[purk]

I'll be putting my ZX100 for sale, there will be  new flagship walkman at the IFA and will venture to my first flagship... lets say i had already tried bidget sony, and the zx100 is mid-tier now time for some seripous treat if no xba line announced then i will grab first a XBA Z5, for sure i will get either the Z7 too (or the new sucessor, but i doubt because iit is open back and i have a neighbor with barking dogs that make listning to music impossible)

No is NOT THE NEW TOY SYNDROME is the LOUSY BUILD OF THE ZX100 at least for me THE CAUSE FOR THE SELLING

You may want to keep your zx100 for a little while longer. I don't think the new top of the line will be cheap in anyway and at that price u maybe much better off adding a used PHA-3 to make the ZX100 a whole lot better. U may ending up spending $600 more for the PHA-3 but it will be well worth it.

 

[gerelmx1986]

You may want to keep your zx100 for a little while longer. I don't think the new top of the line will be cheap in anyway and at that price u maybe much better off adding a used PHA-3 to make the ZX100 a whole lot better. U may ending up spending $600 more for the PHA-3 but it will be well worth it.

I was thinking that, keeping it for a while and reading reviews on the new one to see its performane and build reviews

 

[Gosod]

You may want to keep your zx100 for a little while longer. I don't think the new top of the line will be cheap in anyway and at that price u maybe much better off adding a used PHA-3 to make the ZX100 a whole lot better. U may ending up spending $600 more for the PHA-3 but it will be well worth it.

pha 3 - costs almost as much as the player.

 

[purk]

  pha 3 - costs almost as much as the player.

Yes, but it is capable of much better sound and is good enough for most people as their primarily desktop/home/work do it all solution.  The new Walkman won't be cheap so why not spending the money on enhancing the sound of the ZX100?  Honestly, the sonic benefit of going with a new walkman will likely be incremental at best while adding the PHA-3 will yield a much nicer improvements over the ZX100 across the board.  Plus the PHA-3 line out is pretty decent sounding.  For instance, it has better DAC out than  that of the Senn HDVD-800.

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

  pha 3 - costs almost as much as the player.

Yes, but it is capable of much better sound and is good enough for most people as their primarily desktop/home/work do it all solution.  The new Walkman won't be cheap so why not spending the money on enhancing the sound of the ZX100?  Honestly, the sonic benefit of going with a new walkman will likely be incremental at best while adding the PHA-3 will yield a much nicer improvements over the ZX100 across the board.  Plus the PHA-3 line out is pretty decent sounding.  For instance, it has better DAC out than  that of the Senn HDVD-800.

 Understan that but i am not satisfied by the BUILD of the ZX100 (even after mine was repaired), if the new walkman will have a single peces machined aluminum body then i buy the new one (the zx100 is not a single piece body as top and botton are plastics)

 

[purk]

 Understan that but i am not satisfied by the BUILD of the ZX100 (even after mine was repaired), if the new walkman will have a single peces machined aluminum body then i buy the new one (the zx100 is not a single piece body as top and botton are plastics)

It won't be cheap that all I am going to say. Portable will always be portable due to space limitations. The PHA3 helps bridge that gap and even exceeding some desktop rig that I have tried, hence my strong recommendation.

 

[gerelmx1986]

My experience with ZX100 has been
 
Positive:

1. SQ, the sound is awesome even with no amp in the middle
2. Loooooong Battery life
3. SD Crad support up to 200GB

 
Negative aspects:

1. Lousy Glued leatherette cover
2. Lousy glued top and bottom parts
3. Flimsy button pad feeling
4. Plastic screen (got it replaced now i have a screen protector on it)
5. Leatherette on mine seems like it was misfitted or is expaning causing the top to give away, had to trim a bit o it to relieve this problem

 
I don't deny the compact form factor and lack of android makes this a little great DAP, and the fact it sounds great but if it wasn't fr these faux-pas on the build, i'd propably had kept it another year more.
 
Adding a PHA-3 like purk says , won't fix the letherette, won't make it a tought build dap like the zx2.
 
The ZX2 has one of the best builds i've ever seem, and propably the SQ is great too, i bet whitigir's ZX2 has no "exploding" letherette cover to say so

 

[Tassie Devil]

"No is NOT THE NEW TOY SYNDROME is the LOUSY BUILD OF THE ZX100 at least for me THE CAUSE FOR THE SELLING"
 
Not sure I understand.  Please list the "lousy" parts of the ZX100 build.

 

[gerelmx1986]

  "No is NOT THE NEW TOY SYNDROME is the LOUSY BUILD OF THE ZX100 at least for me THE CAUSE FOR THE SELLING"
 
Not sure I understand.  Please list the "lousy" parts of the ZX100 build.

Glued top face and being pushed to falling off by the leatherette​

 

[fish1050]

  My experience with ZX100 has been
 
Positive:

1. SQ, the sound is awesome even with no amp in the middle
2. Loooooong Battery life
3. SD Crad support up to 200GB

 
Negative aspects:

1. Lousy Glued leatherette cover
2. Lousy glued top and bottom parts
3. Flimsy button pad feeling
4. Plastic screen (got it replaced now i have a screen protector on it)
5. Leatherette on mine seems like it was misfitted or is expaning causing the top to give away, had to trim a bit o it to relieve this problem

 
I don't deny the compact form factor and lack of android makes this a little great DAP, and the fact it sounds great but if it wasn't fr these faux-pas on the build, i'd propably had kept it another year more.
 
Adding a PHA-3 like purk says , won't fix the letherette, won't make it a tought build dap like the zx2.
 
The ZX2 has one of the best builds i've ever seem, and propably the SQ is great too, i bet whitigir's ZX2 has no "exploding" letherette cover to say so

You might want to wait and see if this new top end Sony DAP will be sold in North America.  I would think given your warranty repair experience with your ZX100 would give you pause on another imported DAP.
 
I know I won't buy another Sony DAP unless they sell it in Canada.  Sony seems to be changing their ways as they are apparently offering to license LDAC to other vendors at a low cost.  They are also looking to get more user input through either user listening sessions and evaluation or even a beta testing program.  AptX has announced an equivalent codec to LDAC with AptX HD and apparently Philips will be releasing their Fidelio M1BT with AptX HD.  So Sony's technology gap could be narrowing with their DAP's  and don't forget the excellent Pioneer XDP-100R.
 
I am sure we will see some nice new products at IFA so Sony is definitely not the only game in town XXDP-100R XDP-100R

 

[fish1050]

Sony's plan for economic recovering, slash everything!
 
The new Sony president has apparently stated that Sony's plan for profitability is to cut everywhere.  They have laid off 2000 employees in the last year and will considering selling or closing any division that does not meet profit goals by 2018.  That sounds to me like Sony will be cutting corners on pretty much every product they make going forward.  Their sales levels have plateaued in every division except game consoles so to make profits with flat sales you have to cut costs.  
 
To me that means the cheapest possible manufacturing of their products and the highest possible selling price to maximize profit.  That certainly makes me wary of purchasing Sony products in the future.  I would definitely wait a good long time after a Sony product release to see what the quality will be like.

 

[purk]

  Sony's plan for economic recovering, slash everything!
 
The new Sony president has apparently stated that Sony's plan for profitability is to cut everywhere.  They have laid off 2000 employees in the last year and will considering selling or closing any division that does not meet profit goals by 2018.  That sounds to me like Sony will be cutting corners on pretty much every product they make going forward.  Their sales levels have plateaued in every division except game consoles so to make profits with flat sales you have to cut costs.  
 
To me that means the cheapest possible manufacturing of their products and the highest possible selling price to maximize profit.  That certainly makes me wary of purchasing Sony products in the future.  I would definitely wait a good long time after a Sony product release to see what the quality will be like.

IMO, they should not be greedy and released a replacement product at the same price point or very small price increased.  Don't be a sell out like A&K.  They can achieve the same profit by selling in greater quality.  Honestly speaking, all recently DAPs are overpriced given the performance.  

 

[BartSimpson1976]

  To me that means the cheapest possible manufacturing of their products and the highest possible selling price to maximize profit. 

 
That means for "audiohile" products everything remains as it is! With all makers!

 

[heishiro]

if this new model will be their new high-end Dap then prepare to sell your kidney. until now ZX2 is $1,000. so this new TOTL will cost around?

 

[fish1050]

   
That means for "audiohile" products everything remains as it is! With all makers!

I would not consider Fiio an all for profit company as they offer some of the best inexpensive portable audio products you can buy.  Sony is a huge multinational conglomerate that generates 50% of its revenue from their Financial Services division.  Most of their R&D budget for consumer electronics goes into producing game consoles.  
 
The president of Sony has said that the divisions holding their own like the portable audio division will be left to fend for themselves while resources will be diverted to try and save the mobile phones and tablets until they either turn a profit, the divisions are sold off, or shutdown all together by 2018.  If this is true you can expect a lot of smoke and mirror products from Sony taking the same basic hardware and putting it into new shinier packaging and charging higher prices.
 
The small Chinese manufacturers put all of their resources into their portable audio products so there is a big difference. They will sink or swim based on the quality of the products they produce.