[Native-DSD]

Got the ZX300 last week mainly for my DSD collection... HighRes Flacs etc. sound great, sadly DSD non native does not... and I cannot find any 4.4mm balanced Headphones... not a fan of Sony Headphones generally so no options for now I guess? Also has anyone tested 400gb SDs? - can’t find if this is supported... isn’t supported on Onkyo DP-X1 for example...

 

[psikey]

Got the ZX300 last week mainly for my DSD collection... HighRes Flacs etc. sound great, sadly DSD non native does not... and I cannot find any 4.4mm balanced Headphones... not a fan of Sony Headphones generally so no options for now I guess? Also has anyone tested 400gb SDs? - can’t find if this is supported... isn’t supported on Onkyo DP-X1 for example...

Well DSD via SE not that bad considering not Native. Chord Mojo & Hugo2 much better, but hopefully will do once the Sony balanced 4.4mm cable arrives for my SE846's.

Everything else sounds fabulous, even in DAC mode with Tidal HiFi especially good via UAPP app.

Tidal on PC with ZX300 doesn't seem to pass MQA and I also downloaded a demo MQA file to the ZX300 itself and doesn't seem to see the track. Is MQA enabled yet?

My setup now with Z5 compact linked together. Really neat and not to heavy.

 

[Ang Probinsyano]

Can someone confirm if units available on Asian countries like PH will have a high gain option or still needs to uncap? Thanks.

 

[purk]

Well DSD via SE not that bad considering not Native. Chord Mojo & Hugo2 much better, but hopefully will do once the Sony balanced 4.4mm cable arrives for my SE846's.

Everything else sounds fabulous, even in DAC mode with Tidal HiFi especially good via UAPP app.

Tidal on PC with ZX300 doesn't seem to pass MQA and I also downloaded a demo MQA file to the ZX300 itself and doesn't seem to see the track. Is MQA enabled yet?

My setup now with Z5 compact linked together. Really neat and not to heavy.

We all have to remember that the ZX300 is half the size of the MOJO so the driving power will be less but I think the balanced output should be closer.

 

[Raketen]

Got the ZX300 last week mainly for my DSD collection... HighRes Flacs etc. sound great, sadly DSD non native does not... and I cannot find any 4.4mm balanced Headphones... not a fan of Sony Headphones generally so no options for now I guess? Also has anyone tested 400gb SDs? - can’t find if this is supported... isn’t supported on Onkyo DP-X1 for example...

Always have the option of adapters if you have any balanced cables already, replacement cables if you don't, and if your cans have 4 condutors at the jack (rather than merged grounds at y-split) can reterminate into balanced and get an adapter for SE.

Though from personal experience I'd caution against switching everything to balanced unless you've settled on a long term primary source and balanced is its primary output- otherwise it can become an adapter cable purgatory.

At least it seems like some other manufacturers are adopting the 4.4 standard- for instance I believe that Sennheiser are including 4.4 cables with the new HD660S and IE800S headphones.

 

[goody]

Bs or not i still think ZX100 sounds similar to ZX300 thats to MY EARS!! thats from the SE

 

[Partlys4int]

Well DSD via SE not that bad considering not Native. Chord Mojo & Hugo2 much better, but hopefully will do once the Sony balanced 4.4mm cable arrives for my SE846's.

Everything else sounds fabulous, even in DAC mode with Tidal HiFi especially good via UAPP app.

Tidal on PC with ZX300 doesn't seem to pass MQA and I also downloaded a demo MQA file to the ZX300 itself and doesn't seem to see the track. Is MQA enabled yet?

My setup now with Z5 compact linked together. Really neat and not to heavy.

There goes that portability factor lol

 

[Mark2010]

How does the UI on the zx300 compare to the A35 is it faster ?

I found the UI on the A35 to be very slow.

 

[TenderTendon]

and in the case of the silver vs black of the ZX300 the anodizing in the black version is much thicker in order to take on the colour, thus with the internals being the same and the chassis ground property being different (the thicker oxide film of the black version causes the chassis ground to have a slightly higher resistance than the silver version, thus venturing off from the ideal ground that the chassis is suppose to provide), they speculate that is the cause of the sound difference.

I don't know who fabricated this statement, but it is a completely inaccurate. The aluminum oxide layer produced by anodizing is electrically non-conductive. In order for the ZX300 case (or any other anodized aluminum case) to be used as a ground, the oxide layer (doesn't matter if black or clear) has to be removed from the screw bosses or they have to be masked prior to anodizing, otherwise the case would not be a ground in any way. You can see in the picture of the NW-WM1A chassis below that the screw bosses are not anodized. Given the fact that the ground path (on both silver and black players) is raw aluminum and not different thicknesses of oxide layers, there is absolutely no reason to insinuate that the players would sound differently. There is nothing mysterious about this.

 

[TenderTendon]

How does the UI on the zx300 compare to the A35 is it faster ?

I found the UI on the A35 to be very slow.

Definitely faster. I owned the A35 for a while, thinking it would be great for the gym. Two things I remember the most was the laggy interface and the low output power.

 

[PCheung]

Can someone confirm if units available on Asian countries like PH will have a high gain option or still needs to uncap? Thanks.

Usually Asian version don't need to uncap and have High gain

 

[Ang Probinsyano]

Usually Asian version don't need to uncap and have High gain

Thanks for clarifying.

Wm1a/z units here are made in Malaysia, I guess the zx300 will be too?

 

[PCheung]

Thanks for clarifying.

Wm1a/z units here are made in Malaysia, I guess the zx300 will be too?

Should be.
Last time I checked the demo unit it is made in Malaysia

 

[kms108]

Thanks for clarifying.

Wm1a/z units here are made in Malaysia, I guess the zx300 will be too?

I think all the current hi end DAP from Sony are made in Malaysia.

 

[nanaholic]

I don't know who fabricated this statement, but it is a completely inaccurate. The aluminum oxide layer produced by anodizing is electrically non-conductive. In order for the ZX300 case (or any other anodized aluminum case) to be used as a ground, the oxide layer (doesn't matter if black or clear) has to be removed from the screw bosses or they have to be masked prior to anodizing, otherwise the case would not be a ground in any way. You can see in the picture of the NW-WM1A chassis below that the screw bosses are not anodized. Given the fact that the ground path (on both silver and black players) is raw aluminum and not different thicknesses of oxide layers, there is absolutely no reason to insinuate that the players would sound differently. There is nothing mysterious about this.

But it is mysterious to them - everything you said above was already mentioned in the e-earphone video interview regarding the chassis ground design/PCB board ground contact with chassis and anodizing etc, but again it's the only variable the Sony engineers can think of between the silver and black version, hence Sato-san came to the conclusion that perhaps the thickness difference of the alumite between the silver and black version is the cause - as he said so in the video. Notice he never stated this as a statement of fact, but with the lack of other variable factors to account for this is the one difference he came to point out. In previous development interviews for the WM1 series they also highlighted how they found that even with the same material of different purity can cause an audible difference (their claim - not mine, and again I'll point out this is just similar to the school of thought regarding things such as OFC in cables), if they have that kind of thinking then it's pretty natural for them to come to the conclusion that the more anodized black version with paint and stuff which has undergone more chemical processing is cause of the difference.

Personally speaking I think a placebo effect with the colour is as much of a plausible explanation to account for the difference - until they can put together an ABX test to show otherwise.