[smargo]

so far i have done all of my transferring wirelessly with absolutely no glitches and everything sounds wonderful!

so its sunday - and i left the player on playing a 16/44 track all night - and the player def sounds more rich and warmer then lets say 2 days ago

i mean a 192/24 bit track from patrica barber (spring song) sounded clean and clear on thursday - but now it sounds like the player has some warmth (its still clean and clear)

the player sounded so sterile on thursday

dont want to get into the breaking in discussion - because i know some people will have a nervous breakdown about breaking in - vs - its all in my head

im just updating you on what i have experienced so far - albeit a very small sample

but again - no glitches as far as transferring files from my computer (all done wiressly)

[harri009]

so its sunday - and i left the player on playing a 16/44 track all night - and the player def sounds more rich and warmer then lets say 2 days ago

i mean a 192/24 bit track from patrica barber (spring song) sounded clean and clear on thursday - but now it sounds like the player has some warmth (its still clean and clear)

the player sounded so sterile on thursday

I FULLY agree. Here is some comments I made on a different site in regards to what I heard with breakin.

The few concerns I had with it out of the box were that the bass was a little light, the highs were a tad shrill, and the image was just a little diffused. Literally everyone of those concerns were put to rest tonight. The bass was more forceful than I have heard yet out of the Maggie's, the images were tight again and the highs maintained their crispness but dropped the hint of shrillness. The sony is definitely going to be a keeper. This was after about 4-5 days running constant.

[smargo]

im just updating you on what i have experienced so far - albeit a very small sample

So its wednesday - and i have left the unit on most of the time since sunday - my experience so far (remember it could change again soon) is that i like the dsd upsampling off and the dsee filter off as well - everything sounds so much more natural to me - the music that i have downloaded at 16/44 sound like they do on my cd players (which is nice) - the music that is downloaded at 96/24 or 194/24 or 88/24 sound better still (really impressed) - with the dsd 64 - the music generally sounds impeccable (very impressed)

it seems like the unit needs to really break in a lot - (please dont challenge me on this - its only my perception) - overall then - count me in - so far

again - no issues (very simple) with downloading and i was very downloaded challenged (the sony makes it very easy to do)

[Stercom]

I've been trying different power cables, interconnects and footers. The differences are easily heard with this unit.  I still prefer the Remastering Engine on pretty much all material. The soundstage is wider and more relaxed with it engaged. I also haven't had such a dramatic change in sound as Stew reports. So, as with all equipment, it needs to be heard in your system with your own ears. 

[Gearplay]

I heard a pretty significant improvement as the unit broke in.  It has about a week on it now.

[Vinnie R.]

It would be nice if this player could connect to an external CD drive (like the new Macbook Pro can connect to an external USB CD drive
since they don't seem to be installing them anymore) and one can rip music directly into it.  Plus a set of analog inputs (for AD conversion / archiving) and a digital output for those who might want a different dac later on.   Nice to see the use of linear power supplies in it though 

[Slapshot]

Vinnie,

I couldn't agree more. I really would like to purchase one of these. However, I would much prefer the ability to add an external drive for the purposes you mentioned, and really, really wish it had a digital out to give you the flexibility/upgradeability later. Sadly, there are simply no other options anywhere near this price point, so the combination of the Absolute Sound review, and users comments here still have me pondering the purchase.

JC

It would be nice if this player could connect to an external CD drive (like the new Macbook Pro can connect to an external USB CD drive
since they don't seem to be installing them anymore) and one can rip music directly into it.  Plus a set of analog inputs (for AD conversion / archiving) and a digital output for those who might want a different dac later on.   Nice to see the use of linear power supplies in it though 

[wayneoh]

the combination of the Absolute Sound review, and users comments here still have me pondering the purchase.

I remain on the fence also while awaiting other professional reviews (e.g. Stereophile) and further user comments here and elsewhere. So far the "early returns" are mixed to say the least.

  Wayne

[smargo]

It would be nice if this player could connect to an external CD drive (like the new Macbook Pro can connect to an external USB CD drive
since they don't seem to be installing them anymore) and one can rip music directly into it.    Nice to see the use of linear power supplies in it though 

your right vinnie - however because you can connect an external drive to the unit (with music already ripped on it) and virtually expand its storage to you hearts content - it really fits the bill for a lot of us who were afraid to take the computer music plunge. its really no big deal to rip to the computer (for me an external drive) and then transfer it over to the sony or store the ripped music on an external drive - so you can feed that into the sony

it doesnt hurt that the sound quality is very good too - which is one of the top concerns for me - your not sacrificing sound quality just to make the downloading of music to your computer easy - which is nice

hope you and the family are good vinnie!

[Vinnie R.]

Ok - so you can load up a drive with up to 1TB of music and then plug it into the Sony to transfer?  That's good, so you have a backup drive.

Can you also play directly from an external drive?  (sorry if this was answered before).

it doesnt hurt that the sound quality is very good too - which is one of the top concerns for me - your not sacrificing sound quality just to make the downloading of music to your computer easy - which is nice

If the sound is up there with some of the best DSD dacs, then I can see it being a really good value.  I wonder how much modding
potential is under that hood?     

Cheers!

Vinnie

[Gearplay]

Vinnie, to answer a few of your questions.  It's my understanding that you can plug up to 16tb's of external drive into the Sony.  The one catch is that you must let the Sony reformat the external drive and load it from a computer into the Sony.  So it you have a 2tb drive worth of music you must plug a new 2tb drive into the Sony, plug your 2tb with music on it into your computer and transfer it through your network and into the Sony's ext. drive.  It does this so that it presents the drive as regular storage.  Besides the USB cable and a slight lag to access the music on the external drive (4tb in my case) you cannot tell when you are accessing info on the internal or external.  There is no lag once the music begins, just in the initial access into the drive, probably 2sec difference.

[smargo]

If the sound is up there with some of the best DSD dacs, then I can see it being a really good value.  I wonder how much modding
potential is under that hood?  :

Cheers!

Vinnie

Vinnie - i think what gearplay says about the external storage is right on - The sound quality is very good with all the different sample rates including dsd - but i havent compared the sony to other dsd dacs that are out there

good to see you show interest - even though its not red wine gear - wish more manufacturers would do this!

[Ric Schultz]

Modding?  You bet.  I will be putting discrete I-V converters on each phase, then super coupling caps and out.......or optionally through a remote controlled shunt stepped volume control and zero feedback fet buffers on each phase.  So, you can run the hot-rodded thang direct to amp (unbalanced or balanced).  Other mods will be available too (modding potential is VERY high).  I should have the first one done (will have the volume control in it....will try it without first, natch) in about 3-4 weeks.

[Vinnie R.]

Ok - thanks, guys.

So would this work with a USB splitter (for more than 1 external hard drive)?  If yes, then I supposed another drive can be hard-wired
internally so the internal storage could be even more?  I might be missing the boat here.

I also wonder if one can change the internal hard drive with a SSD?

This beast could also be a great all-in-one player for headphone listening with the addition of a high performance headphone stage! 

I'd also love to do try re-doing the output stage with tubes instead of opamps. 

good to see you show interest - even though its not red wine gear - wish more manufacturers would do this!

Sure, why not?  I don't plan to ever make a product like this, and I like the concept.  Kinda reminds me of the Olive in some ways.  It's
a nice concept and I see it as an alternative for those who don't want a computer in their audio system.  Not better or worse - just another
way of doing things. 

One day I hope to hear it!

Vinnie

[Stercom]

I've been getting a lot of questions about the HAP-Z1ES so I thought I'd make my answers public. My understanding is there is supposed to be variable output via the HDD audio remote software. I cannot get it to work, but I would rather use my preamp's volume control anyway - perhaps this will be addressed in a software update or I am simply not using it correctly. I've been asked repeatedly about sound quality. All I can say is read the professional reviews and what has been written on the boards. I think it sounds very nice yet reworking the output stage may really work wonders. A thicker (lower gauge) power cable (FlexCable), silver based interconnects (Shindo) and a good footer (Herbie's Isocups) sound best to me.................

[Stercom]

Been told the volume control is intended to work with the matching Sony amp.  Someone may want to confirm that with Sony. 

[Vinnie R.]

This was just posted by someone on Audiogon:

II took a chance and opened my unit, removed the hard drive from it's cage and cloned it to an ssd.

Glad to report that the operation was a total success!

 

[smargo]

it doesnt hurt that the sound quality is very good too - which is one of the top concerns for me - your not sacrificing sound quality just to make the downloading of music to your computer easy - which is nice

so its sunday again and the player continues to improve and get better and better - its so much more refined now - then say 1.5 weeks ago - cant tell im listening to downloaded files vs a mechanical player

im liking the dsd upsampling again - as well as the dsee ----------- on balance though some music sounds good (thats not dsd to begin with) without the upsampling and some sound good with the upsampling

its a decision you can make with each album or song you play - if you want to - the recording quality to begin with obviously will determine about the upsampling or the dsee

right now im in the mode of keeping all the processing (dsd and dsee) on - but because im neurotic  -  it could change again


Its an easy to player to download files to ( which i have constantly said) and again the free app that you download to your smart phone that contols all the playlists - is really wonderful

[stargazerang]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum

I have a question and hopefully, someone could help

I am currently using the Qsonix 105 music server and I am thinking of buying the HAP Z1

The music downloaded into the Qsonix are embedded into it's proprietary software. the music within the Qsonix is also backed up into an external hard drive. The music are ripped in various forms, ie WAV, FLAC, wma etc

When read from the computer, the songs stored inside the external hard drive (back up) appears garbled with a string of unfathomable letters and numbers

My question is will the Sony recognise these "garbled" song titles and re-arrange and "decode" them into meaningful, comprehensible song names/titles?

The thought of re-ripping 15,000 song titles all over into the computer, plus reloading them into the Sony, seems like a daunting task

Your assistance to the above would be appreciated

[smargo]

Your assistance to the above would be appreciated

i sent you an email on audiocircle whith a suggestion