[eternalEquilibrium]

Excellent deal

 

[TooFrank]

Via Amazon.co.jp you get all fees/duties/delivery all up front and cost £578 vs £619 on Amazon.co.uk.

Thanks, so uncapped for less - and in your case very fast delivery indeed

 

[chrisgtl]

Via Amazon.co.jp you get all fees/duties/delivery all up front and cost £578 vs £619 on Amazon.co.uk.

I second that! Just bought my 507 from Amazon.co.jp and couldn't be happier.

 

[psikey]

Thanks, so uncapped for less - and in your case very fast delivery indeed

I know, mad. It was at £650 equivalent but I waited and price dropped slightly and exchange rate improved a bit and soon as it went under £600 I couldn't resist any longer.

Its shocking how bad the volume cap on the UK one is vs the Japanese (and no high gain either!).

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Been comparing a single James Taylor track in Walkman player and in Tidal in standard & upscalled back and forth.

All sound great but with my K10U/Litz silver balanced cable I can hear that MQA bitperfect/MQA perfect does sound best in the Walkman app, and then there is a slight drop with Tidal App at 32/192 which is a noticeable improvement over 16/48.

So for me there is a slight drop compared to the Walkman app but not sure if down to App itself or due to Walkman app doing bitperfect.

A slight veil, lack of clarity with Tidal app compared to Walkman app with same track.

Bringing in the Hiby R3 Pro doing its full MQA my view is:

ZX507 =* R3Pro > ZX507 32/192 > ZX507 16/48

Both Hiby's player on R3Pro and the Walkman app on ZX507 look to be doing full MQA rendering as both show track at 24/192 and Hiby even shows its MQA Studio quality.

* Different signature and both excellent.

I've also now listened over 3.5mm and based on memory to the A105 I say its better on the ZX507. Can't understand why some reviews say 3.5mm is average. Not to my ears.

Not just tidal app having this veil.

You should try other offline music apps: Neutron, Fiio music, Hiby Music, Foobar2k, USB Audio App Pro and etc..

All of them sounded different from each other but ultimately all of them still sounded less high resolution and with more congested soundstage compared to the Walkman app.

 

[psikey]

I second that! Just bought my 507 from Amazon.co.jp and couldn't be happier.

I'm well impressed with the ZX507 at £600 but also shocked at how good the Hiby R3Pro is too for £165!

 

[psikey]

Not just tidal app having this veil.

You should try other offline music apps: Neutron, Fiio music, Hiby Music, Foobar2k, USB Audio App Pro and etc..

All of them sounded different from each other but ultimately all of them still sounded less high resolution and with more congested soundstage compared to the Walkman app.

Tidal does sound better on the Hiby R3Pro, I'm in no doubt.

So Sony has improved streaming doing the 32/192 change but still not as good as full bitperfect MQA the Hiby does.

For your own tracks in the native players both DAP's stunning and down to sound sig preferences.

Playing about with both DAP's comparing tracks with both fully charged, the Sony now at 91% and Hiby at 95%.

 

[larzy]

Any online stores who that the 16gb variant zx505 and ships to Europe? Besides Joybuy

 

[psikey]

Any online stores who that the 16gb variant zx505 and ships to Europe? Besides Joybuy

I didn't find any and JoyBuy has such bad feedback.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I think 32/192 upsampling still will improve other lower resolution streaming content like YouTube or Apple Music or Spotify.

Can you compare these normal resolution streaming apps? How does the hiby compare to Sony upsampling for these apps.

 

[Gus141]

...
All of them sounded different from each other but ultimately all of them still sounded less high resolution and with more congested soundstage compared to the Walkman app.

Agreed. I’m still hoping Sony eventually figures out how to deliver bit-perfect audio from 3rd-party apps rather than this 192/32 upscaling.

 

[psikey]

I think 32/192 upsampling still will improve other lower resolution streaming content like YouTube or Apple Music or Spotify.

Can you compare these normal resolution streaming apps? How does the hiby compare to Sony upsampling for these apps.

I'm not cluttering up with Apps other than Tidal. Its clear to me already the Walkman app is perfection and others are a lesser scaled compromise (with your comments too).

The Hiby has crashed a few times live streaming Tidal in the week I've had it, while no issues at all with the ZX507 today.

Will be keeping both anyway with the Hiby being so cheap. Its not much more than a Dragonfly Red DAC! (had Red & Cobalt).

With the Hiby being a bit brighter the Sony will be less straining for extended listening.

One things certain, if you need top sound quality on a tight budget and Tidal/Qobuz live streaming is good enough give the R3Pro a serious looking at.

If you want a player of prestige, fantastic looks and great feel in hand coupled with excellent SQ (especially own files) then the ZX507. Not forgetting Sony signature.

 

[Gus141]

I think 32/192 upsampling still will improve other lower resolution streaming content like YouTube or Apple Music or Spotify.
...

Agree with this as well. But for me, I would rather use my large-screen iPhone for those lower-quality sources; it’s just a more enjoyable experience for casual listening and discovery. But DAPs and external DAC/Amps for me should offer a better hi-res experience than my phone for streaming. For local music, the walkman music app is very good though.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Speaking of clutter, do remember to apply the ZX507 tweaks. It should improve system performance, with less Google shenanigans running.

 

[Gus141]

Speaking of clutter, do remember to apply the ZX507 tweaks. It should improve system performance, with less Google shenanigans running.

Thanks for the work on that Tweaks Guide. It’s been very beneficial. Appreciate it.