SONY NW-ZX2
Dec 5, 2015 at 3:43 PM Post #9,331 of 14,755
You're getting wrapped up in the high end gear BS. The ZX sounds great through the SE425. You don't have to have £900 IEM. I can wear £2000 CIEM, my tinnitus will still sing! Pmsl
 
Dec 5, 2015 at 3:52 PM Post #9,332 of 14,755
You're getting wrapped up in the high end gear BS. The ZX sounds great through the SE425. You don't have to have £900 IEM. I can wear £2000 CIEM, my tinnitus will still sing! Pmsl

Agreed 
ksc75smile.gif

 
Dec 5, 2015 at 3:56 PM Post #9,333 of 14,755
Biggest leap in audio for me was going from Klipsch X10i/SE535 to SE846's. Amazed at the improvement over the SE535.

Didn't then have another leap in easily detectable improvement until I bought a Chord Mojo.

Did try the ZX2 but not as good as Mojo with my smartphone so sent it back (even at £577).

I can't normally tell difference between Spotify Extreme to Tidal flac but certainly notice improvement with DSD through Mojo.


Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 
Dec 5, 2015 at 4:19 PM Post #9,334 of 14,755
How does westone w40 scale with the zx2?..planning to get a good iem to match the zx2. I prefer better isolation good bass and mid, no bright or harsh highs( treble) . I currently have the cosmic ears ce6e (customs) which sounds fantastic with the zx2. Any suggestions?.
 
Dec 5, 2015 at 4:23 PM Post #9,335 of 14,755
  How does westone w40 scale with the zx2?..planning to get a good iem to match the zx2. I prefer better isolation good bass and mid, no bright or harsh highs( treble) . I currently have the cosmic ears ce6e (customs) which sounds fantastic with the zx2. Any suggestions?.

 
 
i think that w40 would be a definite downgrade if you have CE6

save your money for something else 
wink.gif

 
Dec 6, 2015 at 2:36 AM Post #9,338 of 14,755
Doubt it. Zx2 has super capacitor and some high quality capacitors for it analog quality. Sony uses it top tech for zx2 and not just assemble one of the sabre DAC on the board like many other devices....which smartphone is going to use as well. Zx2 is unique and will still be for years to come. Is there other dap that use super capacitor ?

 
I would be really curious to read a comparison between ZX2 and Onkyo DAP. Onkyo looks very interesting.
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 5:15 AM Post #9,339 of 14,755
Now this is perhaps very...very weird. I have been trying it out the whole night.
1/ Use Onkyo HF player app
2/ do not disable the sound adjustment app from the stock player
3/ pick the track that has the loudest volume that you have in the whole collection and play it through Onkyo app
4/ now open stock sound adjustment app, and tick "dynamic normalizer".

This seems to make music much louder on the Onkyo app, comparable to stock player loudness, where as it was lesser in volume loudness before.

The magical thing is that this does not distort the sound ? What the heck ? I don't even know how or what to say....why does it only do so with stock player ?
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 6:01 AM Post #9,340 of 14,755
Now this is perhaps very...very weird. I have been trying it out the whole night.
1/ Use Onkyo HF player app
2/ do not disable the sound adjustment app from the stock player
3/ pick the track that has the loudest volume that you have in the whole collection and play it through Onkyo app
4/ now open stock sound adjustment app, and tick "dynamic normalizer".

This seems to make music much louder on the Onkyo app, comparable to stock player loudness.

The magical thing is that this does not distort the sound ? What the heck ? I don't even know how or what to say....why does it only do so with stock player ?

That's the exact reason why  I always ended up using Sony's stock app, because of the distortion while using third-party apps. I had my NW-Z1070 Walkman which I sold last year and everytime I listened to loud tracks, it distorted like hell and this was only happening while using third-party apps like poweramp and playerpro (these are the only apps I paid for btw). Interesting part is, Sony's own app has never distorted and that's why I kept using it - and I still use the stock player on my Xperia Z2 and Z3 phones (even though I don't tend to use mobile phones for music).
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 6:09 AM Post #9,341 of 14,755
That's the exact reason why  I always ended up using Sony's stock app, because of the distortion while using third-party apps. I had my NW-Z1070 Walkman which I sold last year and everytime I listened to loud tracks, it distorted like hell and this was only happening while using third-party apps like poweramp and playerpro (these are the only apps I paid for btw). Interesting part is, Sony's own app has never distorted and that's why I kept using it - and I still use the stock player on my Xperia Z2 and Z3 phones (even though I don't tend to use mobile phones for music).


No, I meant when using "dynamic normalizer" on stock player, it distort. But it helps the 3rd party apps as Onkyo and gone mad to get louder volume and no distortions. Perhap the app that distort a lot would be neutron player, some others, but not these 2 apps as Onkyo hf player and gone mad.
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 6:26 AM Post #9,342 of 14,755
No, I meant when using "dynamic normalizer" on stock player, it distort. But it helps the 3rd party apps as Onkyo and gone mad to get louder volume and no distortions. Perhap the app that distort a lot would be neutron player, some others, but not these 2 apps as Onkyo hf player and gone mad.

Your comment made me curious so I downloaded Onkyo app from the Market and made a quick test on my Xperia Z3 phone. I did a quick listening to one of my euro house/dance tracks "Dj The Crow - Call of The Crow" (bassy track) and it immediately began distorting while I raised the pre-amp eq just a little above the default setting. I don't consider myself an audiophile but I am very picky about the quality of audio and distortion is a nightmare for me.
 
The ZX2 has the S-Master chip (unlike Xperia phones), perhaps this is the reason why it does not distort on your ZX2? 
 
Edit: the tracks name I tested the app with was "Piece Of Mine" from the album "Call Of The Crow". - my mistake.
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 6:45 AM Post #9,343 of 14,755
Your comment made me curious so I downloaded Onkyo app from the Market and made a quick test on my Xperia Z3 phone. I did a quick listening to one of my euro house/dance tracks "Dj The Crow - Call of The Crow" (bassy track) and it immediately began distorting while I raised the pre-amp eq just a little above the default setting. I don't consider myself an audiophile but I am very picky about the quality of audio and distortion is a nightmare for me.

The ZX2 has the S-Master chip (unlike Xperia phones), perhaps this is the reason why it does not distort on your ZX2? 

Edit: the tracks name I tested the app with was "Piece Of Mine" from the album "Call Of The Crow". - my mistake.


Ah, you use EQ ? I don't use EQ. But a sure thing is that if you gets over what zx2 can handle then it ofcourse will distort. It happens to all devices. There was a couple times I tried to boost pre-amp using EQ, yes, there was only a little headroom, or else it would distort. Now strictly talking about z3 phone. It is in a different category :wink: but one thing for sure is that z3 power output is not as much as zx2, and sound quality is not even close. The loudest and most quality smartphone on audio nowadays is Lg V10, and no longer z3 :frowning2:

Now if you don't use EQ, the output is lesser and not as loud. This is where you open sound adjustment app, and tick dynamic normalizer. But if you must use EQ, then I think it is best to stick with stock player on your z3
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 7:19 AM Post #9,344 of 14,755
Ah, you use EQ ? I don't use EQ. But a sure thing is that if you gets over what zx2 can handle then it ofcourse will distort. It happens to all devices. There was a couple times I tried to boost pre-amp using EQ, yes, there was only a little headroom, or else it would distort. Now strictly talking about z3 phone. It is in a different category
wink.gif
but one thing for sure is that z3 power output is not as much as zx2, and sound quality is not even close. The loudest and most quality smartphone on audio nowadays is Lg V10, and no longer z3
frown.gif


Now if you don't use EQ, the output is lesser and not as loud. This is where you open sound adjustment app, and tick dynamic normalizer. But if you must use EQ, then I think it is best to stick with stock player.

I use EQ to add a little colour to my music. I feel my XBA-Z5 sound best when EQ'ed. As for using phones as a personal DAP, I was never a fan of that. Maybe it's just me but phones have never sounded like a dedicated DAP to me (there was always something missing soundwise). I only use my phone for testing purposes.
 
I currently use my A10 for trips/walking/in the gym and I like the sound of it, still, I'm also interested in the ZX2 and that's why I'm keeping an eye on it.
 
Dec 6, 2015 at 7:25 AM Post #9,345 of 14,755
I use EQ to add a little colour to my music. I feel my XBA-Z5 sound best when EQ'ed. As for using phones as a personal DAP, I was never a fan of that. Maybe it's just me but phones have never sounded like a dedicated DAP to me (there was always something missing soundwise). I only use my phone for testing purpose.

I currently use my A10 for trips/walking/in the gym and I like the sound of it, still, I'm also interested in the ZX2 and that's why I'm keeping an eye on it.


fair enough. Zx2 is Sony top tier, but many people has not any chances to make use of TRRS connection out put, and I can not stretch enough of how much improvements it is to use TRRS out. In Japanese, they call TRRS out on the zx2 a "grand-connection" and in Japan definition, anything "grand" is "super" or by American definition "amazing". I do understand that to acquire TRRS for gears is a "pita". But it really is where it shines :)

I use zx2 nowadays mainly with full size headphones Z7, sa5000, sa3000, incoming fostex th-x00, and I see no signs of it struggling. I do have a couple good IEMS, but I prefer full sizes headphones nowadays :D...
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top