[Cecala]

Still, it's something. Just not fair places like A2A and Minidisc are all down in Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane has a couple of places that demo a few high end HP's but nothing special. I feel like there's a good opportunity for someone to take advantage of the lack of competition up here.

Anyway, get yourself a "cone of silence" and let us know what that Walkman sound like

I went to the show and of course straight to the Sony/AK/etc & headphone area which was impressive. A darkly lit and atmospheric area filled with all sorts of goodies. Woo valve amps were present together with the luscious Blue Hawaii super amp for electrostatics. Also present were much of the TOTL phones from other manufacturers which need not concern us at this point. Now...if you plan to purchase the 1A, under no circumstances touch the 1Z, it feels like a toy compared to it's golden brother. Both are very well made and sit comfortably in the hand. The rep went to pains to tell me the firmware was not final so to explain the slowness of the UI, which it was but not so much. I tried to access the system area to see although it seemed to be locked. The 1Z was connected to the TA-ZH1ES amp and then to the MDR-Z1R phones. The 1A only had the 3 tracks which are standard on all walkmans while the 1Z had a smorgasbord of material to choose from. The sound was very nice through the Sony phones although I found these to be bass oriented and not to my liking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're bad just they contained a tad too much bass for my ears. I could not compare the 1Z to the 1A due to no real music material available on the 1A and the 1Z connected to the amp, pity. The amps dac was being used and not the DAP's, the 1Z was only supplying the ones and zeros.
I heard some guy asking the rep were to get Flac files and he responded by saying that his friend supplies him with some. I suspect neither of these two people are aware that Flac files are derived from ripping their CDs. The rep was asked lots of questions from two guys beside me about the various Sony gear and he read them lines from the brochure. A brochure I was given by this same man and a very nice one at that....the brochure that was, although he was nice too.
The highlight of the show to me was not the Sony stuff but a certain Floor-stander I plan on buying in the not to distant future. Wow, unfortunately headgear can never compare to what floor-standers can do, but as they say, that's a story for another time.

 

[Jalo]

Well of course, it is the only reason I buy expensive stuff, to brag about it on headfi and make others miserable. You will know all the details of my happiness

Ain't that true, but you have to spent 3k+ to get that and I only spent 1K+ on the Vega to get the same treatment

 

[gerelmx1986]

Congrats waiting for review

 

[gerelmx1986]

Still, it's something. Just not fair places like A2A and Minidisc are all down in Sydney and Melbourne. Brisbane has a couple of places that demo a few high end HP's but nothing special. I feel like there's a good opportunity for someone to take advantage of the lack of competition up here.


Anyway, get yourself a "cone of silence" and let us know what that Walkman sound like

I went to the show and of course straight to the Sony/AK/etc & headphone area which was impressive. A darkly lit and atmospheric area filled with all sorts of goodies. Woo valve amps were present together with the luscious Blue Hawaii super amp for electrostatics. Also present were much of the TOTL phones from other manufacturers which need not concern us at this point. Now...if you plan to purchase the 1A, under no circumstances touch the 1Z, it feels like a toy compared to it's golden brother. Both are very well made and sit comfortably in the hand. The rep went to pains to tell me the firmware was not final so to explain the slowness of the UI, which it was but not so much. I tried to access the system area to see although it seemed to be locked. The 1Z was connected to the TA-ZH1ES amp and then to the MDR-Z1R phones. The 1A only had the 3 tracks which are standard on all walkmans while the 1Z had a smorgasbord of material to choose from. The sound was very nice through the Sony phones although I found these to be bass oriented and not to my liking. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're bad just they contained a tad too much bass for my ears. I could not compare the 1Z to the 1A due to no real music material available on the 1A and the 1Z connected to the amp, pity. The amps dac was being used and not the DAP's, the 1Z was only supplying the ones and zeros.
I heard some guy asking the rep were to get Flac files and he responded by saying that his friend supplies him with some. I suspect neither of these two people are aware that Flac files are derived from ripping their CDs. The rep was asked lots of questions from two guys beside me about the various Sony gear and he read them lines from the brochure. A brochure I was given by this same man and a very nice one at that....the brochure that was, although he was nice too.
The highlight of the show to me was not the Sony stuff but a certain Floor-stander I plan on buying in the not to distant future. Wow, unfortunately headgear can never compare to what floor-standers can do, but as they say, that's a story for another time.

which one you liked most 1a or 1z as you said 1z sonic wise was pointless

 

[corius]

which one you liked most 1a or 1z as you said 1z sonic wise was pointless

I'm sorry, but someone has to tell you this so that you don't experience "buyer's regret"
 
The 1z will sound better than the 1a.
The 1z will feel better than the 1a.
The 1z will be better than the 1a.
Everyone will know that the 1z is better than the 1a.
 
Now, for a lot of people the 1a will be preferable because it is more "cost effective" in their view. However, I foretell a lifetime of disappointment for you, knowing that you have "second best"

 

[CraftyClown]

which one you liked most 1a or 1z as you said 1z sonic wise was pointless

He couldn't compare them due to limited music on the 1a and the amp connected to the 1z.

Not sure where he said the 1z was sonically pointless??

 

[riotgrrl]

I'm sorry, but someone has to tell you this so that you don't experience "buyer's regret"

The 1z will sound better than the 1a.
The 1z will feel better than the 1a.
The 1z will be better than the 1a.
Everyone will know that the 1z is better than the 1a.

Now, for a lot of people the 1a will be preferable because it is more "cost effective" in their view. However, I foretell a lifetime of disappointment for you, knowing that you have "second best"

I don't think it's even going to get to that point. He owns the ZX100 and clearly maxxed out on that. I would take him more seriously if he at least owned the ZX2. As it is, I strongly suspect that much of his talk on this thread is pure fantasy.

Which is good for him.

 

[Mimouille]

I'm sorry, but someone has to tell you this so that you don't experience "buyer's regret"

The 1z will sound better than the 1a.
The 1z will feel better than the 1a.
The 1z will be better than the 1a.
Everyone will know that the 1z is better than the 1a.

Now, for a lot of people the 1a will be preferable because it is more "cost effective" in their view. However, I foretell a lifetime of disappointment for you, knowing that you have "second best"

The rule is easy. Whatever I buy is the best.

 

[Whitigir]

The rule is easy. Whatever I buy is the best.

And the engineers who engineered the products know what is best, how to price them. If one simply looking for excuses from Personal preferences to justify his/her purchase, the person is doing something very wrong here. The key word is personal preferences Vs Engineereing Point of view.

Now, I am not saying that they are the best of everything because they are engineered, I am saying, the same brand, the similar products chain will have the same engineering point of view. It is the same thing as trying to justify a Honda VS an Acura, or a Toyota Vs Lexus.....don't forget, there is also marketing team involved as well.

Does that satisfy your answer ? Now, how much do you think it worth, or you make a purchase at, that is totally up to you

 

[Mimouille]

And the engineers who engineered the products know what is best, how to price them. If one simply looking for excuses from Personal preferences to justify his/her purchase, the person is doing something very wrong here. The key word is personal preferences Vs Engineereing Point of view.

Now, I am not saying that they are the best of everything because they are engineered, I am saying, the same brand, the similar products chain will have the same engineering point of view. It is the same thing as trying to justify a Honda VS an Acura, or a Toyota Vs Lexus.....don't forget, there is also marketing team involved as well.

Does that satisfy your answer ? Now, how much do you think it worth, or you make a purchase at, that is totally up to you

I was just kidding.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I already completed the step #1 micro SD card purchase

 

[riotgrrl]

I already completed the step #1 micro SD card purchase

And therein lies my point.

Congratulations on your purchase which is of course a natural precursor for dropping 2k on a walkman.

This is my prediction... You will have endless posts on this thread for the next few months, including some very tenuous links to the ZX100. You will um and ah, you will speculate again about whether to buy the gold version and in the end you will, at best, buy a second hand ZX2.

Then the aforementioned buyers remorse will kick in and, similar to the ZX100 thread, you will file endless complaints about something you feel isn't up to scratch.

I'm going to state here, on record, that 12 months from now you will own neither the WM1Z or the WM1A.

Feel free to prove me wrong.

Lots of love x

 

[Zakalwe]

This is my prediction...

Hehe, you may be right.

I have to say, though, that this kind of mindset seems to be well adapted to the common hype cycle of hifi-products, i.e.

Phase 1: device X is announced, manufacturer's vague promises are treated as gospel, X will be the best thing ever.
Phase 2: first reviews appear, X is indeed the best thing ever, and its little flaw F won't be noticeable to anyone, really.
Phase 3: X is released and in the hands of happy users, it is the best thing ever, and quite right, flaw F is hardly noticeable and does not matter anyway.
Phase 4: successor Y is announced, manufacturer says it will be the best thing ever - maybe they even fixed that slightly annoying flaw F of X?
Phase 5: first reviews of Y appear, it will be the best thing ever and they fixed that annoying flaw F in X - owners quickly dump their X on the used market.
Phase 6: X spends many years in that sad second-rate state, treated without care - it does not deserve more anyway, being crippled by that horrible flaw F, what was the manufacturer thinking? Until...
Phase 7: Rediscovery - surviving X are rare and exclusive now, flaw F was always unjustly overblown, and really, that build quality, they just don't make them like X any more.

So stay negative about the new device and then buy it used in phase 5, then keep staying negative (but treat it well) until it becomes a legend in phase 7, and then you have the very best for little money.

 

[gerelmx1986]

I really want the 1z but limited budget is the issue, being smart 1A is the minimum loss if the potential flagship comes in, 2 years

 

[Zakalwe]

I really want the 1z but limited budget is the issue, being smart 1A is the minimum loss if the potential flagship comes in, 2 years

My initial ecstasy has passed, and I do not feel like I can afford either of them now. I can easily wait a few years and see how they work out in the long term. Besides, I just got a Sansa e280 - a V2 version, those are the rare ones, hard to find. And replaceable battery - they really don't make'em like that any more.

But I keep following this thread, it is nice to see Sony getting back on track, and I hope people will be happy with these new Walkmans. And maybe some day I will have one, too.