[countryboyhk]

Which is not surprising. Even people who are not audiophiles and even people with damaged hearing (like my girlfriend) can hear the difference between an ZX500 and an WM1A. And you sold an WM1ZM2 for an A300 because you don't hear an difference.

People are able to hear the difference in blind Tests, so it is there without any doubt. So it is you who is not being able to hear that so maybe you should not give an advice about which device sounds different if you can't hear the difference.

There are more than enough people who upgraded from the ZX2 to the ZX500 and complained that it sounds worse. The ZX700 is the first non-WM1 DAP from Sony that was able to beat the ZX2 in all areas, but only on 4.4mm

So using 3.5mm there still is no upgrade to the ZX2 except the WM1.

Have you ever tried A306? You should check back previous pages. Most of us buying A306 because it sounds better than the previous models in certain ways. I wont buy a new dap just because I can't tell the difference. I find the SQ of A306 is better than ZX300, ZX505, and as good as ZX707 but I like the A306 tuning more, and it has better output power than wm1a in 3.5.

If you are the only one can tell the difference, I suggest that you should keep your ZX2.

 

[nioh]

I think I may disagree with nearly everything you post

You and me both !

He talks here about how people can hear differences and he goes to the Zx707 thread and makes a long post about the exact opposite how people saying they hear differences is bull.

I don't think he is hear to discuss, but rather to just fight with everyone and himself by contradicting his own opinions everywhere !

 

[abitdeef]

Ya this is very significant for sensitive IEMs like Andromeda. It doesn't seem like Sony gave this DAP the care it deserved.

Did you guys try switching your router channels? I did that a while ago and I get no interference.

 

[abitdeef]

For your scenario, I would rather recommend an BTR Dongle from FiiO. The A300 will be as cumbersome in a flight as an ZX2. Also the ZX2 sounds better then the A300 so rather get an ZX700 or WM1AM2 for the SQ and a tiny, smaller as an lighter, Bluetooth dongle.

You could also think about an WM1A, there is the direct successor to the ZX2.

It is bigger, yes, but also has an Bluetooth Receiver Mode using LDAC. So you don't have to touch it while the flight at all

Why would the A300 be cumbersome on a flight, it's tiny.

 

[abitdeef]

Audiophiles do not have to have golden ears, just saying... I don't think it reduces anyones audiophile creds to not hear subtle differences that others claim to hear. I certainly can't hear differences in SD cards and decent quality cables and yet there are many here that apparently can.



References for the blind tests, please. I'm genuinely interested in the results of a properly run test.

Most blind tests I've seen that volume is exactly matched and no eq/dsp effects people can't tell a difference. Just like hi rez

 

[Triangle99]

Did you guys try switching your router channels? I did that a while ago and I get no interference.

Did you get interference before you changed your router channels? If so, what change exactly did you make?

I should add I can even detect a hiss at 50% volume in the left earbud of my Holocenes that only goes away if the screen has turned off so I either have a bad unit or there is some poor shielding in the A306 design.

 

[psikey]

Which is not surprising. Even people who are not audiophiles and even people with damaged hearing (like my girlfriend) can hear the difference between an ZX500 and an WM1A. And you sold an WM1ZM2 for an A300 because you don't hear an difference.

People are able to hear the difference in blind Tests, so it is there without any doubt. So it is you who is not being able to hear that so maybe you should not give an advice about which device sounds different if you can't hear the difference.

There are more than enough people who upgraded from the ZX2 to the ZX500 and complained that it sounds worse. The ZX700 is the first non-WM1 DAP from Sony that was able to beat the ZX2 in all areas, but only on 4.4mm

So using 3.5mm there still is no upgrade to the ZX2 except the WM1.

LOL

Or maybe you just suffer from confirmation bias and/or a serious superiority complex.

Anyway, moving on (and looking for ignore function)

 

[psikey]

You and me both !

He talks here about how people can hear differences and he goes to the Zx707 thread and makes a long post about the exact opposite how people saying they hear differences is bull.

I don't think he is hear to discuss, but rather to just fight with everyone and himself by contradicting his own opinions everywhere !

Maybe they are just lonely and need attention.

Anyway, I tend to avoid mean people so good that forums have ignore functions.

 

[psikey]

Audiophiles do not have to have golden ears, just saying... I don't think it reduces anyones audiophile creds to not hear subtle differences that others claim to hear. I certainly can't hear differences in SD cards and decent quality cables and yet there are many here that apparently can.



References for the blind tests, please. I'm genuinely interested in the results of a properly run test.

I'd also love to see these blind test studied from people outside the pro or fanatical 'Audiophile' community. I've done the Hi-res vs normal lossless CD type tests and rarely can hear the difference.

Variations in IEMs/Headphones are normally clear as are differences between DAP's and even on some DAP's the difference between its 3.5mm SE and 2.5mm/4.4mm balanced (very noticeable with my BTR5).

Only cable I've ever noticed have an impact (not budget end) is Silver vs Copper with my low immersivity 8 Ohm SE846's and a Sony Kimber copper vs other copper, and having measured resistivity with multi-meter and therefore the % impact on total resistivity (Don't know how seeing as a stranger on a faceless forum insists my hearing is defective.).

Amazing I could hear my A307 didn't have the bass issue before REW testing !!!

PS Now tips do make a big difference, especially with my M9's which of course I should never have purchased with my pathetic hearing

 

[abitdeef]

Did you get interference before you changed your router channels? If so, what change exactly did you make?

I should add I can even detect a hiss at 50% volume in the left earbud of my Holocenes that only goes away if the screen has turned off so I either have a bad unit or there is some poor shielding in the A306 design.

No it wasn't hiss, it was a super soft electronic cycling sound. I did have a tiny amount of hiss in both channels but that seems to have disappeared. And that was very hard to hear/soft anyways.

Um I just went my routers settings and changed to the next available channel. That seemed to get rid of the swishing noise. If you've got screen noise I'd contact Sony. And it's been a while so I can't remember what channel I changed it to. But they're usually set to a default channel and changing it can help with interference from others in the area sharing the same channel and improve performance.

 

[psikey]

No it wasn't hiss, it was a super soft electronic cycling sound. I did have a tiny amount of hiss in both channels but that seems to have disappeared. And that was very hard to hear/soft anyways.

Um I just went my routers settings and changed to the next available channel. That seemed to get rid of the swishing noise. If you've got screen noise I'd contact Sony.

Agree, I had tiny hiss with my SE846's so I didn't tend to use them, but then came back to it after at least 30hrs and hiss seems to have gone with the SE846's.

In a totally silent room in quiet sections of say classical if I'm really concentrating to listen, with WiFi on, I can sometimes slightly detect electronic clicks/cycling type sound you describe.

When I had a Chord Hugo 2 for a while these electronic noises were easily detectable with my SE846's (and Mojo with cellular interference)

PS But..... must all be my imagination as I have defective hearing

 

[Love Music]

How does this compare to the hiby rs2? Since they are about the same price.

 

[abitdeef]

Agree, I had tiny hiss with my SE846's so I didn't tend to use them, but then came back to it after at least 30hrs and hiss seems to have gone with the SE846's.

In a totally silent room in quiet sections of say classical if I'm really concentrating to listen, with WiFi on, I can sometimes slightly detect electronic clicks/cycling type sound you describe.

When I had a Chord Hugo 2 for a while these electronic noises were easily detectable with my SE846's (and Mojo with cellular interference)

PS But..... must all be my imagination as I have defective hearing

Yes the little clicks, swishing noises. I don't hear that anymore after changing my routers channel. It did sound like interference of some kind. Idk, I read if you're having problems to try the channel thing, so I changed it.

Lol as far as hearing and what beats what that's very personal/subjective. Plus we know when comparing audio if the volumes aren't exactly matched things can sound clearer more dynamic etc. That's why I try to preface things with - to my ears or imo. People can use the same gear and get a different take on the sound via hearing acuity, bias, ear shape, fit of iems. So, the only 'best' is what someone personally likes.

There's measurements yes, but even stuff with stellar measurements can sound bla to someone. Your hearing isn't going to pick up on those specs anyways, just like with extremely high bit rates. I don't notice many differences myself, unless something is really warm like r2r setup or something is forward in the mids in presentation.

But I do love the mids of the a306, well I love it all but it's so clear and present in the mids, with that deep Sony staging. Like I just tried ibasso dc04 pro and the mids are back farther and the stage is spread more out width wise. It's more neutral, technically probably better, but I love the rich sound of the Sony. And the thing I like about a306 is it's not 'too' warm, it still has great energetic treble. It's not too warm or to sterile sounding, it's goldilocks range for me!

That's how I it anyways

 

[SebaE2012]

I think you will be pleased with the newer fw -battery life- form factor
As for sound quality I can't comment as I don't own one ( yet) ... But one thing is for sure .. it has about more than double the output power than Zx2

Just keep in mind that : sense me channels are gone if you were using it .
And the US walkmans now are Volume capped like euro versions so you would be better to get Japanese /HK one.
And sorry for your ZX2 it was one of a kind

Thanks for the reply and heads-up about the cap. That's another challenge here. It's quite a bit simpler to buy from the US where I live, but I guess I will look into other buying options. No sense in getting the capped version for the same price.

 

[SebaE2012]

I had a ZX2 way back and have no memories of it being better than more recent Sony's, including the A307 I have now.

That really did have a noisy background and couldn't use with my SE846's due to amp hiss.

Curiously, I own SE846 but since I stopped using ZX2 as soon as I got WM1A a few years ago, I don't recall ever trying ZX2 with the SE846. I guess I was lucky, because I don't have the bad memory created by the hiss.