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. 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). Sony has made it the main goal to add room response to the Signature Series. That is what is different. That is what you hear different and that is what will separate these IEMs in Head-Fi history. As you do.........I still have unproven ideas and concepts. One is sound quality from files higher than 16/44.1. The equipment used in this test is on the edge of actually being able to maybe hear the improvements of Hi Resolution Audio. After all these years I have remained believing that 16/44.1 was all that’s needed. Though at this fork in the road, I don’t know anymore. So for this review I have paid very close attention to the possible sound quality improvement from higher bit-rate. Obviously your results may vary from my findings. But I would be amiss if I didn’t simply suggest experimenting with High Resolution Audio at this level of replay. This level of reproduction is obviously not the end all, end all. Still your going to have to drop some serious coin to start to top it. The upper-treble tweeter also has a very interesting design. It’s a 5mm micro-dynamic driver with Al-coated LCP diaphragm and offers up to 100KHz response — a figure that’s inaudible by all humans but aces the numbers game. In practical use, the 5mm driver has very fast transients and offers the timbral accuracy of a dynamic driver instead of the artificial BA timbre or the fleeting, lightweight nature of EST tweeters.

Let’s investigate the history and realization of the IER-Z1R. As only out in the wild a week, we’re going to find out if it’s possibly the mythological unicorn; the thing that didn’t exist. In combination with the pushed treble, they give you an unique impression of an speaker system in an perfect room which is a very fun tuning, i am absolutely admitting that, but it can get tiresome and it is not an accurate rendering of the song (again, not an IEM, so no issue). You should be aware of that. They are not objectively perfect. They may be subjectively perfect for some, but there exists songs who do not cope with this tuning well. As you might expect for a flagship IEM, technicalities are stellar, and the IER-Z1R has top-tier resolution. It’s not U12t clean, but comes close enough. The soundstage is also impressive; however, I’ll refrain from absurd superlatives: It’s only large relative to other IEMs. And to this effect, it barely edges out the U12t’s soundstage which is above average in its own right. It’s still one of the few IEMs that kind-of-sort-of breaks the in-your-head barrier; maybe my expectations are just too high. Finally, while the IER-Z1R certainly isn’t slow, it does seem to fall behind the U12t in terms of transient speed. 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.

Sound

For Sony the Signature Sound is a statement. It shows the world they are leaders not followers. It’s a robust concoction that they are right and everyone else is absolutely wrong. If this concept is true it must be eventually accepted. In the world no new ideas are brought forth without controversy. The world is hard to change; especially the audiophile world where everyone thinks they are right. Burn-in – don’t really believe in it unless we’re talking about your ears and brain getting used to the sound. This is a demo model anyways, so it has at least several hundred hours on it already. But to stay grounded here, the TA-ZH1ES is absolutely the grandeur in amplification going on in my home. I know this is not a review of the TA-ZH1ES but I will reiterate why it would be a good choice over the more expensive Walkman 1Z if you wanted a home rig with the IER-Z1R. It’s one simple word......imaging! Compared to BX: BX has more forward mids, greater low mid impact and quantity. However again, doesn't nail Every once in a while a product will come around and change our viewpoint of audio. Most of us have been searching, scratching an itch to simply get new stuff. This searching can go on for years as the “magic unicorn” doesn’t exist; or does it?

This is a summation which encapsulates the total review in a short fast read. The basic concepts have been reduced for folks skimming along short of time or interest. Vocals from Stromae sound more sharp, rough and dominant within the mix ever so slightly, but is never shadowed, nor-overemphasized compared to the entire ensemble (eg. Fils de joie) I usually spare readers an extensive overview of materials used. Since the MDR-Z1R combines so many exciting approaches in itself, I would like to make an exception. In addition to the obvious and already described materials, the most interesting details take place in secret. Before we get to the sound, it is crucial to mention that the Z1R needs quite a lot of power to be operational/listenable. Initially I only heard it on the AK SR15 and it sounded heavily mediocre, but swapping to a source like the AK SP1000M and the WM1Z gets you a midrange - underpower it and you only really have lows and lower highs. These two players were designed as Sony knows there are two distinct audiophiles. There are reference tune audiophiles and Hi/Fi tune audiophiles. Your never going to make both groups happy with the same sound signature, so Sony made two. Interestingly enough, the IER-Z1R brings out the best of both. We can notice different placement of elements in the soundstage. Also the 1A will draw in some of the big low-end with the IER-Z1R getting the bass a faster and uniquely detailed response.

Packaging & Accessories

Deeper insertion provides the best bass, while shallower insertion provides the biggest staging. Triple comfort tips provide a more emphasis on the lower end, the silicones being the most neutral, perhaps removing some bass, but i found that silicone tips provide a very nice isolation, better than TC tips. Comply foams are not a match with these IEMs, they mute the treble and affect the signature, making them less revealing and more darker sounding. The company celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2016 with a range of new reference products that were designed to impressively demonstrate the company’s accumulated engineering knowledge under the Signature Series label. The MDR-Z1R headphones tested here have been designed with a clear focus on detail-coded component selection and a “novel” audio design to give the listener the feeling of real-world sound as authentically as possible. In terms of comfort and material selection—as much as anticipated—the MDR-Z1R delivers impressive qualities. Sony’s engineers claimed to seek nothing less than the perfect reproduction of every subtle nuance. Keywords, such as micro-sounds, sound details, dynamics and atmosphere, are mentioned in interviews when it comes to the ideal translation of actual sound events with headphones. At a suggested retail price of €2,199, these claims should have been implemented… First Impression Midrange: Vocals are a bit of a mixed bag. Higher-pitched male vocals have a noticeable dip; I got this impression while listening to Keith Urban’s “Sweet Thing”. His voice takes on a slightly hollow or recessed quality that I don’t get as much with the U12t. And just in general, I wasn’t particularly impressed with male vocals on the IER-Z1R. Conversely, female vocals are more pronounced. I listen to a lot of K-Pop/J-Pop, and stuff by the likes of Taeyeon and Aimer simply shines on the IER-Z1R.