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Kumar402
64
May 9, 2019
Why no streaming? If I have to get a DAP without streaming I would get Cowon. I have nothing against Sony, I own Z1R but at this price point I was hoping for streaming option. Most of my music is now a days via Qobuz so I am interested in DAP which has balanced out, Universal EQ, can work as roon end point and has streaming. At $450 + I will pass.
Kumar402I have Qobuz too, but I haven't explored it as much as TIDAL and Spotify. I am not familiar with most of the music I see featured on there. What tracks do you listen to, any recommendations? This Sony doesn't have Roon integration, but if your phone does and supports aptX HD or LDAC, these bluetooth codecs very nearly support enough bandwidth for full 16-bit CD quality streams. I would argue that this CD-Quality resolution sounds fantastic in portable situations, and you also have the ability to plug the Walkman in to your computer via USB to stream really hi-res content. Does Qobuz/Roon stream better than CD quality resolutions over cellular data on-the-go anyway? That is a lot of data. I would also prefer if I had the ability to store Tidal/spotify tracks offline inside the Walkman’s storage too, but the way I use those services, Bluetooth streaming isn't a bad option. I like the ZX300A’s EQ options, there is a parabolic EQ with many bands where you can adjust (10-band, I believe) and an alternative ”tone control” eq option with dials for bass, mids, and treble. If you see my ZX300A review in the discussions here, there’s a picture of music playback and a screen display of a frequency spectrum analyzer : you can adjust that many bands. I’ve read good things about Cowon’s Plenue line of players, but I’ve not had the opportunity to try them out myself. They’re supposed to have crazy good battery life; what’s their power output mW like? Do they offer a Bluetooth receiver mode too?
Kumar402It doesn't support streaming because you are trading significantly longer playtime for lack of an Android interface. Sony's Walkman DAPs (at least any that aren't Android-based... not sure if they do an Android DAP) use a custom Linux-based UI without any ability to install apps. I have an LG V20, which sounds amazing, but coupling the Android OS with the use of its Hi-Fi DAC kills its battery life. That is without the additional burden of giving the WiFi chip the extra juice to pull down hi-res content. My expectation would be no more than around 8 hours worth of playback with an Android DAP (and that is likely stretching it). I don't own an NW-ZX300, but I do have the NW-A45 and I love it for what it is. It pairs extremely well with my Noble 3 iems for a really simple and enjoyable listening experience. I like the physical buttons, and its EQ functionality is better than my experience with EQ apps on my phone (though I wish the A45 had more than 2 custom presets).
TipsyMacScotchslurpenSounds right to me. I have a FiiO X7 which has wifi and Android, and it gets 6-8 hours of playback (High res files use more battery too). It does seem more powerful though... on high gain, it does a fair job with an infamous T50RP planar at an acceptable (imo) volume at the 52/120 volume setting. With the ZX300A and T50RP, I like 85/120 on high gain. The interface bears repeated praise... I love how one swipe from the playback screen can take me to the library, 10 on-device playlists, the play cue (I haven’t figured out how to add/subtract from this, other than selecting a different playlist or folder of music), the library browser, or the various EQ/DSP options. Even when you do have to delve into menus, nothing seems to take too many taps to reach or unintuitive to find. The battery life on this ZX300A is 26-30 hours on a full charge... that’s like 3-4 times as long of playback runtime. Speaking of, there is a menu option to limit charging to 90%, to tend the battery and extend the rechargeable lifetime of the battery.
EvshrugYeah, the Walkman series is definitely not perfect, but for the price, I am very happy with my NW-A45. Two of the things you mentioned are my two biggest gripes... low output power and no way to edit the play queue. Other than that, it is easy to fill those 10 "bookmark lists" and edit them, so I have a few different lists for a few different situations, and as music is added I make sure that new songs get placed in one or more of those lists. Sadly, the A45 won't come close to driving my HD 650 to an acceptable level, but I don't know of a lot of DAPs that can do so alone, either. Since I am either plugging the Walkman into my car stereo or taking it with me while I'm out and about, I never really need to pair it with anything but my IEMs. Using it for "line out" through the headphone jack requires that I max the volume, though. I have heard that you can use a program to modify the region, which supposedly unlocks a higher volume level if it is set to "Japanese" (it can be set to the other region, but still use English language menus), but I haven't bothered trying to do so. I made sure to set that 90% recharge limit when I first unboxed and browsed all the settings. I have always had crap luck with irremovable batteries giving up after a year or two, and losing 5 or so hours of playback when I have over a day's worth at 90% charge doesn't bother me one bit. Those devices that died after a year or two were always phones or iPods (the Touch series, specifically... I've owned a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th gen touch, and the 5th gen is the only one to have surpassed the 2-year mark) that had to be recharged on a daily basis. Since recharge cycles are what destroys battery life, I'm hoping having a DAP that I only have to recharge once every 3 or 4 days should significantly increase its life. Edit: BTW, it is possible to create playlists on your computer and place them in the Music directly on the DAP or its microSD card and then use those playlists if the 10 "Bookmark Lists" aren't enough, but playlists can't be created using the Walkman itself. This is another gripe of mine, but a very minor one considering I haven't kept more than 5 bookmark lists for any length of time.
(Edited)
TipsyMacScotchslurpenWell, the ZX300A’s single ended output has about 50 mw of power to feed (I believe @ 32 Ω), while the balanced output has four times as much power (200 mw @ 32 Ω). It’s no desktop amp, but I was pleasantly surprised driving my 300 Ω Sennheiser HD 800 off the Pentaconn output. I want to get a balanced cable for my HD 650 too, though I’m tempted to pick up the new HD 660 S because I’ve loved every demo I’ve had with that and it’s a bit easier to drive (and I think it comes with a Pentaconn cable). Perfect office or bedside buddy.
EvshrugI would really like to get into balanced audio gear just to see what the excitement is all about. So far I don't own any, but it would be pretty easy to buy or make my own balanced cables for my HD 650 and/or Noble 3. I just don't have any equipment that can output balanced, yet. I kinda want to get something a level past "beginner" or "enthusiast" gear if I'm going to get serious enough to delve into balanced stuff, otherwise I would just feel like I paid into "good" balanced gear when I could have paid into "better" unbalanced gear. Dunno if that makes sense? Anyway, it is also sometimes true that the "better" gear also covers the balanced option at the same time. The ZX300 really just kinda seems like an A45 that adds the balanced output option (though I think the ZX300 pre-dates the A45, so the A45 might just be a dumbed-down ZX300 without the balanced output). Just out of curiosity, are the DAC and amp both balanced, or is this just a dual-mono amp and a balanced output? I can't find anything on here or the Sony website that advertises anything about having a separate DAC for each channel.
TipsyMacScotchslurpenGood point, I don’t actually know if the DAC Output has a common ground (single ended). Once you get to the “good stuff,” you can find good balanced and single ended stuff around the same prices. Also, you can just make an SE Output more powerful, so power is another non- factor for choosing between them. Supposedly, balanced has less crosstalk between the left and right channels since they have separate circuits, which I would assume separation between channels would be better heard in headphones than speakers, but still monoblocks and essentially “balanced” setups for speakers are well regarded too. There might be other things to it, but as a non-engineer that’s how much I’ve picked up so far. Essentially, I look at balanced as a physical high-gain option, so the SE outputs can have low background noise for IEMs, while the Bal outs have more juice for full-sized headphones (4x as much in the case of the ZX300A). And if I’m getting an upgraded, custom length cable, the price difference between SE and Bal cables is negligible, so why not? Sometimes, with Balanced, it seems like the sense of soundstage is deeper, and even notes playing equally in both headphone drivers seem to be better separated, but it’s a small thing (better cable and better amp design makes a bigger difference than two equally good SE/Bal setups).
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