[abitdeef]

abideef looks like the capped unit was just so bad ....you seem very happy with the uncapped unit now shame that menace is now in the US, we have have been importing from japan for years now the capped sony players are an abomination lol

I hated it, not only did it not get loud enough but it sounded thin and brittle. Only when I jacked up the hiby amp setting did it get some body and start to sound good. But yes the uncapped unit sounds really good, and I'm happy.

There's no doubt it's not a warm player but I'm ok with that. I have other stuff that's warm, and I usually use eq anyways.

 

[goody]

I hated it, not only did it not get loud enough but it sounded thin and brittle. Only when I jacked up the hiby amp setting did it get some body and start to sound good. But yes the uncapped unit sounds really good, and I'm happy.

There's no doubt it's not a warm player but I'm ok with that. I have other stuff that's warm, and I usually use eq anyways.

Great try the vinyl processor in the settings it adds warmth to the music

 

[emilsoft]

I hated it, not only did it not get loud enough but it sounded thin and brittle. Only when I jacked up the hiby amp setting did it get some body and start to sound good. But yes the uncapped unit sounds really good, and I'm happy.

There's no doubt it's not a warm player but I'm ok with that. I have other stuff that's warm, and I usually use eq anyways.

thin and brittle sounds just like mine even if it's not volume capped. It might be an issue with some earlier versions, perhaps hardware. I think I will try to take mine back - but I have a feeling Sony are gonna do a Sony; i.e. we checked it, there's nothing wrong with it, bye goodluck.

* Just to clarify - I'm not even talking about bright tonality here within the confines of correct audio reconstruction, it's way beyond that and sounds utterly borked.

 

[mt877]

Found this tutorial at xda-developers.com. How to automatically disable the high volume warning without root. It is aimed at disabling the warning on Android devices in general, not about how to do it on a Sony Android DAP. This work around could be interesting for some Sony Android DAP users that are affected by this issue.

I also found an old post by @emilsoft in the ZX2 thread about enabling a higher power output on a ZX2 EU version.

Spoiler: Post by emilsoft

All righty - these are the steps I took to root my ZX2 and tweak the system config to disable the volume cap. I don't guarantee this will work for you, and do it at your own risk - if you brick or damage your ZX2 it's not my fault! and the Chinese root tool will likely install some bloatware apps or who knows what other dodgy stuff it does

First select: Settings >> Security >> Unknown sources on your device.

Download the following apps from google play:
ES File Explorer (or other file explorer)

On your ZX2 download the APK from this URL: root.360.cn (mobile version download)

Go to your downloads folder and install the downloaded APK - accept security warnings. Open the rooting app and press the large center circular button (need to be connected to wifi).. the app will start trying to root your devices and display percentage - you might see security warnings from Android, just accept them and keep going - once it's done you might see a sad face, if so, try again by pressing the circular button.. eventually I managed to get successfull root (different icon to sad face), you're in business.. I had to attempt few times before it worked for me.

Once Rooted:

0. set root access in settings of ES File Explorer - root tool popup warning will come up > accept on left button i think (in Chinese)

1. you can access /configs/region.zip

2. copy paste region.zip back it up to your own folder just in case

3. unzip /configs/region.zip (you might need unzip app from playstore)

4. edit region.prop (you might need a text editor from play store):
ro.sony.volume_limit=0
ro.sony.walkman.euvollimit (add one more zero to the end of the integer value)

5. save it, zip it up and put it back like it was before /configs/region.zip but with the changed values

6. Restart your device and voila, louder by about 20-30%

7. Optional: uninstall root tool and bloatware

If you read the post or the spoiler, then you can see that there is a zip file (/configs/region.zip) which could be modified to change the region code and volume limit. Unfortunately the device needs to be rooted before this could happen. My thought is that ADB (an Android Dev tool) could be used to get access to the region.zip file, save it to your PC. You would edit the mentioned files in the post or spoiler, save the files back into region.zip and use ADB to push the modified region.zip file back to the Sony Android DAP. Of course I have never done this, but for those who are more familiar with Android hacking in general can chime in and tell us if that approach is feasible or not. You wouldn't be rooting the device, you would use ADB with temporary root permissions to pull, modify and push a modified file back to an Android device, in this case a Sony Android DAP.

 

[abitdeef]

thin and brittle sounds just like mine even if it's not volume capped. It might be an issue with some earlier versions, perhaps hardware. I think I will try to take mine back - but I have a feeling Sony are gonna do a Sony; i.e. we checked it, there's nothing wrong with it, bye goodluck.

* Just to clarify - I'm not even talking about bright tonality here within the confines of correct audio reconstruction, it's way beyond that and sounds utterly borked.

Yes yours doesn't sound like volume capped, you would have gotten a message about loud volume and audible warning. And all regions use the same hardware so that's not it. Either it's borked or it's somehow capped. My HK one sounds great.

 

[casper98]

I hated it, not only did it not get loud enough but it sounded thin and brittle. Only when I jacked up the hiby amp setting did it get some body and start to sound good. But yes the uncapped unit sounds really good, and I'm happy.

There's no doubt it's not a warm player but I'm ok with that. I have other stuff that's warm, and I usually use eq anyways.

Hmm but the SG capped version sounds alright to me tho, it does not sound thin and in fact it sounds better than my a55 uncapped

 

[abitdeef]

Hmm but the SG capped version sounds alright to me tho, it does not sound thin and in fact it sounds better than my a55 uncapped

Is it capped? Are you getting a volume warning and the volume being turned down to 50? I can say for sure the an uncapped a55 would sound better than my capped a306. And I had the a55 several times. At least with my gear, which I consider to be easy to drive it sucked. It just couldn't get loud enough and didn't have enough power for bass and body.

Maybe yours isn't capped or you've got super easy stuff to power. I do listen loud too.

 

[emilsoft]

Here is some more factual based information of what's wrong with the A306, so we can take hearing preferences and variability out of the equation.

I used the a306 in DAC mode with no DSP, ran 30 second frequency sweep from 20hz to 20khz through it and recorded/measured it via my Apogee Element interface inputs which are reference quality

This is what I see. I can't mince words about this - it's not even bright, it's just plain wrong, we are missing about 10db starting from 250hz all the way down to 20hz. I will show this to Sony and they'd better take it back as they sold me something which doesn't meet basic audio playback specs.

I don't think there is a hardware issue, I think Sony intentionally tuned it like this to make it sound bright.. I'm speechless

 

[Thesonofkrypton]

Definitely only buying the Japanese sony players now i have a funny feeling the Asia (SGP & HKG models and American model might have the same firmware..... with the USA version now having the volume limitation it might just be the same with other regions i might be wrong though ...

They do apparently, well according to accessoryjack, shame was going to order one from there

 

[emilsoft]

Here is some more factual based information of what's wrong with the A306, so we can take hearing preferences and variability out of the equation.

I used the a306 in DAC mode with no DSP, ran 30 second frequency sweep from 20hz to 20khz through it and recorded/measured it via my Apogee Element interface inputs which are reference quality

This is what I see. I can't mince words about this - it's not even bright, it's just plain wrong, we are missing about 10db starting from 250hz all the way down to 20hz. I will show this to Sony and they'd better take it back as they sold me something which doesn't meet basic audio playback specs.

I don't think there is a hardware issue, I think Sony intentionally tuned it like this to make it sound bright.. I'm speechless

Just FYI this is how WM1AM2 measures (as almost 99% of other sources do)

 

[psikey]

Just FYI this is how WM1AM2 measures (as almost 99% of other sources do)

Can you suggest a track I could listen to which should would show this up most so I can listen to A300/A1M2 again in this specific range?

So your A300 reading is showing a drop off in loudness/power 20-250Hz (sub bass & bass ranges) ? But what I'm hearing seems to have more bass impact than my 1AM2

 

[emilsoft]

Can you suggest a track I could listen to which should would show this up most so I can listen to A300/A1M2 again in this specific range?

So your A300 reading is showing a drop off in loudness/power 20-250Hz (sub bass & bass ranges) ?

Yes a massive drop off in bass range. There is no particular track, every track shows lack of bass. I proved what I was hearing with some proper measurements. You can try using youtube frequency sweep for a quick adhoc test

This was the best I could do to fix the natural frequency response using the Sony EQ to what one might expect of a normal audio reproduction from a DAP/DAC.

 

[psikey]

Yes a massive drop off in bass range. There is no particular track, every track shows lack of bass. I proved what I was hearing with some proper measurements.

This was the best I could do to fix the natural frequency response using the Sony EQ to what one might expect of a normal audio reproduction from a DAP/DAC.

So your boosting low end via EQ to try and get as near a linear, flat straight line as possible.

 

[psikey]

Yes a massive drop off in bass range. There is no particular track, every track shows lack of bass. I proved what I was hearing with some proper measurements. You can try using youtube frequency sweep for a quick adhoc test

This was the best I could do to fix the natural frequency response using the Sony EQ to what one might expect of a normal audio reproduction from a DAP/DAC.

What would I need to do same tests as you ? Not got into this level before.

 

[emilsoft]

So your boosting low end via EQ to try and get as near a linear, flat straight line as possible.

Yes correct, this was best i could do. I'm just completely shocked Sony would approve something like this out of the door, it really has to be a mistake... at least one would hope so