[Sonic Defender]

So if I sell my PHA 3 at $650 that seems like it is a fair price based on what I am reading here, good to know!

 

[jonstatt]

  Sony had no choice because of the EU regulations If they want to sell the PHA3 there they had to ditch the lithium battery. Some countries are paranoid about the potential explosion of Lithium batteries. They are particularly concerned about putting them on airplanes. Some airlines/carriers restrict them. I don't want to get into the virtues of this but except for the portable issue it should make no difference. The power of a battery is dc. Your EU version is simply converting the ac to dc through the use of an external charger. If there was not enough juice to power the device the device would shut down. The internal power supply is regulated.
 
I think Sony has one of the most advanced r&d and testing facilities in the world for consumer audio equipment. Nothing gets through without through testing. You can be sure that the PHA3 you receive will work to spec. Relax and report back on your experience.

 
I did some research into this and found there is no such EU regulation I can find that would affect this. In fact, the batteries in most laptops in the EU are lithium ion or lithium polymer and they are considerably larger than the PHA-3. There is something more to this decision by Sony. The only regulation I found was concerned with the safe packaging, required packaging indication on the outside, and special restrictions on the number of batteries packaged together separately from the device they belong to.

 

[cheznous]

I did some research into this and found there is no such EU regulation I can find that would affect this. In fact, the batteries in most laptops in the EU are lithium ion or lithium polymer and they are considerably larger than the PHA-3. There is something more to this decision by Sony. The only regulation I found was concerned with the safe packaging, required packaging indication on the outside, and special restrictions on the number of batteries packaged together separately from the device they belong to.

lots of things contain lithium batteries. However no doubt there are certain criteria that must be met. No doubt Sony could not justify the cost for such a limited market.
Just a commercial decision in the end.

 

[Sound Eq]

guys a question is the ph3 a good companion for the sony zx2 dap

 

[danlevy]

  guys a question is the ph3 a good companion for the sony zx2 dap

They were meant to go together!  A great companion.

 

[Sound Eq]

so this means that the zx2 can not drive audeze lcd2 rev with the same authority that the ph3 does

 

[danlevy]

so this means that the zx2 can not drive audeze lcd2 rev with the same authority that the ph3 does

I don't think there are *any* headphones that would not be better sounding with the PHA-3/NW-ZX2 combo than with the NW-ZX2 alone.  But that doesn't mean that it doesn't sound really really good without the amp on lots of headphones.  I am surprised at how great the NW-ZX2 sounds with my 15-year-old Etymotic ER4s IEMs.  Fantastic and ultra-portable.

 

[Sound Eq]

so i want to ask, i am really considering that combo, as i can use the zx2 as a great transport and use different apps and eqs and dsps from it as its an andorid and then get the power of pha 3 to drive my audeze, i am not a fan of just being tight to one sound signature and i love eq, so i guess this would be ultimate setup maybe

 

[The Dutch Guy]

.

 

[jonstatt]

   
Could it have to do with the decibel restrictions on portable players in the EU? It still wouldn't explain why other DAC/Amps are being sold WITH a battery but maybe Sony is a bit more cautious than others because of their much larger market presence?

 
 
It's an interesting theory because of course as you point out, without the battery, it is no longer a "portable" device. But on the other hand we have yet to understand whether this volume limit applies to devices sold without earphones/headphones as the volume cannot be ascertained as its device specific (e.g. Put a Shure 846 on a PHA-3 and blow your head vs Hifiman HE-6 and barely get loud enough).....It could be nothing more simply than a greedy Sony thinking that in the EU they could sell less for more (which is unfortunately often true!)

 

[jonstatt]

  guys a question is the ph3 a good companion for the sony zx2 dap

 
Yes and No. If you use the PHA-3 you are bypassing a very expensive DAC/amplifier built-in to the ZX2. You are basically bypassing half of what you paid for! If you are using IEMs like the AKG K3003, or Shure SE846, or Noble K10 then you will want to directly connect to the ZX2. If you are using headphones like an Audeze LCD-3 or a Sennheiser HD-800, then you will want to partner with a PHA-3. The PHA-3 partners with the ZX2 very well, but I wanted to highlight that if your goal is only to use the PHA-3 for the DAC/amplification stage, then you are better to buy the much cheaper Sony A17 and do without the bits you will never use.

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
Yes and No. If you use the PHA-3 you are bypassing a very expensive DAC/amplifier built-in to the ZX2. You are basically bypassing half of what you paid for! If you are using IEMs like the AKG K3003, or Shure SE846, or Noble K10 then you will want to directly connect to the ZX2. If you are using headphones like an Audeze LCD-3 or a Sennheiser HD-800, then you will want to partner with a PHA-3. The PHA-3 partners with the ZX2 very well, but I wanted to highlight that if your goal is only to use the PHA-3 for the DAC/amplification stage, then you are better to buy the much cheaper Sony A17 and do without the bits you will never use.

+1, I like the A17 myself with the PHA 3. I would say it comes down to which device has the better amp/DAC section. If it is the PHA 3 then by all means complete it with the A17 as a transport, otherwise you are wasting money on one part of the chain to an extent anyway. I suspect the DAC/amp in the PHA 3 is the better of the two with the ZX2 offering the large screen and ability to run apps, but if you're still keeping a phone, I say use that for apps.

 

[BRCMRGN]

 
+1, I like the A17 myself with the PHA 3. I would say it comes down to which device has the better amp/DAC section. If it is the PHA 3 then by all means complete it with the A17 as a transport, otherwise you are wasting money on one part of the chain to an extent anyway. I suspect the DAC/amp in the PHA 3 is the better of the two with the ZX2 offering the large screen and ability to run apps, but if you're still keeping a phone, I say use that for apps.

I went with the A17/PHA-3 combo myself. I have several AK DAPs for all-in-one use. The A17 seemed like a nice, easy, small transport for the PHA-3 (and saved a lot of money). 

 

[djricekcn]

   
Yes and No. If you use the PHA-3 you are bypassing a very expensive DAC/amplifier built-in to the ZX2. You are basically bypassing half of what you paid for! If you are using IEMs like the AKG K3003, or Shure SE846, or Noble K10 then you will want to directly connect to the ZX2. If you are using headphones like an Audeze LCD-3 or a Sennheiser HD-800, then you will want to partner with a PHA-3. The PHA-3 partners with the ZX2 very well, but I wanted to highlight that if your goal is only to use the PHA-3 for the DAC/amplification stage, then you are better to buy the much cheaper Sony A17 and do without the bits you will never use.

 
That's if you're connecting digitally, no?
From how i understand, if you go ZX2 ==> Analog Sound Out ==> PHA-3, you're not degrading ZX2's sound and it's playing as is...that way you're only using it as an AMP (DAC on PHA-3 isn't touched) or you can also take advantage of the Balanced Sound from the ZX2....no?

 

[Chodi]

   
That's if you're connecting digitally, no?
From how i understand, if you go ZX2 ==> Analog Sound Out ==> PHA-3, you're not degrading ZX2's sound and it's playing as is...that way you're only using it as an AMP (DAC on PHA-3 isn't touched) or you can also take advantage of the Balanced Sound from the ZX2....no?

You raise an interesting point. I have been looking at this PHA 3 and the more I look the more I realize it is more of a desktop/portable headphone/iem amp/dac all in one. Somewhat unique approach from Sony. If you connect the unit to a pc/mac then it is functioning as a mini desktop all in one with balanced out. If you connect it to a dap through analogue then it is only a balanced amp. I don't know of another device designed this way (there might be some). If they had used a more practical connector for the balanced outputs it would be even more interesting. They used the top Sabre dac and the standard xmos usb interface. If there is any failing or compromise here it is the xmos but you can choose from many available outboard usb devices to improve the performance of the xmos if you so choose. 
 
They made this device very flexible and to my way thinking very user definable for it's application. Considering all that at the prevailing street price it is an interesting solution.