Sony MDRZ7 Hi-Res Stereo Headphones

After reflecting on this purchasing decision and trying other headphones after replacing these. I feel like i should have kept these or at least replaced them since they were slightly defective (right speaker driver was rattling a bit). Even with this issue, these have been better that the 2 different headphones i tried after ; JVC FX850 and Sennheiser HD700.Quality - Well its a bit difficult, for one, these have to be one of the best looking well put together set of earphones i've ever seen or purchased. The much more uber expensive Beyerdynamic T1 and HD800 doesn't hold a candle to the design or quality. But on the other hand the issue with the defective driver kind of makes the "quality" aspect fall flat on it's face. The materials are super sensible, the leather was clean cut and comfortable, the headband was small enough, yet large enough to be almost unnoticeable and with comfort surpassing anything I've used before. The double polished cup mounts are well made and finished brilliantly without flaws (unlike that of the Beyerdynamics). The cords were excellent both the dual input and the single input cord. The length was perfect without being cluttered and binding like the HD700 fiasco. The height adjustment band was beautifully tactile with soft clicks and did not move. Overall beyond that small flop it is the perfect design.Sound- POWER POWER POWER! These things suck up power like nobodies business. And beyond this fact is how well it just keeps on outputting clean signal without distortion! At first i was a bit amazed then astounded then mad, like why wont you show your ugly side! I had my poor little Nuforce HDP ramp'd up to 99% and these things weren't fazed at all. The bass kept hitting and the mids stayed mellow and unfazed while the highs sung up to a point and just stayed resonating just under the mids power. Now there was the initial fatiguing aspect which made me mad. Was how the Highs never really "peaked". They were rather soft yet very clear. It is probably the weirdest characteristic I've ever heard from a speaker. Almost as if there was some Equalizing going on where it would keep the highs just under a limit and would not go over it. Another aspect was it felt like the sound wasn't hitting the ear directly, but traveling across the ear like a breeze of air. Now if anyone paid attention to Sony's release review on these, it seems this was there exact plan. In theory it sounds like a cool idea, but in practice it is really weird sometimes. Overall this sound profile makes it rather fatiguing because you have to listen to these things glaringly loud in order to get a since of resolution and impact. Where as on other headphones like my IEM EX1000, countless Beyerdynamics and Sennheisers (HD700 to specific) you get a sense of resolve and happiness around the optimal mid volume level. And normal listening conditions it felt a bit boring and not lively.This was until i got the Lyr II! AKA lightning in a box. I had countless discussions with amp manufactures on whether or not the power rating on these should be taken at face value. YES...YES it should! These things need jiggawatts to get funky! I don't know what drugs the engineers were smoking when they made these things but under a hidden rock of illusion somewhere, imprinted on a manual it says "must receive massive jiggawatts" The Lyr II is pumping out massive power for normal headphones, these Z7's fall into that category of power hungry beasts. The highs woke up like a dead person stabbed in the heart with a lithium battery, and the bass punches you in the head like a junky on PCP. That clear smooth sound now has evolved into a party animal with gloatingly impressive control and power. Astounded again...until i realized what can of worms i just opened.So this is where my second problem came (and no, not the broken driver) but the amount of money i didn't want to spend on something i considered to be a mid level enthusiast headphones. With both the Lyr II and these, i'm just over 1000$ in audio equipment. Now this is less than many systems, but for the initial plan, much more than many would want to spend. Beyond the issue with the loose speaker, is the sound just as amazing as pro 1000$ setups? Hell yes. The sound put the T1's and HD800's to shame, although different, this was much more exciting and rewarding across multiple genres and media. But without the amp, no, it was just that. A sub 1000$ headphone with a weird sound profile which i doubt many people would appreciate. I had to pump up all my audio devices to 100% other than the Lyr II to get a pleasant sound which after while could be quite distracting as you know your blasting your face off with sound, yet not fully in pain to give up. And that was the issue with the weird atmospheric impact Sony tried to bestow upon us. The sound isn't directly impacting your ears, just the space around the ear. Without the extra power from a much more power amp, you'd be hard to get passed this aspect.Overall i put this headphone in the category of "gateway drug" That initial cost has several more digits attached to it secretly. If you have a powerful amp and or are willing to spend more money to get one, then i highly recommend this over just about anything else in the category up to about 2000 dollar headphones.

I have always been a big fan of Sony products so i may be a bit biased when it comes to reviewing them, but the question is where do i start? From the moment i pulled this set out of the box everything screamed quality, and really lives up to the pricing point these are built for. Now for a little background, i have used plenty of high end headphones ( hd800s, 700s, and i have used Denon D7100s) along with some lower end like the AT M50x and HD 598 and never have i seen a pair of headphones built like these honestly. The headphones have a solid leather band at the top with very premium stitching, the chassis itself is made out of a polished aluminum and magnesium and it does give these headphones a little weight but never did i really feel these headphones actually on my head (plus i like headphones with a little weight to them, so if this is a problem it may not be your choice just for this reason) The cups and headpadding are made out of a premium leatherette kind of material and it definitely feels nice and feels like it will be able to withstand the years of abuse. Overall the headphones themselves feels like a tank and i don't feel like i should be to scared of breaking them. The Cable is something of another level, and is probably the best built cable i have used in a very long time. It is very thick and the ends are made of a aluminum casting that terminates to a 10k gold plated 3.5mm plug ( this goes for both the normal y cable and the included balanced cables) Also of note the cable is a very low distortion oxygen free cable that works wonders right out the box.. so if you dont feel like playing for a modded cable then you dont have much to worry about anyways.Now on to the sound quality, which i know is why everyone would be reading this review. Now i have owned these headphones for a little over a month now and have used various amps and even mobile phones ( terrible idea i know, but in the name of science i had to) and i can honestly say you are really getting what you pay for with one catch: YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT!! out the box these headphones sound just a tad to flat and not really lively at all, the bass was a little flat and while deep just didnt have the punch to it that i expected out of a headphone not only of this caliber but of this driver size. The mid end was a little more lively and very spacious but leaked into the low end and caused a very very very low distortion that is barely audible. The high end was clipped off somewhat and didn't have the robust and very crisp ticks and high vocals that i was expecting. Over all the headphones out the box was geared more towards pop music and didnt do so well with hip hop or edm or even rock because of the lacking punch and crispness in the audio. It took a great deal of time to get used to it and really tinker with the audio and get it right for each genre but once i did oh man these things sound like they really can compete with at least the hd700s or a pair of denons but its a tad short of being close to competing against the hd800s ( which by the way is a pair of headphones i hear referenced alot when comparing these) or the top end pair of beyerdynamic headphones but this pair of headphones really hold there own for this price point. One thing that really surprised me was for a semi closed back headphone (yes these do leak a fair amount of sound) these things sound like a concert hall due to the slightly pivoted drivers that aim in to the ears and very highly detailed at being able to pinpoint exactly where a sound was coming from in relation to the recording studios mic. In all fairness if it wasn't for listening to sennheisers top end headphone i probably would have been able to easily crown these as the best headphones i had ever heard personally again though they do require some tinkering with an equalizer but once you get it right these things easily sound like a $1000 pair of headphones. Overall if your looking for a very well built headphone with a sound quality to match the top end without paying over that $1000 mark these are very easily a good choice given that you have a good amp and source material to match. So the question is after all the trouble of having to fine tune everything and go through the whole im not impressed at first phase is it really worth a buy... simple answer is overwhelmingly yessss!!! knowing what i know now.some tech specs to note are:70mm drivers: these things are massive, they are so big they take up the whole cup and then some.. but given right sound the bass will shake your head off and the treble can be ear piercingly loud so driver size isnt much of an issue.frequency response: 3Hz to 100kHz.. this is biggest frequency response i have ever seen in a pair of headphones, though i have yet to see any true audio take advantage of it its just amazing. I have listened to sonys so called Hi Res audio tracks and it really sounds amazing through these but not that good.. there is still some overlap on the frequency bands.In summery, sony has built a very nice pair of headphones and though again i may just be a tad biased i really feel these are a must buy for anyone in the audio market.. or someone just starting out. :) i hope everyone finds this review to be helpful in some way.

A este rango de precios uno empieza a investigar acerca del producto que esta a punto de comprar, 14 mil pesos no es una cifra insignificante pero se justifica ya que unos buenos audifonos son una inversion de por vida si se cuidan bien, la verdad al ordernar estos audifonos estaba emocionado, vi varias reseñar y me convenci a probarlos, lamentablemente sufren del sindrome del audifono comercial, la presentacion se lleva un 10, la caja es muy bonita y el interior tiene un suave forro de terciopelo, viene con el cable estandard de 3.5mm y un adapatador para el conector de cuarto de pulgada, otro dato que me gusto es que trae un cable balanceado por si cuentan con un amplificador con salida balanceada, los audifonos son hermosos, partes de metal con la banda revestida en cuero, las almohadillas son super suaves pero firmes a la vez y el mecanismo de ajuste se mueve muy suavementeen cuanto el audio la verdad despues de tal presentacion estaba muy ansioso por poner mis canciones favoritas, a primera instancia los audifonos tienen buen sonido, buen detalle, el bajo es muy pronunciado pero esto no significa que sea bueno, se siente un poco lento y no muy responsivo, los medios se ven afectados por ese enfasis en los bajos, se escuchan distantes aunque conservan buena calidad y detalle, los altos son el punto mas flojo, pierden mucho detalle ademas de estar tan atras en comparacion al resto de las demas frequencias que se pierden con el resto del audio, la verdad por este precio no puedo recomendarlos, digo si lo que quieres es presumir algo que sea esteticamente bello, estos audifonos son buena opcion, pero si te interesa mas la calidad de audio, hay muchas mejores opciones como los HD600 de Sennheiser o hasta los audifonos planar magneticos como los Monolith M1060 (con ligeras modificaciones) ambos audifonos estan mucho mas baratos (de hecho se pueden comprar ambos por el precio de los MDR-Z7) y tienen un sonido mas balanceado y detallado.

Estoy muy decepcionado, pagué 10,474 pesos comprado y enviado por Amazon México mayo del año pasado, o sea 10 meses de uso totalmente cuidado, solo usado en el hogar delicadamente y hoy dejó de funcionar el lado izquierdo del audífono.Vi un comentario de usuario al cual le ha sucedido lo mismo.Desesperado porque no tengo respuesta de parte de Amazon ni de Sony para explicarme lo sucedido y brindarme atención.No puedo creer que haya invertido la suma de dinero para no poder disfrutar, lamentable.Muy triste y desamparado.

I'm really blown away by these headphones. They have a warm, laid back sound and can produce tons of bass, but the highs are still detailed (but never harsh) and the soundstage and separation are amazing. They're comfortable for hours, the large cups should work for just about any ears, the pressure they exert on the head is very light. They're easy to drive with my "quad DAC" LG V40, I have a couple of good quality older headphone amps I could use with these but they really aren't necessary. The build quality is absolutely top notch. These are semi-open, they have small vents so they do let some background noise in, but nothing like a typical open headphone.Only downside is the 9 foot cable is way too long, they should have shipped it with a 4 foot IMO, and an extension if they felt it was necessary.

Fantastico, lastima que no incluye el cable 4.4 Bal, con el cual la calidad de audio aun es muy superior. El cable lo tuve que comprar por separado.En contra: Sudan las orejas

Uno de los pocos productos decentes que ha lanzado Sony al mercado desde sus días de gloria con los Walkman y las televisiones Triniton.Calidad y materiales increíbles y un sonido tremendo se traen estos audífonos, no le piden mucho a los modelos de gama alta de otras compañías.