As the tip sits inside your cranium the sound is both inside and outside your head. This concept in and of itself gets us a different perspective in sound display. Also I can’t help but reinforce the medical insertion of detail into your brain. The IEMs go the extra mile to put the music closer to your soul and under your skin. Also the display is like reading a normal size book where full-size headphones can almost take more effort to take in? 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.)

Fortunately, this was a fight that i came out victorious. After a solid week of breaking my ears in and using Sony's own hybrid tips, i found a way to let them sit in my ear, without much discomfort, for hours on end. For once i actually used the cable clip included. In the world of high-powered Japanese restomods, one name has long stood apart: AC Sanctuary. Founder Hiroyuki Nakamura opened his shop in the 1990s. Since then, they’ve built a global reputation for producing air-cooled monsters that combine the spirit and silhouette of their original donors with a host of modern performance upgrades.

Z1-R Restomod: Build Sheet

Soundstage & Instrument separation: Probably the biggest soundstage in an IEM I've ever heard, surpassing that of the XBA-Z5 and equating that of the MDR-Z1R/HD800S, pretty inmersive experience, same for instrument separation, each instrument is present as a single entity with it's own air arround it. Notes come from every where, basically you're gunned down with notes from every where wow, as like listening to a pair of professional floor standing speakers. (Krebs- Organ works. Weinberger brothers, label Motette 16/44.1. Striggio mass for 40 and 60 voices, Hervé Noquet, Glossa, DSD 2.8MHz. Bach the six partiten, Martin Gester, Ligia, FLAC 24/88.2).

The MDR-Z1R belongs, without question, into the Musical Sound category. It can play pretty much every Genre without ever sounding offensive, off or wrong with anything. When the 903cc Kawasaki Z1 was introduced in 1972, it was the largest, most powerful DOHC four-cylinder motorcycle ever produced. That year, the bike set an FIM / AMA 24-hour endurance record, covering 2631 miles at Daytona at an average speed of nearly 110 mph. The Z1 earned MCN’s Machine of the Year award for four straight years, and helped set the template for the next decade of superbike design. Compared to BX: BX has more bass quantity, however is more muddy and upper bass bleeds into the low ids, Compared to the cascades. Lol. Cascades are nuts - Overpowered bass with little control Each shell inside has three drivers, all of them developed by sony in-house. a 12 mm Dynamic similar to that of the MDR-Z1R with an magnesium dome and LCP diaphragm, a BA with new silver wires and gold connectors. And a 5 mm LCP Dynamic driver. The housing also has a magnesium-frame and a acoustic tube system for handling the sound stage. Would i recommend the IER-Z1R over something like the Vision Ears EST, UE LIVE, 64 Audio Fourté and similar? Absolutely yes. Its significantly better than these and this is what makes it look cheap but(!), and here comes the caveeat, its still insanely overpriced imho. If the price is no issue for you and you already have an good reference like an IER-M9, Mach 70, TG335 or even SE846, then grab these. There is nothing for a lower price that gives you what it is.

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COMFORT, ISOLATION, AND FIT​Comfort = horrible. Fit = atrocious. Isolation = above average (when pushed deep into the canals, basically how these IEMs are supposed to be worn). Wearing the Sony IER-Z1R for any length of time is a challenge and will definitely be the deal-breaker for most people. Auditioning the IEM before purchasing is strongly advised. Developed from thousands of listening tests, the dedicated film capacitors on the network give much lower distortion. Audio grade solder is also used throughout to ensure maximum signal transparency.