[Sonic77]

   
My source is...
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-WALKMAN-ORIGINAL-OEM-OFFICIAL-LEATHER-CASE-CKL-NWZX2-B-for-NW-ZX2-/221719400532?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339f819054
 
$99+ ship and was brand new in factory box/etc just like if you got it from Sony directly. The box was well packed in bubble wrap too.

I'm totally digging my new case!

 

[jamato8]

   
My source is...
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SONY-WALKMAN-ORIGINAL-OEM-OFFICIAL-LEATHER-CASE-CKL-NWZX2-B-for-NW-ZX2-/221719400532?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339f819054
 
$99+ ship and was brand new in factory box/etc just like if you got it from Sony directly. The box was well packed in bubble wrap too.

Great thanks! I ordered one. I thought the stock case would be fine but it is so much hassle to use, and I won't go out without it, I really want something more convenient.

 

[Sonic77]

 
Just ordered it on Pricejapan so will be able to tell my opinion and i guess sell AK240

Compare and let us know, you won't hurt anyone's feelings, competition is great! Congrats on the purchase!

 

[thepooh]

  More impressions would be nice guys.  I'm not going to purchase the ZX2 just yet but will do that in the future.  To those people who think about upgrading a DAP, they might have a better bang for bucks by upgrading to higher end earphones instead.  I noticed that several people in this thread spent nearly $1200 on the ZX2 but still using a mid-grade earphones.  I think these same people will be able to get better sound from something like the ZX1/A17 + $1000 IEMs than ZX2+$300 earphones.     I adopted to upgrade my original JH13pro to JH13pro FreqPhase for $350 first and that is the best bang for the bucks so far in my DAP and IEMs journey.    

Kind of  true about headphones/iems upgrades before dap upgrades as it gives you an extra time to adopt the new sound signature and for proper burn-in as well, but I disagree with this part of your statement '' better sound from something like the ZX1/A17 + $1000 IEMs than ZX2+$300 earphones'' , I own (ed) several iems and headphones from ten bucks to the cost of a whole desktop rig, it's not always true that $1000 headphones sound better than $300 siblings, sometimes it's just a matter of signature and frequency preferences (color and taste), I recently auditioned an $80 headphone, the Takstar Pro 80 and compared to my Sennheiser HD650, the lil chinese brand was the clear winner.
 
Same experience applied from auditionning a $45 Vsonic VSD3S vs the Earsonic sm2 v2 which cost about 5x more, again the winner was the cheaper one !!!

 

[castleofargh]

 

  More impressions would be nice guys.  I'm not going to purchase the ZX2 just yet but will do that in the future.  To those people who think about upgrading a DAP, they might have a better bang for bucks by upgrading to higher end earphones instead.  I noticed that several people in this thread spent nearly $1200 on the ZX2 but still using a mid-grade earphones.  I think these same people will be able to get better sound from something like the ZX1/A17 + $1000 IEMs than ZX2+$300 earphones.     I adopted to upgrade my original JH13pro to JH13pro FreqPhase for $350 first and that is the best bang for the bucks so far in my DAP and IEMs journey.    

Kind of  true about headphones/iems upgrades before dap upgrades as it gives you an extra time to adopt the new sound signature and for proper burn-in as well, but I disagree with this part of your statement '' better sound from something like the ZX1/A17 + $1000 IEMs than ZX2+$300 earphones'' , I own (ed) several iems and headphones from ten bucks to the cost of a whole desktop rig, it's not always true that $1000 headphones sound better than $300 siblings, sometimes it's just a matter of signature and frequency preferences (color and taste), I recently auditioned an $80 headphone, the Takstar Pro 80 and compared to my Sennheiser HD650, the lil chinese brand was the clear winner.
 
Same experience applied from auditionning a $45 Vsonic VSD3S vs the Earsonic sm2 v2 which cost about 5x more, again the winner was the cheaper one !!!

I believe he was talking in general.
from measurements we know for a fact that bad DACs are still pretty good usually. bad amps can be crap, but often the worst amps are the ones in portable DAPs so getting an ok portable amp may be a great way to deal with sound quality problems or simply driving issues or hiss.
and then there are headphones and IEMs, where even the good ones are pretty bad(at transmitting signal with high fidelity). so that's what will transform and color the sound the most, and that's an obvious fact when listening to them. so getting the right headphone is likely to get you close to your ideal sound faster and more dramatically so, than upgrading a DAP(power issues non withstanding).
 
obviously having everything good is cool, but when wondering with a limited budget, finding the right headphone/IEM seems like the very first thing to do for me. even more so when pretty often the headphone will condition what source you should use with it (impedance, hiss sensitive, driving power needed...)

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

Here's another reason why I wanted the case. Here's what i did today.
NW-ZX2...................... in the car 

 
Big thanks to everyone at Kimber Kable for sending me their 100% silver GQ Mini Ag cable for this install. A most humble thanks to Ray Kimber for offering incredible-sounding cables.
 

 
 

 
 

 

[Whitigir]

Here's another reason why I wanted the case. Here's what i did today.

NW-ZX2...................... in the car 

Big thanks to everyone at Kimber Kable for sending me their 100% silver GQ Mini Ag cable for this install. A most humble thanks to Ray Kimber for offering incredible-sounding cables.

Wow! Such a clean installation, and professional !

 

[Leviticus]

  Here's another reason why I wanted the case. Here's what i did today.
NW-ZX2...................... in the car 

 
Big thanks to everyone at Kimber Kable for sending me their 100% silver GQ Mini Ag cable for this install. A most humble thanks to Ray Kimber for offering incredible-sounding cables.
 
 

 
Congratulations, that looks so cool. It somehow also suits the interior of your car. Good job!

 

[jamato8]

  Here's another reason why I wanted the case. Here's what i did today.
NW-ZX2...................... in the car 

 
Big thanks to everyone at Kimber Kable for sending me their 100% silver GQ Mini Ag cable for this install. A most humble thanks to Ray Kimber for offering incredible-sounding cables.
 

 
 

 
 

Where do you get the bracket to hold the ZX2? So you went from the HP out to the amp in the car? 

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

Wow! Such a clean installation, and professional !

 
(Blushing) Awww, shucks! Was really easy actually. The 'problem' is that I was an IASCA judge, car audio installer and managed a car audio store back in the day. The kids today have it so much easier with Scosche adapters. Back in my day (omg did i just say that?) we had to take apart dashes, custom make adapter cables, etc. And gosh forbid you had to deal with CAN and didn't have the knowledge. Bose was a nightmare, as you were better off gutting it all and running all new everything through the car (don't forget to add rubber grommets!). Seen too many installers not use grommets and POOF, fried system. OMG the fire-waiting-to-happen installs I could tell you about. One system at a SoFla event Bill Burton and I refused to SQ judge because the main hot lead was not protected and right by the driver's seat metal bracket haphazardly.
 
Guess 450+ Amperes will scare anyone with common sense.
 
PS: I have FOUR solutions for 'jacking in' to the car's head unit. All of them involve removing the Sony 6-disc changer and then 'fooling' the head unit to thinking it is still attached. Two are from Dice Electronics and the other is the factory 'extra cost' unit. This fourth option I'm using is from PIE and seems to have the least amount of bits between the input and the analog output. I really wanted to jack into the hardwire from the head unit, but what scares me is that if I get it wrong it would mean... don't ask. Don't even THINK about it. DON'T!!! So the PIE solution was very easy and already had the needed cabling in-house.

 

[Steven R. Rochli]

Where do you get the bracket to hold the ZX2? So you went from the HP out to the amp in the car? 

 
Bracket is from Amazon as I needed a very high/tall arm. Have it attached to the passenger seat's bolt as did not want to drill holes into the car's carpet/leather.
 
 
13" gooseneck
www.amazon.com/Arkon-Smartphone-iPhone-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B004M8ST3Q/ref=pd_sim_cps_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=107D3RTF49ES4HX2Z756
 
 
22" goosneck
www.amazon.com/ARKON-Floor-Truck-Mount-Smartphones/dp/B00PD1XOVI/ref=pd_sim_cps_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0B67PY9EWVRN6V3FW498

 

[Whitigir]

(Blushing) Awww, shucks! Was really easy actually. The 'problem' is that I was an IASCA judge, car audio installer and managed a car audio store back in the day. The kids today have it so much easier with Scosche adapters. Back in my day (omg did i just say that?) we had to take apart dashes, custom make adapter cables, etc. And gosh forbid you had to deal with CAN and didn't have the knowledge. Bose was a nightmare, as you were better off gutting it all and running all new everything through the car (don't forget to add rubber grommets!). Seen too many installers not use grommets and POOF, fried system. OMG the fire-waiting-to-happen installs I could tell you about. One system at a SoFla event Bill Burton and I refused to SQ judge because the main hot lead was not protected and right by the driver's seat metal bracket haphazardly.

Guess 450+ Amperes will scare anyone with common sense.

My ghost....you just answered my question...one word sir "WOW"

 

[jamato8]

Anybody have the Sony PHA-3 know how to get balanced out? I have one I just got and have the ZX2 hooked up and get SE but using the Z5 and the balanced cable, I can't get balanced out, no sound at all. 

 

[djricekcn]

you dont have to do anything, just plug it in.  Balanced takes priority over Unbalanced so it doesn't matter how it's plugged either...so maybe the Z5/7 isn't plugged in right on either end?  did you select the correct port switcher, if it has one?

 

[jamato8]

  you dont have to do anything, just plug it in.  Balanced takes priority over Unbalanced so it doesn't matter how it's plugged either...so maybe the Z5/7 isn't plugged in right on either end?  did you select the correct port switcher, if it has one?

Bummer. Single ended works but not balanced.