[starfly]

I think everyone should just stop whining about whether the ZX2 is overpriced or not. Having said that, Mython makes some valid points in that things just seem to keep getting more and more expensive, for no real intrinsic reason. But anyway, it's a pointless discussion.
 
Now, bring on those impressions!

 

[Mython]

Stop talking about Sony overpricing this DAP and compare to all kind of CHINESE **** at 4 time lower price! Do you know what it cost to run a service place across a country or the whole world? Where the hell do you do you repair these cheap Chinese brands? Sending all the way back to China? Sony like all other big brands have established good service point for customers.

In Sweden you got 3 years warranty/reclaim right! Beat it Chinese ****!

Same goes for all these cheap flagship Chinese mobilephones at 1/3 price! Yeah you got it cheap or imported but you wont have all the service or support in your country and after all import taxes and shipping cost i doubt it is so nuch cheaper after all !!

 
 
Excuse me, but most of what I said in what you quoted was about ZX2 price in relation to Sony's own ZX1 product, and in comparison to Apple. Sure, I may have mentioned Fiio, very briefly, in an earlier post, but very little of my discussion has focused particularly on Chinese products.

 

[Conext]

You really want the competition reviews from the same guy ? Here

A17 vs ZX1 vs Po(r)No vs Zx2


First link 17-zx1-Pono

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1214/Sony_NWZ_ZX1_NWZ_A17_Pono_Music_Player.htm

Second link Zx2

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0215/Sony_NW_ZX2_Walkman_Review_Noble_Kaiser_K10.htm
 

I'm glad you mentioned these again, as something has been bothering me about his reviews of the ZX1 and ZX2.
 
His disdain for the ZX1 was so complete, and his love of the ZX2 was so complete as to baffle me.
 
Here are a few choice quotes from his ZX1 review:
 

1. The Sony NWZ-ZX1 is basically a warmed over, uninspired imho effort by Sony using the Android operating system.
2. Android is a wonderful OS imho, just that piggy-backing on it gave me the feeling that for $659 Sony could have done far better.
3. The Sony NWZ-ZX1 was also laggy, meaning slow to respond to user input commands.
4. Sony's NWZ-ZX1 feels solidly built and generally nice overall. But, ummm, what is it with the NWZ-ZX1's huge arse?
5. The Sony NWZ-ZX1 was good yet nothing that special frankly aurally. At least not for the $650 asking price as compared to the many other products available within the marketplace today.
6. The laggy GUI is another deal-breaker for me, too. Take your money and look elsewhere...

 
So, he seems to feel that using Android is a cheap cop-out? Oh, and it's laggy. He needed to point that out twice.
 
Presumably, he wanted a custom OS and interface? If so, I'm not sure where all his disdain for using Android went in his ZX2 review. And as for being laggy? Well, the ZX2 uses the same TI OMAP 4430 CPU and has the same amount of RAM as the ZX1, yet uses a slightly newer, and some could argue slightly more bloated version of Android. Strange how there's no complaints about the ZX2 being laggy.
 
Here's some of his ZX2 review:
 

1. Based on Android 4.2.2, the touchscreen and GUI work smoothly together.
2. Sure it may not be ultra-lightning fast, and there might be a bit of lag when you use your finger to scroll through your music files, yet i have a feeling this is more due to the OS and nothing Sony could really do about it as 4.2.2 has an inherent very slight delay during scrolling.
3. The beautiful curves remind me of a Ferrari, while in contrast the nearly twice as expensive Astell&Kern AK240 is physically more chiseled-like in styling akin to a Lamborghini.

 
It actually sounds like he's begrudgingly admitting that the interface is still sluggish, but he's giving it a pass. Heck, he's even resorted to making excuses for Sony (it's probably Android's fault). And while the design may be more curved than the ZX1, the ass is still there. No ranting about it this time, for some reason.
 
I don't post this to serve as some sort of defense of the ZX1, or some bash of the ZX2. I thought the difference in tone between the two devices was just so radically different, yet there wasn't any real logic behind the difference. Ultimately, all I can come up with is that he liked the sound signature of the ZX2 over the ZX1 so much, he was willing to forgive and overlook every design, build and interface shortcoming.

 

[Mython]

  I didn't say its justified but to me it sounds like you're blaming Sony only for this.  It's also, "not a direction" rather, it's been always there...get my drift?

 
The reason I'm giving Sony a hard time (not exclusively Sony - iRiver are even worse, for example, and I have included them in my earlier discussion) is specifically because of the difference in price between 2 of their own products - the magnitude of that price difference being obviously unjustified.
 
If the ZX2 sounds much better than the ZX1, it doesn't mean it's OK to charge $450 more. The ZX1 should have sounded awesome, in it's own right, to justify Sony marketing it as a flagship audiophile device, and charging $750 for it, but few people seem willing to openly challenge Sony about the ZX1s shortcomings.
 
A flawed $750 product does not justify a less-flawed incarnation being sold for $1200
 
 
.

 

[mack303]

I intend to, and I genuinely hope it sounds much better than the ZX1 (and if I feel it does, I will honestly acknowledge it), but even if it does, I still stand by my remarks about the pricing.

I think many DAP fans are becoming too complacent about overpricing, regardless of the brand or sound. It's not a good direction for the industry to go, and many are casually watching it happen, and even defending it happening.

oh, I don't want to pay $1200 for this ..but been waiting for high end portable for years with plenty of space. Zx1 didn't come to the states and maxed out at 128 look ed at ibasso dx90 but never pulled the trigger ..and then this pop's up at ces . Do I want to pay $1200 no is there anything like it ..no . Wait for price drop ? How long? Boycott to make Sony drop the price ... Not going to happen . Me I'm going to sell off some not being used gear and offset this zx2 $1200

 

[djricekcn]

   
The reason I'm giving Sony a hard time (not exclusively Sony - iRiver are even worse, for example, and I have included them in my earlier discussion) is specifically because of the difference in price between 2 of their own products - the magnitude of that price difference being obviously unjustified.
 
If the ZX2 sounds much better than the ZX1, it doesn't mean it's OK to charge $450 more. The ZX1 should have sounded awesome, in it's own right, to justify Sony marketing it as a flagship audiophile device, and charging $750 for it, but few people seem willing to openly challenge Sony about the ZX1s shortcomings.
 
A flawed $750 product does not justify a less-flawed incarnation being sold for $1200
 
 
.

 
Then just don't buy it?  If a lot of people feel like you and assuming it's marketed to you, initial sales will be piss poor that Sony will acknoledge like the  PS2 versus the PS3 phase change.  There's really no need to justify here on if it's expensive or not personally.   The price is there, the product is out and it's likely not going to change in price anytime soon , lets keep this more towards impressions and a like.

 

[JACONE]

Folks -
 
All good perspectives  for sure!
 
The AK240's $2500 price is just crazy!
The SONY XZ2 a little higher that I would prefer but not insane!
 
I think at $999, it would be the sweet spot.
 
Nevertheless, I'm 95% sure I'll pull trigger shortly but just waiting for some more impressions!
 
Keep them coming!

 

[harmonix]

   
Then just don't buy it?  If a lot of people feel like you and assuming it's marketed to you, initial sales will be piss poor that Sony will acknoledge like the  PS2 versus the PS3 phase change.  There's really no need to justify here on if it's expensive or not personally.   The price is there, the product is out and it's likely not going to change in price anytime soon , lets keep this more towards impressions and a like.

I agree. The market and the consumers will determine ultimately whether it is a flop or a success.
If it doesn't work then you will probably see deeper discounting later on - if it does then it sticks.
 
The other thing to consider is that Sony probably won't sell anywhere new the quantity it typically does for say TV's or Playstations. There are substantial fixed costs which go into maintaining, marketing and servicing a global brand. If you assign those costs to a smaller unit count then those can add up per unit. Doubtful they can sell 100,000 units of the ZX2 frankly... But for high end DAP's that is probably a crazy number for TOTL. However, that is small scale for Sony...

 

[harmonix]

  Folks -
 
All good perspectives  for sure!
 
The AK240's $2500 price is just crazy!
The SONY XZ2 a little higher that I would prefer but not insane!
 
I think at $999, it would be the sweet spot.
 
Nevertheless, I'm 95% sure I'll pull trigger shortly but just waiting for some more impressions!
 
Keep them coming!

Got mine for less than $1100 but that's because of some other issues and the shop gave me what amounted to a rebate.

 

[Whitigir]

^ lucky you !! And here I am still gonna be waiting miserably for it

 

[cn11]

Got mine from Pricejapan today. Won't say a whole lot about sound at this point because according to Sony it needs some hours for the components/capacitors to settle in. What I like so far is having damn Android OS again (read easy to deal with) after the tiny/PITA UI of the DX 90.... Also, being able to pop in all my music on my micro SD card rather than wait for over an hour to copy it to the new Sony was a real treat. 
 
Taking it out of the box I was totally blindsided with how heavy this unit is. It must weigh close to a pound. I'm going to have to actually weigh it, because it seems like a bowling ball wrapped up in the size of a small phone! Of course build quality is impeccable. 
 
First thought on sound is it's quite spacious and open, with a ton of black space between instruments. Don't have any of my previous DAPs around to directly compare to unfortunately, so I can't really say how it is next to the ZX1. Won't even speculate.... Initially it sounds very good though, and I will welcome any further opening up in that first 100 hour time period Sony claims for running in. Another thing I'm totally digging is the longer battery life so I don't worry about having wifi on, and logging into my Google music account and streaming stuff I haven't purchased yet. And it runs through the nice internals that Sony R&D'd. 
 
Looking forward to more familiarity with this new Sony. For me, battery life and the micro SD card already make it a big win. 

 

[xjaynine]

This is somewhat related to the ZX2. Sony today announced a special MicroSD card that claims to reduce electrical noise and thereby improving sound reproduction...


18,500¥ for a 64GB Class 10 card...

http://www.sony.jp/sd/products/SR-HXA/

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20150219_688522.html

Any ZX2 owners game enough to give this microSD card a go? : )

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

^ Good on Sony. I have found that different micro SD cards sound different on my DX90 and always suspected the cards susceptibility to electrical noise and cards effect on dap power supply to be the culprits. So far best sound is from Toshiba Exceria micro SD, and the smaller the capacity, the better the sound as well (which sucks lol)

 

[georgelai57]

Soon there'll be Sony 2GB cards - one for each album! The return of MiniDisc.

 

[djricekcn]

oh then maybr i wasnt imagining things....when i used different.cards on my smartphones in the past of the same file...i though they sounded different on movies...just couldnt exactly pinpoint why