Now the things we're looking at in this video are the Sony MDR ZX700 and Z1000 around ear studio monitoring headphones. Now this is going to be a bit more of a nostalgic review because both of these models are actually discontinued now. But you can find them floating around still on sale in various channels and in particular the ZX700 or the ZX701iP which is what I have in my hand here you can find for some pretty amazing prices online. Now if you're a regular subscribe to my channel you'll know that I'm a big fan of Sony's audio products and so I'll say right from the outset that I have some mixed feelings about these headphones. Let's take a closer look! The ZX700, ZX701iP and the Z1000 were part of the same series of studio monitoring headphones from Sony. The ZX701iP is the same headphone as the ZX700, with the inclusion of a smartphone remote and microphone. These headphones originally had a recommended retail price of $149 but since they've been discontinued you can now find them for as low as $45 on Amazon. Sony also makes a professional variant of the ZX700 called the MDR-7510. Apart from being more expensive, having a longer cable and blue and red channel stickers like all Sony professional headphones, I'm not quite sure if there are any other differences with the professional version. The Z1000 was Sony's flagship consumer and studio monitoring headphone.
A few years ago, when I was younger and more impressionable, I bought this headphone for over $400 in Hong Kong using gift money. Now that it's discontinued, it's hard to find for less than that figure. Knowing what I know now, I would not have paid over $400 for this headphone. But we'll get to that in a moment. The Z1000 also has a professional variant called the MDR 7520, which Sony still retails for $500. Now it's been reported that the 7520 does sound a bit different from the Z1000, and some of the differences appear to be because they use slightly different ear pads. I haven't heard the MDR 7520 myself, so I can't really comment. The ZX701iP and Z1000 share the same basic design, and it's a really simple, practical and well thought out design for a headphone intended for studio use. The ZX701iP, even though it's made of plastic, feels well built and solid, and easily trumps most $50 headphone on the market in terms of quality of materials. The headband has some nice supple synthetic leather, and you may recognise the headband design because it lives on in Sony's newer MDR-1R models.
It allows for a good range of adjustment and it's exactly the kind of sensible design you'd want to see on a studio monitor. The earpads on the 701 are also fairly soft and comfortable, but they are a little flat, which means that for some people, myself included, your ears may touch the inside of the headphone. This isn't a terrible thing, but after a several hours of wear this can get irritating. The 1.2m cable on the ZX700 is, simply put, amazing. It's soft and supple, not prone to tangling, has a substantial and chunky plug on the end, and all in all is everything you would want in a headphone cable, and it's by far my favourite cable I've ever found on a cheap portable headphone. The inclusion of the iPhone remote and the short 1.2m cable length on the ZX701iP makes you think that Sony intended you to take this headphone out of the studio and onto the streets, but that's only kind of a good idea. The ZX701iP is on the smaller side for a studio monitoring headphone and it does have a design that is unobtrusive looks relatively subtle on the head in a way that a larger headphone like say, the Audio Technica M50 doesn't. The 1.2m cable length is also way less cumbersome than having a 3m cable hanging out of your pocket. But the giant port on the back of the ZX701iP makes isolation on this headphone very poor and not really well suited for use in noisy environments, and unless you specifically want a headphone that lets a lot of sound in, the ZX701iP is a poor choice for commuting.
The headphone also doesn't fold up into a more compact shape in any way, and while this improves durability it makes it less practical to carry around. In terms of design, the Z1000 is pretty much the same headphone as the ZX700, but fancier. Instead of a plastic ear cup, you get an ear cup made of magnesium alloy that feels stunningly solid. The headband material is softer and more plush, and the ear pads are fatter and more supple. If the cable on the ZX700 was good, the cable on the Z1000 is heavenly - it has even less memory, and has a detachable design that connects to the headphone with this incredibly secure feeling screw on terminal. Although the Z1000 has a pretty utilitarian kind of, unassuming design to it, I think this is honestly one of the most well built pair of Sony headphones and alongside of flagship classics like the SA5000 the build quality on these headphones makes me kind of really miss the days of the really nice premium fit and finish you got on Sony audio products compared to some of their newer models like the MA900 and the MDR-1R. One key technical difference between the ZX700 and the Z1000 is that the Z1000 has a driver made of something Sony calls liquid crystal polymer, the same material used in the diaphragm of the MDR-1R. The two drivers look similar, but apparently liquid cystal polymer has a higher strength to weight ratio that makes it a better choice for headphone drivers. So these two headphones look the same, but do they sound the same? Well here's where those mixed feelings that I mentioned earlier come in. Let me say first, the ZX700 is a great headphone. It sounds somewhat like a leaner Audio Technica M50 - it's a slightly warm sounding headphone that has a dry, slightly nasal tone to it that really helps vocals sing. It's a wonderfully natural sounding headphone that sounds great with acoustic and slower tracks.
The one weak point for this headphone I would say is that the bass is a little on the weaker side - not just in terms of quantity, but also in the way that bass notes can sound a little loose and unconvincing. The ZX700 is noticeably deficient in the sub-bass frequencies and this contributes to the lean tone these headphones have. I don't enjoy the ZX700 nearly as much for bassier genres or electronic music. Now at times the ZX701iP does lack a little definition and in terms of soundstaging it can sound a little compressed at times, but I think at the original asking price for this headphone that was more than forgiveable and at the current street prices for that headphone that's basically negligible. Now compared to the M50 I think the ZX701 makes a really good alternative to the M50 because it's basically comparable in most respects. It sounds like a leaner, a bit more of a drier version of the M50.
Now the M50 does have an advantage in that the bass on the M50 is still more visceral, there's still a lot more quantity to the bass, so overall it sounds a bit more tight, and a bit more defined, but if you're willing to sacrifice a little in terms of bass definition to get a more portable package the ZX700 and the 701 are really good choices. Moving on to the Z1000 though, what was forgivable on the ZX700 becomes less acceptable for a headphone of this price. The Z1000 sounds very similar to its cheaper sibling. It sounds slightly warmer but at the same time the sound overall is a bit cleaner. But the bass still sounds loose and flabby, and while the soundstage on the Z1000 is cleaner and more defined, it's actually a bit more stuffy because of the warmer tone. At times it can sound honky and compressed compared to the leaner ZX700. Some people would describe this sound as euphonic. Now let me emphasise, the Z1000 is not a bad sounding headphone and certainly it sounds good for acoustic or slower tracks.
But it's certainly not the big jump up in audio quality that the price difference over the ZX700 would suggest. And this is sort of revealing because it tells you that once you have the basic kind of earcup shape for a headphone and the basic driver design for the headphone and the same kind of internal volume and all those kind of parameters, what you actually make the headphone earcup out of, what materials you make the driver diaphragm out of, don't always make a huge amount of difference. In fact a lot of the differences between the sound of the ZX700 and the Z1000 seem to be due to the different shape of the earpads.
And you can actually make one sound like the other by swapping the earpads. The Z1000's earpads are a different shape, and have a smaller internal volume and a smaller opening and this seems to have a more dramatic effect on the sound signature than the differences in materials used in the Z1000. This isn't to say that the superior driver and magnesium alloy body don't make the Z1000 sound better. They do, but I would not say the price difference unless you really fall in love with the Z1000's build quality, which is what I did when I first saw it. So, while the Z1000 is a masterclass in terms of flagship build quality from Sony in terms of sound quality I think at times it can just be a little bit underwhelming and personally it's a bit of a disappointment considering how much I paid for this headphone. In comparison the ZX700 and the ZX701 I think are fantastic value at the current street prices. So if you're in the market for an around-ear, a bit more of a portable studio monitoring headphone, go out and grab one of these before they all disappear.
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