[JerryX]

It'll be interesting to see how much a chinese copy of this would cost. Probably less than 50.

PWAudio and DDHifi already made similar products. $120 and $50, respectively, but tbh this AKA adapter looks way more premium. Great for those who want their adapters to get perfectly fit into A&K design philosophy.
btw, A&K finally made the decision to add 4.4 mm to KANN Alpha. Great news.

 

[Earbones]

But some of us like to live in the 21st century with streaming etc...

Huh? Sony makes a bunch of streaming DAPs.

And since Sony keep things legit, they pay Google... Which gets you fully featured Android OS with the Play Store and everything. Meaning you can just download whatever streaming apps you want and go.

No janky quasi-legal loader site required, no clicking and dropping from a computer into an attached player like it's 2003...

 

[Gabehcuod]

Huh? Sony makes a bunch of streaming DAPs.

And since Sony keep things legit, they pay Google... Which gets you fully featured Android OS with the Play Store and everything. Meaning you can just download whatever streaming apps you want and go.

No janky quasi-legal loader site required, no clicking and dropping from a computer into an attached player like it's 2003...

If only they actually sounded good. Sony is consoomer audio now. They lost their edge in the 90s.

 

[Gamerlingual]

If only they actually sounded good. Sony is consoomer audio now. They lost their edge in the 90s.

Not everyone agrees with all statements. We have options, and this one is there for anyone that wants it. Cheers and everyone enjoy their audio as they like.

 

[Tristy]

Huh? Sony makes a bunch of streaming DAPs.

And since Sony keep things legit, they pay Google... Which gets you fully featured Android OS with the Play Store and everything. Meaning you can just download whatever streaming apps you want and go.

No janky quasi-legal loader site required, no clicking and dropping from a computer into an attached player like it's 2003...

Their high end DAP’s don’t allow for streaming unless I’m mistaken?

 

[Earbones]

Their high end DAP’s don’t allow for streaming unless I’m mistaken?

Depends on which models you consider their high-end DAPs to be.

It’s true the flagships WM1Z/WM1A (essentially the same player with differing materials and storage capacities) eschewed the streaming capabilities of their predecessor, the former flagship ZX2.

But the current second-tier models, the ZX500/ZX507 do have streaming abilities, and at around $850, are not exactly low-end.

Now here’s where it gets interesting... with the last firmware update, many Sony heads believe the current ZX series sounds better than the WM1 series.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the A&K sound, and think their players are great. But I’d be hard-pressed to find a clear victor among any of their offerings, even the flagship Ultima line, in a shootout against the ZX500/ZX507. Both companies do a fantastic product. It comes down to sound signature preference.

 

[Tristy]

Depends on which models you consider their high-end DAPs to be. It’s true the flagships WM1Z and WM1A (essentially the same player with differing materials and storage capacities) eschewed the streaming capabilities of their predecessor. But the second-tier ZX500/ZX507 do have streaming abilities, and at around $850, are not exactly low-end. But here’s where it gets interesting... with the last firmware update, many Sony heads believe the current ZX series sounds better than the WM1 series. Whichever line you prefer, Sony does a high-end DAP that streams... and does so with easy access to apps via the official Google Play store.

Well, as the word high end suggests, I consider it to be their flagship series (as I’m sure any other logical consumer would). If the player doesn’t allow for this functionality out of the box, and it is not marketed as a USP for the product, Sony’s high end DAP/s do not support streaming services.

 

[Earbones]

Well, as the word high end suggests, I consider it to be their flagship series (as I’m sure any other logical consumer would). If the player doesn’t allow for this functionality out of the box, and it is not marketed as a USP for the product, Sony’s high end DAP/s do not support streaming services.

So to be clear, you do not consider the $3,700 second-tier STAX SR-009 to be a high-end headphone, simply because it is not the $4,325 flagship SR-009S?

Interesting.

 

[Gabehcuod]

Just because something isn't low-end doesn't automatically make it high end.
$850 for a DAP is midrange. Doesn't matter if it's the flagship or not.

Also DMP doesn't have streaming does it?

 

[Earbones]

Just because something isn't low-end doesn't automatically make it high end.
$850 for a DAP is midrange. Doesn't matter if it's the flagship or not.

Also DMP doesn't have streaming does it?

Says the guy with the $1500 Cube that was crushed by that very $850 DAP...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/1-week-review-of-sony-nw-zx507-nw-zx500-series.921418/

In any event, I think my earlier irony was missed. Going by arbitrary intangibles such as flagship status or product-tier placement or even cost to define how good something may be is the classic fool's errand in audiophilia.

Every product we weirdos ogle is top-of-the-line, exclusive, and expensive... to the normal person listening out of a phone with wireless earbuds.

You want to define "high end" in audiophile terms? Only ears can do that.

 

[Gabehcuod]

Every product we weirdos ogle is top-of-the-line, exclusive, and expensive... to the normal person listening out of a phone with wireless earbuds.

A similar thing applies to almost every hobby.
The point was that if someone's in the market for a high-end DAP and they value streaming, they'll likely skip sony's offerings.
FiiO also have the play store, atleast my cheapo fiio x5 did at the time.

 

[Earbones]

A similar thing applies to almost every hobby.
The point was that if someone's in the market for a high-end DAP and they value streaming, they'll likely skip sony's offerings.
FiiO also have the play store, atleast my cheapo fiio x5 did at the time.

There are a lot of guys with a lot of very nice gear who would disagree with that statement. With respect, pooping on Sony is kind of a year-one audiophile move. If the ZX507 was made by A&K and cost $3500 (and it would, because that’s about how much a tiny company like them would need to charge to produce something like that) every noob on here would be going bananas over it. Sony isn’t sexy, but they have R&D and manufacturing abilities that niche audiophile companies can only dream about. There is a reason why when you go to a Sony DAP or IEM thread on Head-Fi, it’s all long-term guys discussing. They make fantastic gear, by-and-large, and they have enormous resources, so nothing is priced too preciously.

 

[aaf evo]

There are a lot of guys with a lot of very nice gear who would disagree with that statement. With respect, pooping on Sony is kind of a year-one audiophile move. If the ZX507 was made by A&K and cost $3500 (and it would, because that’s about how much a tiny company like them would need to charge to produce something like that) every noob on here would be going bananas over it. Sony isn’t sexy, but they have R&D and manufacturing abilities that niche audiophile companies can only dream about. There is a reason why when you go to a Sony DAP or IEM thread on Head-Fi, it’s all long-term guys discussing. They make fantastic gear, by-and-large, and they have enormous resources, so nothing is priced too preciously.

The 507 is a fantastic sounding DAP at “only” $800. I was very impressed.

 

[seanwee]

The 507 is a fantastic sounding DAP at “only” $800. I was very impressed.

I'm hearing praise for the 507 left and right O.o I really need to listen to it it seems

 

[akburt]

There are a lot of guys with a lot of very nice gear who would disagree with that statement. With respect, pooping on Sony is kind of a year-one audiophile move. If the ZX507 was made by A&K and cost $3500 (and it would, because that’s about how much a tiny company like them would need to charge to produce something like that) every noob on here would be going bananas over it. Sony isn’t sexy, but they have R&D and manufacturing abilities that niche audiophile companies can only dream about. There is a reason why when you go to a Sony DAP or IEM thread on Head-Fi, it’s all long-term guys discussing. They make fantastic gear, by-and-large, and they have enormous resources, so nothing is priced too preciously.

Where was Astell Kern when SONY was in the lead audio_