Previous experience When the big ear MDR-Z7, the flagship of high resolution audio, impressed us with its excellent and balanced features. The Z5 of the same series is also part of the Hi Res series. In addition, the Z5 is also the flagship of Sony's second-generation ring iron hybrid unit non customized earphones. Then the question arises: will the Z5 be a mature product?
Well, in fact, Z5 is not a new product. It has been on the market for a long time, and then we have got this earphone for a long time. However, due to various reasons, it was delayed to be evaluated today. After a long period of time, Z5 has been continuously warmed up, and the overall situation has been basically stable. First, from the perspective of the time required for the machine to be warmed up, Z5 is much shorter than Z7 and EX1000.
Ok, let's start with the price as usual. The official selling price of XBA-Z5 is currently 3699 yuan. It's really not cheap for a non customized earphone, even the price is the same as that of Z7. As for the actual transaction price of a treasure, there are different levels. We won't discuss how much. This article is just about voice.
The unit origin of Z5 is still Japan across the sea, and the wire material is from Thailand, so the official naturally sent a balance line with enough conscience, but it seems that the 3.5+3.5 balance port can only be connected to Sony's own balance port, is this the rhythm of inducing consumers to cut off PHA-3? No matter what you think, I'm cutting hands anyway.
The Z5 is indeed a pair of earphones that need to be warmed up. However, this feature inherits the character of the Z7 and the EX1000. It is difficult to open the sound and will gradually change. For users who are impatient and have many earphones, this may become a big problem for them to retain the Z5.
OK, this time, the front end is still ZX1 turntable output+PHA-3 decoding and amplification. I hope this Dafa "suit" can give a special bonus to the sound properties of Z5.
Oh, by the way, please forgive us for not being able to make a comparison between Z5 and EX1000, because the EX1000 in our hands has been over 2000 hours, which is basically battlefield quality, and because the overall sound trend is not that widely recognized EX1000 at all, the analytical power has declined seriously, and the high frequency is also relatively dim, so I have basically stopped listening, You can roughly see the difference in size and appearance.
So in a word, the only place suitable for this EX1000 is the display cabinet, which is no longer suitable for listening to music. Some of the comparisons in this article are based on the EX1000 in good condition in my impression.
Low frequency:
At present, after hundreds of hours of willful abuse of the Z5, the feeling of low frequency is quite good. The dive is good, but the volume is quite large. The closing speed is also slower than that of the EX1000 in my impression. It is relatively more suitable for listening to pop music, but it is strange that the volume and thickness of low frequency do not add any bonus to human voice, The low frequency of the background music is clearly separated from the voice. The amount of low frequency does not make the male voice thicker, and naturally has no impact on the feelings of the voice. This is obviously different from the earphones evaluated previously.
As for whether such low-frequency characteristics are good or bad, it actually depends on the voice of the singer. For example, if a thick singer's voice has a little low-frequency addition, the listening sense will be better
intermediate frequency:
After hearing about the Z7, I still have high expectations for the intermediate frequency of the Z5. However, the standard setting of many hoop iron earphones is that the intermediate frequency will have obvious depression. As for the Z5, unfortunately, it does not break this law after the test on the machine.
In fact, the degree of Z5 mid frequency depression is quite considerable, and the voice is slightly thin at the back. Listen back and forth to the voices of Cai Qin, Eason Chan, Faye Wong, Li Ronghao, Deng Ziqi, Hu Yanbin and other singers. Among them, the voice of Faye Wong, Chen Huixian, Miriam Yeung is fairly good, while others are quite ordinary, especially for the voices of Eason Chan and Li Ronghao, Z5 can't show the depth of the voice, and the feelings are relatively weak (of course, this is not a disadvantage but a style). This is far from the impression that Z7's voice left us, even a little disappointed, and even a little disappointed with the popular low-frequency sense.
High frequency:
In fact, the high frequency performance of the Z5 is quite good. Although some of the high frequency parts have an obvious "iron" flavor, they are quite flexible when appreciating musical instruments, but the decoration is not much, so it can not be called gorgeous. Compared with the EX1000 in good condition, The high frequency of Z5 is slightly darker, but the ductility is actually very good, but it is not particularly easy to hear. On the other hand, there are also reasons for the large low frequency.
With such high frequency, when appreciating string music, the rendered effect is naturally inferior to that of the EX1000 in good condition. Generally speaking, it is not brilliant, but enough.
Sound field:
The sound field is one of the few highlights of Z5. At first, the sound field of Z5 is very large, and it is difficult to feel the boundary. The overall atmosphere is unexpectedly good. The sound field is good in depth, height and stereoscopic sense. The positioning is also very good, and the image is relatively vague. I don't know whether upgrading the front end or replacing the wire material will improve a lot.
As for the so-called "air feeling", I have specially defined these three words. Compared with the courage I have heard before, the combination of ZX1+PHA-3 to create a strong air feeling is not realistic. Naturally, no earphone will change much.
The sound field of Z5 performs extremely well when listening to the recording of pop music live concerts. It is easy to feel the natural feeling of the sound coming from all directions. This feeling of being surrounded by sound is quite good. A large number of low frequencies also help greatly to improve the overall listening sense, which is quite easy to immerse people in, I don't even care about the mid frequency depression.
Analytical force:
Z5 has a fair analytical power. In fact, there is a certain amount of high-frequency details. When listening to some pure voices, you can clearly hear the small voice in the singer's mouth, which is often referred to as "drooling". However, because the low-frequency is too fast, it is not easy to hear many details when listening to most of the music.
As for listening to piano music, pipa and violin solo, Z5 can't give the feeling of "big pearls fall on the jade plate" like EX1000. When listening to the violin, the distinction between each sound is not clear enough. The level of Z5's analytical power is still limited to the level of more than enough for listening to popular music. If you enjoy a small compilation, it will be a little useless. This point is more difficult to drive the Z7 at the same price. Instead, it performs better and is difficult to understand.
Or to put it another way, Z5 deliberately weakens its analytical power by tuning. Could it be based on the optimization of listening sense? In fact, Z5's voice does not become tired after listening for a long time like the EX1000 before because of the excessive amount of information. Can it be regarded as a step forward?
Wear:
uncomfortable.
Ease of drive:
First of all, prepare your mobile phone for direct push. Don't even think about it. There is no way, unless your mobile phone is a specially designed audio circuit with strong thrust, ZX1 direct push is good, but I feel that the thrust of ZX1 is weak compared with Z5, and the analytical power, stereo sense of sound field and low-frequency diving need to be improved.
The performance of Z5 driven by the integrated sound card of the laptop is also good. It's good to watch a movie. If you enjoy music, the integrated sound card provides insufficient sound information.
The effect of PHA-3 single end drive is good. The stereo sense of the sound field is basically out, and the high-frequency extension and low-frequency diving are significantly improved If the balance line is driven by PHA-3, it is an all-round lifting.
So from this perspective, Z5 still has some potential, but it is easier to replace the W4R of the original VE6 line with the W4R of the original VE6 line. Under the PHA-3 single end drive, the W4R of the original VE6 line is more analytical. I don't know whether the original VE6 line has a certain addition to W4R, or maybe the low frequency of Z5 is too large to cover the details. As for the Z5 with balanced drive, The analytical force is naturally better than the replacement of W4R.
In addition, the requirements of the Z5 for the front end are actually lower than those of the EX1000. The EX1000 has high requirements for the control force of the front end, and the Z5 is relatively easy to control in this respect. Therefore, if the front end does not give force, the entire sound of the EX1000 will be very scattered, and the density and cohesion of the Z5 will be better.
Applicable music types:
I was in trouble again in this part. At that time, I also made difficulties in writing the evaluation of the Z7. But that would be because the PHA-3 balance driven Z7 has a good interpretation of all kinds of music, and the sense of hearing is very good, so I silently played a snack. The Z5 has obvious depression in the mid-range, which directly led to the general effect of appreciating male voices, while the effect of female voices can be said to be good, For the sweet and delicate female voice, the performance will be better. In fact, there is a little lingering charm when listening back and forth to the weak feelings.
In addition, Z5 can also be used to listen to some pure music, such as the famous and powerful original sound of Caribbean Pirates. Z5 may not have enough analytical power, but the overall atmosphere is great. After wearing it, you can feel the overwhelming momentum. Listen to the list of the famous "Magnificent Epic Original Sound Collection" on Netease Cloud Music, and the chicken blood effect will be added.
So in general, Z5 is suitable for popular female voices, grand live concerts and pure music, all of which have a good sense of listening. It is also good to watch movies on the computer. As for fanatical low-frequency fans and general buyers who like to enjoy the atmosphere of popular music, Z5 should also be suitable for you.
Summary:
Although Sony's Z7 and Z5 belong to the Z series of earphones, Z7 and Z5 are obviously two very different products, The Z7 is positive, balanced, comprehensive, high quality, and has great potential. However, the sound of the Z5 feels a little edgy. Sony still lacks the experience of manufacturing the ring iron hybrid earphones after all. Instead of the common Lou's unit, it uses the self-developed moving iron unit, and then it feels a bit weird tuning ideas, and finally makes a pair of earphones as large as a U disk.
Sony's high-end earphones, The EX1000 and Z1000 (let's not talk about the SA series here) are both labeled "monitoring". They have a rather cool voice style and are unique among the masses. They have reached their own unique height. Although both have obvious shortcomings and are also a bit picky, they have not prevented them from becoming a generation classic, It can be seen as a magnificent turn of Sony earphones, from high cold to versatile, while retaining some characteristics that were appreciated before, so the Z7 may become the next classic.
As for the Z5, it is a headphone that can be both loved and hated by people. Its advantages and disadvantages are too clear, just like a friend who smokes, drinks and has a tendency to be violent, but who is very good to you and has a strong sense of righteousness, so both sides are very serious. So when you search the Internet, you can get a lot of praise and tread on it.
The sound of Z5 has very distinctive characteristics. It is hard to hear and has a preference for food. If you find the right music type, the sound will be very powerful and grand; But if you are not good at music, your listening sense is quite ordinary, which is somewhat similar to IE80.
Sony should have no lack of experience and technology in tuning earphones. It can even be said that it is a giant in the audio industry. It is also a self-developed moving iron unit. The previous pure moving iron earphone XBA-30 has been recognized by many people, which proves that Sony has the strength to make a good use of pure moving iron earphones. On average, the flagship of the two generations of ring iron, H3 and Z5, have received low evaluations, It seems that even a technology giant like Sony should learn to walk when facing unfamiliar situations. Whether this earphone is worth buying depends on how much you like its excellent sound field and its relaxed and unrestrained manner.
advantage:
Low requirements for front-end control;
The low-frequency momentum is surging, which is very grand and cheerful;
Good interpretation of exquisite Chinese female voice;
The overall sound has a good sense of atmosphere;
Good sense of music;
The sound field performance is excellent, with a good sense of three-dimensional and layering.
Disadvantages:
The cavity is too large, the catheter is too thick, and it is uncomfortable to wear;
Intermediate frequency sag;
The quality is not up to the level of the bid price;
Picky food, applicable to limited types of music.
