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. And remember too, for some listers the sound of the full-size Z1R was never going to work for them. Some folks are simply looking for audiophile neutrality and not our warm U shaped Sony House Sound. What Sony did was dial in a less U shape into the end sound signature of the IER-Z1R. Maybe it was simply easier to do? The IEM has three drivers per side, the full-size Z1R only has one? But to summarize, the IER-Z1R is completely usable right out of the box. It’s doesn’t need a special cable to be it’s best. Obviously the IER-Z1R is so transparent that it reveals what is upstream; so better information in, better information out. In fact let’s get into the sound signature............ IER-Z1R fit-pics are basically obligatory in the audio Discord servers I hang in. Yeah, it sort of fits and I get a decent seal, but at the expense of my ear’s viriginty. Z1R has a really amazing bass. It is not a basshead level but definitely more of a focus here. The bass especially the sub-bass has the most organic natural feel I ever heard. It is fast and punchy. Incredible, the zirconium shell appears very robust, you are getting a high level of build quality as one would expect paying 2k+

My local dealer provided me a set for audition, and I had planned to audition it for more than a week. Treble elements are like fireworks in the sky. And every once in a while you’ll hear new aspects of songs you never heard before. Small things like an accent which was always there but somehow hidden all these years. Thus the quality of treble that doesn’t need sibilance edging brightness for detail. The detail here emulates life. The decay and timbre emulates life. And finally the treble presentation is diffuse like speakers in a room. There is some slight guitar emphasis going on in Queens’s Bohemian Rhapsody, I guess it’s always been there but somehow the song sounds new? So we always read about some reviewer telling tales of noticing a small little new thing in a song. My cynical side tells me we hear these new details because of an unusual frequency response normally. But I must admit it’s most likely going on here due to ability of resolve. If you clean your windows the outside is more detailed. Still this style of listening experience is why we are here. It’s surprise, “they actually did that part like that?” “That part was always like that?” Huh? On the technical side, the mids come across natural in both timbre and tone. As a whole, no parts seem unnaturally gritty or thin like they can with other headphones that have either too much / too little treble and mids. Bass on the Z1R is well controlled and has a polite amount of subbass to it; low ends sound clean and lean without any bloatiness or muddiness Let’s just say we have had an increase of perfection along the way. While each transducer offers it’s own take on the Sony house sound, the history being what it is has shown a nice progression. Though I have purposely left out the Z7MK2 and what could be maybe thought of as an earlier IEM flagship the XBA-Z5 for the sake of simplicity!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. So you’ve just been lied to about being lied to your entire audiophile life? Of course you knew that.

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. The high has sparkle but never fatiguing as it somewhat overshadowed by the bass. I can say that the high is smooth and detailed.So I broke my own rule of not comparing a new headphone with other headphones until I had listened to it by itself for a few days. I compared with my Sennheiser HD800S, Focal Clear, LCD-3, and Meze 99 Classics, and all four of these sounded a lot better to me than the Z1R. I then went and grabbed my relatively inexpensive M40X and M50X, and they too sounded better to me than the Z1R. What's going on here? I end this not technical review or thoughts by apologizing to my Z1R because trying to cheat on it. This is my first post in this forum - normally I’m a lurker who enjoys the insights and discussions, but I feel compelled to post on my recent cable upgrade experience. One of the Z1R’s main staples is its huge 70mm dome dynamic driver with a CCAW voice coil. This promises an output with a wide dynamic range and a more sizable signal flow. It’s improved by the Z1R’s resonance-free housing which uses special filters to control air resistance and eliminates destructive noise caused by driver movement. Soundstage

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. Bass: The bass region has emphasis in the Subbass, therefore, it reaches deep and very low notes can be heard, rumbles nice and has a very well defined texture, the mid bass is very well balanced, there is no bloat and no bleed into the Mids. The lowest of notes can be heard with these as well with the MDR-Z1R (Froberger edition Volume 6. AEOLUS /Bob van Asperen DSD 2.8MHz, Bach: The four great Toccatas and Fugues, SONY Classical / E. Power biggs DSD 2.8 MHz & Dittersdorf & Vanhal: Double bass Concertos. Hyperion records UK, Swedish Chamber orchestra, 16/44.1 FLAC). Great Hybrid. Cannot beat the DD sound, which i am very fond of. Manages to have the best of both worlds. 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. This ends up to be a really important subject. You may not believe me but the IER-Z1R with 200 hours was a very different headphone. The 200 hour model became noticeably louder with less power. The 200 hours model seemed both warmer and less warm at the same time? The soundstage was noticeably bigger too. So even if someone refuses to burn-in.......all is well as the IER-Z1R doesn’t actually need burn-in to correct anything like some headphones. It’s fine out of the box but simply gets better with hours used. My personal IER-Z1R changed at the 70 hour mark from what they sounded like out of the box. Though at 70 hours they still sounded rather bass heavy. At 100 hours they really started to sound like the pair I heard with 200 hours.

Micro details such from slight finger slides on the guitar to the moment the finger leaves the strings all adds to the organic experience of the songs The tuning of the IER Z1R isn't something that's especially crazy or original - I personally think it is a testament to "better do the simple stuff well than the complicated stuff poorly." It takes a relatively standard V shape FR and performs it to an extremely high standard, dare I say one of the best I've heard. The IER-Z1R is pretty power-hungry for an IEM. No trouble driving it off of any of my sources, but I needed to give it a little more juice than usual. I also rarely listen any louder than 75dB, so take that for what you will if you’re a head-banger.