[Stercom]

This thread strikes me as being considerably more positive about the HAP-Z1ES than negative; however, comments that I've seen elsewhere have been more mixed. In fact, the six consumer reviews that I've just read on Amazon definitely give me pause. I'd be very interested to know if anyone here who has hands-on experience with the Sony has read the Amazon reviews, particularly the user review by a gentleman named Sridhar Mahadevan. And if anyone has, what is your take on that review? Is the app software as bad as Sridhar indicates? And if it is, how can it be that most other reviewers (on Amazon and elsewhere including here) have so little to say about the software? It seems to me that over time what will separate the men from the boys in computer audio will be software, not hardware. Having read so little about how the app software actually functions, I guess I am skeptical about this Sony product ... even though I very much want to want it because I am definitely in the target market that Sony has in mind, namely, one of those who wants the enjoyment of computer audio without all the brain surgery that so often accompanies it.

Amazon comments may be helpful but if you want professional reviews then look what Absolute Sound, What Hi-Fi? and Positive Feedback Online have written. The general conscience is Sony's app software is very good.

[OzarkTom]

This thread strikes me as being considerably more positive about the HAP-Z1ES than negative; however, comments that I've seen elsewhere have been more mixed. In fact, the six consumer reviews that I've just read on Amazon definitely give me pause. I'd be very interested to know if anyone here who has hands-on experience with the Sony has read the Amazon reviews, particularly the user review by a gentleman named Sridhar Mahadevan. And if anyone has, what is your take on that review? Is the app software as bad as Sridhar indicates? And if it is, how can it be that most other reviewers (on Amazon and elsewhere including here) have so little to say about the software? It seems to me that over time what will separate the men from the boys in computer audio will be software, not hardware. Having read so little about how the app software actually functions, I guess I am skeptical about this Sony product ... even though I very much want to want it because I am definitely in the target market that Sony has in mind, namely, one of those who wants the enjoyment of computer audio without all the brain surgery that so often accompanies it.

The sound is amazing and I find the software fairly easy to use since I am a computer dummy. My wife can now use my stereo to listen to.

[bk12]

I love this unit, and I have to say that the software, and especially phone remote software is the best interface that I have used on a streaming system to-date, no question. 

[Vinnie R.]

I love this unit, and I have to say that the software, and especially phone remote software is the best interface that I have used on a streaming system to-date, no question.

+1

I'm not sure where that guy on amazon was coming from (maybe an older version of the SW that was not as smooth as the current rev?).

The unit is super easy and smooth to use and to load files to.  The App is also a simple, clean interface that is responsive. 

[steve in jersey]

This thread strikes me as being considerably more positive about the HAP-Z1ES than negative; however, comments that I've seen elsewhere have been more mixed. In fact, the six consumer reviews that I've just read on Amazon definitely give me pause. I'd be very interested to know if anyone here who has hands-on experience with the Sony has read the Amazon reviews, particularly the user review by a gentleman named Sridhar Mahadevan. And if anyone has, what is your take on that review? Is the app software as bad as Sridhar indicates? And if it is, how can it be that most other reviewers (on Amazon and elsewhere including here) have so little to say about the software? It seems to me that over time what will separate the men from the boys in computer audio will be software, not hardware. Having read so little about how the app software actually functions, I guess I am skeptical about this Sony product ... even though I very much want to want it because I am definitely in the target market that Sony has in mind, namely, one of those who wants the enjoyment of computer audio without all the brain surgery that so often accompanies it.

You have to take into account where it was that you read these reviews. I would'nt come to the Audiocircle to
see how they felt about toasters.

 I personally don't place too much importance on what I might have read in a customer's feedback section as I have no way of knowing how much experience the author has with tech Not to assume that some persons may not be totally honest of their claim they have some experience with like items, you really have no assurance they actually do. They may be further behind the learning curve than you are.

The only way I'm able to judge how much "Tech IQ" someone has is to see how much I can relate to when
they talk about general audio equipment issues on a forum geared toward the use of similar equipment.

While this Sony player has  many similarities to. Computer Audio it is'nt tied to the same restrictions as it a
brand new technology unto itself. Sony designed this player so that most persons w/ basic PC skills will have very little problem setting the player up if they can follow the guides directions. If you can use a laptop & a
tablet you have about 95%'of the Computer skill you need to use this player.

Computer Audio is'nt the "End All" for Audio just yet. In this case it's just an additional application that works
in conjunction with this Audio Component.

[smargo]

Is the app software as bad as Sridhar indicates? And if it is, how can it be that most other reviewers (on Amazon and elsewhere including here) have so little to say about the software? It seems to me that over time what will separate the men from the boys in computer audio will be software, not hardware. Having read so little about how the app software actually functions, I guess I am skeptical about this Sony product ... even though I very much want to want it because I am definitely in the target market that Sony has in mind, namely, one of those who wants the enjoyment of computer audio without all the brain surgery that so often accompanies it.

Really?? - this is one of the most seamless apps i can think of - the software app is incredible!!! - no glitches whatsoever

am downloading music strictly wireless - if anything the app is the best part of the sony

[alan1946]

H E L P.   purchase one of the first units.uk   summary took over a week to load 2500 cds with the addition of hard drive added. it took nearly 2 days to put 45000 tracks to its own data base,it counted down to ero ,bur the scrolling buffering sign was still rotating.  THEN   tried to use ipad/sony phone/Samsung tablet to control music stored .   didn't work correctly , lots of meta data missing/sluggish/stopping etc. controlling from front panel was a nightmare too.did rescan of both drive message said successful  /1 day .  tried to contact support so many times with out any help at all.   at that stage returned unit for refund.
still want to go to a hard drive solution./dsd too.  so I really want to purchase the unit again asap.
since reading on line manual etc ,IT SAYS the unit only supports 20000 files ,there fore it contradicts the spec because it says you can add the hard drive to increase storage.  assuming 15 tacks per album it means that the sony can only have abut 1000 cds of storage, which nowadays is not a lot.   who has got the HAPZIES WORKING WITH ALOT OF ALBUMS STORED AND CONTROLLED FROM THE APP/IPAD ETC.  PLEASE help   allan

[wayneoh]

Thanks to Stercom, OzarkTom, bk12, Vinnie, Steve, and Smargo for all of your observations which I very much value.

You have to take into account where it was that you read these reviews. I would'nt come to the Audiocircle to see how they felt about toasters.

Generally speaking, I agree with the comment by Steve that I've quoted here. However, in this case I hasten to point out that the Amazon customer whose review most concerned me did describe having very serious high end audio equipment as well as a music collection considerably larger than what I suspect 95% of audiophiles even have. That's why his review really caught my attention, as well as it's length which struck me as indicative of someone who really took some time. Anyway, unless the fellow was lying through his teeth, which I realize is always possible anywhere on the net, I figured I was reading something written by someone who wasn't just an Amazon toaster shopper.

But in any event, isn't it better on these forums to discuss the substance of what people have to say as opposed to attacking the people themselves?

[dspringham]

Does anyone know if the Sony software will allow "shuffle" play (ie select and play files in random order)?

Also, does Sony have available a Mac OS application that will run on a notebook in addition to the iOS devices?

[Stercom]

Does anyone know if the Sony software will allow "shuffle" play (ie select and play files in random order)?
Also, does Sony have available a Mac OS application that will run on a notebook in addition to the iOS devices?

This is from the Sony HAP-Z1ES help guide.   http://helpguide.sony.net/ha/hapz1es/v1/en/contents/TP0000221981.html

"Shuffle:
You can play tracks in random order (shuffle play). You can select a setting from [Off], [Tracks], [Albums]. If you select [Albums], the order of the albums will be shuffled but the order of the tracks in each album will not.

Repeat:
You can play tracks repeatedly (repeat play). You can select a setting from [Off], [1 Track], [All tracks].

Favorite:
You can add  to tracks you like. You can also remove  or add  to track."

I don't think the Sony HDD Audio software is available as a Mac OS app for computers  The transfer software is, obviously.

[steve in jersey]

Thanks to Stercom, OzarkTom, bk12, Vinnie, Steve, and Smargo for all of your observations which I very much value.

Generally speaking, I agree with the comment by Steve that I've quoted here. However, in this case I hasten to point out that the Amazon customer whose review most concerned me did describe having very serious high end audio equipment as well as a music collection considerably larger than what I suspect 95% of audiophiles even have. That's why his review really caught my attention, as well as it's length which struck me as indicative of someone who really took some time. Anyway, unless the fellow was lying through his teeth, which I realize is always possible anywhere on the net, I figured I was reading something written by someone who wasn't just an Amazon toaster shopper.

But in any event, isn't it better on these forums to discuss the substance of what people have to say as opposed to attacking the people themselves?

The comment I made about Toaster shopping was a very random ,spur of the moment example that  certainly was'nt intended to be taken "literally" & assigned to any particular person.

Comprende.???  (Yup, that was very weak & random analogy to use)

[steve in jersey]

No matter which thread you happen to view, it appears a number of early adopters are experiencing the same
type of problems . The problem is stemming from how to fit a music library that exceeds the 1TB of storage
space onto the Z1ES. The bigger problem is that Sony is not stressing strongly enough how the intended
architecture of adding an external drive to the player works. Simply put, the when the player runs out of
internal storage space it then looks for additional storage space .

I'm guessing that the player is having trouble finding whatever Id marking that the player puts on the files as it registers them before storing them. If the files are already on the drive the files skipped the registration
process. This is similar to you walking into a Gov. Office of some sort & walking up to the counter without
going through the waiting line. We all know how well that works out (hopefully, after going to the back of the
line, we make back to the front & are able to conduct our business)

I'm taking a lot for granted that this is the mistake being made ,as the upset posters are'nt describing
the step by step setup procedures they attempted . Sony dropped the ball when it came to making sure
everyone understands that this is a New Technology Digital Player & not a typical Computer Audio Music Player
& to compound problems  Tech Support (other than these threads) is scarce as a lot of the sellers may not have any more knowledge of the product than the buyers

I almost forgot to describe a possible way to avert problems. What you want to do it is to attach, a large enough to handle your current library & possibly any expected increases, empty drive to the player before starting the music transfer program (that you've downloaded from Sony to the Computer you're using to transfer the music from). If you have your music files on ext drives they have to be reconnected to your Computer for the music transfer. If you have a really huge library , you're probably better off moving portions
of it to another drive & transfer it a bit at a time or do it all at once ,but be aware it takes tiiiiiiiiime (you get
the picture. Just remember the computer is the "hub" for the transfer & to put a big enough empty drive
(Up to 11TB someone said) to the player. I would not even attempt to try setting up the "HDD Remote App"
until you've received confirmation on your computer that the initial music transfer is done. (You really can't
use it to this point any way . The player not setup until you get confirmation that the music transfer is done)

Sorry to be long winded. Better luck this time.

[smargo]

just wanted to say that i discovered - the radio stations on the sony hap-z1es - there are literally hundreds to choose from all over the world

right now im listening to "Audiophile Jazz"  its under genre "jazz" - then "high quality"  then "audiophile stream network" from the county greece at 320kbps

listening to "lover man" by sonny rollins

[Stercom]

just wanted to say that i discovered - the radio stations on the sony hap-z1es - there are literally hundreds to choose from all over the world

right now im listening to "Audiophile Jazz"  its under genre "jazz" - then "high quality"  then "audiophile stream network" from the county greece at 320kbps

listening to "lover man" by sonny rollins

       

[smargo]

Im listening to all kinds of jazz from italy to spain to the netherlands to the university of alabama - to germany - to australia - to tunisia - to canada - to tehran

to north carolina central university - to jackson state university - to dayton ohio - to augusta georgia - to puerto rico - to the united kingdom - to russia - to france - to ukraine - to poland - to austria - to amsterdam 

to belgium - to montana - to new zealand - to boise state university - to brazil - to uruguay - to greece - to oregon - to india

and it goes on and on and on - my head is spinning with all the new stuff to listen to - rmember this is just jazz

[steve in jersey]

Since you guys are enjoying the Internet Radio sections on your HAPs & if it allows to do station searches by
genre or location, I would suggest input any of the Scandanavian countries, United Kingdom or Russia as places to check for higher bitrate feeds

Have any of you been able to find any stations w/ higher than. a 320kbps feed rate. Some time ago I would occasionally be able to get a feed rate that was close to compressed lossless rate from one of the BBC stations
but I think they decided to go with more stations instead. There are a few US college stations that will broadcast at 320kbps (I believe that.  Purdue is one of them )

I will look at station addresses & associated call letters I have saved to memory & list them for everybody the next time I listen to the IR.  I saved the Classsical stations but a number of these have Jazz sister stations. Don't ignore the 256kbps station as they can also sound quite enjoyable. If you can list the stations
that you have been able to find maybe we can accumulate a station database .

[smargo]

for the sony internet radio stations :



There are approx 41 different genre's - and you can pick from 644 different stations

There are approx 74 counties and states represented - that total 644 different stations

There are approx 39 different bandwiths - that total 644 different stations


a. there are 6 at 320kpbs - 1 at 256kpbs - 24 at 192kpbs - 1 at 189kpbs - 9 at 160kpbs and so on

[steve in jersey]

If we're still interested in talking a bit about Internet Radio . There are 2 things I've been curious about for a
while now that have to do with that Kbps rate info.

1) is that Kbps actually just the "streaming feed rate" & not an "MP3 file rate " of the music ?
2) nah, forget the question , it's not that important.

[JEaton]

1) is that Kbps actually just the "streaming feed rate" & not an "MP3 file rate " of the music ?

It's the same thing.

[mfsoa]

Steve in Jersey   (is that New Jersey 'cause I mentally add the New every time I read it )

Try http://radio.cesnet.cz:8000/cro-d-dur.flac

16 bit 48K flac, so higher than CD quality stream.  Sounds great.

I have only been able to play it using VLC Media player.  JRiver chokes on it and my Squeezebox too.

I'd love to know if the HAP can play it.  Anyone?

Thanks