I got mine yesterday in the morning delivered by Fedex. Amazing how fast Fedex can work! I ordered like 3 weeks ago through PriceJapan. The parcel got picked up there in Tokyo by Fedex last Sun. It was sooo exciting to refresh the tracking page of Fedex during the following days seeing how it moved closer and closer to me (I live in Germany). When the Fedex boy reached me the parcel yesterday morning at the office at work and let me sign it, I expected to pay the customs fees directly to him, but he said customs was already cleared by them. He left and I could not believe my luck! I've saved like EUR130 by choosing Fedex now regarding customs. It also helped that Kaneda from PJ declared it with a value of 102.000JPY only. Thanks Kaneda. But please, don't get me wrong! I don't want to cheat customs and herewith cheat my government on purpose and would have paid it whatever it'd cost, but so I officially saved a lot of money. Edit: Will go to my nearest customs office asap in order declare it properly 'cause a bad conscience may blight the awesome sound of a brand-new ZX1 though. But nevertheless, I can highly recommend to order through PJ choosing the "DHL" - now Fedex delivery option, since EMS does not clear customs automatically here in Germany. KUDOS to both companies for the great service!
Plugged in the USB cable, device booted, I accepted the policy only shown in Japanese, then chose the English language option. Installed WiFi, entered Google account details and was ready to plug in my IEM Ultimate Ears UE 11 Pro's (I usually use them on stage when I play gigs, great IEM for stage anyway!) for a brief check with the stored samples here at work.
I have to admit that this is my first "real" DAP after my Sony Hi-MD MZ-RH1 means I'm sorry that I can't help you guys with comparisons with AKs etc.
Already the first samples with out-of-box settings blew me away! Transferred a few albums in FLAC before leaving to work real quick and listened to them on the train this morning. I didn't like the ClearAudio+ function so far since I only have listened to acoustic albums (Jazz, Bluegrass, Classics) played with acoustic instruments so far, also have not tried any sound changing apps yet. I'm sure that ClearAudio+ will bring some value if some rock, rap, hip-hop or whatever with drums, e-bass, e-guitar would be played. But I'm more a acoustic guy anyway. I liked to raise the ClearBass in the EQ menu a little bit.
Generally I have to say that the sq at this early stage is outstanding to me! You guys were "spoiled" with other good DAPs before, so for me it is a big step of course! The highs are crispy-clear, the mids even the lower mids much more transparent, warm and round and the bass and sub bass is clear but full of pressure without sounding poor as well. It sounds very airy and the pan seems to be as wide I have never felt it before in my live using these IEMs.
The device itself looks and feels very valuable in my eyes and hands although although the attached little case is a pc of crap. The side buttons are very helpful incl. the Pause button. Since it is a full Android based device it will give also so many more opportunities. Storage 128GB should be enough for me so far, but the missing SD card slot will probably scare some potential customers.
Finally I have to thank you guys in this thread which I followed through all the 116 pages since Sep. so far! Without you guys I would not even know that this sexy little toy would even exist! I'm probably not as audiophile as most of you guys and my technical knowledge is also pretty limited but me as a semi-pro musician having really good ears I am sure that I've finally found THE media player I desired. Without the knowledge about the ZX1 I probably would have bought a F886/7 which is also available here in GER, maybe the difference in sq is very little but the ZX1 is much more an eye catcher. Got to keep not only my ears but also my eyes on it!
I will have Bday next Mon and I can't imagine getting better gifts than the Sony Xperia Ultra with this phenomenal large and clear screen I purchased 2 weeks ago and the ZX1 now. Let's see what my poor girlfriend is going to give me seeing me so excited about those to Sony devices I've bought by myself now
Hope you liked my little report though....
