[dazzerfong]

Hello! So, the never ending search for the perfect first DAP (and only DAP for a looong while) continues. I was so sold on the FiiO M11 but, to be honest, I don't really need all the WiFi and apps and all those things since I have a phone that can do that. I just want something to play music! Nothing else, no pictures, no video, nothing, just a better sounding device to replace my iPod Video. I've been watching so many videos about the NW-ZX300 and reading so many reviews but I still have a few questions, hope you guys don't mind dropping them here.

1) The only difference between the NW-ZX300 and the A version is the internal storage? I've found the A version to be much much cheaper (unfortunately the store doesn't ship to Spain, I'll have to look for a solution on that, maybe I can ask my american friends to buy me one and then ship it to me...)
2) Is it true that I can use up to 1tb SD cards with it? I've consulted Sony's website and looks like it can handle up to 2tb, not something practical right now since the market is non existent for those cards yet. (link here: https://www.sonylatvija.com/electronics/support/articles/00171492)
3) I'm worried about how snappy the interface is with a ton of music. Granted, the speed of the device will be determined by the type of SD card used, I plan on using a very high capacity SD card Class 10 (minimum 512GBs) to hold all my music there. How good does the device work with tons of music on it?
4) Also, how easy is to change the battery? As far as I know, Sony doesn't sell battery replacements right now, but I'm wondering if it would be doable to open the device and if it's non invasive or complicated to do so if I end up needing to upgrade something like the battery. This doesn't bother me at all, but it's something I look forward since I plan on using this device for a very very long time (5 years minimum).

Thanks for the responses!

1. Correct, and that the A version also has different legal text on the back of it.
2. You can use any SD card that's out in existence right now. It supports SDXC, which is what it really means when it can handle up to 2TB. As long as your SD card is an SD, SDHC or SDXC (i.e. literally every SD card out there right now), it'll work. When SDUC becomes a thing, the ZX300 won't support it.
3. Works fine. Album art has a little bit of lag when scrolling through the album list (<1s); otherwise, no real impact.
4. Can't say unfortunately. I do know that Sony offers to swap out the battery for a rather reasonable fee though.

 

[tonyg1]

Hello! So, the never ending search for the perfect first DAP (and only DAP for a looong while) continues. I was so sold on the FiiO M11 but, to be honest, I don't really need all the WiFi and apps and all those things since I have a phone that can do that. I just want something to play music! Nothing else, no pictures, no video, nothing, just a better sounding device to replace my iPod Video. I've been watching so many videos about the NW-ZX300 and reading so many reviews but I still have a few questions, hope you guys don't mind dropping them here.

1) The only difference between the NW-ZX300 and the A version is the internal storage? I've found the A version to be much much cheaper (unfortunately the store doesn't ship to Spain, I'll have to look for a solution on that, maybe I can ask my american friends to buy me one and then ship it to me...)
2) Is it true that I can use up to 1tb SD cards with it? I've consulted Sony's website and looks like it can handle up to 2tb, not something practical right now since the market is non existent for those cards yet. (link here: https://www.sonylatvija.com/electronics/support/articles/00171492)
3) I'm worried about how snappy the interface is with a ton of music. Granted, the speed of the device will be determined by the type of SD card used, I plan on using a very high capacity SD card Class 10 (minimum 512GBs) to hold all my music there. How good does the device work with tons of music on it?
4) Also, how easy is to change the battery? As far as I know, Sony doesn't sell battery replacements right now, but I'm wondering if it would be doable to open the device and if it's non invasive or complicated to do so if I end up needing to upgrade something like the battery. This doesn't bother me at all, but it's something I look forward since I plan on using this device for a very very long time (5 years minimum).

Thanks for the responses!

1) Yes you're correct, the only difference is the internal storage. Not sure if the 300A is actually still available - the only online stores I can see it listed on are the type of site I wouldn't buy from.
2) I'm not aware of any published limitation on SD card capacity. I currently have a 128Gb card with about 80Gb of data (about 760 albums/10,000 tracks).
3) I haven't experienced any lag on the device compared to when I first loaded up a couple of albums to try it out. I have seen users comments that they get some lag when scrolling through albums; I haven't experienced this but I do try to keep album artwork files as small as possible (and note that larger files may not display on the Sony) - I use Tag Editor to change out the artwork if necessary. Each time you power up the device (i.e. not from standby) it rebuilds the music database, so it's only really manipulating metadata rather than entire MP3 files. Sony state that the music database rebuild can take up to 10 minutes. With the card and files loaded as 2) above it used to take 3-4 minutes, but I I recently updated firmware to Version 2.02 and the rebuild time has come down to about 20 seconds. Obviously if you leave it in standby mode it's up and running instantly but I found that battery drain in standby was a bit excessive.
4)

 

[ttt123]

......
No remote buttons work except for the BT remote. That's because it relies on the 4th connection on a TRRS jack to be read, something the ZX300 does not have.

A related reason/explanation, is that (from my experience) the ZX2, WM1x, ZX300, have a TRRS separate ground implementation on the 3.5 mm output. If you plug in a cable/jack wired for 3.5mm TRRS into the 3.5 socket, the DAP will use the extra connection as a separate ground, so you will get pseudo balanced. It is not a differential balanced signal, but a separate ground is implemented for each channel, instead of the ground being common to both channels. The DAP will automatically switch to this separate ground output. So the 3.5mm output is already using the TRRS for this separate ground, so it is not available for use by a wired remote controller. There is zero chance that a wired remote using TRRS can be implemented.

 

[dazzerfong]

A related reason/explanation, is that (from my experience) the ZX2, WM1x, ZX300, have a TRRS separate ground implementation on the 3.5 mm output. If you plug in a cable/jack wired for 3.5mm TRRS into the 3.5 socket, the DAP will use the extra connection as a separate ground, so you will get pseudo balanced. It is not a differential balanced signal, but a separate ground is implemented for each channel, instead of the ground being common to both channels. The DAP will automatically switch to this separate ground output. So the 3.5mm output is already using the TRRS for this separate ground, so it is not available for use by a wired remote controller. There is zero chance that a wired remote using TRRS can be implemented.

EDIT: Misinformation here, explanation was indeed correct.

 

[ttt123]

Nope, that's not right. If you do that with a regular TRS connection, it will ground itself to the -ve. In other words, ground itself. On top of that, there's no standard for TRRS where the 4th connection is a ground.

Moreover, if it's how you described it, it is actually indeed very possible for it to be turned into a remote if Sony added the circuitry in. Just have a switch where it toggles from 'pseudo-ground' to remote.

If you inspect the jack, you'll see that there's only 2 pins on the side, with the third bottom plate. In other words, TRS only. That's the real reason it'll never happen: because the 3rd pin (for the 4th connection) is missing.

Don't know where you got that information from.

The switching is done at the S-Master. Here is a quote from a review on the ZX2 https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/survey-digital-audio-players-part-3-sony-nw-zx2
"The 3.5mm headphone out is a bit "different" in what I'll call a classic Sony move. They use separate wiring to carry left and right ground signals from the S-Master circuitry to the headphone jack, which is a 4-pole TRRS design. They claim this reduces common impedance and improves stereo separation, while cutting contact resistance in half at the jack itself. This is not to be confused with a balanced output, and it works perfectly fine with any standard 3.5mm headphone plug. Sony doesn't really make a big deal out of it and I'm not sure a lot of ZX2 users even know about this—which is why it's a classic Sony move. There's been a bit of confusion about it on the forums but I can assure you this is NOT a balanced output despite the similarities with HiFiMAN's TRRS 3.5mm balanced jack. You can plug a HiFiMAN RE600 IEM (with stock balanced cable) straight into the ZX2 and it will sound great, but it will remain a single-ended connection.
Read more at https://www.innerfidelity.com/conte...layers-part-3-sony-nw-zx2#qEXT2Zkc40vzZFQY.99"

I am quite sure of the above, as I took the trouble to replace the TRS jack with a TRRS jack on a Whiplash cable. As I had this cable already, I tried it on the WM1A when I got it, and it worked the same way. I can't remember if I tested it on the ZX300, but here is a discussion confirming it is the same on the ZX300. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-nw-zx300.854693/page-46
From post #682
"3.5mm on the ZX300 is TRRS separate ground. it's confirm by Sato-san on Saturday's talk event.
you have to remember that some headphones uses one ground wire from the plug to the Y split, which means there's a 3 feet long wire where the left and right channel shares a ground wire and can cause crosstalk. The point of separate ground is such that the left and right channel do not mix at all and has the shortest path to ground when they do meet up at the PCB."

So for the TRRS, that is definite, as I was running TRRS on the ZX2. Whether Sony could still implement a wired remote, even so, I suspect not, but I do not know 100%, though personally, I think it highly unlikely.

An additional speculation is that for the people who prefer the sound from SE over the 4.4 balanced, they may find that a TRRS separated ground connection on the 3.5 would be an improvement on the standard TRS. Just kind of interesting that the capability is there, but most people don't know about it, or would consider it, as the consensus is to use the 4.4mm out.

 

[dazzerfong]

The switching is done at the S-Master. Here is a quote from a review on the ZX2 https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/survey-digital-audio-players-part-3-sony-nw-zx2
"The 3.5mm headphone out is a bit "different" in what I'll call a classic Sony move. They use separate wiring to carry left and right ground signals from the S-Master circuitry to the headphone jack, which is a 4-pole TRRS design. They claim this reduces common impedance and improves stereo separation, while cutting contact resistance in half at the jack itself. This is not to be confused with a balanced output, and it works perfectly fine with any standard 3.5mm headphone plug. Sony doesn't really make a big deal out of it and I'm not sure a lot of ZX2 users even know about this—which is why it's a classic Sony move. There's been a bit of confusion about it on the forums but I can assure you this is NOT a balanced output despite the similarities with HiFiMAN's TRRS 3.5mm balanced jack. You can plug a HiFiMAN RE600 IEM (with stock balanced cable) straight into the ZX2 and it will sound great, but it will remain a single-ended connection.
Read more at https://www.innerfidelity.com/conte...layers-part-3-sony-nw-zx2#qEXT2Zkc40vzZFQY.99"

I am quite sure of the above, as I took the trouble to replace the TRS jack with a TRRS jack on a Whiplash cable. As I had this cable already, I tried it on the WM1A when I got it, and it worked the same way. I can't remember if I tested it on the ZX300, but here is a discussion confirming it is the same on the ZX300. https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-nw-zx300.854693/page-46
From post #682
3.5mm on the ZX300 is TRRS separate ground. it's confirm by Sato-san on Saturday's talk event.
you have to remember that some headphones uses one ground wire from the plug to the Y split, which means there's a 3 feet long wire where the left and right channel shares a ground wire and can cause crosstalk. The point of separate ground is such that the left and right channel do not mix at all and has the shortest path to ground when they do meet up at the PCB.

So for the TRRS, that is definite, as I was running TRRS on the ZX2. Whether Sony could still implement a wired remote, even so, I suspect not, but I do not know 100%, though personally, I think it highly unlikely.

Nope, you're absolutely right, apologies for that post. The other pin is 'opposite' the other 2 pins.

In that case, that makes a lot of sense, especially with the PCB shots. However, the funny thing is that they're both grounded the same anyway, as in towards the chassis, so it's a moot point anyway unless you're working with like metres long cables in an EMC-heavy environment.

Classic Sony indeed!

 

[ttt123]

Nope, you're absolutely right, apologies for that post. The other pin is 'opposite' the other 2 pins.

In that case, that makes a lot of sense, especially with the PCB shots. However, the funny thing is that they're both grounded the same anyway, as in towards the chassis, so it's a moot point anyway unless you're working with like metres long cables in an EMC-heavy environment.

Classic Sony indeed!

Similar to how people look at bi-wiring for a speaker in a home stereo set up. Electrically, looking at the schematic, there is no difference. I've tried it, and to me, it helps, just like the TRRS earphone connection helps. Other people don't believe, which is fine. Let each person choose their own poison.

 

[geisterfaust]

1) Yes you're correct, the only difference is the internal storage. Not sure if the 300A is actually still available - the only online stores I can see it listed on are the type of site I wouldn't buy from.
2) I'm not aware of any published limitation on SD card capacity. I currently have a 128Gb card with about 80Gb of data (about 760 albums/10,000 tracks).
3) I haven't experienced any lag on the device compared to when I first loaded up a couple of albums to try it out. I have seen users comments that they get some lag when scrolling through albums; I haven't experienced this but I do try to keep album artwork files as small as possible (and note that larger files may not display on the Sony) - I use Tag Editor to change out the artwork if necessary. Each time you power up the device (i.e. not from standby) it rebuilds the music database, so it's only really manipulating metadata rather than entire MP3 files. Sony state that the music database rebuild can take up to 10 minutes. With the card and files loaded as 2) above it used to take 3-4 minutes, but I I recently updated firmware to Version 2.02 and the rebuild time has come down to about 20 seconds. Obviously if you leave it in standby mode it's up and running instantly but I found that battery drain in standby was a bit excessive.
4)

First of all thanks guys for the quick response, I wasn't expecting more than one message answering my questions. Thank you!

Tony, I've seen the 300A being sold by JoyBuy (with great reviews and recent successful purchases), the place looks legit but unfortunately for some dumb reason they don't ship to Europe... I'll try to search the internet for a place to buy it, since the price change is pretty significant compared to the 300 prices here in Spain...

Thanks again!

 

[tonyg1]

First of all thanks guys for the quick response, I wasn't expecting more than one message answering my questions. Thank you!

Tony, I've seen the 300A being sold by JoyBuy (with great reviews and recent successful purchases), the place looks legit but unfortunately for some dumb reason they don't ship to Europe... I'll try to search the internet for a place to buy it, since the price change is pretty significant compared to the 300 prices here in Spain...

Thanks again!

I looked at JoyBuy because it was the only place I could see the 300A model listed (apart from used items on eBay). For the NW-ZX300A They show 497 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review (not a single 2, 3, or 4-star review). Many of the reviews included comments on long delivery times (40 days+), lack of tracking ability etc. but also urging people to trust the supplier. There were many "blank" 5-star reviews with an accompanying auto-generated comment that the customer review function times-out and defaults to 5-stars. I also checked some 3rd party review websites. They rate JoyBuy as 1-star, with many comments stating that items didn't arrive, customer service was poor, ordered items not being in stock, no refunds policy and invoices from Customs for import duty being received. There were also references to counterfeit goods received.
It is of course only my humble opinion but based on this I personally wouldn't buy from them. It would be useful to know if anyone else on the forum has bought anything from JoyBuy and if so what their views are.

 

[peteh]

I looked at JoyBuy because it was the only place I could see the 300A model listed (apart from used items on eBay). For the NW-ZX300A They show 497 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review (not a single 2, 3, or 4-star review). Many of the reviews included comments on long delivery times (40 days+), lack of tracking ability etc. but also urging people to trust the supplier. There were many "blank" 5-star reviews with an accompanying auto-generated comment that the customer review function times-out and defaults to 5-stars. I also checked some 3rd party review websites. They rate JoyBuy as 1-star, with many comments stating that items didn't arrive, customer service was poor, ordered items not being in stock, no refunds policy and invoices from Customs for import duty being received. There were also references to counterfeit goods received.
It is of course only my humble opinion but based on this I personally wouldn't buy from them. It would be useful to know if anyone else on the forum has bought anything from JoyBuy and if so what their views are.

I bought a ZX300A from them a while back and although it took a while it arrived and was fine

 

[touzeen]

I looked at JoyBuy because it was the only place I could see the 300A model listed (apart from used items on eBay). For the NW-ZX300A They show 497 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review (not a single 2, 3, or 4-star review). Many of the reviews included comments on long delivery times (40 days+), lack of tracking ability etc. but also urging people to trust the supplier. There were many "blank" 5-star reviews with an accompanying auto-generated comment that the customer review function times-out and defaults to 5-stars. I also checked some 3rd party review websites. They rate JoyBuy as 1-star, with many comments stating that items didn't arrive, customer service was poor, ordered items not being in stock, no refunds policy and invoices from Customs for import duty being received. There were also references to counterfeit goods received.
It is of course only my humble opinion but based on this I personally wouldn't buy from them. It would be useful to know if anyone else on the forum has bought anything from JoyBuy and if so what their views are.

You could try emailing AccessoryJack.com.
I got my ZX300 from them almost 2 years back and they had the ZX300A In stock at that time,but not available now.
Really happy with their service and I got it shipped to India.

 

[geisterfaust]

I looked at JoyBuy because it was the only place I could see the 300A model listed (apart from used items on eBay). For the NW-ZX300A They show 497 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review (not a single 2, 3, or 4-star review). Many of the reviews included comments on long delivery times (40 days+), lack of tracking ability etc. but also urging people to trust the supplier. There were many "blank" 5-star reviews with an accompanying auto-generated comment that the customer review function times-out and defaults to 5-stars. I also checked some 3rd party review websites. They rate JoyBuy as 1-star, with many comments stating that items didn't arrive, customer service was poor, ordered items not being in stock, no refunds policy and invoices from Customs for import duty being received. There were also references to counterfeit goods received.
It is of course only my humble opinion but based on this I personally wouldn't buy from them. It would be useful to know if anyone else on the forum has bought anything from JoyBuy and if so what their views are.

You could try emailing AccessoryJack.com.
I got my ZX300 from them almost 2 years back and they had the ZX300A In stock at that time,but not available now.
Really happy with their service and I got it shipped to India.

Tony: thanks for the message. Yes, i'm aware of that and i'm not 100% sold on buying from JoyBuy, mostly because they don't ship to Spain. I have never seen the A series being sold in any other active website, if anybody knows one I'd love to see it.

Touzeen: Thanks for the link dude/dudette! The regular 300 series is much cheaper there than on Amazon or any other places. I'll save the link while I continue to find a place to buy it. Thank you!

 

[watchfisher]

I’ve heard many positive things about JoyBuy. Nothing to be concerned about. I’m also considering the 300A.

I looked at JoyBuy because it was the only place I could see the 300A model listed (apart from used items on eBay). For the NW-ZX300A They show 497 5-star reviews and 1 1-star review (not a single 2, 3, or 4-star review). Many of the reviews included comments on long delivery times (40 days+), lack of tracking ability etc. but also urging people to trust the supplier. There were many "blank" 5-star reviews with an accompanying auto-generated comment that the customer review function times-out and defaults to 5-stars. I also checked some 3rd party review websites. They rate JoyBuy as 1-star, with many comments stating that items didn't arrive, customer service was poor, ordered items not being in stock, no refunds policy and invoices from Customs for import duty being received. There were also references to counterfeit goods received.
It is of course only my humble opinion but based on this I personally wouldn't buy from them. It would be useful to know if anyone else on the forum has bought anything from JoyBuy and if so what their views are.

I bought a ZX300A from them a while back and although it took a while it arrived and was fine

 

[Partlys4int]

Hey @abitdeef , remember I once contemplated getting the Sennheiser IE800S?

Well, I've given in and bought them full-price. They're a terrific match with the ZX300, on SE and on balanced.

 

[abitdeef]

Hey @abitdeef , remember I once contemplated getting the Sennheiser IE800S?

Well, I've given in and bought them full-price. They're a terrific match with the ZX300, on SE and on balanced.

Ha ha you opened up that wallet finally I bet they sound amazing, always better to spend cash on iems and cans I say. Enjoy!

I'm using 19 dollar skull candies and omg they sound amazing, what was I thinking? The resolution and sound stage and dynamics are world class.