Sony MDR-Z7M2

https://www.sony.com/electronics/headband-headphones/mdr-z7m2

The Z7 successor inherits Z1R tech like the driver (most likely not the same ofc), the fibonacci patterned grill but since that headphone didn't really shake the headphone world as much as we wanted measurements and listening impressions will tell us if it at least improves upon the Z7 MK1 significantly.

Magnets supposedly are double the size of the MK1. Hopefully we get better bass control, tightness, less distortion overall (but mostly in the bass).

 

Bigger magnets is good because the ones in the old Z7 made it sound like the headphones were wanting for something. I wasn't much of a fan of either the Z7 or the Z1R, but I can see where Sony is trying to take their sound and I'm not entirely against it, just that there's room for improvement (which is how I feel about a lot of Foster variants, so not a bad thing because I'm a fan of those!).

Gonna have to get ears on a Z1R again because I can't now remember how I felt about the supposed sonic benefits of the Fibonacci grille. I do recall that the bass on both the Z7 and 1R felt a bit blobby to me, not sure how much of that is due to plain ol volume/gear I had paired or the fancy workarounds.

 

If they don't correct the resonance issues the Z7 MK1 has, it'll lay another egg. Sony's tuning direction lately has been targeting Asian Pop way more then the audiophile community...

 

I have the Sony z1r and like them very much with the correct source for a good relaxing time.
I think this new one could be around 500$. Hell... all those headphones could be cheaper.

 

Hey at least it leaves big ripples, One of the most polarizing headphone from recent years for sure

 

For Canadians, I noticed that the Amazon price is $899 on .com, and C$899 with free shipping on .ca, but you have to pre order .
That even with tax is almost 25% difference. I bought T5p.2 like that in the first few days when it was available, then the price on .ca jumped. I would expect that Amazon will adjust the price in C$ sooner or later.
https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Sony+MDR-Z7M2
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-MDR-Z7M2-Headphones-Headphone-MDRZ7M2/dp/B07G7LZNTW

 

I wouldn't early adopt this one if my life depended on it, and I own a Z7 still.

Maybe the reviews will surprise us enough to inspire @purr1n to buy a loaner, but he's been burned by Sony too much already. So don't hold your breath...

 

For those who are interested.




(Z7M2 THD, 95db SPL at 500hz)


(Z1R THD)


(HD650 THD)

These are from an audio community in South Korea, and measured with B&K 4128C HATS. AFAIK FRs were compensated with the notorious (lol) harman-target. But anyway you can get some idea by comparing to hd650.

 

I started to tinker with this unit, as I feel it has most potential to mod.

Initial testing shows it has much the same issues as the top model z1r with ringing at 3k& 10k areas, with also a 5k peak.
These are very troublesome issues for anyone to try fix.

Anyways, on my first attempt I was able to eliminate some of the high end (10k area) ringing, while also extending the bass and cleaning up the muk at low end.
I also was able to get the mids up more even in the FR.

Red is moded
Green is stock

Stock CSD:


Moded:


The issue remains about both the 3k ring and the 5k peak.
That will be my next attempts.

I do feel that Sony was over ambitious to make such a large driver, and also was rushed, because the 3k ringing is something that should have been corrected in the design stage.

I believe this is more a statement product to show that they can do it, rather than a product that aims for being the best, like an hd800 or a focal Utopia.
You could tell those two were going for best performance first.

 

They did not correct the resonance issues that I am getting at 3 and 9 k areas..

I started working on this headphone and here is the results so far:

So although I eliminated the upper range issues I ended up with a worse resonance at 3 k!
This now effectively looks like a z1r with lowered bass...

I feel this is a driver issue that should have been resolved in the design stage..