Skip to main content

Sony’s gold-plated music player comes to the U.S., along with new in-ears

Earlier this year, Sony debuted the DMP-Z1, a digital music player with gold-plated hardware and a price tag topping $8,000 to match. The only problem for those interested was that at launch, it was only available in Sony’s eastern Asian markets. That has changed, as at the 2018 Rocky Mountain International Audio Fest, Sony announced that the player is coming to the United States., along with a new set of Signature Series in-ear headphones.

Recommended Videos

Aside from the flashy gold-plated volume knob, the DMP-Z1 offers some seriously quality components, with an Asahi Kasei Microdevices AK4497EQ DAC Chip and a Texas Instruments TPA6120A2 amp chip, making for a clean, noiseless signal path. If you miss the golden days of vinyl, it even offers a Vinyl Processor feature, which recreates barely audible surface noise, tone-arm resonance, and other elements unique to vinyl playback. This might be a gimmicky feature, but we haven’t had the chance to hear it ourselves so we won’t write it off.

While we might already be familiar with the feature set of the player, the new IER-Z1R Signature Series in-ears seem like they might be just as impressive. You won’t find gold used in the appearance, but the plugs and terminals on the headphones and cable are gold plated for the best possible connection. That’s just the start, too.

The IER-Z1R in-ear headphones use three drivers, a 12mm dynamic driver, a 5mm dynamic driver, and a balanced armature driver. The 5mm driver uses an aluminum-coated liquid crystal polymer diaphragm and external magnetic circuit that Sony says allows it to reproduce frequencies up to 100 kHz. Human hearing tends to top out at around 20 kHz, so why this is necessary is a mystery, but it does mean that no high-end detail of your music will be lost to the headphones. In addition to the drivers, Sony says it used audio-grade film capacitors and even its own audio-grade solder to make the connections.

To make sure you maintain a perfect fit, the IER-Z1R ship with 13 different possible ear tip options: Six variations of triple-comfort tips and seven hybrid ear tips, plus pre-formed ear hangers to help them stay in place. You can use the included five-pole, 4.4mm balanced standard cable, or other cables like an optional Kimber Kable instead.

Both the DMP-Z1 music player and the IER-Z1R will launch in the U.S. in January 2019. The DMP-Z1 will retail for a steep $8,500 while the IER-Z1R will go for a lower but still quite pricey $2,300. For more information see the Sony Signature Series website and if you’re looking for cheaper high-quality in-ears, take a look at our list of the best earbuds you can buy.

Kris Wouk
Former Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
8 key things you need to know from Apple’s WWDC 2025 event
From a fresh look and updated names, to new features, more intelligence and live translation
iOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 shown on devices.

The WWDC 2025 keynote ran for just over an hour and a half. For those of you who don't fancy sitting through the whole presentation, we've pulled out the key things you need to know from the latest Apple event.

1. Welcome to the 26 club

Read more
This 85-inch Toshiba 4K TV is only $650 today after a 46% discount
The Toshiba C350 Series 4K TV on a white background.

If you've always wanted a massive screen for your home theater setup, you need to check out one of the most interesting TV deals that we've recently seen: the 85-inch Toshiba C350 Series 4K TV for only $650, for savings of $550 on its original price of $1,200. The 46% discount is a limited-time offer though, and if it caught our attention, there's also probably a lot of other shoppers who are considering taking advantage of this bargain. You'll miss out if you take too long to think about it!

Why you should buy the 85-inch Toshiba C350 Series 4K TV

Read more
WWDC 2025: Apple announces iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and more
Major updates to iOS, macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, tvOS and visionOS
WWDC 2025 logo

Apple kicked off WWDC 2025 with its keynote presentation at its annual World Wide Developer's conference, and it was a bumper affair.

We were treated to a raft of updates across all of the firm's software platforms, as we were introduced to iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26 and visionOS 26.

Read more