[dazzerfong]

I noticed that some pages back people were discussing the audio hardware difference between ZX300 and ZX507.
At first I was under the impression that they were identical, but after a bit of research I found otherwise (actually my real job field is also research and analytics).

There are a few key differences that will affect the sound between ZX300 and ZX507, these are all mentioned on Sony's site and interviews with the engineer's.

1. The gold color FT-Cap used in ZX507 is actually the same used throughout the Sony DMP-Z1, while the ZX300/WM1A/Z all use the blue FT-Cap.
-I'm not saying the gold is better, I'm just saying it is likely tuned to sound different to the blue version. This only affects the balanced output on the ZX507.

2. The ZX507 has double the capacitance for the single ended power supply, from 200uF on ZX300 to 400uF on ZX507, this only affects single ended but will result in much better single ended sound. WM1A/Z still have the ZX507 beat in this regard as they use FT-Caps for single ended rather than the Pos-Caps that ZX507 and ZX300 use.
(ZX507 on left, ZX300 on right).

3. The ZX507 uses a thick CNC milled copper block for the grounding and total shielding of digital section (a first for Walkmans actually).
ZX300/WM1A/Z only use thin copper sheet metal over the digital section and do not fully encase it, just rest on top. This actually means the grounding and shielding of the ZX507 is above even that of the WM1A, but not the WM1Z obviously as it's chassis is grounding heaven being made entirely of copper.
(ZX507 on left, ZX300 on right).

ZX507 solid copper block on left, CNC milled into full shield on the right.

ZX507 on left, note the high level of pcb contact (gold area) increasing shielding and grounding performance.
While ZX300 on the right only has a few small points of contact.

4. Solder, Sony had been using pure 99.99% Tin solder since ZX2, but improved that to Tin + Gold solder for the ZX507 and A100, and will use this for future Walkmans.
My all time favorite wire is actually Mundorf Silver Gold (1%), don't underestimate a bit of gold in the audio chain.

5. FPGA. All ZX and higher series have used an FPGA since ZX2, this means Sony can easily tune the sound of each model to harmonize well with and take most advantage of it's audio circuitry, which also means the ZX507 is bound to be tuned slightly differently to match it's change in audio hardware.

Just a fun fact if you are a science buff: The silver model of ZX507/ZX300 will actually perform very slightly better than the black, this is because the silver aluminum finish will have a lower electrical resistance compared to the anodized black model, this will affect the grounding performance of the chassis. This is also the reason Sony gold plates copper parts, to stop the copper oxidizing which increases the electrical resistance (oxidation can also look ugly).

Now just to be clear, some of these changes will be barely audible, although some people do have a knack for hearing minute changes.
But my point is that when you change this many different aspects of the device, it all adds up. I haven't heard the ZX300 and ZX507, but some people have said ZX507 sounds better than WM1A, others have said it sounds similar to ZX300. So as always, YMMV.

1. Caps are different because it's a revision of the old one. It's the same capacitance and rating. Make of that what you will.
2. Higher caps for power supply in theory leads to smoother power delivery. Generally not absolutely needed for digital devices with a well-regulated power source (battery), but not a bad thing either.
3. They needed to because the chipset they're using for the SoC is much noisier courtesy of its significantly higher power draw as well as the WiFi radio.
4. Silver is good because it doesn't have lead in it, and that's about the only good thing to say about it. Gold is bad for solder applications as it suffers from embrittlement, which leads to premature death of electronics. Think HP when it switched to ROHS/REACH compliant processes: computers dying left, right and centre. Fun fact: gold is actually less conductive than copper or silver.
5. No it doesn't use an FPGA. The S-Master is not an FPGA. The TA-ZH1ES does have an FPGA to convert PCM to DSD.

Bonus fact: that fact is wrong. Manufacturers leave a patch of tape on a hidden section of the enclosure so it doesn't get covered with plating/anodising, thus allowing a solid contact point. However, that would only apply if it shorts to the enclosure. The ZX300 never grounds to the enclosure: the mainboard is attached to the enclosure with no connections touching it (ala grounding point).

Well , there are some people who doesn’t take it that Sony uses FPGA .... :/

Because if they did, they'd brag about it like they did with their TA-ZH1ES, where it unambiguously states it's an FPGA. Happy to be proven wrong if you have proof.

 

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

Well , there are some people who doesn’t take it that Sony uses FPGA .... :/

They don't want to cannibalise DMP-Z1 prestige, rightly so. The implementation in the dap's isn't on the same scale as DMP-Z1 so it would make DMP-Z1 look bad if you called them both FPGA.

1. Caps are different because it's a revision of the old one. It's the same capacitance and rating. Make of that what you will.
2. Higher caps for power supply in theory leads to smoother power delivery. Generally not absolutely needed for digital devices with a well-regulated power source (battery), but not a bad thing either.
3. They needed to because the chipset they're using for the SoC is much noisier courtesy of its significantly higher power draw as well as the WiFi radio.
4. Silver is good because it doesn't have lead in it, and that's about the only good thing to say about it. Gold is bad for solder applications as it suffers from embrittlement, which leads to premature death of electronics. Think HP when it switched to ROHS/REACH compliant processes: computers dying left, right and centre. Fun fact: gold is actually less conductive than copper or silver.
5. No it doesn't use an FPGA. The S-Master is not an FPGA. The TA-ZH1ES does have an FPGA to convert PCM to DSD.

Bonus fact: that fact is wrong. Manufacturers leave a patch of tape on a hidden section of the enclosure so it doesn't get covered with plating/anodising, thus allowing a solid contact point. However, that would only apply if it shorts to the enclosure. The ZX300 never grounds to the enclosure: the mainboard is attached to the enclosure with no connections touching it (ala grounding point).

Hi, I'm already aware of the things you mention.

1. The new gold caps being a revision doesn't change the fact they may sound different (or not, only Sony knows), I am aware the ratings and capacitance are the same, doesn't mean the dielectric element hasn't been improved etc, there are many caps with the same rating and capacitance that are completely different in terms of sound.

2. To be more accurate, in Sony's dap's I'm referring to the cap's directly in the audio output path not the power supply, as these dap's use a charge pump output which relies directly on the capacitors. ZX1 and ZX300 have 4x 47uf, ZX2 and ZX507 have 4x100uf. This increase drastically improves bass slam/quality and sound stage etc, and the type of capacitor (FT-Cap, Pos-Cap, OS-Con, etc) affects the balance, tonality, timbre, texture, resolution etc. So it's quite the opposite, the caps are a defining element of the sound in Sony's dap's.

3. Yes the reason for the additional shielding is due to the noisier components required for android, but they have gone to town with it and overbuilt compared to past android dap's like ZX2, hence my excitement. For example besides the first of solid copper shielding it's also the first time the power supply circuitry has been fully shielded in a Sony dap, which is important for sound regardless of android.

4. Gold is technically inferior to copper and silver in conductivity, but much better than Tin, which is what they were using before. Gold in solder and cables however is not used for it's conductive properties, but it's effect on the sound, which is pleasing to many. Just as Copper is not as conductive as Silver, yet one can prefer the sound of a copper cable in a given pairing.

5. I am not referring to S-Master as an FPGA, I am referring to a secondary processing unit working in parallel with the CPU which relegates audio data to the S-Master chip. I do not have proof other than recognizing a secondary processing chip used in the ZX2 back in the day, think it was a Xilinx if I remember.

6. Yes manufacturers leave un-anodized surfaces on the chassis for better grounding, that is irrelevant. The black anodization raises the ultimate resistance of the chassis as a whole when measured from best point of contact such as one of these un-anodized areas. This is quite simple to measure with a multi-meter.

 

[Whitigir]

S-Master is only the amplification device processor for a Class-D amp architecture. There is another chip that taking in the direct bit and data reading from the MicroSD or input and output from WM-port, which then apply the sigma and delta processing to produce pure analog , unfiltered, non-amplified signals so that the S-Master can compare to and apply Class D techniques with filters then finally coming out to Headphones sockets

This chip is not only used to do that conversion, but also processing other DSP features when enabled such as Vinyl engine, EQ, DSEE-HX, it can also do live processing / up scaling PCM into DSD stages (DSD Remastering)

Why does Sony not talk about this ? Because it is Sony proprietary IC chip, and too complicated to be marketing away. Because the representative will have to explain everything about DSP techniques, Digital interfaces, Algorithms....blah blah.....it isn’t your typical FPGA....simply call it “Sony proprietary DSP interfaces”

Why is FPGA mentioned in the TA ZH1ES? Because the Sony proprietary chip is able to produce DSD-Remastering which is a pure final stage of Sigma-Delta but without low bit processing techniques. Therefore, it needs a 1 bit capable additional Chip to process and handling the Raw DSD signal. Sony uses an additional FPGA purely for this purpose alone. By marketing it here, the answer when being asked is that it is simply a Field Programable Gated Arrays.

Because of this, Sony didn’t go with the same low bit processing implementation of FPGa inside the DMP Z1. They use AKM4497EQ which is also capable of conducting and processing low bit 1 bit direct streams. The answer is easy, because if they were to use the S-Master and FPGA from the TA ZH1ES architectures, they would cannibalizes the sale of the TA, then the DMP Z1 would also become much bigger and bulkier in design. Sony kept on saying that DMP Z1 is another line of product away from Walkman and TA in configuration

The Walkman while using the same Proprietary chip from Sony, can not use DSD remastering feature is because S-Master is a multibit direct amplification stage

More into how Class D amplification works here

http://rotel.com/faq/how-do-class-d-amplifiers-work
A Class D amp works by taking the analog input signal and creating a PWM (pulse width modulation)

 

[dazzerfong]

They don't want to cannibalise DMP-Z1 prestige, rightly so. The implementation in the dap's isn't on the same scale as DMP-Z1 so it would make DMP-Z1 look bad if you called them both FPGA.



Hi, I'm already aware of the things you mention.

1. The new gold caps being a revision doesn't change the fact they may sound different (or not, only Sony knows), I am aware the ratings and capacitance are the same, doesn't mean the dielectric element hasn't been improved etc, there are many caps with the same rating and capacitance that are completely different in terms of sound.

2. To be more accurate, in Sony's dap's I'm referring to the cap's directly in the audio output path not the power supply, as these dap's use a charge pump output which relies directly on the capacitors. ZX1 and ZX300 have 4x 47uf, ZX2 and ZX507 have 4x100uf. This increase drastically improves bass slam/quality and sound stage etc, and the type of capacitor (FT-Cap, Pos-Cap, OS-Con, etc) affects the balance, tonality, timbre, texture, resolution etc. So it's quite the opposite, the caps are a defining element of the sound in Sony's dap's.

3. Yes the reason for the additional shielding is due to the noisier components required for android, but they have gone to town with it and overbuilt compared to past android dap's like ZX2, hence my excitement. For example besides the first of solid copper shielding it's also the first time the power supply circuitry has been fully shielded in a Sony dap, which is important for sound regardless of android.

4. Gold is technically inferior to copper and silver in conductivity, but much better than Tin, which is what they were using before. Gold in solder and cables however is not used for it's conductive properties, but it's effect on the sound, which is pleasing to many. Just as Copper is not as conductive as Silver, yet one can prefer the sound of a copper cable in a given pairing.

5. I am not referring to S-Master as an FPGA, I am referring to a secondary processing unit working in parallel with the CPU which relegates audio data to the S-Master chip. I do not have proof other than recognizing a secondary processing chip used in the ZX2 back in the day, think it was a Xilinx if I remember.

6. Yes manufacturers leave un-anodized surfaces on the chassis for better grounding, that is irrelevant. The black anodization raises the ultimate resistance of the chassis as a whole when measured from best point of contact such as one of these un-anodized areas. This is quite simple to measure with a multi-meter.

Fair enough on the caps: if it's the ones inline with the AFE, that has a noticeable effect. Wonder if the increased capacitance led to a diminished HPF effect.............better go back and do a freq sweep and see. Actually I'm fairly confident this will actually improve the low-end by a bit. That's why everyone loves the big-a** caps on the line-out.

I'm gonna dig up the exact cap used to show that literally nothing has changed besides the labelling. You don't exactly switch from a foil cap to ceramic cap and call it a day.

You have the board shots: should be easy enough to point to the FPGA. It should only be the second or third most complicated part on the board.

The chassis is not electrically connected to the board, so it's irrelevant. Besides, that grounding is for safety anyways when connected to AC.

The grounding is impressive, though I'd have preferred if the AFE was on a separate board if size was no issue. That being said, this mostly affects audio in terms of hissing and crackling whenever power is drawn.

I'm not getting into gold solder as I just got out of another Mundorf solder debate used in an IEM, whwre someone claimed it changed everything completely.

With regards to the chassis, resistance from the chassis to what? Another part of the chassis? What's the point, isn't the grounding on the board anyway and nothing to do with the chassis?

For anyone else reading this, this is a good breakdown of the guts of the ZX507 and 300:

https://thewalkmanblog.blogspot.com/2019/09/sonys-upcoming-nw-zx507-walkman-multi.html

Nonetheless, thanks for the interesting post. There's a few interesting design choices made from the ZX300 to the ZX507, which I believe aren't detrimental to the sound but maybe don't quite do as much as I'd like it to. Honestly, I was expecting them to redo the entire AFE, but I suppose a tweak or there isn't the end of the world. As a sidenote, what's your background?

S-Master is only the amplification device processor for a Class-D amp architecture. There is another chip that taking in the direct bit and data reading from the MicroSD or input and output from WM-port, which then apply the sigma and delta processing to produce pure analog , unfiltered, non-amplified signals so that the S-Master can compare to and apply Class D techniques with filters then finally coming out to Headphones sockets

This chip is not only used to do that conversion, but also processing other DSP features when enabled such as Vinyl engine, EQ, DSEE-HX, it can also do live processing / up scaling PCM into DSD stages (DSD Remastering)

Why does Sony not talk about this ? Because it is Sony proprietary IC chip, and too complicated to be marketing away. Because the representative will have to explain everything about DSP techniques, Digital interfaces, Algorithms....blah blah.....it isn’t your typical FPGA....simply call it “Sony proprietary DSP interfaces”

Why is FPGA mentioned in the TA ZH1ES? Because the Sony proprietary chip is able to produce DSD-Remastering which is a pure final stage of Sigma-Delta but without low bit processing techniques. Therefore, it needs a 1 bit capable additional Chip to process and handling the Raw DSD signal. Sony uses an additional FPGA purely for this purpose alone. By marketing it here, the answer when being asked is that it is simply a Field Programable Gated Arrays.

Because of this, Sony didn’t go with the same low bit processing implementation of FPGa inside the DMP Z1. They use AKM4497EQ which is also capable of conducting and processing low bit 1 bit direct streams. The answer is easy, because if they were to use the S-Master and FPGA from the TA ZH1ES architectures, they would cannibalizes the sale of the TA, then the DMP Z1 would also become much bigger and bulkier in design. Sony kept on saying that DMP Z1 is another line of product away from Walkman and TA in configuration

The Walkman while using the same Proprietary chip from Sony, can not use DSD remastering feature is because S-Master is a multibit direct amplification stage

More into how Class D amplification works here

http://rotel.com/faq/how-do-class-d-amplifiers-work

A Class D amp works by taking the analog input signal and creating a PWM (pulse width modulation)

The thing I don't get is, if vinyl processing was already on the ZX300's chipset, why release it as a feature a year in?

Also not following your line of reasoning: amps don't care what the input is as long as it's an analog waveform. Doesn't matter if it's an output from DSD or whatnot, so not sure what multibit has to do with it.

Also not buying the whole explanation reasoning. Sony LOVES to explain things through their engineers, whether right or wrong. They did not mention the presence of an FPGA once on the Walkman.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

All this talk of the ZX507 is actually kinda tempting me to buy one, ZX300 be damned. I'm getting so sick of the WM-PORT: everything I own is USB-C, and in my kit, I have a cable specifically to charge this damn thing. I can rest assure knowing that the ZX507 is as capable as the ZX300 in its sound, which was perfectly fine to begin with.

COVID-19, please go away so my furlough ends!

 

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

The chassis is not electrically connected to the board, so it's irrelevant. Besides, that grounding is for safety anyways when connected to AC.

The grounding is impressive, though I'd have preferred if the AFE was on a separate board if size was no issue. That being said, this mostly affects audio in terms of hissing and crackling whenever power is drawn.

With regards to the chassis, resistance from the chassis to what? Another part of the chassis? What's the point, isn't the grounding on the board anyway and nothing to do with the chassis?

All this talk of the ZX507 is actually kinda tempting me to buy one, ZX300 be damned. I'm getting so sick of the WM-PORT: everything I own is USB-C, and in my kit, I have a cable specifically to charge this damn thing. I can rest assure knowing that the ZX507 is as capable as the ZX300 in its sound, which was perfectly fine to begin with.

COVID-19, please go away so my furlough ends!

I have a ZX507 on the way to me, silver of course I won't go easy on it. Will compare to my AK SP1000. Maybe not fair given the price difference but we will see.

The chassis is not just safety ground.

For a signal voltage to be meaningful, it must be referenced to something. The signal is presented to the input and the signal reference is “ground.” In a well designed audio system we have earth, multiple safety grounds, power commons, signal references and shields; all interconnected. Under normal, non-fault conditions no current will flow in these interconnections. But if there is noise in the system it may flow between the different grounds and cause degradation of the sonic performance.

chassis -> signal reference, -> power supply -> safety ground -> chassis

The goal is to minimize the noise traffic in a system by first reducing the noise using low noise components and shielding, second, by reducing the propensity for the remaining noise to move around; or alternatively to control the paths so as to minimize the effect. Everything has a potential to everything else. Either control it or you have potential for noise to accumulate for a less than stellar signal reference.

Thus a chassis must be connected to the signal reference. Essentially the chassis acts as a sink for noise, the lower the resistance, the more noise it can "absorb" or quickly move away from the audio path for a clean ground and signal reference. It plays an important role in sound quality my friend.

No other dap maker pays as close attention to these things as Sony. But the Class D design is more sensitive to noise so that's also why. Although when I wander into Fiio or AK threads there is people complaining about hearing hissing through headphones when wifi is on lol.

 

[dazzerfong]

I have a ZX507 on the way to me, silver of course I won't go easy on it. Will compare to my AK SP1000. Maybe not fair given the price difference but we will see.

The chassis is not just safety ground.

For a signal voltage to be meaningful, it must be referenced to something. The signal is presented to the input and the signal reference is “ground.” In a well designed audio system we have earth, multiple safety grounds, power commons, signal references and shields; all interconnected. Under normal, non-fault conditions no current will flow in these interconnections. But if there is noise in the system it may flow between the different grounds and cause degradation of the sonic performance.

chassis -> signal reference, -> power supply -> safety ground -> chassis


The goal is to minimize the noise traffic in a system by first reducing the noise using low noise components and shielding, second, by reducing the propensity for the remaining noise to move around; or alternatively to control the paths so as to minimize the effect. Everything has a potential to everything else. Either control it or you have potential for noise to accumulate for a less than stellar signal reference.

Thus a chassis must be connected to the signal reference. Essentially the chassis acts as a sink for noise, the lower the resistance, the more noise it can "absorb" or quickly move away from the audio path for a clean ground and signal reference. It plays an important role in sound quality my friend.

No other dap maker plays as close attention to these things as Sony. But the Class D design is more sensitive to noise so that's also why. Although when I wander into Fiio or AK threads there is people complaining about hearing hissing through headphones when wifi is on lol.

Correct, it's obvious the ZX300/507 aren't using the chassis as a ground for dealing with leakage current. I mean if they are, I'll be questioning why the electronics are powerful enough to electrocute me. They, however, almost definitely stitched the chassis to ground plane to deal wit hnoise.

The PCB contact points aren't painted anyway, so resistance is the same between the PCB to the chassis. Also, anodising affects only the surface layer: it doesn't penetrate the 'inner' layer. You're not conducting away the noise to your hand, so everything that covers the uncontacted points don't matter at all if you're using it as a noise sink. All that matters is the 'mass'.

Overall, I'm still very skeptical that there's a sound difference between the silver and black version, especially considering that it was one person who originally spread the rumour. In fact, this is a bit of deja-vu: this same discussion happened 3 years ago in this very thread (pages 117 onwards).

Fiio and AK players have a far greater propensity for noise because they amplify a lot more than Sony DAPs. For the ultimate experience, run an Andromeda (or any Campfire IEM) from an M11 Pro. Hiss galore! However, that's probably the greatest weakness of Sony DAPs: their power output pales in comparison to other DAPs. That being said, who the hell drives a Susvara from a DAP!?

With all this discussion of the anodising, I just realised I chipped my ZX300. God dammit.........time to buy the ZX507 Does the silver one scratch badly? Right now it looks like someone painted a bulls-eye on my ZX300.........

 

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

With all this discussion of the anodising, I just realised I chipped my ZX300. God dammit.........time to buy the ZX507

In silver I hope or if your from Australia we can compare silver vs black if you go dark. I'd drive for a day just to prove to the internet I was right.

 

[dazzerfong]

In silver I hope or if your from Australia we can compare silver vs black if you go dark hehe.

No way.

Blame Obama.

 

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

Does the silver one scratch badly? Right now it looks like someone painted a bulls-eye on my ZX300.........

I don't actually think the silver ones are anodized, just treated aluminium. ZX1 was brushed aluminium chassis, it hid scratches and dents well since underneath the brushed finish it was all the same color anyway. The silver ZX300 also had the brushed finish, while the silver ZX507 is a sandblasted finish which is awesome!

 

[dazzerfong]

I don't actually think the silver ones are anodized, just treated aluminium. ZX1 was brushed aluminium chassis, it hid scratches and dents well since underneath the brushed finish it was all the same color anyway. The silver ZX300 also had the brushed finish, while the silver ZX507 is a sandblasted finish which is awesome!

Oh, I could've sworn the ZX300 was also a sandblast finish, with only the top and bottom plate being brushed aluminium.........

Guess I better duck in a store whenever COVID 19 decides to take a break and see for myself.

 

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

Oh, I could've sworn the ZX300 was also a sandblast finish, with only the top and bottom plate being brushed aluminium.........

Your right! I didn't look closely enough, ZX300 is brushed top and bottom with sandblasted sides. Very nice look.

ZX507 is sandblasted all over. ZX1 was indeed brushed all over.

 

[515164]

Hey guys, feel free to check out Autumn+ for ZX300, which can be found here (click).

It was tuned using a stock WM1A (3) 02 firmware, so I recommend using 2.02. Also, the result on ZX300/A can be slightly different.

Feedback would be appreciated

The original post is here.

Autumn+

When the leaves fall, so do the beats. This version of Autumn punches way down with
superb bass resolution. The vocals are full and warm yet airy and articulate. Highs are
silky smooth. The soundstage is wide and well spread out. The best all round sound for
all genres.

This is basically a more refined tuning of Autumn, which sounds really great in my opinion.

But enough with the descriptions. If you'd like to try it out yourself, you can find it here (click).

As previously mentioned, the tuning was done using a stock WM1A, using the J region.
Using this on a WM1Z (included in the link) or on a WM1A with a different region may
result in a slightly different sound.

As always, feedback is welcomed

Credits:

- unknown Chinese Walkman enthusiast who decided to share some details about his discovery
- me for the tuning process
- @aceedburn for helping me with testing different tunings until this was achieved, and providing the descriptions for these mods

Enjoy!

 

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

Found this on Sony China website, confirming that the Gold FT-Caps in ZX507 and DMP-Z1 sound different to the Blue FT-Caps in ZX300/WM1A/Z:
Description translates to: Improvement in voice and instrumental transparency, with clear and powerful bass.

https://www.sonystyle.com.cn/products/media_player/nw_zx500/nw_zx507_b.html

Also if you want a cheap ($480) NW-ZX505 with 16gb storage check out: https://www.joybuy.com/601009928.html?lang=en

For me living in Australia that comes to $850AUD after tax, compared to $1200 which Sony charge here for the ZX507 model, the only difference being 64gb vs 16gb internal storage.

 

[dazzerfong]

Found this on Sony China website, confirming that the Gold FT-Caps in ZX507 and DMP-Z1 sound different to the Blue FT-Caps in ZX300/WM1A/Z:
Description translates to: Improvement in voice and instrumental transparency, with clear and powerful bass.

https://www.sonystyle.com.cn/products/media_player/nw_zx500/nw_zx507_b.html

Also if you want a cheap ($480) NW-ZX505 with 16gb storage check out: https://www.joybuy.com/601009928.html?lang=en

For me living in Australia that comes to $850AUD after tax, compared to $1200 which Sony charge here for the ZX507 model, the only difference being 64gb vs 16gb internal storage.

Interesting about the caps, but that doesn't really explain anything. Is it a different composition, grading, tolerance, etc? Having better soundstage is confusing enough as it is considering we don't even quite understand what leads to it except 'it sounds better'.

Also, thanks for the link, but I'm already aware of Joybuy. I'm not buying expensive stuff non-local. Australia has some of the best warranty in the world: if I'm buying it, I'll be waiting for the inevitable Sony discount. And when I mean inevitable, I really do mean it: every single Sony audio product I have ever owned came with a ridiculous discount. Like imagine $1200 RRP to $460.

 

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

Also, thanks for the link, but I'm already aware of Joybuy. I'm not buying expensive stuff non-local. Australia has some of the best warranty in the world: if I'm buying it, I'll be waiting for the inevitable Sony discount. And when I mean inevitable, I really do mean it: every single Sony audio product I have ever owned came with a ridiculous discount. Like imagine $1200 RRP to $460.

Yeah I love the massive Sony discounts but they usually come on the later side of a products life cycle from what I've seen.
Anyway, I wanted a silver one so that ruled out both Sony AU and Joybuy as they only have black, so I ordered from Japan.