[gerelmx1986]

26hr playback FLAC 192/24 seems nice better than fiio x3 only 7 hours lol and that with 16/44.1 FLAC, wonder how much play time for 16/44 flac on these walkmans?

 

[cthomas]

What ever happened to Microdia's 512gb micro sd? Was ready to be launched a year ago and just didn't happen.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

made me think of Goldmember

 

[Rei87]

Hence the reason of the color choice maybe

I'm praying that gold was chosen for some obscure sonic.performance increase, not not because of its look. Gosh. I love the player's concept, but the aesthetic is appalling

 

[echineko]

I'm praying that gold was chosen for some obscure sonic.performance increase, not not because of its look. Gosh. I love the player's concept, but the aesthetic is appalling

Different strokes, etc etc. I remember there was some marketing material talking about its physical properties, conductivity, etc but don't think it went very much in depth.

 

[emrelights1973]

I'm praying that gold was chosen for some obscure sonic.performance increase, not not because of its look. Gosh. I love the player's concept, but the aesthetic is appalling

As another forum member put it perfectly if it was other way around black vs gold i am ready to pay the difference just to avoid it! But no tidal no walkman, also is Tidal implementation tided onlt with android?

 

[shockwaver]

I wonder how these would sound versus originals
 
1. Z in aluminum body
2. A in gold-plated copper body
3. Z naked 
4. A naked

 

[leylandi]

devam...

 

[Sonic Defender]

  I wonder how these would sound versus originals
 
1. Z in aluminum body
2. A in gold-plated copper body
3. Z naked 
4. A naked

If the components inside were the same, they would all sound the same.

 

[fish1050]

Hard core audio enthusiastic will buy a decent turn table as a source and listen at home then!
Having a full Naim setup with 2000LPs and 3000Cds collected over years and as a last person on earth who still buy cds
Having a variety of headphones for home and outside use
Havimg a audio grade electric outlets with audio circuits
Having a hard wired ethernet with switches and special cabling
I am not audio enthusiastic enough Becasue i use tidal at home and in the move, discovering new music constantly
I am a music enthusiast not an audio one maybe, not listening same 25 album over and over agin with different equipment
Tidal is a god given dream to a music lover, able to stream decent quality music, huge collection and you can store it on your walkman! It is a dream come true with zx2 but not with new one

Excellent points and this is what I have tried to say, serious listening should be done at home in an ideal environment where the music can be appreciated.  Portable audio to me is more about the convenience of accessing music on the go and still have it sound really good.  Part of accessing music while mobile means not just what you have loaded on a DAP but the ability to get your hands on new music when you hear it.
 
 As an example I was out with some friends and we stopped at a bar to have a drink. This song called Turn It Around by a band I had never heard of called Lucius came on.  I immediately fell in love with this song and I wanted to have it.  My buddy who works in audio sales had his Pioneer XDP-100R and he let me use it to go online and downloaded the song so I could listen to it with his DAP and Hifiman HE400S headphones (Sounded amazing).  In that instant I missed not having the ability to do that myself.  
 
So now I will be saving up to get a DAP that has android and wifi and continue to do my serious listening on my home system.  At this point the Pioneer looks to be my choice of DAP unless I get a good deal on the Onkyo model on boxing day.. In the meantime I will continue to listen to my A17.  I will also be able to stream music from the Pioneer or Onkyo to my home system.
 
I know Sony has the ZX2 but I don't want to buy a DAP from a company that is abandoning that market. I can also get both the Pioneer and Onkyo locally for hundreds less than the ZX2.  The Pioneer has android 5.1.1 instead of the much older version of android on the ZX2. The Pioneer and Onkyo will be supported going forward unlike the ZX2. 

 

[Zakalwe]

I'm praying that gold was chosen for some obscure sonic.performance increase, not not because of its look. Gosh. I love the player's concept, but the aesthetic is appalling

Yeah, it really makes you wonder. Gold does protect the copper underneath, which would otherwise tarnish rapidly, and I suspect many buyers might not be so fond of a steampunk look with green patina. But copper eventually diffuses through the gold plating, thus the problem is merely delayed. Unless they used a nickel barrier inbetween, a common solution against diffusion, but then you have potential allergy problems. Besides, no matter how it is coated, it is a heavy object made of soft metals and intended for portable use, so it is likely to get dings and scratches breaking through the coating, taking you back to the tarnishing problem. The whole concept strikes me as so impractical for the intended use, I hope it really improves the sound to such a degree that it is worth the trouble.

 

[fish1050]

Different strokes, etc etc. I remember there was some marketing material talking about its physical properties, conductivity, etc but don't think it went very much in depth.

Yes gold is a very good conductor which is why most headphone jacks and some headphone connectors are gold plated.  I could see the audible benefits of using gold internally where conductivity is important.  I am having a hard time however seeing how a gold plated outer casing will have audible benefits. To me that has to be more about da bling than the listening.

 

[echineko]

  Yes gold is a very good conductor which is why most headphone jacks and some headphone connectors are gold plated.  I could see the audible benefits of using gold internally where conductivity is important.  I am having a hard time however seeing how a gold plated outer casing will have audible benefits. To me that has to be more about da bling than the listening.

Haha yes, you have a point there. They could have kept the gold plating to the interior.

 

[Virtu Fortuna]

I would like to warn you guys on something here. I've tested the Onkyo and also FiiO X7. When Wi-Fi is on, there's a noticable background noise on the X7 and you can do nothing about it. Whenever the Wi-Fi is on, it doesn't matter whether you're streaming or just listening your files with the built in music app, there's noise. It's annoying to me.
 
And DP-X1. Well, there's also a hissing sound on that as well, when you streaming with Wi-Fİ. But I think maybe the problem on the Onkyo is somewhat different which is when you use another app instead of the stock music app, it starts hissing. Not sure which is the exact problem because I didn't have a chance to test for a long period, but the sure thing is those 2 DAP's have a background noise issue. 
 
Never tested the Pioneer DAP, so can't say anything about that one.
 
ZX2 is still the best DAP for me in terms of battery life and having no problems like hissing on Wİ-Fi and so on... I agree it's beginning to get old and Android version is JB, but it still runs fairly smooth and with the unrivalled battery time, it's still the number 1 to me.
 

 

[fish1050]

  I would like to warn you guys on something here. I've tested the Onkyo and also FiiO X7. When Wi-Fi is on, there's a noticable background noise on the X7 and you can do nothing about it. Whenever the Wi-Fi is on, it doesn't matter whether you're streaming or just listening your files with the built in music app, there's noise. It's annoying to me.
 
And DP-X1. Well, there's also a hissing sound on that as well, when you streaming with Wi-Fİ. But I think maybe the problem on the Onkyo is somewhat different which is when you use another app instead of the stock music app, it starts hissing. Not sure which is the exact problem because I didn't have a chance to test for a long period, but the sure thing is those 2 DAP's have a background noise issue. 
 
Never tested the Pioneer DAP, so can't say anything about that one.
 
ZX2 is still the best DAP for me in terms of battery life and having no problems like hissing on Wİ-Fi and so on... I agree it's beginning to get old and Android version is JB, but it still runs fairly smooth and with the unrivalled battery time, it's still the number 1 to me.
 

To be honest for me it is more about the ability to download music on the go vs actually streaming internet audio.  I am picky about what I listen to and I listen to alot of different genres so internet streaming audio doesn't float my boat. I won't pay for streaming audio when I might only hear a song I like once every 10 songs or so.
 
Pioneer/Onkyo: both have 32 GB internal storage and dual microsd card slots, support MQA for HiRes streaming audio (to be supported by Tidal and others). Rated at 75 mW per channel into 32 ohms (Onkyo 150 mW per channel balanced mode).  All better than the ZX2
 
Approx 16 hours (96 kHz/24 bit,FLAC playback), not as good as the ZX2 but pretty good. I listen to mostly16 bit FLAC so I might be able to do slightly better than 16 hours.  Pioneer/Onkyo have better hardware and software across the board compared to the ZX2.
 
By my estimates the only thing the ZX2 has over the Pioneer/Onkyo is better battery life.  I found the operation of the Pioneer/Onkyo DAP's were just as smooth if not slightly better than the ZX2. All for less money, at least in Canada.
 
My other concern with the ZX2 is since it looks to be discontinued what do you do if it needs to be serviced out of warranty?  Sony could say sorry but that model is discontinued and we don't provide service anymore. Providing service for discontinued products is at Sony's discretion.  I would not want to end up with $1200.00 paper weight.