[schneller]

Sony already has a high-resolution player in its Walkman line, and not wanting to be left out of the buzz surrounding the growing audiophile craze, the company revealed another here at CES: the Walkman ZX2. Inside the player's aluminum alloy frame, there's an S-Master HX digital amp to keep things sounding clear, and DSEE HX tech that upscales those regular ol' tunes (like those being streamed) for better sound quality. In terms of playback, the ZX2 handles media up to 192kHz/24-bit and MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, WAV and ALAC including DSD files. There's 128GB of internal memory that's sure to fill up, but a microSD slot provides extra space. It'll connect to WiFi for streaming and downloads, and the ZX2's battery is said to last 60 hours on a charge.

 
http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/sonys-walkman-zx2-hands-on/?ncid=rss_truncated
 

 

[Uberclocked]

I thought that the ZX1 was a one-off anniversary edition thing? 

 

[Xymordos]

Actually it only only advertised as a 35th anniversary product in China...Everywhere else it was just a high end music player.

 

[Uberclocked]

  Actually it only only advertised as a 35th anniversary product in China...Everywhere else it was just a high end music player.

Oh, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[552388]

Seems quite a good choice. Sony now takes audiophile market seriously

 

[Uberclocked]

  Seems quite a good choice. Sony now takes audiophile market seriously

They've been doing that for a LONG time.

 

[rphunt2002]

I'm not sure about the value of upscaling lower res or lossy audio, but the on board 128 GB plus an SD slot is nice. And the 60 hour charge is almost too good to believe. This is something I want to try though. 

 

[pmcfedries]

Have had luxury of most likely being one of the first private consumers to be delivered the ZX2 in Europe!
 
I posted a review (automated request to my purchase) on the Sony site and had that bounced..
 
So here we go in a Forum where is really matters.
 
My usual play is a Fiio X5, boosted by a Pico Slim amp and listened to through the rather wonderful Beyer Dynamic DT1350's. Mood depending, I will listen to Jazz, Classical, Pop, Deep House, Dance, Rock... basically anything in which the performing artist has had time and money spent on production and mastering (having said that I doubt Mozart and Sonny Rollins spent many hours in the remastering studio)
 
What's to like?
 
Duh! Sound.. Soundstaging is very good, response is super quick and somehow an overall warmth and depth is added over the Fiio X5. Having the albeit dated Android engine plus a touchscreen interface over the rather clunky scroll wheel of the Fiio makes using the hardware far, far easier. Have yet to assess quite how the enhanced bluetooth transfer rate works, or how upscaling of mp3 works as I listen to FLAC and DSD/DSF files only. Besides all this the design and build quality are second to none. Heavy yes, but in a "ooh, that feels expensive & cool" way. Love the leather back, protruding lower backside (I wonder why) and the heavy emphasis on the headphone jack. It looks and feels very serious indeed. Save for the included leather sleeve, which is akin to those belt-mountable cases dubious peeps would use. Big nope.
 
What's less to like?
 
Volume output is rather low, even when paired to the Pico Slim. The Fiio X5 is far punchier. Perhaps I have an early specimen, but full whack on the ZX2 and the Pico result in less oomph. The ZX2 for some reasoning is also very fickle when it comes to displaying album artwork. Being the geek I am, I am rather meticulous in this area and have all my music folders well sorted in this area, once transferred however to the ZX2, I am then faced with a construct of unexplainable hit'n'miss regarding what the Sony decides what it will display and what not.
 
Overall:
 
Happy! So much so that I will most likely have to spend copious amounts of money on a new set of headphones to further extract the greatness of the ZX2. Sony’s MDR Z7 vs Fostex TH600 are the most likely candidates
 
Will be turning 43 this month, so am happy to say that as far as I am concerned, the Walkman of my youth (blue and sprouting the orange "talk" button) is reborn!
 
Paul

 

[rphunt2002]

 

The ZX2 for some reasoning is also very fickle when it comes to displaying album artwork. Being the geek I am, I am rather meticulous in this area and have all my music folders well sorted in this area, once transferred however to the ZX2, I am then faced with a construct of unexplainable hit'n'miss regarding what the Sony decides what it will display and what not.

I may be stating the obvious, but I'll mention it anyway:

I find that different players have different approaches to artwork. Some only show embedded artwork, some only show artwork in the same folder, some do a combination with various priorities.

Do you know for sure that all your files have embedded art work?

 

[pmcfedries]

Am a bit of a newbie in the Android based Artwork, as my Fiio was happy with any jpg in a folder. Afraid am not sure on how to properly embed artwork, so will have a Google to see what I can do.
 
Thanks for your reply!

 

[rphunt2002]

  Am a bit of a newbie in the Android based Artwork, as my Fiio was happy with any jpg in a folder. Afraid am not sure on how to properly embed artwork, so will have a Google to see what I can do.
 
Thanks for your reply!

I use "MP3Tag" to manage embedded artwork and other MP3 tag data.

 

[pmcfedries]

I used Foobar and many hours later, all is well!

 

[pmcfedries]

So..
 
A couple of weeks into my use of the ZX2 something S T R A N G E has happened.
 
I have not been using it on a daily basis at all, have not changed my setup (ZX2, Pico Slim, BD DT1350), but somehow the sound has improved. More bass, more volume, more warmth. Have not changed any sound settings.
 
Given all is digital, I am stumped, but always trust my ears.
 
Am I going nuts?