[arbiter76]

dude. you should try the audiophile grade solder.

 

[docholliday]

dude. you should try the audiophile grade solder.

I'll get right on that...after I braid up some guilded unicorn a** hair to jump the connections to the jacks!

 

[rootx64]

I'm new to this forum and i felt that i should tell my wonderful experience in using my NW-ZX300 DAP;
Music on my NW-ZX300 combined with my DT770 Pro headphones is the ultimate listening experience to any music genre, when I began to listen to music on my NW-ZX300 last week. The sound from it is exceptionally natural, and i heard every musical instrument and singer voice separated from each others in maximum detailed way that never heard before with perfect unbloated Bass. from now on, I cannot listen to music from any other source other than my NW-ZX300!
Any HR or non-HR music file plays magnificently on this little DAP.
I'm using Mr.Walkman One firmware with NW-WM1Z profile and MX3 region applied on my NW-ZX300.
Here is a screenshot of my NW-ZX300 playing one of the best Mastered/Mixed albums of all time in HR FLAC 96/24 format;

Cheers

 

[Mörchingen]

The ZX300 was my first "audiophile" DAP. I still have it and it's still the one I take with me when I travel because its format is very compact and its playback very pleasant. After all these years, it remains completely relevant and still offers very good synergy with many models of headphones.

 

[rootx64]

The ZX300 was my first "audiophile" DAP. I still have it and it's still the one I take with me when I travel because its format is very compact and its playback very pleasant. After all these years, it remains completely relevant and still offers very good synergy with many models of headphones.

Honestly, i listend to a lot of Android and iPhone devices in the past 14 Years, and never believed to own a dedicated DAP but when I first listened to ZX300 (with Mr.Walkman WM1Z profile) man how much i was blown away by the amount of clarity and details that i was missing during all these years! in the past I thought that Mobile phones and DAPs they all sounding the same since in the end all the music is digital nowadays, but I was totally wrong, and really found that ZX300 DAP is a whole different level in the audiophiles world with its unique engineering and architecture. also holding it in hand give you a good feeling
Also IMO, my advise is not to purchase an android based DAPs, since Android consume battery quickly and also it always downsample your HR music down to max of 48KHz. So basically i found that older propietary DAPs are far better than android based DAPs that produced nowadays.

 

[Mörchingen]

So basically i found that older propietary DAPs are far better than android based DAPs that produced nowadays.

I quite agree with your analysis.

I've been testing the A&K SE180 for a few weeks (after having had an SR25 a few years ago) and I still have mixed feelings about the interest of a DAP running under an open or closed version of Android. Considering only the sound quality, the A&K SE180 seems to me to be far superior to the ZX300. But for streaming, the poor performance of this DAP for WIFI reception really deteriorates the experience.
Downloading an album with the AppleMusic app takes 4-5x longer on average on the A&K than on my phone.

The ZX300 remains a good option even for streaming, using the USB DAC function, or the BT receiver function. No obsolescence linked to the version of Android or IOS and the assurance, with the phone, of always being able to use the most recent version of the streaming applications.

 

[rootx64]

I quite agree with your analysis.

I've been testing the A&K SE180 for a few weeks (after having had an SR25 a few years ago) and I still have mixed feelings about the interest of a DAP running under an open or closed version of Android. Considering only the sound quality, the A&K SE180 seems to me to be far superior to the ZX300. But for streaming, the poor performance of this DAP for WIFI reception really deteriorates the experience.
Downloading an album with the AppleMusic app takes 4-5x longer on average on the A&K than on my phone.

The ZX300 remains a good option even for streaming, using the USB DAC function, or the BT receiver function. No obsolescence linked to the version of Android or IOS and the assurance, with the phone, of always being able to use the most recent version of the streaming applications.

May be A&K SE180 is superior to ZX300, but don't forget that SE180 is an $1,500 DAP, whereas ZX300 peice is $600 brand new, so we are talking here more than double the price. I think ZX300 is the best choice for its price range from all the other brands/models, and for $600 for ZX300 you will get a perfect natural sound with great details, great high/mids/treble, and great un-bloated Bass, i hear every single instrument in each song regardless if it is HR FLAC or non-HR MP3, and I also hear the artist voice distinctively. For sure all this can be accomplished using ZX300's 3.5mm jack, and if you need more superior sound in every term you will need to use its 4.4mm jack with compatible balanced headphones, i never rely on Bluetooth to get the best sound for my "audiophile" ears, also i never rely on the streaming services, i rely only of HR-FLAC/FLAC files.
Don't forget that you will need 200 hours of using ZX300 to get the full capcitors potential, so you can get the ultimate hearing experience from the ZX300 (as officially advertised from Sony).

 

[Mörchingen]

Peut-être qu'A&K SE180 est supérieur au ZX300, mais n'oubliez pas que le SE180 est un DAP à 1 500 $, alors que le ZX300 est neuf à 600 $, nous parlons donc ici de plus du double du prix. Je pense que le ZX300 est le meilleur choix pour sa gamme de prix parmi toutes les autres marques/modèles, et pour 600 $ pour le ZX300, vous obtiendrez un son naturel parfait avec de superbes détails, de superbes aigus/médiums/aigus et de superbes basses non gonflées, je entendre chaque instrument dans chaque chanson, qu'il s'agisse de HR FLAC ou de MP3 non HR, et j'entends également la voix de l'artiste distinctement. Bien sûr, tout cela peut être accompli en utilisant la prise jack 3,5 mm du ZX300, et si vous avez besoin d'un son supérieur à chaque terme, vous devrez utiliser sa prise jack 4,4 mm avec des écouteurs équilibrés compatibles, je ne compte jamais sur Bluetooth pour obtenir le meilleur son pour mon " oreilles d'audiophiles, aussi je ne compte jamais sur les services de streaming,
N'oubliez pas que vous aurez besoin de 200 heures d'utilisation du ZX300 pour obtenir le plein potentiel des condensateurs, afin que vous puissiez obtenir l'expérience auditive ultime du ZX300 (comme annoncé officiellement par Sony).

Encore une fois je suis d'accord avec toi. Dans la gamme de prix ZX300, j'avais le Fiio M9, le M11 (1ère version) et l'A&K SR25 (1ère version). Et finalement, je n'ai gardé que la ZX300. J'ai ensuite acheté le WM1A d'occasion pour avoir une sortie 3,5 mm plus qualitative que le ZX300 (et bénéficier d'un écran plus grand et plus lisible). Mais pour la sortie 4,4 mm et avec le firmware de MrWalkman, il est difficile de vraiment distinguer une différence de qualité entre le ZX300 et le WM1A.
Je garderai le ZX300 jusqu'à sa fin de vie. Quant au rodage des condensateurs, comme je l'ai acheté en 2017, j'ai déjà dépassé les 200 heures depuis longtemps.

 

[Bigbeat]

I will keep the ZX300 until its end of life. As for running in the capacitors, as I bought it in 1997, I have already exceeded 200 hours for a long time.

Somehow I can't believe you bought your NW-ZX300 in 1997 already.

 

[Mörchingen]

Somehow I can't believe you bought your NW-ZX300 in 1997already.

Typo. 2017 of course. Thank you for your remark.

 

[rootx64]

Typo. 2017 of course. Thank you for your remark.

hhhhhh , you actually said 2017 and not 1997 as i see from your text. However, i never used WM1A nor WM1Z beacuse both are bulky and do not have the attractive shape of ZX300 and they are much more expensive than it, also i read a lot of reviews online that using ZX300 along with Mr.Walkman one Firmware and WM1Z sound signature + MX3 region applied, you will not notice any sound quality difference between ZX300 and WM1A/WM1Z, so why to pay more than double for WM1A/WM1Z and get a bulky less pocket-freindly devices with similar sound as ZX300?! so that's why i think ZX300 with Mr.Walkman is the winner when compared with WM1A/WM1Z, and i think that's why Sony stopped manufacturing ZX300 like the WM1A/WM1Z as these three models are from the best (if they are not THE best) sounding DAPs of all time when you combine them with good 3.5mm headphones like DT770 Pro or 4.4mm quality IEMs, and they are far better than the current Android-based DAPs that are being produced from Sony and other DAPs manufacturers ...
On Mr.Walkman page i found a link to a hardware modification for ZX300: https://www.npaudio.uk/npaudio-modifications/npaudio-zx300-expmv3-upgrade so anyone knows whats these modifications are all about? and what is the affect of this modification on ZX300 sound signature?

 

[nc8000]

hhhhhh , you actually said 2017 and not 1997 as i see from your text. However, i never used WM1A nor WM1Z beacuse both are bulky and do not have the attractive shape of ZX300 and they are much more expensive than it, also i read a lot of reviews online that using ZX300 along with Mr.Walkman one Firmware and WM1Z sound signature + MX3 region applied, you will not notice any sound quality difference between ZX300 and WM1A/WM1Z, so why to pay more than double for WM1A/WM1Z and get a bulky less pocket-freindly devices with similar sound as ZX300?! so that's why i think ZX300 with Mr.Walkman is the winner when compared with WM1A/WM1Z, and i think that's why Sony stopped manufacturing ZX300 like the WM1A/WM1Z as these three models are from the best (if they are not THE best) sounding DAPs of all time when you combine them with good 3.5mm headphones like DT770 Pro or 4.4mm quality IEMs, and they are far better than the current Android-based DAPs that are being produced from Sony and other DAPs manufacturers ...
On Mr.Walkman page i found a link to a hardware modification for ZX300: https://www.npaudio.uk/npaudio-modifications/npaudio-zx300-expmv3-upgrade so anyone knows whats these modifications are all about? and what is the affect of this modification on ZX300 sound signature?

The mods are good, I’ve had them done on both my 1Z and ZX300. And while the ZX300 is good and clearly the much better value for money the 1A/1Z are better but not by that much and I actually use my ZX300 more than my 1Z because it travels better due to it’s size and weight. Also the WalkmanOne fw levels the field more but my 1Z is still the better.

 

[rootx64]

The mods are good, I’ve had them done on both my 1Z and ZX300. And while the ZX300 is good and clearly the much better value for money the 1A/1Z are better but not by that much and I actually use my ZX300 more than my 1Z because it travels better due to it’s size and weight. Also the WalkmanOne fw levels the field more but my 1Z is still the better.

The question is by how much is the mod is good for ZX300? Because that aforementioned mod is not cheap it is about 300 Euros exclude shipping back and forth, so what is the benefits you will get from that mod knowing that i found ZX300 sound is fantastic with Mr.walkman firmware and applying WM1Z signature without applying any physical mod?

 

[nc8000]

The question is by how much is the mod is good for ZX300? Because that aforementioned mod is not cheap it is about 300 Euros exclude shipping back and forth, so what is the benefits you will get from that mod knowing that i found ZX300 sound is fantastic with Mr.walkman firmware and applying WM1Z signature without applying any physical mod?

It will build on and improve everything that is already there but only you can decide if the level of improvement warrants the price

 

[rootx64]

It will build on and improve everything that is already there but only you can decide if the level of improvement warrants the price

Thanks for the reply, also i saw from your signature that you are using "NP Audio mod, Walkman One fw WM1Z, MX3, PlusV2, Alt dac" im using the same Software mod that you are using on my ZX300, but i switched the PlusV2 to Normal boot mode since PlusV2 boot mode has problem when using the Bluetooth receiver/transmitter functionality on ZX300, so is there a big differnce between PlusV2 and Normal boot modes in terms of Sound quality/stage?