roadrat
100+ Head-Fier
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There was a big difference between the a45 and the 300. You cannot use an adapter for balanced outputs. The whole cable has to be changed.
Sony NW-ZX300
I think the JH Rosie headphones come with balanced cable but need a 2.5mm-4.4mm adapter?
Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
I went from the NW-A17 and the difference was night and day. I am not sure how much better the A55 is, but I would bet that you will notice a big difference. You get balanced output and more power. And the price is not unreasonable. When I got mine I paid about $800.00 in Canadian money (about $600.00 in US dollars). To me that was a large expenditure, but it has been worth Every penny. Now when it comes to $1,500.00 and $2,500.00 DAPS, the water is too deep for me.
Shane D
At some point everyone has to decide whether their objective is to be able to listen to the music they love, whenever and wherever they, at an acceptable quality (which will be different for everyone) or to constantly worry that they're missing out on some sort of perceived perfection that can only be achieved by spending money on the next big thing (until the next big thing arrives). For me the NW-ZX300 coupled with my Bose QC20s more than meets my needs. I'm fortunate enough not to have any financial constraints, but I'd prefer to put money into the music collection rather than over-hyped hardware.
Then again, the fact that my musical tastes have their roots in getting as close as possible to the WEM speaker stacks at rock concerts in the late 1960s/early 1970s may mean that my ears are not as discerning as others on this forum (was anyone else out there at Pink Floyd's Dark Side gig at the Liverpool Empire in February 1972?)
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Shane D
Headphoneus Supremus
At some point everyone has to decide whether their objective is to be able to listen to the music they love, whenever and wherever they, at an acceptable quality (which will be different for everyone) or to constantly worry that they're missing out on some sort of perceived perfection that can only be achieved by spending money on the next big thing (until the next big thing arrives). For me the NW-ZX300 coupled with my Bose QC20s more than meets my needs. I'm fortunate enough not to have any financial constraints, but I'd prefer to put money into the music collection rather than over-hyped hardware.
Then again, the fact that my musical tastes have their roots in getting as close as possible to the WEM speaker stacks at rock concerts in the late 1960s/early 1970s may mean that my ears are not as discerning as others on this forum (was anyone else out there at Pink Floyd's Dark Side gig at the Liverpool Empire in February 1972?)
I have to say that I do have a set of Bose QC's. QC15, I think. The best travelling 'phones I ever had. Mandatory for flying.
However they are not a great set of 'phones, musically speaking. If money is not a problem for you, I would urge you strongly to try out some better headphones. Your ZX300 will thank you and you will be very surprised/impressed. You don't have to break the bank. Pretty much all my headphones cost less (or much less) than my DAP. I buy new and used. I am addicted to variety and all of my 'phones sound very different.
If you are hooked on Classic rock, you would love the Fostex's I just picked up: TH-610's. I got a demo set from a dealer for half price. I have been wearing them for eight straight days and can't stop smiling.
Shane D
I had QC2s way back when, and after 10 years the swivel joints cracked. I asked Bose if they had any spare parts, and they sent me QC15s as a replacement for £90. I agree the QC15s could be better musically, but for flying (which I did a lot of in my work) the N/C was great. I also used them with a Reytid bluetooth dongle (plugs into the cable jack socket) which avoided the problems of the cable getting stuck in the seat reclining mechanism. Audio was actually not bad given over B/T. I switched to Bose's first in-ear QC20is when they first came out, and was blown away because they delivered better audio than the QC15s and the N/C was at least as good. I had them for about 5 years, but eventually the battery life dropped. Bose offered me a "discount" on exchange for new-model QC20s, but with the discount they were the same price as Amazon, so I bought from Amazon and kept the old ones as spares. These days I'm retired and do a lot of walking & some running, and I've found Sony's WI-SP 600Ns to be a good mobile alternative - surprisingly good audio over B/T and N/C is impressive. I will try the NW-ZX300 with some other over-ears when I get the chance...I have to say that I do have a set of Bose QC's. QC15, I think. The best travelling 'phones I ever had. Mandatory for flying.
However they are not a great set of 'phones, musically speaking. If money is not a problem for you, I would urge you strongly to try out some better headphones. Your ZX300 will thank you and you will be very surprised/impressed. You don't have to break the bank. Pretty much all my headphones cost less (or much less) than my DAP. I buy new and used. I am addicted to variety and all of my 'phones sound very different.
If you are hooked on Classic rock, you would love the Fostex's I just picked up: TH-610's. I got a demo set from a dealer for half price. I have been wearing them for eight straight days and can't stop smiling.
Shane D
LightBlue77
500+ Head-Fier
If you're happy with current headphones, it's cool. But you are really not using the full potential of zx300.
On a different topic: sound processing. I noticed a while ago, many years ago actually, that daps sound different when used as dacs. It's the same with zx300, at list to my ears. I find it sounding, if not better, nicer for me and the volume gain is even higher in dac mode. So it's not an impression, I lower the volume and also on dap mode I set the bass level to -1 or -2, on dac mode I change it to +1 or +2 and everything sounds cleaner too. But I think there is also some software influence, I use uapp, set bit perfect mode for usb output so no processing from my smartphone, just sends the bits.
I won't mention Bluetooth because it's clearly different because of resampling.
As for MQA, I see zx300 is capable to adapt to higher quality streams which is even cooler.
On a different topic: sound processing. I noticed a while ago, many years ago actually, that daps sound different when used as dacs. It's the same with zx300, at list to my ears. I find it sounding, if not better, nicer for me and the volume gain is even higher in dac mode. So it's not an impression, I lower the volume and also on dap mode I set the bass level to -1 or -2, on dac mode I change it to +1 or +2 and everything sounds cleaner too. But I think there is also some software influence, I use uapp, set bit perfect mode for usb output so no processing from my smartphone, just sends the bits.
I won't mention Bluetooth because it's clearly different because of resampling.
As for MQA, I see zx300 is capable to adapt to higher quality streams which is even cooler.
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We're forgetting the DMP-Z1.
joeexp
500+ Head-Fier
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Why is it not a DAP? I've never used a DMP-Z1 but at that price I'd be just a little disappointed if it wasn't capable of playing back digital audio. To be fair, at that price (and weight) I'd probably be disappointed that it didn't also make a decent expresso...
Last Christmas in Tokyo,I bought Sony MDR-1AM2 headphones for ZX-300.This is night and day for all players! Use all original cables from Sony.
Totally agree with everything you say, as an old friend of mine once said to me “There will come a point when you stop listening to the music and only listen to the speakers” this was his reply to me when I hinted that maybe he should get some better speakers to match the quality of his HiFi lolAt some point everyone has to decide whether their objective is to be able to listen to the music they love, whenever and wherever they, at an acceptable quality (which will be different for everyone) or to constantly worry that they're missing out on some sort of perceived perfection that can only be achieved by spending money on the next big thing (until the next big thing arrives). For me the NW-ZX300 coupled with my Bose QC20s more than meets my needs. I'm fortunate enough not to have any financial constraints, but I'd prefer to put money into the music collection rather than over-hyped hardware.
Then again, the fact that my musical tastes have their roots in getting as close as possible to the WEM speaker stacks at rock concerts in the late 1960s/early 1970s may mean that my ears are not as discerning as others on this forum (was anyone else out there at Pink Floyd's Dark Side gig at the Liverpool Empire in February 1972?)
I was listening to my ZX300/Andromeda Gold the other day and thought to myself if I got stuck with this set up for the rest of my life then I could live with that happily!!!
I have other gear also to choose from but if you could afford the ZX300 and a pair of Andro’s or Vega, especially the Vega then you’d almost be back in front of that beautiful WEM stack back in 72. I would have been only six years old then lol
Did get to see Floyd at Earls Court and yeah that place rumbled
The Fife Flyer
Head-Fier
At some point everyone has to decide whether their objective is to be able to listen to the music they love, whenever and wherever they, at an acceptable quality (which will be different for everyone) or to constantly worry that they're missing out on some sort of perceived perfection that can only be achieved by spending money on the next big thing (until the next big thing arrives). For me the NW-ZX300 coupled with my Bose QC20s more than meets my needs. I'm fortunate enough not to have any financial constraints, but I'd prefer to put money into the music collection rather than over-hyped hardware.
Then again, the fact that my musical tastes have their roots in getting as close as possible to the WEM speaker stacks at rock concerts in the late 1960s/early 1970s may mean that my ears are not as discerning as others on this forum (was anyone else out there at Pink Floyd's Dark Side gig at the Liverpool Empire in February 1972?)
No, but was at the one at the Edinburgh Playhouse. They toured with DSOTM before the album was even cut or finished iirc.
The 1972 UK tour dates were before the album was released (they changed some of the song names - On the Run was originally "The Travel Sequence, Great Gig in the Sky was "The Mortality Sequence" and Any Colour You Like was "Scat". Saw then again at Knebworth in 1975 - sound system was a disaster, Roy Harper did his thing on "Have a Cigar", and Captain Beefheart was great support (sound system was still a disaster but with the Captain who can telll...
...Yes it is!
Easily?...erm...I wouldn't say it's pocketable.
At all!
Not unless you're Gulliver.
We're only suggesting the best Sony DAP on offer.
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