[emilsoft]

Thank you, I'm definitely leaning towards the Sony.
Especially considering the 400 bucks price difference between the two (where I live)!

Think carefully what you want - the Fiio Plus is no joke and it can be your desktop replacement, plus it’s a Swiss Army knife offering all kinds of features with digital outs, Apple airplay, dac mode, Bluetooth receiver. The only thing it doesn’t offer is global eq dsp and coffee machine.

I lean towards the Sony as I have a desktop system so I need a tiny dap for iem usage only, and I like the Sony tuning.. I do find myself wishing for a little more resolution and smoothness with it at times though - I think Sonys s master class d chips need lot of taming with dsp as they Are a little too aggressive, for the most part Sony have mastered them but still some of that aggression comes through the warmth with slightly dirty highs and biting mids - it’s a double edged sword really as sometimes that combination of warm tuning coupled with slight aggression gives an oldschool boogie tape vibe, a distinct foot tapping direct audio connection that other chips don’t quite get and sound little too polished and digital.

I think Sony have probably reached the limits of their s master, as their top tier dap (dmpz or whatever it’s called, the massive one) uses akm chips. I’m keen to see what they bring in their next generation DAPs which are long overdue now, and competition has gotten fierce with Chifi last couple of years, especially Fiio building some killer daps and Hiby doing an R2R dap without mental pricing

 

[musicisthekey]

I love Sony's tuning and have been using their DAP's for years. Everytime i try a new DAP from another manufacturer, I always come back to Sony. It's just so musical and non-fatiguing for long listening sessions. This is how I set up Sony's Android DAP's which slightly improves sound quality by making sound signature a little bit smoother especially for vocals. It's not a night and day difference though.

Turn off NFC
Set Sleep to 30 seconds
Turn off Touch Sounds
Set Screen Lock to None
Turn off Automatic Date & time

In Walkman app settings, change Playback range to Selected range

 

[DanielListening]

The ZX507 battery is fine as I switch on airplane mode when playing music on my micro sdcard.

BINGO

This has completely changed my experience with the NW-ZX507.

Turn on airplane mode and it sips battery.

WiFi enabled? It drains the battery in three hours.

 

[SRKRAM]

BINGO

This has completely changed my experience with the NW-ZX507.

Turn on airplane mode and it sips battery.

WiFi enabled? It drains the battery in three hours.

I disabled all of the Google apps, such as gmail and maps, and turned off syncing with Google and I have decent battery life.

 

[n00b]

Does anyone here use Poweramp EQ on their ZX507? I can't seem to get it to fully launch, it looks like it crashes/closes every time.

EDIT: I did remove some apps/permissions etc from here, wondering if that may be the issue https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new-sony-nw-zx500.914486/page-57#post-15339376

 

[DanielListening]

I disabled all of the Google apps, such as gmail and maps, and turned off syncing with Google and I have decent battery life.

Ooh!

how do you do that?

 

[uncletim]

I wonder if I should just let mine update to the Japanese version software? it adds a couple apps, other than that I see no difference?

I can never figure out the link to International software, might be easier.

this doesn't work. lol:

http://info.update.sony.net/PA001/N...ents/0014/NW-ZX500_0000_V4_06_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG

I still enjoy it, works well with my IEMs for travel

 

[uncletim]

I disabled all of the Google apps, such as gmail and maps, and turned off syncing with Google and I have decent battery life.

I should probably do that too

 

[emilsoft]

Is the difference between WM1A and ZX507 massive ? I've been toying with "upgrading" but not sure if the difference will be significant

 

[rlw6534]

I wonder if I should just let mine update to the Japanese version software? it adds a couple apps, other than that I see no difference?

I can never figure out the link to International software, might be easier.

this doesn't work. lol:

http://info.update.sony.net/PA001/N...ents/0014/NW-ZX500_0000_V4_06_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG

I still enjoy it, works well with my IEMs for travel

I have just been letting my A105 OTA update to Japanese version for the last several updates. The two disabled Mora apps remain disabled. I don't see any other differences.

But here is the link for International:

http://info.update.sony.net/PA001/N...ents/0015/NW-ZX500_0000_V4_06_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG

 

[n00b]

Is the difference between WM1A and ZX507 massive ? I've been toying with "upgrading" but not sure if the difference will be significant

To me, no. Especially if you actually stream.

I don't use any EQ or DSP on either of them. I don't notice the sound quality differences between the two as being night and day. What I like about Sony players is they are musical and fun and not so analytical, so I don't worry too much about critical listening for performance differences. I haven't done proper A/Bing between them but in my daily listening patterns of 'oh what DAP will I pick up today' it usually comes down to actual use cases and not SQ.

WM1A pros/cons
+ slightly more power (i think)
+ bigger screen
+ moddable with custom firmware
+ no crashing from android and stuff
+ USB DAC
+ battery life
- proprietary cable
- no streaming
- bigger and heavier

ZX507 pros/conss
+ form factor
+ streaming
+ usb-c and charges quickly
- android can crash sometimes in my experience
- sound quality 'probably' worse, cant be modded

I think you'd get more mileage out of upgrading your transducer/IEM/headphone rather than going for DAPs and stuff. This is just my opinion and I know there are a lot of people out here who think the difference is massive but I find myself enjoying the NW-A55 with WM1Z firmware, ZX507 with direct sound, and WM1A with WM1Z firmware all the same. They have different use cases, but the ZX507 is the best in terms of features, modern convenience, and portability. It was the first DAP I bought, then I bought the NW-A55, ZX300, and WM1A because they were moddable. I got rid of the ZX300 because it's too similar to the ZX507. Kept the NW-A55 because it is crazy good with modded firmware and extremely portable (actually bought another as a backup in case I get rid of all my gear and just want something simple) and kept the WM1A just because I appreciate its build quality and big screen without android instability.

 

[emilsoft]

To me, no. Especially if you actually stream.

I don't use any EQ or DSP on either of them. I don't notice the sound quality differences between the two as being night and day. What I like about Sony players is they are musical and fun and not so analytical, so I don't worry too much about critical listening for performance differences. I haven't done proper A/Bing between them but in my daily listening patterns of 'oh what DAP will I pick up today' it usually comes down to actual use cases and not SQ.

WM1A pros/cons
+ slightly more power (i think)
+ bigger screen
+ moddable with custom firmware
+ no crashing from android and stuff
+ USB DAC
+ battery life
- proprietary cable
- no streaming
- bigger and heavier

ZX507 pros/conss
+ form factor
+ streaming
+ usb-c and charges quickly
- android can crash sometimes in my experience
- sound quality 'probably' worse, cant be modded

I think you'd get more mileage out of upgrading your transducer/IEM/headphone rather than going for DAPs and stuff. This is just my opinion and I know there are a lot of people out here who think the difference is massive but I find myself enjoying the NW-A55 with WM1Z firmware, ZX507 with direct sound, and WM1A with WM1Z firmware all the same. They have different use cases, but the ZX507 is the best in terms of features, modern convenience, and portability. It was the first DAP I bought, then I bought the NW-A55, ZX300, and WM1A because they were moddable. I got rid of the ZX300 because it's too similar to the ZX507. Kept the NW-A55 because it is crazy good with modded firmware and extremely portable (actually bought another as a backup in case I get rid of all my gear and just want something simple) and kept the WM1A just because I appreciate its build quality and big screen without android instability.

That's good to know. I actually sold my nwa55- it was nice with modded fw but it's output impedance didn't work with Andromedas. I'm just interested in ultimate sound quality, zx507 Vs WM1A - impression I get is that they are just a little too close (with iems)

 

[TheIsh9]

Hello just got my player and it arrived dead of battery. So I charged it and the device turned on. When I turned it off it turned back on, is this normal when you plug in the device? When it's unplugged it seems to stay off.

 

[n00b]

Yes, plugging in the USB-C cable when it's off will turn it on and start charging in my experience

 

[discord]

Hello just got my player and it arrived dead of battery. So I charged it and the device turned on. When I turned it off it turned back on, is this normal when you plug in the device? When it's unplugged it seems to stay off.

Been demoing the ZX507 for a few weeks now and that's normal yes.