Is this a Sony thing or am I missing something about the ZX players? Other than the expectable sleek and sexy Sony form factor, what is so compelling about either the ZX1 or ZX2? Maybe I didn't really listen but my impressions from the ZX1 was not overwhelming (though it's not underwhelming too, so maybe just whelming?).
The Sony's use Class D technology, unlike other traditional daps. Which is nothing special on its own, as all mobile phones on the market actually use Class D for audio these days, iphone, samsung, sony, lg etc all use a Class D audio output which is actually built into the CPU of the phones (Snapdragon CPU). But this means all kinds of noise and cross talk etc could occur, and the high power rail feeding the cpu is also feeding the audio circuit resulting in distortion etc. Basically most of the design factors are an audiophiles nightmare
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But the Sony ZX series are very special, they use a separate higher quality class D chip (S Master HX), The Sony ZX2 has an os-con capacitor filtered power supply for low noise, Film condensors for cancelling vibration and electrical noise, os-con capacitors in analog stage for better bass, high quality pcb and solder, and to top it off the whole audio circuit is encased in gold plated copper shielding to reduce noise and interference. The ZX2 also has a super capacitor to increase power over ZX1.
The sound of this series isn't really a "wow" type sound, its kinda analytical and thin, some would say cold or digital, but to me ZX1 represents a truer reproduction of the audio file and it actually sounds more natural than other Daps to me personally, especially with Hi-Res. The audio circuit in the ZX series is very short compared to other daps, its just CPU PCM> S Master PWM > Voltage Feedback Pump > Headphone. This short circuit coupled with the speed, accuracy and efficiency of Class D brings a truer representation of audio imo. And the ZX2 is said to remedy the main sticking points of ZX1, those being thin and cold (but still excellent).
Traditional daps instead mostly have to use a large opamp chain instead which varies in length depending on DAC used and desired output, which usually looks like CPU PCM > DAC > IV conversion > Low Pass Filter > Voltage Amp > Buffer > Headphone.
And I have basically come to hate on opamps, because they all sound different, yet non of them sound even close to perfect imo, a not exactly related example being op amp rolling in my E12 and P4 amps, even after spending $400 on various high end opamps, I would never find a sound that got everything right. Maybe I'm just crazy.
I pretty much feel that the future of audio advancement is Class D. NAD is taking the Class D route with their DAC's and Amps and I have been very impressed with those. Companies won't stop producing the traditional DACs and Amps, because there will be many people that prefer that sound to Class D.
But Class D is the newest tech, and is just much more eloquently realized than traditional DACs and Amps imo. Its simple, efficient and sounds more transparent (imo).
