SONY NW-ZX500
Nov 28, 2020 at 1:15 PM Post #6,151 of 8,631
While I count down the days to Christmas to enjoy my new ZX507, I am planning a new set of IEMs to go with it on the day - the E5000 were supposed to be but I couldn't resist opening them (loving them on the ZX300 for now)... I will exercise more discipline with the next set and definitely put away till Christmas!

I was about to pull the trigger on the XBA-N3AP (and upgrade the cable to 4.4 at some point, N3AP only avail on Accessory Jack) but I then saw the Hidizs MS4 is reduced both on Amazon (about €190) and via Hidizs direct for €160 inc an extra balanced cable but plus shipping and any potential customs, so not a whole lot in the cost difference. The N3AP will cost about €260 inc express shipping from Accessory Jack (and if hit with any customs, a bit more). Anyway - do any of you own both and have any opinions? The MS4 seems a good deal. Also bearing in mind my recent E5000s, which of the two I'm now considering will be a sufficiently different IEM?!

You probably already know this but, the XBA-N3BP comes with a 4.4 cable (if you can find it)... I bought mine from this seller:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123057008078

Shipping was free and it arrived (in US) six days later.
 
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Nov 28, 2020 at 2:45 PM Post #6,152 of 8,631
You probably already know this but, the XBA-N3BP comes with a 4.4 cable (if you can find it)... I bought mine from this seller:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/123057008078

Shipping was free and it arrived (in US) six days later.

I did know it existed but only checked various online stores - Accessory Jack did have them but sold out.

Thanks for the link, I've never bought on Ebay bar the odd bit of vinyl a number of years ago. Any risk of them being knock-offs on Ebay? - I see that seller has good positive feedback anyway.
 
Nov 28, 2020 at 3:19 PM Post #6,153 of 8,631
I did know it existed but only checked various online stores - Accessory Jack did have them but sold out.

Thanks for the link, I've never bought on Ebay bar the odd bit of vinyl a number of years ago. Any risk of them being knock-offs on Ebay? - I see that seller has good positive feedback anyway.

I am positive that mine are genuine. Factory sealed and perfect condition. Seller is from Japan and sells JDM items. If it were China I would be more wary.
 
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Nov 29, 2020 at 6:17 AM Post #6,154 of 8,631
I like it soundwise, but I need to be careful here as this is the first time I've used CHN firmware and my auditory memory is not the best. Sony player startup is a bit slower than what I am used to, however. I did go through and apply the tweaks (the ones that are still applicable even given the lack of Google stuff on the CHN version) that @Sonywalkmanuser has way upthread. Maybe I shouldn't have done that...but so far, appears only the slow/sluggish initial opening of the native music app is the only complaint I have.

I listened for about 4 hours. The sound is def much better than the previous firmware. High Gain (Hi-Res streaming off) I'm really enjoying this paired with Unique Melody MEST.
 
Nov 29, 2020 at 3:25 PM Post #6,156 of 8,631
The MDR-M1ST sounds phenomenal from this DAP. Listening out of standard output atm w the stock quarter inch cable and an adapter. Sony just been hitting it out of the park w so many of their products man. I just luv Sony lol
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 4:59 AM Post #6,157 of 8,631
Been aware of the ZX507 since release, but only recently started thinking of getting one. Currently run a WM1A with Z7M2 and DM6 via 4.4 output. Also sometimes connect to 1000MX3 via LDAC. My library is quite varied, but I mainly listen to a lot of hip hop and electronic music consisting of about 95% FLAC with some DSD and MP3.

i’m interested in the ZX507 for a few reasons. USB-C would be a big advantage over the 1A for obvious reasons. I tend to leave the SD card in the unit, so faster transfer speeds would be welcome. Also the ease of USB-C charging as I have other USB-C devices.

All my music is stored on a NAS, so I’d like the ability to stream lossless via an app on the ZX507. I already have the Synology DS Audio app on my iPhone And they also do an android version which I presume could be installed on the ZX507.

How is the stability of Android on these devices? Any app compatability issues? Does anyone have experience lossless streaming from a NAS with the ZX507?

Most importantly reading this thread the audio output of the device seems good. From experience how does it compare to the 1A Or even it’s predecessor the ZX300? Anyone paired this with Z7M2?

For comparison I always found the ZX300 to be a solid portable device, but maybe slightly too dark sounding. I love my 1A, but would probably see a ZX507 as complimenting it.
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 5:22 AM Post #6,158 of 8,631
How is the stability of Android on these devices? Any app compatability issues? Does anyone have experience lossless streaming from a NAS with the ZX507?

Sadly I have issues streaming on my NW-A105 (which runs the same Android version, on the same platform/SoC). The device disconnects from the Wi-Fi network like every 30 seconds to 1 minute. I have absolutely no issue on my Samsung Galaxy S10e or on other Wi-Fi devices that I own. Of course, I'm not saying that these devices have issues with Wi-Fi in general. I didn't try doing a factory reset yet.

What I don't like on Android DAPs so far (including A105/ZX507 - they have the same SoC/RAM) is the occasional stutter you get while doing random stuff. This issue was also present on previous smartphones that I owned in the past, like Galaxy S2/S4, but it's gone with newer devices, and it's unpleasant to go back to this kind of experience, at least for me.

Most importantly reading this thread the audio output of the device seems good. From experience how does it compare to the 1A Or even it’s predecessor the ZX300? Anyone paired this with Z7M2?

The output power of ZX500 is the same as the one of the ZX300. WM1 players are a bit more powerful.

For comparison I always found the ZX300 to be a solid portable device, but maybe slightly too dark sounding. I love my 1A, but would probably see a ZX507 as complimenting it.

By the way, did you give a try to custom firmware on the ZX300 or on the WM1A? You might be surprised with the results.
 
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Nov 30, 2020 at 6:06 AM Post #6,159 of 8,631
Sadly I have issues streaming on my NW-A105 (which runs the same Android version, on the same platform/SoC). The device disconnects from the Wi-Fi network like every 30 seconds to 1 minute. I have absolutely no issue on my Samsung Galaxy S10e or on other Wi-Fi devices that I own. Of course, I'm not saying that these devices have issues with Wi-Fi in general. I didn't try doing a factory reset yet.

What I don't like on Android DAPs so far (including A105/ZX507 - they have the same SoC/RAM) is the occasional stutter you get while doing random stuff. This issue was also present on previous smartphones that I owned in the past, like Galaxy S2/S4, but it's gone with newer devices, and it's unpleasant to go back to this kind of experience, at least for me.

By the way, did you give a try to custom firmware on the ZX300 or on the WM1A? You might be surprised with the results.

Those WiFi issues are concerning Especially when considering the cost of such a device. Be interested to know if this issue and the stuttering is quite widespread. That’s one thing I love about the 1A. From my experience is probably been the most stable DAP I’ve owned.

Thanks for sharing the custom firmware link. I never even knew this existed or was even possible. Had a quick look and I’ll be giving this a try very soon. I’ll post any queries regarding the firmware in that thread. Thanks
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 6:13 AM Post #6,160 of 8,631
Those WiFi issues are concerning Especially when considering the cost of such a device. Be interested to know if this issue and the stuttering is quite widespread. That’s one thing I love about the 1A. From my experience is probably been the most stable DAP I’ve owned.

Thanks for sharing the custom firmware link. I never even knew this existed or was even possible. Had a quick look and I’ll be giving this a try very soon. I’ll post any queries regarding the firmware in that thread. Thanks

Regarding Wi-Fi, it acts like that every time for me - for example, even when downloading the latest firmware update.

I'll make a short video, and I'll also do a factory reset to see if the issues will be gone.
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 8:06 AM Post #6,161 of 8,631
Regarding the ZX507 and not the A105, I have 0 issues with both wifi and Spotify streaming. I don't use it a lot in comparison to playing local files but not once I used it, I had issues (I use it at least once a week). I have the same signal strength as my phone anywhere in my 2 story house and yard. The router is in the basement. I found it pretty good compared to what I read everywhere about DAP having issues with wifi.

Also Android on this device seems very stable too. The processor is quite basic so I would be wary of loading it too much and you can get the occasional stuttering on harder tasks. It handles anything music related easily.
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 8:12 AM Post #6,162 of 8,631
Regarding the ZX507 and not the A105, I have 0 issues with both wifi and Spotify streaming. I don't use it a lot in comparison to playing local files but not once I used it, I had issues (I use it at least once a week). I have the same signal strength as my phone anywhere in my 2 story house and yard. The router is in the basement. I found it pretty good compared to what I read everywhere about DAP having issues with wifi.

Also Android on this device seems very stable too. The processor is quite basic so I would be wary of loading it too much and you can get the occasional stuttering on harder tasks. It handles anything music related easily.

Both players have the same Wi-Fi/SoC hardware, so they're not so different, except the audio part. I suspect that the A105 could run the 505 firmware with no problem (like the A30 can run the WM1 firmware, for example, as they also have the same SoC/RAM), but we haven't "cracked" that yet.

And yes, it plays music really good, but the interface is not the smoothest, exactly like on the FiiO M11 Pro that I owned.

Regarding Wi-Fi, it's possible that there are some incompatibily issues with certain routers, but we'll see. I will test the connection with the hotspot option of my Samsung (Edit: It seems to be working fine from my Samsung's hotspot).

Will make that video later today or tomorrow.
 
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Nov 30, 2020 at 8:55 AM Post #6,163 of 8,631
Been aware of the ZX507 since release, but only recently started thinking of getting one. Currently run a WM1A with Z7M2 and DM6 via 4.4 output. Also sometimes connect to 1000MX3 via LDAC. My library is quite varied, but I mainly listen to a lot of hip hop and electronic music consisting of about 95% FLAC with some DSD and MP3.

i’m interested in the ZX507 for a few reasons. USB-C would be a big advantage over the 1A for obvious reasons. I tend to leave the SD card in the unit, so faster transfer speeds would be welcome. Also the ease of USB-C charging as I have other USB-C devices.

"All my music is stored on a NAS, so I’d like the ability to stream lossless via an app on the ZX507. I already have the Synology DS Audio app on my iPhone And they also do an android version which I presume could be installed on the ZX507."

How is the stability of Android on these devices? Any app compatability issues? Does anyone have experience lossless streaming from a NAS with the ZX507?

Most importantly reading this thread the audio output of the device seems good. From experience how does it compare to the 1A Or even it’s predecessor the ZX300? Anyone paired this with Z7M2?

For comparison I always found the ZX300 to be a solid portable device, but maybe slightly too dark sounding. I love my 1A, but would probably see a ZX507 as complimenting it.

I have both the A105 and the ZX507 and I have yet to find a way to stream lossless from my NAS. I'm pretty sure the DS Audio app uses the Android mixer. I very much wish the Sony Music Player app supported DLNA similar to Fiio and Hiby's apps which support lossless/MQA/DSD over wifi on their devices.
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 11:13 AM Post #6,164 of 8,631
FW 4.0
I see some improvements with battery life.
Today zx507 consumed 5.5% per hour (avr per 2h). it's 17-18h — 100 to 0%
upsampling OFF, high-res ON, EQ, DC, NORM, VINYL — all ON. 4.4 output. volume 33/100, files: mix of cd/dcd/hi-res/mp3. screen almost not used.
 
Nov 30, 2020 at 11:41 AM Post #6,165 of 8,631
Those WiFi issues are concerning Especially when considering the cost of such a device. Be interested to know if this issue and the stuttering is quite widespread. That’s one thing I love about the 1A. From my experience is probably been the most stable DAP I’ve owned.

Thanks for sharing the custom firmware link. I never even knew this existed or was even possible. Had a quick look and I’ll be giving this a try very soon. I’ll post any queries regarding the firmware in that thread. Thanks
I have an A105 and no wifi issues on my end. That said I only used it for spotify streaming at the highest quality. I have disabled all applications and services not used, and I have mostly audio applictions. I just got a ZX507 (havent received it yet), will test it once received..
 

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