[revenge]

I'm sorry but I can't help it. A Sony DAP reminds me very much of this poem: A-Lecture-On-The-Cube

Years of research, painfully selecting hardware, materials, software, creating that lovely screen saver with a running cassette, the volume knob etc - all this hard work and OCD attention to detail that only the Japanese are capable of. Then take the hammer and smash a corner. Limit the output to really make it useless with anything other than some very low impedance headphones / earphones.

Of course, low impedance premium headphones do exist. But instead of having a tool that can be used with whatever headphones you have in your collection, you have to go the other way about it. Get the headphones that match the DAP (Sony's own for instance, as some of you suggested). Which considering the premium price is not really what most of their fans would expect for the money.

But of course the customer is king and ultimately you vote with your wallet. If Sony will get a 50% return on all capped DAPs, I expect that at some point they will have to reconsider their DAP business strategy or shutter it. Yes, they might sell more Japanese DAPs to balance to some extent the bad press, poor sales and high return rate of EU / US DAPs, however there is a good chance people will be put off by the convoluted and risky (no warranty) way of acquiring a Japanese version.

So I personally think that an argument could be made at corporate level to somehow circumvent the current cap which must waste money Sony can not afford to lose Sony-shares-tumble-weaker-expected. A recession is coming. The FEDs are tightening. Two more bank are on the brink in US. How many 3000$ DAPs will they sell in US in 3 months time? How about 6 months time? Your guess is as good as mine. But I suspect not many.

 

[ttt123]

I'm sorry but I can't help it. A Sony DAP reminds me very much of this poem: A-Lecture-On-The-Cube

Years of research, painfully selecting hardware, materials, software, creating that lovely screen saver with a running cassette, the volume knob etc - all this hard work and OCD attention to detail that only the Japanese are capable of. Then take the hammer and smash a corner. Limit the output to really make it useless with anything other than some very low impedance headphones / earphones.

As with everything, there are different perspectives, which can color the conclusion.

**********************************************************************************************

The Sony engineers made this beautiful, lustrous, perfect cube. Not just as a technical exercise, or for money, but with their love of music being the overriding driving force.
The creation of the resultant cube was an act of love.

Then their people who looked after risk management, legal action trends by different countries/regions, and the cost to companies from the resultant penalties, which could sink a company, did a study, and prepared a risk evaluation. The summary resulted in a management decision delivered to the engineers, and the factory, on the need to enhance the product before it could be released to certain markets.

- All Cubes sold in Countries/Regions X, must have a corner of the cube broken off, as 4 sharp corners were a danger to consumers, as recent fines on exactly this area had resulted in Mega$M penalties to company X, Y, etc. The defense offered that the users had consumed a gallon of 100 proof alcohol before using the cube to bash each other's head, was not deemed a valid defense.

The engineers cried as they worked on the details of how to properly break one of the corners, and delivered the detailed instructions to the factory to follow....
As caring, audiophile engineers, they certainly understood the drawbacks of the "enhancement", that they had no choice in implementing.

And then they cried every time users accused them of being stupid, and uncaring of their audiophile friends and community.
And they could not say anything, as that could be used as evidence of non-compliance, so they cried in silence....

THE ABOVE IS ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE

 

[jehutyset]

The little contrast inlay is a nice touch. I was half expecting it to be plastic, but it's a leather tab they glued in. The stamping of the controls is nicely done. The official case is maybe $35 cheaper? The leather is not even close to the Dignis case in quality. The official case also has a plastic bar over the controls that adds width. The main issue for me is the flap doesn't fold back in a manner that makes the player easy to hold and use. Some people have reported the flap tearing and mine was showing stress from folding back. I have a screen protector on.

I have about 600hrs into leather crafting, so well off the 10,000 hrs to gain a level of mastery. But I am competent enough to think twice about paying for leather goods. This one is well made, and well worth the money. Factor in the quality of leather and the amount of tooling and manual labour needed to make these, the price is very reasonable. I use Conceria Walpier leather as well and it's retail US$21 per sq. ft. Plus, I love sniffing high quality veg tan. The official case's leather may as well be plastic.

I decided to treat myself to this case too even thought I have the official one, can you recommend the screen protector your using in yours.

 

[Vamp898]

I'm sorry but I can't help it. A Sony DAP reminds me very much of this poem: A-Lecture-On-The-Cube

Years of research, painfully selecting hardware, materials, software, creating that lovely screen saver with a running cassette, the volume knob etc - all this hard work and OCD attention to detail that only the Japanese are capable of. Then take the hammer and smash a corner. Limit the output to really make it useless with anything other than some very low impedance headphones / earphones.

Of course, low impedance premium headphones do exist. But instead of having a tool that can be used with whatever headphones you have in your collection, you have to go the other way about it. Get the headphones that match the DAP (Sony's own for instance, as some of you suggested). Which considering the premium price is not really what most of their fans would expect for the money.

But of course the customer is king and ultimately you vote with your wallet. If Sony will get a 50% return on all capped DAPs, I expect that at some point they will have to reconsider their DAP business strategy or shutter it. Yes, they might sell more Japanese DAPs to balance to some extent the bad press, poor sales and high return rate of EU / US DAPs, however there is a good chance people will be put off by the convoluted and risky (no warranty) way of acquiring a Japanese version.

So I personally think that an argument could be made at corporate level to somehow circumvent the current cap which must waste money Sony can not afford to lose Sony-shares-tumble-weaker-expected. A recession is coming. The FEDs are tightening. Two more bank are on the brink in US. How many 3000$ DAPs will they sell in US in 3 months time? How about 6 months time? Your guess is as good as mine. But I suspect not many.

Ah yeah, the myth of Headhpones needing a lot of power is still strong.

Its amazing how many people fail to understand the most simple laws of electricity teached in 5th grade when they are turning audiophiles.

My WM1ZM2 can easily drive hard to drive Headphones. I have not found a single Headphone i could not drive sufficiently with my WM1ZM2 including

- Sennheiser HD820
- Final D8000
- Audeze LCD-5
- Moondrop VENUS

I think the hardest to drive so far was the FiiO FT3 with 350 Ohm but even that one was no issue at all, even on Low Gain.

Oh yeah, did i mention it can drive all of these sufficiently on Low Gain?

I absolutely fail to understand why something as simple as Ohms Law is so way above the understanding of so many people.

But sure, if you want to listen to an Moondrop VENUS at 120db, you can't do that with the WM1ZM2 and yes, with an M11 Plus ESS you can do that. So if listening at insanely high volumes is your intention, than the Walkman is not the right tool.

But it doesn't matter anyway as this will destroy your hearings in a matter of minutes and so no Walkman would be worth its money anymore anyway.

 

[Iron-Buddha]

I decided to treat myself to this case too even thought I have the official one, can you recommend the screen protector your using in yours.

I just ordered some random one from Rakuten. I prefer glass to plastic. This one has some blue light thing on it, which I actually don't like. Under the sun, the entire screen looks blue.

 

[jehutyset]

I just ordered some random one from Rakuten. I prefer glass to plastic. This one has some blue light thing on it, which I actually don't like. Under the sun, the entire screen looks blue.

Cool I appreciate it, I’ll check on Rakuten then.

 

[rael67]

Hello,
at the moment I use my iPhone 13 together with the FiiO BTR7 to listen to Lossless or Hi-Res Lossless Songs via Apple Music. Headphone is the Focal Clear MG (via balanced cable 4.4). So, I'am looking for a DAP that has the following features:
I want to use Apple Music with the ZX707. Can I use it in the same way like on my iPhone 13, for example can I download my Apple Music playlists with hi-res songs to the ZX707 in order to hear them when I have no wifi connection?
How does the equalizer of the ZX707 looks like? I normally use the Oratory settings for my Focal Clear MG, is this possible with ZX707s EQ? And when doing these individual equalizer settings, do these affect to Apple Music?
I read a lot about the volume limitations of the EU Version. Can this become an issue when using the Focal Clear MG via balanced cable?
Lots of questions, thank you for your support.

 

[BooleanBones]

I want to use Apple Music with the ZX707. Can I use it in the same way like on my iPhone 13, for example can I download my Apple Music playlists with hi-res songs to the ZX707 in order to hear them when I have no wifi connection?

Yep, it works the same.

 

[jehutyset]

Hello,
at the moment I use my iPhone 13 together with the FiiO BTR7 to listen to Lossless or Hi-Res Lossless Songs via Apple Music. Headphone is the Focal Clear MG (via balanced cable 4.4). So, I'am looking for a DAP that has the following features:
I want to use Apple Music with the ZX707. Can I use it in the same way like on my iPhone 13, for example can I download my Apple Music playlists with hi-res songs to the ZX707 in order to hear them when I have no wifi connection?
How does the equalizer of the ZX707 looks like? I normally use the Oratory settings for my Focal Clear MG, is this possible with ZX707s EQ? And when doing these individual equalizer settings, do these affect to Apple Music?
I read a lot about the volume limitations of the EU Version. Can this become an issue when using the Focal Clear MG via balanced cable?
Lots of questions, thank you for your support.

I have a similar set up as your, an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a ZX707, when it comes to Apple Music yes your playlists saved on your iPhone will also transfer once you download the app in the ZX707 and log in.

The ZX707 will also allow you to download your tracks into its internal memory or an SD Card for offline listening, I have about 200 songs downloaded myself that I cycle through when I’m listening to music offline. As far as the equalizer goes I don’t really use it myself so I can’t comment on that.

The EU version are indeed capped and you will not be able to use the high gain feature, the only solution to that is to import one from an area where Sony has not capped the device like Japan.

 

[dtjosu]

beautiful pairing, I love my 1am2s as well. They somehow manage to have incredible atmospheric bass but be clear at the same time.

I just ordered the 707 and 1am2s and they arrive tomorrow. Can't wait. I was doing some research on which balanced cable would work best. Are there other balanced cables that would work well with this pairing that aren't $300+? I don't mind spending the money but just want to understand the options.

 

[holsen]

I just ordered the 707 and 1am2s and they arrive tomorrow. Can't wait. I was doing some research on which balanced cable would work best. Are there other balanced cables that would work well with this pairing that aren't $300+? I don't mind spending the money but just want to understand the options.

I'm loving my 1AM2 also. It's spacious, has great terchnicalities, far better bass impact and note weight than the (my) ZX707. When it comes to cables, that opens up a whole can of worms in terms of material, purity number of cores, etc... Many believe cables make a difference, many do not. I personally can hear the sonic shifts a cable can bring. With some IEMs it's subtle with others it's not subtle, quite dramatic in fact. But when you look at cables, it's usually the IEM that we pair it to as opposed to the DAP.
We can open up that conversation but in terms of a good (outstanding) source of well priced, high quality cables XinHS on Ali Express is a very good choice to look.
https://xinhs.aliexpress.com/store/910746107?spm=a2g0s.8937474.0.0.72ab2e0elgH2Wq

 

[testinglabha]

Do anyone know any method to allow ZX707 output sound to 2 earphone/headphone without compromising its sound quality?

If possible I would like utilize both the 3.5mm and 4.4mm of the ZX707 since I got both of them aged for 200+ hrs, I tried to plug in both 3.5mm earphone and 4.4mm headphone in the same time, but it doesn't work.

 

[rael67]

Can anyone please post pictures of the equalizer of the ZX707? Does the individual equalizer settings affect to Apple Music? For example the equalizer of the Fiio M11 Plus can only be used with the FiiO Music App.

 

[Killedkella]

I just ordered the 707 and 1am2s and they arrive tomorrow. Can't wait. I was doing some research on which balanced cable would work best. Are there other balanced cables that would work well with this pairing that aren't $300+? I don't mind spending the money but just want to understand the options.

just use the balanced cable that comes in the box.

 

[Killedkella]

hey man i pulled the wallpaper from my ZX700 here it is enjoy it.

awesome, thanks! This looks great on my phone