Actually I should add that while here in Shanghai I picked up a ZX300A, in person from the Sony store.
What amazes me here in Shanghai is how hands-on the stores are: big Apple stores where people just pile in and try everything. Ditto with the Sony store - they just have everything available for you to sit down (or stand given how packed the place can get) plug in your own headphones/IEMs, throw in your own microSD card, play around.
I could hear a difference between the ZX300 and WM1A, and the WM1Z is another step up - but at 10 times the price of the ZX300A!
They also had a TH-1ES (or whatever it’s called) paired with the Z1R. I couldn’t play my own tracks with it, as it seems the WM1Z (feeding the TH1ES) can’t act as a Bluetooth receiver and output via the WM port at the same time, and the microSD card I had wasn’t recognized. But from the demo tracks they had it’s a great combination.
The bad news is I can’t use the ZX300A until I get home in a few weeks: my microSD card isn’t in the right format or something, and out of the box it doesn’t have the 2.0 firmware update so I can’t connect with my phone via Bluetooth. Don’t have a laptop with me to play around with updates either. Oh well, I’m on holiday for a few weeks so will have fun with it when I’m home