[castleofargh]

 

   
the actual resolution is still about the same as highres PCM(because the high frequency noises must be filtered out) and was usually done from highres PCM anyway, but hush don't tell anybody.
 

If that is the case how can I trust the DSD download sites? They may very well be converted from hi-rez files right?
So I wonder why the high-end DAC's are boasting about native DSD support? Who is buying DSD files online  and why??

it's a real big problem. in fact it is also for highres in general. one of the most respected testing ever done on cd vs high res, the meyer/moran one, ended up revealing a tiny little problem, some of the so called highres albums they had picked for the test weren't highres at all. ^_^
so this is sadly nothing new and when you download some highres file, look it up in audacity and see if it's made from a 16bit track. if so you can contact the music provider, and he will write you back the very usual BS answer, that they ask for the best and are very concerned blablablah, and that when something like that happens, it's not their fault, but the fault of the guys who provided the master. most of the time they won't even bother removing the album from their catalog.
but do they check themselves? nope, "ain't nobody got time for that! ". 

 
and about DSD, it's simple, is your album an old one? then obviously it wasn't recorded in DSD. and if it's a modern one, well it's still the same for the vast majority as there is like 1 machine that let you deal with DSD and do very basic mastering, all the rest including the most sold one, convert the file to PCM(if it wasn't PCM from the get go), let you master the PCM and converts back to DSD. when you see what is done, you really feel like some people should be in jail for taking us all for fools like they do.

 

[castleofargh]

 

Hello all,

I bought a NWZ A-16 two months ago to replace a series of Sansa Clip +s who had all developped headphone jack problems when used with a Sennheiser HD-25.

I'm worried that the Sony player might be headed the same way as moving the headphone cable is now producing noise (it did not do so at the beginning).

Has anyone here encountered the same issue ? Is my HD-25 a DAP-eating monster ?

Help ! 

It's most likely the way you're storing the player whilst the headphones are plugged in. Inside your Sony Walkman the headphone out jack is merely soldered onto the circuit board, possibly with little reinforcement. It's not some magic hole that takes copious amounts of strain for example, putting the player in your pocket whilst the headphones are plugged in.

Your Sansa did it - now your Walkman is doing it.

I wonder where the problem lies...

If your HD25 have a straight jack it may be worth changing the cable out to a right angle connection, this would also eliminate any possibility of the jack being at fault.

no it's not soldered, there is a small female plug box, and it's linked to the board with a flexible thing like this(sorry I don't know the english name):

in the sony it's something similar to the flexible "wire" on the picture that is used. nothing is soldered on the female jack's side.
and the plug itself has in fact some flexibility as it's encased(very widely so) into another plastic square, and only has a little sticky stuff glued under it to make believe it is fixed. ^_^
it looks stupid, but it takes a few second to change it without tools. I had to change it on the e585 that has the same stuff for a plug and used a damaged one I had to make a "new" one

. dunno if sony would send just the piece?
 
now I can only say +10000 for the angled jack suggestion, straight jacks are indeed DAP killers.
 
@Mrtn77 did you try to clean your hd25 plug, and when inside the sony, turn it several times left and right on itself to rub off some dust or possible oxidization on the contacts? often that solves noise issues, at least for the basic undamaged plugs.

 

[H20Fidelity]

no it's not soldered, there is a small female plug box, and it's linked to the board with a flexible thing like this(sorry I don't know the english name):


in the sony it's something similar to the flexible "wire" on the picture that is used. nothing is soldered on the female jack's side.
and the plug itself has in fact some flexibility as it's encased(very widely so) into another plastic square, and only has a little sticky stuff glued under it to make believe it is fixed. ^_^
it looks stupid, but it takes a few second to change it without tools. I had to change it on the e585 that has the same stuff for a plug and used a damaged one I had to make a "new" one . dunno if sony would send just the piece?

now I can only say +10000 for the angled jack suggestion, straight jacks are indeed DAP killers.

@Mrtn77
did you try to clean your hd25 plug, and when inside the sony, turn it several times left and right on itself to rub off some dust or possible oxidization on the contacts? often that solves noise issues, at least for the basic undamaged plugs.

Alright thanks!

It's attached by a ribbon, that would indicate the connections inside the actual female socket are giving out. (if that's the members issue)

Pity you can't just buy one. But! Sure makes Sony life easy replacing it at the service centre..

 

[Mrtn77]

Thanks for the replies, guys.
 
I've used the NWZ pretty ginglerly. It's usually upside down in a pocket (ie the headphone jack is facing the pocket's opening, not its bottom), the rest of the time, it's sitting on a desk. It's made a couple of short sojourns in a bag, but doubt it suffered much strain during those times.
 
My HD-25s do have the right angle plug. How is that shape better suited than a straight plug ? Isn't it more likely to bend, and by bending put more strain on the headphone jack ?
 
I'll try cleaning the HD-25's plug and spinning it around as suggested by castleofargh.

 

[god-bluff]

Are you sure the problem isn't being caused by the HD25's cables that plug into the capsules rather than the jack? They often work loose. Just an idea.

I've had a few clips which I've used with th Senn never had a problem.The washing machine and Mediterranean Sea sorted my last two. Just got another;great combo .

 

[Mrtn77]

Are you sure the problem isn't being caused by the HD25's cables that plug into the capsules rather than the jack? They often work loose. Just an idea.

I've had a few clips which I've used with th Senn never had a problem.The washing machine and Mediterranean Sea sorted my last two. Just got another;great combo .

 
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're referring to when you say "the HD25's cables plug into the capsules rather than the jack".

 

[god-bluff]

   
I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're referring to when you say "the HD25's cables plug into the capsules rather than the jack".

The red and black (especially the red right hand) 2 pin connectors that that plug int the capsules (ear pieces) are notorious for bad connection on the HD25, Just wondered if it could be them causing the noise (usually distortion or lack of volume in one or both earpieces) instead of the actual headphone jack. Have you tried the headphones in another source ?. EDIT or other headphones in the Sony or Sansa ? I'm just struggling to understand how anyone could be so unlucky, unluckier even than me !

 

[The Walrus]

 
it's a real big problem. in fact it is also for highres in general. one of the most respected testing ever done on cd vs high res, the meyer/moran one, ended up revealing a tiny little problem, some of the so called highres albums they had picked for the test weren't highres at all. ^_^
so this is sadly nothing new and when you download some highres file, look it up in audacity and see if it's made from a 16bit track. if so you can contact the music provider, and he will write you back the very usual BS answer, that they ask for the best and are very concerned blablablah, and that when something like that happens, it's not their fault, but the fault of the guys who provided the master. most of the time they won't even bother removing the album from their catalog.
but do they check themselves? nope, "ain't nobody got time for that! ". 

 
and about DSD, it's simple, is your album an old one? then obviously it wasn't recorded in DSD. and if it's a modern one, well it's still the same for the vast majority as there is like 1 machine that let you deal with DSD and do very basic mastering, all the rest including the most sold one, convert the file to PCM(if it wasn't PCM from the get go), let you master the PCM and converts back to DSD. when you see what is done, you really feel like some people should be in jail for taking us all for fools like they do.

When I read a bit about the science behind 16 vs 24, I wrote to HDTracks customer support about my doubts  The response I got was:  'not everyone can tell the difference between 16 and 24 bit.' Never bought a Hi-rez file since.  
But what you are describing is scam to say the least. It's like buying cheap 320 mb/s mp3's and converting to flac and selling them as losseless! 

 

[Duncan]

I'm surprised you were not told to buy higher end equipment to "enjoy" the extra resolution!

Re signal loss, my Sennheiser IE8 jack got so worn out that it was actually scored, and that was a complete PITA to get a complete sound on... Check the quality of the jack, for dirt and also wear...

 

[Raketen]

  Hello all,
 
I bought a NWZ A-16 two months ago to replace a series of Sansa Clip +s who had all developped headphone jack problems when used with a Sennheiser HD-25.
 
I'm worried that the Sony player might be headed the same way as moving the headphone cable is now producing noise (it did not do so at the beginning).
 
Has anyone here encountered the same issue ? Is my HD-25 a DAP-eating monster ?
 
Help ! 

Sansa Clip is well known for having weak/brittle soldering on the headphone jack to the PCB, the beefy plug of the hd25 might excaberate that a little bit, but I don't think it's to blame really- if you have some soldering ability or a friend or electronics repair shop who does it's not too difficult to fix if the issue is cracked/loose solder joint- just pry the case open at the seam and disconnect the battery - I've had this happen on two of my three clips so far and both were repairable (and eventually died for other reasons

)

Hopefully that is not the problem with your brand new Sony, though. Worth checking the headphone cable connectors as godbluff suggests- the spring inside the earcups that makes contact can loosen over time.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

^^ Sansa Clip is too light of a player to take the pulls and shrugs when secured at one end (lets say pocket) and having a heavier headphone at the other end.

 

[god-bluff]

^^ Sansa Clip is too light of a player to take the pulls and shrugs when secured at one end (lets say pocket) and having a heavier headphone at the other end.

It's very lightness and plastic construction gives it great impact absorption and strength though. If you were to drop a Sansa Clip on to a hard floor from hight (as I have several Times)there would be zero damage. a heavier player even an A15 could be smashed from the force of impact due to its greater nass,

The strongest mp3 player ever is the Creative Zen Stone a little plastic screenless 'pebble' that could be thrown at a wall (tried thus) or dropped from 30000 Ft(not attempted yet) and escape with only minor scratches.

likewise a light player will put less not more stress on its jack. the clip jack is on its side and if used with a right angle jack like the HD25's and especially if it's clip is used then its a sturdy little devil. Only the clip itself is a week point on these. Only in my (5-6 years or so) experience of clips/clip+s of course .

 

[Hinomotocho]

   
If you are only intended to use HA-2 as an amp for A15, then you can consider getting a line-out dock for Sony Walkman. FiiO makes a good quality one and it is under $20 on most places, including eBay. You can of course buy a much more expensive one though I personally don't see the point.
 
I do however really will advise you use HA-2 as an DAC+amp for your A15, as the DAC inside HA-2 is indeed much nicer than the one inside A15. What you will need is a special USB OTG cable, which you can find on TaoBao (here)
 
As for Z3 compact tablet + HA-2 - just using the micro-to-micro USB cable included with the HA-2 is fine.

Thanks for the advice - just followed the link to TaoBao, how do you order as it is in Chinese and I don't see an english language option?

 

[Hinomotocho]

Actually I just read the guide to ordering and it seemed a bit of an effort - I've seen another cable on Amazon

 

[Hinomotocho]

Can any Oppo HA2 owners (gerelmx 1986) please share any experience they have of using the HA2's amp section vs the amp/dac with the A15?