[Leviticus]

Btw, is the ZX2 still worth buying?
And do you consider this a good deal: 830$ like new, few hours used, 2 years warranty?

It all depends on how you intend to use your ZX2 and what gear you own. If balanced output and native DSD support are must-haves for you, then I would totally splash out another $300 on a WM1A. Also, if you live in Europe you can easily remove the volume cap of a WM1A. This might be of interest to you if you have fully-sized headphones that are hard to drive. The European ZX2, unfortunately, seems to be uncrackable in this regard.

Yet Sony's proprietary operating system, which the WM1A uses, doesn't allow for third-party streaming apps such as Spotify and the like. Like I said, it all depends on how you want to use your ZX2.

 

[lesale08]

Btw, is the ZX2 still worth buying?
And do you consider this a good deal: 830$ like new, few hours used, 2 years warranty?

I would say it's still a good price considering the 2-year warranty coverage. Mine's already past it's warranty period and over a year old of usage from the first owner. What I do know is that the previous owner never really get to use this player for it's intended purpose that much. I can say from the songs listed internally, they are all in AAC format and not a single flac file at the very least with only 9gb worth of storage used.

 

[jscmd2000]

How is the sq of ZX2 compared to WM1A? Considering WM1A is about 2? years ahead in technology, which can be considerable in audio world, may be much better. But, what is up with no wifi? And no tidal? Are you kidding me?!

That is my go to place these days. I used to buy and download high res music all the time but got tired of listening to the same stuff over and over. I love discovering new music on tidal, listening to different versions and interpretations of Mahler symphonies, performed by the best like Royal Concertgebow, Berlin Philharmonic, LSO, and New York Philharmonic with only a few clicks...it's like being in heaven. The things that float our boats!

I would definitely have the WM1A in my hand right now listening to it if it had wifi. Would not think twice. And definitely sneak in some Z1R here the there to satisfy my bass-head tendencies.

 

[cfc7]

It all depends on how you intend to use your ZX2 and what gear you own. If
balanced output and native DSD support are must-haves for you, then I would totally splash out another $300 on a WM1A. Also, if you live in Europe you can easily remove the volume cap of a WM1A. This might be of interest to you if you have fully-sized headphones that are hard to drive. The European ZX2, unfortunately, seems to be uncrackable in this regard.

Yet Sony's proprietary operating system, which the WM1A uses, doesn't allow for third-party streaming apps such as Spotify and the like. Like I said, it all depends on how you want to use your ZX2.

I would say it's still a good price considering the 2-year warranty coverage. Mine's already past it's warranty period and over a year old of usage from the first owner. What I do know is that the previous owner never really get to use this player for it's intended purpose that much. I can say from the songs listed internally, they are all in AAC format and not a single flac file at the very least with only 9gb worth of storage used.

Thanks!

Native DSD is not a must have for me.
Balanced yes, but the ZX2 has the TRRS. Is there such a big difference from this to real balanced?
I'll be using it only with IEMs and not full-sized headphones - IE800 and ES Velvet. Will the ZX2 drive them properly? I've read about these 2 as being not so easy to drive as they need some power to reach their full potential.
I'm not for the third-party streaming apps but I don't want to be limited to the stock player only. Actually I'm very interested to use some other Android good players.

 

[trajan7]

Ouch! Did you not like your ZX2? You don't want another one? I was thinking about it... No wifi on the WM1A/Z but one of the best, love my AK380 but costly.

I liked the ZX2. The only problem was that it had an old OS which you couldn't upgrade, which was annoying. I really didn't care about anything apps from android. I just want to listen to my flac collection SQ above all.

 

[kertong]

Btw, is the ZX2 still worth buying?

I guess that depends. For me, the biggest concern is android and the lack of updates. If you only play flac/dsd you'll be fine - but I like to stream spotify on the go, and for that, it's a liability. We can store older APKs and sideload them if an update breaks - but that won't prevent spotify from updating their API to lock out versions older than $x, for example. I've even heard older androids may work on spotify but the "extreme" quality option is disappearing.

I'm pretty torn - part of me wants to hoard ZX2's and pick up one or two more. Batteries wear out and it doesn't seem easily replaceable on these - and I feel like this is such a unique device with a sound signature that will be hard to find elsewhere. And I love the body/weight/ergonomics/battery life.

Tough call but if fresh android and spotify/tidal support is a must, I'd be wary of spending that kind of cash on this zx2. But if you're content to just play flac's off a card or memory for the next few years, you'll be fine imo!

 

[cfc7]

I guess that depends. For me, the biggest concern is android and the lack of updates. If you only play flac/dsd you'll be fine - but I like to stream spotify on the go, and for that, it's a liability. We can store older APKs and sideload them if an update breaks - but that won't prevent spotify from updating their API to lock out versions older than $x, for example. I've even heard older androids may work on spotify but the "extreme" quality option is disappearing.

I'm pretty torn - part of me wants to hoard ZX2's and pick up one or two more. Batteries wear out and it doesn't seem easily replaceable on these - and I feel like this is such a unique device with a sound signature that will be hard to find elsewhere. And I love the body/weight/ergonomics/battery life.

Tough call but if fresh android and spotify/tidal support is a must, I'd be wary of spending that kind of cash on this zx2. But if you're content to just play flac's off a card or memory for the next few years, you'll be fine imo!

Well, as I said in the previous post, I'm not going to use third-party streaming apps, just playing music files from memory or card.
But I'll be very interested to use any Android player if there are other options better than the stock one.

 

[Richter Di]

I use a my ZX2 with a tidal equivalent from France called Qobuz. Found a way to re-route the downloaded content. Since then the crashes are more seldom. I really love my ZX2 and use it with my Hifiman HE500 (TRRS cable), Mitchell & Johson MJ2 (TRRS), Sennheiser HD 630 VB (standard), Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro.

 

[mahesh]

All righty - these are the steps I took to root my ZX2 and tweak the system config to disable the volume cap. I don't guarantee this will work for you, and do it at your own risk - if you brick or damage your ZX2 it's not my fault! and the Chinese root tool will likely install some bloatware apps or who knows what other dodgy stuff it does

First select: Settings >> Security >> Unknown sources on your device.

Download the following apps from google play:
ES File Explorer (or other file explorer)

On your ZX2 download the APK from this URL: root.360.cn (mobile version download)

Go to your downloads folder and install the downloaded APK - accept security warnings. Open the rooting app and press the large center circular button (need to be connected to wifi).. the app will start trying to root your devices and display percentage - you might see security warnings from Android, just accept them and keep going - once it's done you might see a sad face, if so, try again by pressing the circular button.. eventually I managed to get successfull root (different icon to sad face), you're in business.. I had to attempt few times before it worked for me.

Once Rooted:

0. set root access in settings of ES File Explorer - root tool popup warning will come up > accept on left button i think (in Chinese)

1. you can access /configs/region.zip

2. copy paste region.zip back it up to your own folder just in case

3. unzip /configs/region.zip (you might need unzip app from playstore)

4. edit region.prop (you might need a text editor from play store):
ro.sony.volume_limit=0
ro.sony.walkman.euvollimit (add one more zero to the end of the integer value)

5. save it, zip it up and put it back like it was before /configs/region.zip but with the changed values

6. Restart your device and voila, louder by about 20-30%

7. Optional: uninstall root tool and bloatware

Hi guys thx for the tip
My ZX2 now has 20percent more volume.

 

[emilsoft]

Hi guys thx for the tip
My ZX2 now has 20percent more volume.

Glad to hear it worked

 

[Richter Di]

Hi guys thx for the tip
My ZX2 now has 20percent more volume.

Glad to hear it worked

My ZX2 crashed while the Root Device was at approx. 80 percent.
Did not try it again-

 

[emilsoft]

My ZX2 crashed while the Root Device was at approx. 80 percent.
Did not try it again-

I had to attempt if few times before it worked for me. Also the rooting app might restart the ZX2 during the rooting process making it seem like it crashed, maybe that's what happened.

 

[lesale08]

What else can you do on a rooted zx2?

 

[Richter Di]

I had to attempt if few times before it worked for me. Also the rooting app might restart the ZX2 during the rooting process making it seem like it crashed, maybe that's what happened.

Ah oky. Maybe I am just not up for the suspense.

 

[cfc7]

My ZX2 crashed while the Root Device was at approx. 80 percent.
Did not try it again-

What happens if the rooting process fails?