[Gadget67]

You have succeeded in making me feel restrained when I'd been feeling guilty!

Don’t feel guilty; live with the TA/Tube combo for a while and enjoy the result. They’ll get to your wallet eventually...

 

[gsiu33]

@nc8000
ask, isn't the digital coaxial output cable the better quality connection to the amp?

I compared the optical and coaxial from my CD player to TA, I found that optical is better, not sure if the coaxial output of my CD player is not as good as the optical one.

 

[Rndm User]

What is the 3-pole mini plug x2 used for?

 

[Tsiklon]

What is the 3-pole mini plug x2 used for?

The Sony MDR-Z7 came equipped with a 2x 3.5mm cable for balanced (this was before the 4.4mm Pentaconn was available). This ensures you can use it balanced with all of Sony’s top headphones of the last 5 years.

 

[Rndm User]

The Sony MDR-Z7 came equipped with a 2x 3.5mm cable for balanced (this was before the 4.4mm Pentaconn was available). This ensures you can use it balanced with all of Sony’s top headphones of the last 5 years.

Aha!

 

[ming387]

Happy New Year & Hello all TA-ZH1ES owners!

I'm a new audio enthusiast and recently became a TA-ZH1ES owner. I like to know what music player software are you using on the PC/Windows? I have a big collection of songs on storage and am wondering what are the good desktop application to use for Hi-Res audio playback.

I like to know if there is any hearing test or something like that to test our hearing ability? Or help us identify our audio preference? I'm wondering if it makes sense to invest further in this hobby and am not sure if my ears are good enough to detect the sound variations. When can somebody be considered an audiophile?

What is everybody thought about Sony's upcoming CES show? Will they be announcing any new audio product on Jan. 11?

Sorry for the many questions, just some thought I've been having and wanted to hear your opinions.

Cheers to all and enjoy your weekend with good sound!

 

[bflat]

Happy New Year & Hello all TA-ZH1ES owners!

I'm a new audio enthusiast and recently became a TA-ZH1ES owner. I like to know what music player software are you using on the PC/Windows? I have a big collection of songs on storage and am wondering what are the good desktop application to use for Hi-Res audio playback.

I like to know if there is any hearing test or something like that to test our hearing ability? Or help us identify our audio preference? I'm wondering if it makes sense to invest further in this hobby and am not sure if my ears are good enough to detect the sound variations. When can somebody be considered an audiophile?

What is everybody thought about Sony's upcoming CES show? Will they be announcing any new audio product on Jan. 11?

Sorry for the many questions, just some thought I've been having and wanted to hear your opinions.

Cheers to all and enjoy your weekend with good sound!

Welcome on board! You definitely want to invest in a bit perfect player. For Windows you also want to make sure you get the ASIO driver from Sony and select that as your output device for the player. Here are some options and my opinions:

Foobar2000 - it's free and fully customizable. However, it requires quite a bit of researching on setup and best sound quality.
JRiver - great player that get's updated frequently. UI has nice utility but is pretty outdated aesthetically.
Audirvana - used to be exclusive to Mac, but ported to Windows recently. Best UI IMHO and is what I use.

For the paid apps, they offer free trials so definitely try before buying.

 

[Roland P]

Happy New Year & Hello all TA-ZH1ES owners!

I'm a new audio enthusiast and recently became a TA-ZH1ES owner. I like to know what music player software are you using on the PC/Windows? I have a big collection of songs on storage and am wondering what are the good desktop application to use for Hi-Res audio playback.

Have you tried the Sony player? https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/downloads/00016441
I used it on my PHA-3. Works fine, the only downside is that it forgets where you left when idling for a while.

 

[ming387]

Thank you @bflat & @Roland P

Yes, I've been using the Sony Music Center for PC and am seeing stability issues. It freezes/crashes often. Will try some of the suggested apps.

 

[nc8000]

Happy New Year & Hello all TA-ZH1ES owners!

I'm a new audio enthusiast and recently became a TA-ZH1ES owner. I like to know what music player software are you using on the PC/Windows? I have a big collection of songs on storage and am wondering what are the good desktop application to use for Hi-Res audio playback.

I like to know if there is any hearing test or something like that to test our hearing ability? Or help us identify our audio preference? I'm wondering if it makes sense to invest further in this hobby and am not sure if my ears are good enough to detect the sound variations. When can somebody be considered an audiophile?

What is everybody thought about Sony's upcoming CES show? Will they be announcing any new audio product on Jan. 11?

Sorry for the many questions, just some thought I've been having and wanted to hear your opinions.

Cheers to all and enjoy your weekend with good sound!

I’ve for years been using foobar2000. It is free and extremely customizable but it takes time and effort to set up and the interface is old but does everything I want so I have never tried anything else

 

[Lookout57]

Happy New Year & Hello all TA-ZH1ES owners!

I'm a new audio enthusiast and recently became a TA-ZH1ES owner. I like to know what music player software are you using on the PC/Windows? I have a big collection of songs on storage and am wondering what are the good desktop application to use for Hi-Res audio playback.

I like to know if there is any hearing test or something like that to test our hearing ability? Or help us identify our audio preference? I'm wondering if it makes sense to invest further in this hobby and am not sure if my ears are good enough to detect the sound variations. When can somebody be considered an audiophile?

What is everybody thought about Sony's upcoming CES show? Will they be announcing any new audio product on Jan. 11?

Sorry for the many questions, just some thought I've been having and wanted to hear your opinions.

Cheers to all and enjoy your weekend with good sound!

Audirvana on macOS

 

[Gadget67]

Audirvana on macOS

Absolutely agree! There is a no hassle free trial too so no cost to try it.

 

[Halimj7]

Welcome on board! You definitely want to invest in a bit perfect player. For Windows you also want to make sure you get the ASIO driver from Sony and select that as your output device for the player. Here are some options and my opinions:

Foobar2000 - it's free and fully customizable. However, it requires quite a bit of researching on setup and best sound quality.
JRiver - great player that get's updated frequently. UI has nice utility but is pretty outdated aesthetically.
Audirvana - used to be exclusive to Mac, but ported to Windows recently. Best UI IMHO and is what I use.

For the paid apps, they offer free trials so definitely try before buying.

Amarra Luxe! It’s $99 one time fee but it is the best I tried so far and has Tidal, iTunes and Qobuuz interactivity.

 

[skor]

Another vote for Audirvana on MacOS. I've used this setup for a few years now and it's been bulletproof.

 

[nc8000]

Trying to install Audirvana my Win10 machine refuses to do anything when clicking on the final download link