[carl99]

I don't have the AK240 but did demoed it when it can out. I do remember the AK240 sounded really good but the ZX2 is more musical and conveys emotion in the music.

Is this your observation as well?

Oh yes; listening thru AKG 3003s but thinking of getting Shure 846s
Not to get off thread, but does anyone have an opinion on that?
Do I need to...or should I stick with what I have??

 

[soundblast75]

Oh yes; listening thru AKG 3003s but thinking of getting Shure 846s
Not to get off thread, but does anyone have an opinion on that?
Do I need to...or should I stick with what I have??

Get better
Noble K10, UM Mentor, Acs Encore, Rhapsodio Rti 1, Dita Truth etc

 

[goodvibes]

  Looks like another review that directly pitted the sonic qualities of the ZX2 against the AK240.
 
From the article:
 

  New Absolute Sound review of the ZX2 at http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/sony-nw-zx2-digital-media-player/.

 

Pitting the Sony NW-ZX2 against the twice-as-expensive Astell&Kern AK240 player was, for me, a sonic dead-heat. Hard as I tried, using the most revealing headphones and in-ear monitors, I could not detect any readily identifiable sonic differences between the two players when all the sonic shape-changing modifiers in both players were turned off.

I'm sorry but no 2 things sound alike nor is anything perfect so that both would have no flaws to be identical. Guy should be fired today....unless the files he used were crappy to enough to mask things....in which case the guy should have been fired yesterday.

 

 

[carl99]

Get better
Noble K10, UM Mentor, Acs Encore, Rhapsodio Rti 1, Dita Truth etc

Thanks; will investigate!

 

[cn11]

Oh yes; listening thru AKG 3003s but thinking of getting Shure 846s
Not to get off thread, but does anyone have an opinion on that?
Do I need to...or should I stick with what I have??

 
 

Get better
Noble K10, UM Mentor, Acs Encore, Rhapsodio Rti 1, Dita Truth etc

 
 
Noble K10 Universal sounds awesome with the ZX2!

 

[soundblast75]

Noble K10 Universal sounds awesome with the ZX2!

I have no doubt but to be perfectly fair K10 sounds incredible with just about anything

 

[carl99]

I have no doubt but to be perfectly fair K10 sounds incredible with just about anything [/quote But they're out of stock

 

[gearofwar]

Meanwhile.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUhsQt6rXKs

 

[castleofargh]

 

I don't have the AK240 but did demoed it when it can out. I do remember the AK240 sounded really good but the ZX2 is more musical and conveys emotion in the music.

Is this your observation as well?

Oh yes; listening thru AKG 3003s but thinking of getting Shure 846s
Not to get off thread, but does anyone have an opinion on that?
Do I need to...or should I stick with what I have??

the trebles on the 3003 are pretty boosted (dunno maybe 7 to 10khz?) I know I hated that but many people love it as it gives a real "detail" feeling. 
the 846 instead goes from warmish to clearly warm(depending on filter and impedance of the source). so I'm not sure they're for the same people at all.
any news on the zx2 impedance?
 
 
Quote:

 

  Looks like another review that directly pitted the sonic qualities of the ZX2 against the AK240.
 
From the article:
 

  New Absolute Sound review of the ZX2 at http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/sony-nw-zx2-digital-media-player/.

 

Pitting the Sony NW-ZX2 against the twice-as-expensive Astell&Kern AK240 player was, for me, a sonic dead-heat. Hard as I tried, using the most revealing headphones and in-ear monitors, I could not detect any readily identifiable sonic differences between the two players when all the sonic shape-changing modifiers in both players were turned off.

I'm sorry but no 2 things sound alike nor is anything perfect so that both would have no flaws to be identical. Guy should be fired today....unless the files he used were crappy to enough to mask things....in which case the guy should have been fired yesterday.

 

or we could say the exact opposite. that with the proper earphone, most ok sources could sound about the same once matched for impedance and volume level. aren't you mistaking audibly identical for measurably identical?
if the distortion/crosstalk/noise levels are good, then it's really not hard to get a transparent sound. then we just need to get maybe below 0.1 or 0.2db difference from 20hz to 20khz for people to fail a blind test. aren't those 2 DAPs supposed to have "high res" specs that should lead to transparency? 
to me it should be obvious that all good hifi stuff should sound the same under fair conditions(the choice of headhone being the main problem here).
 
because of course if you test the DAPs with a weird multi BA IEM, ignore the impedance curve and mistake the signature changes caused by the IEM for how the DAP sounds, there are no limits to the differences you can find and report. add a little sighted test bias and some "omg it's a new toy!", and the sky's the limit to how wrong people can be about a pretend "house sound".
 
don't get me wrong, I don't know if the ak240 and zx2 sound the same, but if they're half the high fidelity stuff they pretend to be, they sure should with many headphones.

 

[carl99]

ZX2 is very accepting: AKG 812, 3003, Sony z7 all give you more than enough volume; don't need to use my PHA3.

 

[Whitigir]

ZX2 is very accepting: AKG 812, 3003, Sony z7 all give you more than enough volume; don't need to use my PHA3.

Yes ? Does it have enough power to correctly driving the Z7 will be questionable. I am so looking into Valhalla 2 from Schiit. The nature of ZX2 will be perfect when paired with tube amps, or any headphone dedicated amplifier the simpler, the better.

 

[headfi19]

  ok you love your baby and hate anybody who criticizes it, like a reasonable human identifying a little too much with his gears. but do you really need to ruin that guy with cheap unrelated blows and insult anybody who likes rap in the process? let's breath an relax a sec.
 
 the guy in the blog obviously doesn't care about audio specs, he just talks about practical stuff from the eyes of a smartphone/geeky toys user. can't say I see much lies in what he wrote here. it's obviously a non audiophile vision, but a vision still.
"Nowadays who needs a standalone device only for music?" well most of us on headfi do, but what's that to the billions of people listening to music with a cellphone or not listening at all outside of the house? let's not pretend that we're the human standard here.
who needs a big storage? that can be important for some as it can be not so important for others(I can perfectly function with a 16gb DAP for one, but I won't cry if I get more obviously ^_^).
the android version may have a good reason behind that choice, but you can't blame the guy for finding that ludicrous when even sony's very own phones will have a more up to date android.
again I'm not in a good place to talk about that, as I don't use a smartphone(not enough battery), my tablet is ON only in planes to watch movies, and I really wouldn't care what android version was on my DAP. but calm down you defense mechanism a little and admit that many people are not us and can find those stuff important and relevant.
a 1000$ phone that doesn't phone, doesn't have the latest android, and doesn't actually have more power output than a phone for your headphone. that's not an unreasonable way to look at the ZX2.
 
and until I see some measurements, the superiority of the sound is still a very subjective argument. and I don't even trust my own subjective opinion on sound quality. I do on music, not on sound quality.

I appreciate your honest ,balanced way of looking at things, people and different life perspectives,your's is  the way,we ,music enthusiasts (audiophiles)should have, that is better understanding   of music,people and life.thanks

 

[headfi19]

I didn't have time to post, and keep on forgetting, does the ZX2 use android default music player or is Sony's own music player, when member keep posting about default music app, it getting me confused.

ZX2 Uses Sony;s own music player as default music app (not google Play Music app) but you can also use third party music player like Poweramp. I hope it helps

 

[carl99]

Yes ? Does it have enough power to correctly driving the Z7 will be questionable. I am so looking into Valhalla 2 from Schiit. The nature of ZX2 will be perfect when paired with tube amps, or any headphone dedicated amplifier the simpler, the better.

For me at least, the Z7 is fine with the zx2, although PHA 3 is a good supplement.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

Are you guys sure about Z7 being properly powered by the ZX2?
I remember earlier in here somewhere that it's not the case and that pha-3 is needed for full effect (not using balanced cables)???

ZX2 is very accepting: AKG 812, 3003, Sony z7 all give you more than enough volume; don't need to use my PHA3.

For me at least, the Z7 is fine with the zx2, although PHA 3 is a good supplement.