[Sonywalkmanuser]

Headphone app: no support for my new MDR-MV1? Still have MDR-1AM2, but MV1 gonna take it`s place chained to my ZX-707. Gonna be keepin` my 1AM2, still great and a little bit lighter. Kinda interested testing 360 audio stuff and check this eq-thing

MDR-MV1 support has been added recently. Just turn on wifi and try adding, it should appear in the list.

Also it may seem that the the Ear profile in headphone app is just meant for 360RA music content usage only. But this is not the case. Headphone app enabled/disabled & app versions, ear profile added/not added do change sound for stereo music too, system wide.

Since you have the MDR-1AM2, you should experiment with adding the device profile and doing the ear scan. Just listen to stereo music on the walkman app, see if just by adding device profiles changes the sound(you have to pause/unpause music after adding profile for effect to take place).

If you try using a wrong profile.(i.e. IER-Z1R profile selected but you have MDR-1AM2 connected), the sound field/frequency response will be wrong(even for stereo music on walkman music app)

Do note you can switch device profiles on the fly too and you can also deregister device profiles(if you decide to use non-sony wired headphones), your ear profile will remain intact.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

A bit disappointing that the 360 audio only works with certain apps (Tidal, nugs.net, and a few others), and the Sony Music Player isn't on that list. I guess it needs the content to be mastered for 360 Reality Audio and the regular music player doesn't support that sort of content. I was interested in how 360 reality audio could be applied to my existing music, but it looks like that won't happen.

Try adding the device profile for your MDR-Z7M2 into the headphone app. It will affect the sound field for regular stereo music played on the walkman music app too. Best if you do the ear photo profile customization too.

Best to go listen for yourself, compare the sound difference with the profile added and not added.

 

[DantoIzzo]

It does have support for Wired Sony Headphones, you need to be connected to WIFI to register a wired Sony headphone:

Supported models:
WH-1000XM5, WH-1000XM4, WH-1000XM3, WH-1000XM2, WH-H910N, WH-H900N, WH-CH720N, WH-CH520, WH-H810, WH-H800, WH-XB900N, WH-XB700, WH-XB910N, WF-1000XM4, WF-1000XM3, WF-1000X, WF-C700N, WF-C500, WF-H800, WF-L900, WF-LS900N, WF-SP800N, WI-1000XM2, WI-1000X, WI-H700, MDR-XB950N1, MDR-XB950B1, MDR-Z1R, MDR-Z7M2, MDR-Z7, MDR-1AM2, MDR-1A, MDR-7506, MDR-CD900ST, MDR-H600A, MDR-M1ST, IER-Z1R, IER-M9, IER-M7, IER-H500A, XBA-Z5, XBA-N3, XBA-N1, SBH90C, SRS-NS7, STH50C

What does the app do for wired headphones?

 

[DantoIzzo]

Then you don't need this app at all.
It's only purpose is to update the firmware and change EQ with sony wireless headphones.

Ok, thanks!

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

What does the app do for wired headphones?

It provides spatial sound field optimization (HRTF) for specific Sony(360RA Certified) wired Headphones.

The headphone App used to be only intended for improving functionality(and updating firmware) of Sony bluetooth headphones back before 2019, but they have since 2020, added wired headphones support into it.

 

[s2kphile]

This mid tier DAP just keeps on trucking...What is everyones current hours?

 

[Pelilin]

Some who owned both said so and then came the second firmware which nerfed the little bro
Not everyone would agree as some don’t hear any difference between the 2 firmwares. Nevertheless I have moved on to other DAPs in the meantime but I still have my Zx707 so I check this thread once in a while.

I know you have r6 pro ii. I sold mine because it was too big and battery life was not optimal.

 

[jehutyset]

This mid tier DAP just keeps on trucking...What is everyones current hours?

These numbers put mine to shame , I have about 47 hours on the stereo 3.5 and about 308 hours in the balanced 4.4. I need to up my game lol

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

So how bad is the us version really? Tempted as my Best Buy randomly carries the 707 and 306. I’d never use my full size cans on it really, just a lot of tws LDAC and iems streaming. Can’t decide if I need the 707 or just go with a 306 (us versions)

 

[SolarCetacean]

So how bad is the us version really? Tempted as my Best Buy randomly carries the 707 and 306. I’d never use my full size cans on it really, just a lot of tws LDAC and iems streaming. Can’t decide if I need the 707 or just go with a 306 (us versions)

Honestly difficult to answer for someone else, because it depends on how loudly you want to listen, and how loudly isn't just dependent on perceived volume but also on the dynamic range of the tracks being played. For me, even with more sensitive headphones that don't need much power, and being a quiet listener in general, I was fine for pop/EDM music with the US version, but it was just barely enough for orchestral or jazz tracks. And once the headphones became harder to drive, there simply wasn't enough volume. I don't think the sound quality suffers actually, as the hardware is identical, but it's certainly capped in how loudly it can drive the transducer.

If you're going to be using TWS IEMs, I'm not sure why you'd want a DAP. There's nothing special about a DAP that would make LDAC better on it than on a modern smartphone. But if you prefer the dedicated music experience that DAPs provide, I totally understand that. I recall that Best Buy has a pretty good return policy, so if one is available at the store, I would suggest just trying it out for yourself. You'll get a good enough feel for your volume needs and your user experience needs within that 14 day return window.

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

Honestly difficult to answer for someone else, because it depends on how loudly you want to listen, and how loudly isn't just dependent on perceived volume but also on the dynamic range of the tracks being played. For me, even with more sensitive headphones that don't need much power, and being a quiet listener in general, I was fine for pop/EDM music with the US version, but it was just barely enough for orchestral or jazz tracks. And once the headphones became harder to drive, there simply wasn't enough volume. I don't think the sound quality suffers actually, as the hardware is identical, but it's certainly capped in how loudly it can drive the transducer.

If you're going to be using TWS IEMs, I'm not sure why you'd want a DAP. There's nothing special about a DAP that would make LDAC better on it than on a modern smartphone. But if you prefer the dedicated music experience that DAPs provide, I totally understand that. I recall that Best Buy has a pretty good return policy, so if one is available at the store, I would suggest just trying it out for yourself. You'll get a good enough feel for your volume needs and your user experience needs within that 14 day return window.

Thank you. As a long time iPhone user, I want to finally mess around with higher quality Bluetooth codecs and I don’t have a use for another phone or an android tablet. I also want to get more into iems as well. I think we’re at a real crossroads point in tws like when planars first came out 12-13 years ago. I’m super interested to try Svanar wireless and noble prestige in something other than AAC which is why the dap works out pretty well. The $350 entry point of the 306 seems like the best fit, rather than $900 for an underpowered and possible sidegrade performance in Bluetooth anyway

 

[DantoIzzo]

So how bad is the us version really? Tempted as my Best Buy randomly carries the 707 and 306. I’d never use my full size cans on it really, just a lot of tws LDAC and iems streaming. Can’t decide if I need the 707 or just go with a 306 (us versions)

I have the US version and it’s fine for my use case. Use it with my IER M9, B2Dusk, and Focal Clear og. Plenty of power. But I wouldn’t have bought it at full retail though. I got a like new one for less than half of retail so at the price it was great!

 

[SolarCetacean]

Thank you. As a long time iPhone user, I want to finally mess around with higher quality Bluetooth codecs and I don’t have a use for another phone or an android tablet. I also want to get more into iems as well. I think we’re at a real crossroads point in tws like when planars first came out 12-13 years ago. I’m super interested to try Svanar wireless and noble prestige in something other than AAC which is why the dap works out pretty well. The $350 entry point of the 306 seems like the best fit, rather than $900 for an underpowered and possible sidegrade performance in Bluetooth anyway

Ah right, I forgot that iPhones don't support LDAC. Then in your case, I think the 306 makes more sense. Due to the volume cap on both 306 and 707, there's no power advantage to the 707. The 707 has the 4.4mm balanced jack, but that jack is also capped in volume in the US SKU, so it's no better than the 3.5mm (and may actually be worse due to higher output impedance). Neither jack will do anything for TWS earphones. And the 306 has much better battery life than the 707 along with being much lighter (about half the weight in fact).

 

[stapani]

Thx for info about MDR-MV1 and testing stuff.

MDR-MV1 support has been added recently. Just turn on wifi and try adding, it should appear in the list.

Also it may seem that the the Ear profile in headphone app is just meant for 360RA music content usage only. But this is not the case. Headphone app enabled/disabled & app versions, ear profile added/not added do change sound for stereo music too, system wide.

Since you have the MDR-1AM2, you should experiment with adding the device profile and doing the ear scan. Just listen to stereo music on the walkman app, see if just by adding device profiles changes the sound(you have to pause/unpause music after adding profile for effect to take place).

If you try using a wrong profile.(i.e. IER-Z1R profile selected but you have MDR-1AM2 connected), the sound field/frequency response will be wrong(even for stereo music on walkman music app)

Do note you can switch device profiles on the fly too and you can also deregister device profiles(if you decide to use non-sony wired headphones), your ear profile will remain intact.

I might test that with my Sony Xperia 1 III with 1AM2. I`m not sure yet.

 

[SolarCetacean]

I'm sure nobody else actually cares about the idiosyncrasies of lyric handling in the Sony Music Player app, but I found yet another wrinkle in the algorithm. AAC and MP3 files (e.g. from iTunes or Amazon Music purchases) support unsynced lyrics. FLAC files do not. There was a period of time when I would convert all of the FLAC files that I bought from Qobuz or 7Digital into 320 Kbps VBR AAC files, and even before that I would buy music from Amazon Music or Microsoft's now-defunct Groove Music service. Those files plus iTunes purchases (sometimes songs don't show up on Qobuz or other stores with lossless offerings) support unsynced lyrics in the Sony player just fine.

Honestly I find this whole thing rather amusing now. It was really annoying at first, but now I just chuckle at how strangely lyrics handling is done here.