[productred]

Couldn't find much info. Managed to get a very good deal on the ZX507 ($599 AUD brand new). Love it with my Andros and Z1Rs
Just wondering if i don't plan to use it for about 2-5 days, would you recommend i turn it off or will it be ok on standby? What do you reckon?

Android machines are all like phones, there's no real standby and the battery drain is constant even when you (think you) are not using it. Switch it off when not in use. The WM1A/Z on the other hand do not run on Android and can be left on like forever.

 

[Andricop]

If someone is looking for an uncapped ZX507, I'm selling mine
Thanks

 

[dzayia]

If someone is looking for an uncapped ZX507, I'm selling mine
Thanks

Hmmm... getting ready to secure one. May I ask reason for selling?

 

[Andricop]

Hmmm... getting ready to secure one. May I ask reason for selling?

I want to upgrade to an AK SP2K

 

[Kiats]

I am still enjoying my ZX507. Streaming off QQMusic and Xiami. It drives the Fitear EST and DC customs nicely via the 4.4mm balanced output. Nice holographic soundstage as well. Absolutely musical. Only bugbear is the battery life. Thanks goodness I have other DAPs to pick up the slack when the ZX507 runs out of juice.

I am wondering if the Sony folks will do something about upgrading the battery performance in the next iteration of the ZX series of DAPs. Whilst I do take the point that the size of the ZX series will have to grow to accommodate the increased battery size. But I think it will be a a good trade off and offers an option for users who want to use it for streaming, which unfortunately can only be done with an android operating system, along with the attendant issues.

 

[Kozwoz]

The battery life is abysmal when playing music. Even with the applied system tweaks I can't leave the device in stand by for a day and expect it to retain a sufficient amount of charge. People on here get defensive and say why'd you buy it or why don't you sell it but that really isn't the point. The ZX507 battery life is not as advertised by Sony regardless of it's sound quality.

 

[ttt123]

The battery life is abysmal when playing music. Even with the applied system tweaks I can't leave the device in stand by for a day and expect it to retain a sufficient amount of charge. People on here get defensive and say why'd you buy it or why don't you sell it but that really isn't the point. The ZX507 battery life is not as advertised by Sony regardless of it's sound quality.

Note that there are a lot of factors regarding battery life:
Hi-Res files have a major impact, especially DSD
Sound adjustments (DSP, EQ, etc.) will affect battery life by up to 60% lower
High-Res streaming on, about 20% shorter
BlueTooth, online Streaming, also have major impacts

From the Manual:

For Non-EU model.

Stereo mini jack
MP3 (128 kbps)
Approx. 20 hours
AAC (256 kbps)
Approx. 20 hours
WAV (44.1 kHz/16 bit)
Approx. 20 hours
FLAC (44.1 kHz/16 bit)
Approx. 20 hours
FLAC (96 kHz/24 bit)
Approx. 18 hours
FLAC (192 kHz/24 bit)
Approx. 16 hours
DSD (2.8224 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 10 hours
DSD (5.6448 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 8 hours
DSD (11.2896 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 6.5 hours

Balanced standard jack
MP3 (128 kbps)
Approx. 19 hours
AAC (256 kbps)
Approx. 19 hours
WAV (44.1 kHz/16 bit)
Approx. 19 hours
FLAC (44.1 kHz/16 bit)
Approx. 18 hours
FLAC (96 kHz/24 bit)
Approx. 17 hours
FLAC (192 kHz/24 bit)
Approx. 15 hours
DSD (2.8224 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 9 hours
DSD (5.6448 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 7.5 hours
DSD (11.2896 MHz/1 bit)
Approx. 4 hours
Bluetooth
MP3 (128 kbps)/SBC-Connection pref.
Approx. 11 hours
FLAC (96 kHz/24 bit)/LDAC-Connection pref.
Approx. 8.5 hours

BLUETOOTH:
A Bluetooth connection will shorten the battery life by up to 60% depending on the following conditions.
Format of the content.
Settings of the connected device.
121

Note
The values shown in this topic indicate the approximate battery life when content is played under all of the following conditions.
The player is playing continuously with the default settings.
The playback app is Sony original music player app.
Even if the player is turned off for an extended period, a small amount of battery power is still consumed.
Battery life may vary depending on volume setting, conditions of use and ambient temperature.
The battery is consumed considerably when the screen is on.
The battery life may become about 60% shorter when some of the sound adjustments are active.
The battery life may become about 20% shorter when the [High-Res streaming] function is active.
The music app other than Sony original music player app may drain the battery faster than the above values.
5-006-039-11(4) Copyright 2019 Sony Corporation
The contents of the Help Guide may be subject to change without notice due to updates to the product's specifications.
122

 

[bland125]

Using IEM, 4.4mm output, about 55/120 volume, direct on, google services, wifi and bluetooth off, playing flac files mostly 16/44.1 and above I get 5% drop per hour. On standby, I loose 1 or 2% per 6 hours. This is in line with the specs and fine for me.

 

[Pro-Jules]

Trouble for me is. Discovering content needs wifi to be on.

I wanted to use it for everything including USB or LDAC Bluetooth to my living room hifi but because of battery life issues I will probably just use it as a portable player for iems. And what's so bad about that? Not a lot. Covid lockdown has a weird effect on the use of a portable player for me. With less commuting for work, it's getting less use.

In the future I would like a lightweight, thin, shirt pocket wide Sony DAP. With a wider screen / keyboard.

All the other DAPs are total monsters weight-wise. IMHO. I don't like having a brick attached to my ears via cables. Heavy DAPS are awkward to fit into jackets, hoodies and shirt pockets. The Sony 507 weight is great.

 

[feverfive]

This is not at all helpful to those who want to use Google services ( I do not), but when the next update is released, I need to remember to upgrade using the Chinese firmware (Google stuff is removed). I have tried to "side"-grade from current International firmware to current Chinese 5 times, unsuccessfully. I'll take the little bit of extra battery life.

 

[bland125]

I certainly do use streaming services, well, Spotify only, to discover stuff as well. I have it I installed on my ZX507. But I use my phone to browse, make playlists and save albums.

When I want to listen to them on my ZX507, I turn the wifi on, save them all on the device and then turn the wifi back off. I also used Spotify connect between my phone and DAP with wifi on and worked fine. Saves you from using the Sony small screen and keyboard.

 

[Pro-Jules]

I should do that with Amazon.

Is there a quick way to see what saved albums need to be downloaded on Amazon?

 

[Ryno1330]

I should do that with Amazon.

Is there a quick way to see what saved albums need to be downloaded on Amazon?

I do the above (what rocking Homer said) also with my phone then download a bunch at a time onto mine from Quboz and Amazon hd. In Amazon simply clicking on offline music at the top drop down will tell you what you have downloaded. Also if you download an entire album or playlist you have updated on your phone and then re-download on the Sony it will only add the ones that weren't previously downloaded.

 

[Scubadevils]

Hi all - new to the forum but having read pretty much all 400 pages of this thread over the weekend, I feel like I know everyone!

I'm in the same quandry as many others have found themselves - I want a ZX507 but live in Ireland so I either buy locally via Amazon UK (with volume cap) or source from somewhere like Accessory Jack. I'd prefer to buy from an authorized dealer such as Amazon but the volume cap does concern me - that said, I have the ZX300 at the moment which is an EU model and currently volume capped (I plan to change that thanks to posts I read here) and with my current headphones I use on a DAP, it doesn't cause me an issue - mostly the MDR-1AM2 and BT sets for some other listening scenarios. In terms of IEMs, I have a very old set of Sennheisers IE8 and the ZX300 has no issue with them, I appreciate not a demanding set. I have my eye on the XBA-N3AP and figured the ZX507 with cap wouldn't have a problem with these but keen to get views from you guys?

I have a rather large collection of headphones with the HD650 being on the higher-end but I only use them for old school listening with vinyl and CD so I'm not bothered using them with a DAP.

I was debating the Fiio M11 Pro but I do prefer the Sony build etc. I have had various DAPs over the years going back to early Rio (the Karma if any of you remember, a stunning player at the time), Cowon days (X5) and most recently, the Fiio X3 which I ultimately replaced with the ZX300 - love being back in the Walkman ecosystem and was considering upping my budget to the WM1-A but having read this thread, it feels like the extra spend is probably not worth it - however, I've no intention of streaming, my entire digital collection is FLAC and I don't really use Spotify etc.

So my question is really if I don't intend spending a lot of money on IEMs or trying to drive the likes of the HD650 etc, will the EU model be sufficient?

I did also have another thought to further confuse myself and that was to remove the volume cap on the ZX300 and spend the money on a higher-end set of IEMs instead! I do like the idea though of a shiny new DAP under the tree at Christmas (my wife insists I have to wait till then...)

Anyway, appreciate any advice.

 

[Damz87]

Hi all - new to the forum but having read pretty much all 400 pages of this thread over the weekend, I feel like I know everyone!

I'm in the same quandry as many others have found themselves - I want a ZX507 but live in Ireland so I either buy locally via Amazon UK (with volume cap) or source from somewhere like Accessory Jack. I'd prefer to buy from an authorized dealer such as Amazon but the volume cap does concern me - that said, I have the ZX300 at the moment which is an EU model and currently volume capped (I plan to change that thanks to posts I read here) and with my current headphones I use on a DAP, it doesn't cause me an issue - mostly the MDR-1AM2 and BT sets for some other listening scenarios. In terms of IEMs, I have a very old set of Sennheisers IE8 and the ZX300 has no issue with them, I appreciate not a demanding set. I have my eye on the XBA-N3AP and figured the ZX507 with cap wouldn't have a problem with these but keen to get views from you guys?

I have a rather large collection of headphones with the HD650 being on the higher-end but I only use them for old school listening with vinyl and CD so I'm not bothered using them with a DAP.

I was debating the Fiio M11 Pro but I do prefer the Sony build etc. I have had various DAPs over the years going back to early Rio (the Karma if any of you remember, a stunning player at the time), Cowon days (X5) and most recently, the Fiio X3 which I ultimately replaced with the ZX300 - love being back in the Walkman ecosystem and was considering upping my budget to the WM1-A but having read this thread, it feels like the extra spend is probably not worth it - however, I've no intention of streaming, my entire digital collection is FLAC and I don't really use Spotify etc.

So my question is really if I don't intend spending a lot of money on IEMs or trying to drive the likes of the HD650 etc, will the EU model be sufficient?

I did also have another thought to further confuse myself and that was to remove the volume cap on the ZX300 and spend the money on a higher-end set of IEMs instead! I do like the idea though of a shiny new DAP under the tree at Christmas (my wife insists I have to wait till then...)

Anyway, appreciate any advice.

Welcome!

To answer your question on the XBA-N3, I would recommend getting an uncapped ZX507 to get the absolute best out of those IEM’s. They are noticeably better with more power. The N3’s are quite bassy, and with low powered devices the bass can sound loose and undefined, which muddies up the whole presentation IMO. Conversely, an uncapped ZX507 in high gain drives them beautifully

If you don’t intend to stream music, there would be some advantages to going with a WM1A instead, most notably the battery life. WM1A battery life is fantastic. You’d be looking at almost 3x longer life. The other big advantage is the ability to install custom firmware to alter the sound signature of the DAP. There’s a whole thread on headfi dedicated to the custom firmware. Worth checking out. You could also buy a WM1A from a local dealer, as it’s fairly simple to remove the volume cap. The WM1A also has an extra 50mW of power from the balanced port, which isn’t a huge difference really, but it would be handy to have that extra little bit of juice if you plan to drive full size cans.

Just my 2c