$9 Headphone Review: Sony MDR-ZX110

[xykreinov]

Actually, this fits the bill for lots of people because it is cheap and light. I don't know how to EQ cans on a mobile phone, though. Thank you @amirm

iOS is pretty much short out of luck. But, you have lots of options with Android, even non-rooted: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq#android

 

[BillG]

I just dont care for the "in my head" condensed sound. Plus I just can't enjoy the physical pressure on my head for more than an hour or so no matter what.

If I may offer some insights I've gleaned over the last couple of years: the judicious application of a crossfeed filter, and either stereo expansion or reverb - these may seem counterintuitive when used with a crossfeed, since is role is to collapse the stereo image somewhat, but it works for me - goes a long way towards eliminating the perception of the sound being in-my-head.

As for pressure on one's head, that's why I've come to prefer IEMs. With the right eartips - I generally favor foam ones - one can wear an IEM inserted deeply into the ear canals for hours on end with little to no discomfort.

By the way, some IEMs are quite capable of delivering a soundstage that isn't localized in the skull out of the box.

 

[Dj7675]

iOS is pretty much short out of luck. But, you have lots of options with Android, even non-rooted: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq#android

Is this something that apple does not allow? Maybe roon will eventually be able to be used as a mobile player someday (and not just on your home network).

 

[moonlight rainbow dream]

Hey I want to try the MH755 or MH1C but it seems that all the listings I can find are fake, where do you buy them from?

I got mine off of ebay a long while back. Sorry I don't have any tips as to sussing out fakes. I guess I've been lucky so far.

 

[xykreinov]

Is this something that apple does not allow? Maybe roon will eventually be able to be used as a mobile player someday (and not just on your home network).

I don't think so. I think it's just 1st and/or 3rd party developers' lack of care for putting something low-level in the works.
I'm glad it's that way, though. Just another reason for me to tell people not to buy Apple products. Call me cynical.

 

[samwell7]

I got mine off of ebay a long while back. Sorry I don't have any tips as to sussing out fakes. I guess I've been lucky so far.

All good! All the ones I've seen that are fake will say 'not original' or 'replacement for' in the descriptions so are pretty easy to spot, thanks anyway!

 

[Dj7675]

I don't think so. I think it's just 1st and/or 3rd party developers' lack of care for putting something low-level in the works.
I'm glad it's that way, though. Just another reason for me to tell people not to buy Apple products. Call me cynical.

Hard to believe with a bazillion apps there isn’t one app for parametric eq. Roon should spin off their mobile app as a stand alone music player to target headphone users. With their great UI and intuitive EQ I bet it would do well.

 

[Francis Vaughan]

The problem with Apple seems to be that they won’t let any 3rd party app get access to a DRM’ed audio stream. So they won’t let anyone place something in the final part of the audio chain. There are player apps with EQ, but they all suffer the same problem. They must actually play the audio themselves, and so are limited to what audio data streams they can use.

 

[MrPeabody]

One day this past summer I was in Target and saw these on sale. I hadn't heard anything about them and I expected they'd be junk, but they were $10 on sale so I grabbed a pair, to use with my MB Air. They sounded pretty mediocre without any equalization. I suspect that part of the problem was that the impedance isn't very high compared to the output impedance of the 'phone jack on that model of MB Air. But I downloaded one of the cheap-as-dirt sound apps for the Mac, and discovered something I had not expected. Even though they are bass-weak in their natural response, they are capable of pumping out colossal bass with the help of EQ. According to Amir's distortion graph the distortion should have been unbearable in low frequency. And I recall that after listening for a little while, I turned the deep bass down again because the distortion was bothersome. But then with the next song, I'd turn it back up again. Then with the next song, back down again. It was annoying to have to readjusting the deep bass level with each different song. But that's how it was, because with a track where the deep bass wasn't very loud, I would turn up the deep bass, and with a track where the deep bass was loud, I'd turn it back down because of the bothersome distortion. I think they would best be used with a headphone amp that has a bass control with an exceptionally low cutover frequency. This wouldn't eliminate the need for the EQ, but it would give a convenient way to adjust bass level as needed, so that the deep bass EQ could be set somewhere in the middle, louder but not too much louder, then left alone. I eventually picked up a different pair that I had prior experience with, and stopped using the ZX110. I gave them away, and then later I wondered why I gave them away. But it doesn't matter, because they cost less than a haircut. What I actually need to do is find a better EQ app for the Mac, i.e., better than that Boom piece of garbage.

 

[xykreinov]

What I actually need to do is find a better EQ app for the Mac, i.e., better than that Boom piece of garbage.

Here you go: https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq#osx--macos

 

[ROOSKIE]

If I may offer some insights I've gleaned over the last couple of years: the judicious application of a crossfeed filter, and either stereo expansion or reverb - these may seem counterintuitive when used with a crossfeed, since is role is to collapse the stereo image somewhat, but it works for me - goes a long way towards eliminating the perception of the sound being in-my-head.

As for pressure on one's head, that's why I've come to prefer IEMs. With the right eartips - I generally favor foam ones - one can wear an IEM inserted deeply into the ear canals for hours on end with little to no discomfort.

By the way, some IEMs are quite capable of delivering a soundstage that isn't localized in the skull out of the box.

I'll give that recipe a shot.

Ultimately what I mean by "in your head sound" is in comparison to speakers out in a room - not in comparison within the realm of headgear. Such as when I turn my head with headphones the sound follows me (obviously)and it never disappears (I always feel the source) nor gives that goose bumps feeling of realism that speakers do nearly every listening session - not one time ever. I attribute that to the scale of room filling sound and the waves of sounds hitting my body in addition to hearing it in the traditional sense of sound entering my ear.
If you have ever attended a sound bath of the bohemian/yogi/hippie sort you might know what I mean when I say a good listening session is a "sonic bath."

In any case even for me there are times where I want to listen to some music and headphones are the option so I still want some cans and appreciate that these $10 ones might do the trick and I can stop buying and returning expensive ones that just don't excite me enough to keep.

I am aware that in a 180, many folks absolutely love the solitude and personal experience of some sort of headphones, buds or whatever.

I have tried inner ear gear and I just can't stand the feeling so I end up disconnecting from the discomfort in order to accommodate it and in the process I think I also disconnect from the sound. I did try foam you mention and while the sound was much better due to a great seal I still couldn't find comfort - but anyone who is comfortable should try the foam. It was night and day on the bass and mid bass.

Anyway, enough about my experiences on this - was really just sort of inspired to muse about headphones vs speakers due to Amir's point about considering them against speaker sound. The great thing is there are both options around in spades.

 

[MrPeabody]

The problem with Apple seems to be that they won’t let any 3rd party app get access to a DRM’ed audio stream. So they won’t let anyone place something in the final part of the audio chain. There are player apps with EQ, but they all suffer the same problem. They must actually play the audio themselves, and so are limited to what audio data streams they can use.

If I understand you correctly, you're right about Apple being a 'roid with respect to DRM. However if what you mean by "must actually play the audio themselves", I don't think this is correct, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean. If you mean, for example, that for audio on the web you'd have to use a browser plug-in, this isn't correct. And by the way there are some EQ apps that install as browser plugins, but the ones of this sort that I tried were all worthless. Worse even than the ones you download and install. Generally they have two parts, one of which is a driver (which I assume means that it runs with kernel level access and privilege). The other part is an app that runs in the background, i.e., a "daemon" in old Unix parlance. Typically you get a little icon for it up at the right portion of the menu bar, alongside the battery indicator and the wifi indicator and so on. So I don't think Apple puts up any obstacles to it. It is evidently just that no one who knows how to make a good EQ app for a computer has not bothered to port it to the Mac. Which is unfortunate, and annoying. I'd like to have a good PEQ amp that didn't cost a fortune. I've tried several graphic equalizer apps. The only one I didn't strongly dislike was Boom. My dislike of it is only moderate. Actually, it is a strong dislike, but compared to the others, it is only a moderate dislike.

 

[Doodski]

What I actually need to do is find a better EQ app for the Mac

Check out this page for EQ/PEQ for Mac.

 

[fricc]

What's that? You don't use EQ? Well, I don't want to hear. Actually, I don't even want to know you! You are wasting away your audiophile life without it. For zero cost you can transform a $9 headphone to a reference quality reproduction engine and you still don't want to go there? If so, I have nothing for you!

Lol, $15,000 for the GRAS + $9 for the headphones gives $15,009 for a pair of so-so equalized headphones.
Doesn't sound like zero cost to me... ;P

 

[xykreinov]

Lol, $15,000 for the GRAS + $9 for the headphones gives $15,009 for a pair of so-so equalized headphones.
Doesn't sound like zero cost to me... ;P

Amirm's impression seemed more glowing than just so-so. But, you cheekily have a point. :^)

 

[Nango]

More and more clear to me, it's the same technology from the 70's last century working inside all headphones no matter if they sell for 3.000$ or 9,99$ .... the key is to EQ them. Very revealing.

 

[amirm]

Lol, $15,000 for the GRAS + $9 for the headphones gives $15,009 for a pair of so-so equalized headphones.
Doesn't sound like zero cost to me... ;P

Yeh, I am out $15K but you are not! I did get immense satisfaction out of that $15K expenditure though in optimizing this headphone.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Android PEQ to use with Tidal Streaming.

By the way since many will use these nice budget type of headphones with a phone.

I use US Audio Player Pro (USAPP), it is $7.99 and the in app purchase of a PEQ module is around $2.
So for $9.99 you a very nice PEQ to use with an Android phone and Tidal (you use Tidal inside of the USAPP app).
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.extreamsd.usbaudioplayerpro

The PEQ can do 6 or 10 settings. With the 6 setting mode you can set whether each change affect L,R or both - in the 10 setting PEQ mode you can only set to affect both channels with each setting. You can save multiple configurations and switch easily.
There is also a graphic Eq that I have never used.

I have not found another solution that can engage a PEQ on an Android with Tidal - perhaps there is one and others will add it here.

I use my LG V series phone and USAPP will also bypass the stock Android audio system entirely which may improve the sound and may also help some folks who want to send the Tidal digital bits out of the USB via the correct cable to another DAC.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I went conservative with sub-bass enhancement as even with this amount, any track with that kind of content produced distorted notes.

I must say, I was not prepared for the transformation that these four filters made. The result was an extremely accurate and audiophile headphone!

But EQ this headphone and it produces reference quality sound!

Erm.... is this some kind of joke I am not getting here?

 

[amirm]

Erm.... is this some kind of joke I am not getting here?

No joke whatsoever. I am still listening to this headphone as I type this.....