[sat24]

I wonder if the ZX500 will best the ZX300 in sound quality department.

Wondering the same thing. Is there any reason to believe the ZX500 will sound any different from ZX300 - going by the specs, it is EXACTLY the same specs so same sound? It also lacks the VPT Surround modes, and ClearAudio+ found in the lower end A45/55 players. I owned the A55 and ZX300 and found that the A55 was better than the ZX300 in the way it sounded (to me) so I ended up keeping the A55 and returning the ZX300.

 

[Sonyvores]

No USB DAC Function?

No...

 

[superuser1]

No...

I wonder what's happening with Sony.. i understand the BT DAC not being there but this and android SRC

 

[purk]

No...

Seriously why?

How about a digital output while streaming? Any down conversion during WiFi streaming? Thanks

 

[davidmolliere]

Looks like availability of the NW-ZX507 is january 2020... anyone also came accross this info? Not sure it’s accurate

 

[BurritoJustice]

I wonder what's happening with Sony.. i understand the BT DAC not being there but this and android SRC

Do you have a confirmed source about SRC? Sony releasing a high resolution focused android player and not circumventing SRC would be a HUGE gaffe.

Probably the main thing I find wrong with Sony DAPs going forward is that IEMs are now coming out with extremely low input impedance (Andro gold at 7ohm, Fearless Roland at 4ohm etc) that their typical ~1.6ohm output impedance can colour the sound.

 

[maira]

Looks like availability of the NW-ZX507 is january 2020... anyone also came accross this info? Not sure it’s accurate

"The NW-ZX507 model (64GB) will be priced at approximately €830 / £750 and available from November 2019."

https://presscentre.sony.eu/pressre...roducing-sonys-new-walkman-r-nw-zx507-2914770

 

[davidmolliere]

"The NW-ZX507 model (64GB) will be priced at approximately €830 / £750 and available from November 2019."

https://presscentre.sony.eu/pressre...roducing-sonys-new-walkman-r-nw-zx507-2914770

Great news, I downloaded another press release where there was no date information and the web is not a reliable source...

 

[superuser1]

Do you have a confirmed source about SRC? Sony releasing a high resolution focused android player and not circumventing SRC would be a HUGE gaffe.

Probably the main thing I find wrong with Sony DAPs going forward is that IEMs are now coming out with extremely low input impedance (Andro gold at 7ohm, Fearless Roland at 4ohm etc) that their typical ~1.6ohm output impedance can colour the sound.

Read a page back.. a member posted a japanese link

 

[Partlys4int]

Came to say this. I guess ZX300 will live on then as the mid-range/mid-price player with GREAT battery life and NO distractions -- I dont want to browse the web on tiny screen when listening to my music. I got a 15" macbook pro for that

I think Sony's strategy with this player might just be to retry and broaden the market segment for Hi-Res to music enthusiasts who do not care about ownership of music as much, where the ZX-2 was perhaps too early to be embraced by this segment of the market.

Nonetheless, they will alienate others who like their music to live in an environment free of the bogged-down smartphone ecosystems(Like you and me)

 

[BurritoJustice]

Read a page back.. a member posted a japanese link

Well, that is garbage, this went from almost a sure buy to a pass from me.

 

[abitdeef]

Ha ha I bet most of us couldn't hear the difference between the original and the re-sampled android file

There is one thing I like about an android dap- it's being able to mess around with all the different players available.

I believe hiby, neutron, and fiio all bypass android src. But streaming, that could be a problem.

 

[Ojisan]

I think Sony's strategy with this player might just be to retry and broaden the market segment for Hi-Res to music enthusiasts who do not care about ownership of music as much, where the ZX-2 was perhaps too early to be embraced by this segment of the market.

Nonetheless, they will alienate others who like their music to live in an environment free of the bogged-down smartphone ecosystems(Like you and me)

From the earlier post from Phileweb, what I noticed was the mention of Mora which is Sony's Japanese market streaming service coming this fall. It seems at least the first version (507?) is meant as a platform for that and less consideration for other markets.

The interview did mention that features can be added through apps as a reason for not including USB DAC. Is there an android app that could turn this into USB DAC?

 

[kova4a]

Ha ha I bet most of us couldn't hear the difference between the original and the re-sampled android file

There is one thing I like about an android dap- it's being able to mess around with all the different players available.

I believe hiby, neutron, and fiio all bypass android src. But streaming, that could be a problem.

Most likely. Not to mention that the walkmans can hardly be called hi-res DAPs given their SNR. For instance a 16-bit can give you an SNR of 96db, 24-bit potentially can give you 144db, but a sony zx300 has an SNR of <105db, so nowhere near being capable of proper 24-bit reproduction. Now, that's just the science as in reality it's all about the quality and mastering of the recording as a lot of the stuff is very compressed in any form, including the 24-bit releases. So if someone likes Sony then they should go for it as even if sony added something like DTA, it would hardly make any difference.

Personally, I do love Sony's UI and the new Walkman app seems to be heavily based on it, so if I decide to get the new walkmans it will be mainly because of it. On the other hand, the prices are way to high for what the new Sony give you, as for 900 bucks you can get a last-gen smartphone and pair it with a good DAC and you'll end up with a streaming portable rig with way better SoC and screen (and with probably the same battery life if you just use it for music and not for calls and browsing). I even wonder how long it will be till someone gets his hands on the new walkmans and manages to extract the walkman app and people start using it on the other Android DAPs that have a lot better hardware inside? Yeah, stuff like clearaudio and the likes probably won't work properly but for me it's all about the interface as the sony DSP features and more miss than hit anyway.

 

[purk]

So around $800 - $850 for USD. Steep but doable for me.