[davidcotton]

I'm really close to pulling the trigger, but i have some doubts coming from the ZX300, which i love in many aspects.

Streaming was one of the principal reasons to go this way and I was afraid about the 16/48 limitation with nonSony apps but it seems that an imminent (well, it's Sony) firmware will solve it: https://www.porta-fi.com/sony-nw-zx507-walkman-review/2/ (i don't know if this answers @psikey question or if it was already said here)
I don't like losing the usb dac and bluetooth receiver functions, i use them a lot. Do you know guys if there's any intention of recovering them (sorry if it's been answered before, i didn't find it with the search function). Do you miss them in your normal use?

And last, for all the kind people that shared their experiences buying from Asia, do you know if there's international warranty or if i had problems won't find assistance here in Spain? And did you find problems with customs coming from Amazon?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Accessoryjack.com seems well regarded, but don't forget with the current situation there could be delays.

 

[Ryokan]

Accessoryjack.com seems well regarded, but don't forget with the current situation there could be delays.

And the exchange rate isn't so great.

 

[davidcotton]

And the exchange rate isn't so great.

Ain't that the truth

 

[Ryokan]

Ain't that the truth

According to FedEx mines been flying around Lantau Island for the last four days

 

[Gus141]

Im not sure if that update is even coming, might be fake rumors..

Could be, but I hope it’s not fake news. Otherwise I don’t see the point of the streaming apps on this DAP since my phone (with the same 48k/16b limitations) has better battery life with native TIDAL and Qobuz apps and a much better screen. If Sony can give us direct, non-SRC’d, audio from streaming apps, then I can see this DAP replacing a lot of the stuff I use now to get High-res audio on portable devices. But right now it’s great for locally stored music, but for streaming, the quality isn’t as good as I’d like.

I love the build quality, the software UI (mostly), and the sound quality for local music, but Sony can do better. My FiiO M11 Pro using UAPP (which can bypass Android audio and send the output directly to the dual AK4497 DACs) sounds better for TIDAL and Qobuz than the ZX507. For now. Let’s hope this firmware update is not a rumor.

Cheers,
Gus

 

[SebaE2012]

yeah the ZX2 is a noise machine for sure

I use my Zx2 with SE846 and I haven't experienced the noise mentioned in some previous posts. It's from memory, though, as I don't currently have the SE846 with me (lockdown problems...). 8 may have to give it a try again and listen carefully. I'm using Z7M2 at the moment.

 

[Pro-Jules]

So, anybody seen anything real yet regarding any update to resolve the 16/48 conversion ? Or just wishful thinking.

Any reliable channel to get an actual response from Sony?

I wouldn’t recommend anyone buying the 507 until this is resolved.

I don’t see why they would comment.

but they should fix it imho.

 

[antdroid]

Could be, but I hope it’s not fake news. Otherwise I don’t see the point of the streaming apps on this DAP since my phone (with the same 48k/16b limitations) has better battery life with native TIDAL and Qobuz apps and a much better screen. If Sony can give us direct, non-SRC’d, audio from streaming apps, then I can see this DAP replacing a lot of the stuff I use now to get High-res audio on portable devices. But right now it’s great for locally stored music, but for streaming, the quality isn’t as good as I’d like.

I love the build quality, the software UI (mostly), and the sound quality for local music, but Sony can do better. My FiiO M11 Pro using UAPP (which can bypass Android audio and send the output directly to the dual AK4497 DACs) sounds better for TIDAL and Qobuz than the ZX507. For now. Let’s hope this firmware update is not a rumor.

Cheers,
Gus

why dont you use UAPP for the 507 then?

 

[Gus141]

why dont you use UAPP for the 507 then?

I’d love to get Hi-Res out of UAPP on the 507, but alas UAPP is not able to play hi-res direct out of the app to the DAC and bypass the SRC‘d Android audio. It has the same restrictions, and same quality, as native 3rd-party apps on the ZX507. I don’t expect that to change due to Sony’s proprietary DAC and based on the feedback I’ve seen in the various UAPP forums.

Sony needs to fix this themselves.

Cheers,
Gus

Edit: don’t get me wrong, I really like the ZX507 and that’s why I’m hoping for this firmware update to allow us to see it’s full potential with the streaming apps, not just the locally stored files.

 

[antdroid]

I’d love to get Hi-Res out of UAPP on the 507, but alas UAPP is not able to play hi-res direct out of the app to the DAC and bypass the SRC‘d Android audio. It has the same restrictions, and same quality, as native 3rd-party apps on the ZX507. I don’t expect that to change due to Sony’s proprietary DAC and based on the feedback I’ve seen in the various UAPP forums.

Sony needs to fix this themselves.

Cheers,
Gus

Edit: don’t get me wrong, I really like the ZX507 and that’s why I’m hoping for this firmware update to allow us to see it’s full potential with the streaming apps, not just the locally stored files.

Do you actually hear differences between 44/48 16 and higher sampled music? or should i say, do you hear any differences in the resampling?

i used UAPP on 507 just now. seems to work fine. Shows direct mode is working. Am I missing something?

 

[psikey]

Do you actually hear differences between 44/48 16 and higher sampled music? or should i say, do you hear any differences in the resampling?

In used UAPP on 507 just now. seems to work fine. Shows direct mode is working. Am I missing something?

In direct mode it just shows as being played at tracks encoded rate as UAPP does not actually know in direct mode (as already confirmed my UAPP themselves).

As already said, currently only the Walkman app plays HD music bit perfect. Its a £600+ player with streaming/Android 9 being its main draw over previous Sony's yet only at 16/48.

Whats the point of having a HD music streaming service at all if your player down codes to 16/48.

Even my S10+ with UAPP will play bitperfect Tidal even with MQA unfold and its not a dedicated music player.

Yes, Sony still sounds fine even at 16/48 but we don't pursue "fine". This sites pointless if we did!

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Is anyone else having issues with the song database in the native Walkman app? For example, in the album artists view, artists are not listed alphabetically in some cases. Also if I update the album artist, it doesn't seem to take in the app, even after rebuilding the database.

For the latter case, here are the steps I took:
1. Delete album from device
2. Rebuild database on device
3. Change album artist for album and all songs in Sony Music Center for PC
4. Transfer updated album to device
5. Rebuild database on device

I've also tried deleting the album in Music Center, changing album artist on details page for all files in Windows Explorer, and reimporting as an alternative step 3. Still no joy.

UAPP seems to pick up on the changes just fine.

 

[eternalEquilibrium]

In direct mode it just shows as being played at tracks encoded rate as UAPP does not actually know in direct mode (as already confirmed my UAPP themselves).

As already said, currently only the Walkman app plays HD music bit perfect. Its a £600+ player with streaming/Android 9 being its main draw over previous Sony's yet only at 16/48.

Whats the point of having a HD music streaming service at all if your player down codes to 16/48.

Even my S10+ with UAPP will play bitperfect Tidal even with MQA unfold and its not a dedicated music player.

Yes, Sony still sounds fine even at 16/48 but we don't pursue "fine". This sites pointless if we did!

I'm confused, the S10 is android too. Why wouldn't uapp work the same on the 507?

 

[psikey]

I'm confused, the S10 is android too. Why wouldn't uapp work the same on the 507?

UAPP uses its own custom written audio driver to bypass Android limitations but it has to be configured/work with the phone/DAP's internal DAC which the developer has to code for. UAPP can work with Internal DAC if known, external DAC or let Android audio handle it (24/48 or 24/192 scalling dependant on phone).

From what they told me the Sony's arn't doing stuff standard and would need a lot of time to investigate and priorities more towards high volume phone compatability. They said they do hope to look into it some time this year when I last asked.

Hiby (for example) have written there own code to bypass Android Audio and its system wide so all Apps if written correctly can do bit perfect output. UAPP also works with Hiby's perfectly.

Android Audio evolved as it did so that competing apps (music, alarms, update sounds) on phonnes weren't all trying to feed out audio at same time all trying to set their own audio parameters as far as I've read. We need Android on DAP's to do offline storage for streaming media services as they will only license Android OS & IOS for that.

From Android 10 (I think) Google have added more API's to the OS so Developers can more easily bypass the Android Audio scalling.

 

[Fran Jau]

Is this a reliable source for the beta firmware? Not seen it mentioned anywhere else. Would import one today if this was definitely happing in near future.

Not to me, but you never know