[gerelmx1986]

I am burning in the beast with beats. Is it a Sacrilege if you don't listen?

I Dare you to listen to these b's 

 perhaps they sound as magical as the sony XBA-Z5 or like the senns IE800 out of the 1Z 

 *turd polishing LOL

 

[Mimouille]

Hey Mim, glad to hear you are liking the Z that much, I was getting worried with the long burn in silence as I thought it might beat the LPG out of the box. And I have to bow to your opinion knowing that you own these DAPs for long term comparisons where I have only heard them in show conditions at RMAF and meets.

However I find two of your statements very interesting and would love additional insights: 

1. 380: The reason for my ">>>" is that while I am in love with the capabilities of the 4490 chip and its 380 implementation, the 380 was severely in need of an amp to sound its best otherwise losing its dynamics, textures, and sound stage girth/coherence. Luckily I had my BH2 amp that is filled with magic pixxy dust to make it scale to TOTL, but on its own direct, its just ok. This is paired with my NT6pro and full sized TOTL HPs such as Audeze/HD800. Even the 240 IMO has a better internal amp than the 380. The mated AK amp didn't have that much additional dynamics either still sounding weak. Are your SE5 ult that much easier to drive than the Hiditions that you get full dynamics with the 380 without an amp to be able to compare to the LPG or are you comparing SQ when amped? Otherwise, IMO the LPG crushed the 380 providing big boy sound directly without the need for assistance. Would love to gain your insight?
2. A vs. Z: The Z crushes the A in the lust test when holding both in your hand making the A feel like a toy. Also Sony's loaded demo songs favor the Z with mostly DSD on the Z and mostly underwhelming under-recorded tracks on the A. But when searching the same DSD song on both, I was having trouble hearing the difference in SQ. I wanted to favor the Z due to the hand held test, but still felt that it had the same depth of resolution, sound stage girth, fantastic dynamics, and full sized sound that bests even the LPG. If pressed, the Z may be slightly warmer/euphonic vs transparent on the A, but more tuning differences at the same SQ level. Did you feel that A lost to the Z in SQ overall or just in your personal tuning preferences? Didn't get a chance to directly AB the A vs. LPG like you - what did you find lacking in the A compared to the LPG?

Always love hearing your opinion Mim as we seem to share the same SQ/tuning preferences.

You opinion is just as valid as mine. Also I ou trust comparisons on things I own, because it takes time to know an iem or DAP. At first for example I didn't understand the LPG, only after my third trial did I head the depth and power. I will not spend too much time talking about the 380 but I agree that the weakness of the amp makes it lack depth and de body.

So you are saying that the WM1Z is far better than the WM1A? In what way?

It is not night and day, and this is just what I heard. But the Z had better depth and layering. Bear in mind they are all excellent players...

Now I spend a little time comparing the Z with my LPG, both single ended with my SE5 Ultimate. The Z has more width and air, and equivalent depth. The LPG is slightly more warm. Overall the Z seems to have the edge technically but these are still small differences and the LPG holds his own.

 

[Whitigir]

You opinion is just as valid as mine. Also I ou trust comparisons on things I own, because it takes time to know an iem or DAP. At first for example I didn't understand the LPG, only after my third trial did I head the depth and power. I will not spend too much time talking about the 380 but I agree that the weakness of the amp makes it lack depth and de body.
It is not night and day, and this is just what I heard. But the Z had better depth and layering. Bear in mind they are all excellent players...

Now I spend a little time comparing the Z with my LPG, both single ended with my SE5 Ultimate. The Z has more width and air, and equivalent depth. The LPG is slightly more warm. Overall the Z seems to have the edge technically but these are still small differences and the LPG holds his own.

Z sounds like a winner to me. It has that digital out feature, balanced, and even TRRS. Yeah, pricing maybe a huge factor, but I think 1Z is all worth it. Thanks for the comparison

 

[Mimouille]

Z sounds like a winner to me. It has that digital out feature, balanced, and even TRRS. Yeah, pricing maybe a huge factor, but I think 1Z is all worth it. Thanks for the comparison

Well as you say, at that price, it had better be a winner.

 

[purk]

You opinion is just as valid as mine. Also I ou trust comparisons on things I own, because it takes time to know an iem or DAP. At first for example I didn't understand the LPG, only after my third trial did I head the depth and power. I will not spend too much time talking about the 380 but I agree that the weakness of the amp makes it lack depth and de body.
It is not night and day, and this is just what I heard. But the Z had better depth and layering. Bear in mind they are all excellent players...

Now I spend a little time comparing the Z with my LPG, both single ended with my SE5 Ultimate. The Z has more width and air, and equivalent depth. The LPG is slightly more warm. Overall the Z seems to have the edge technically but these are still small differences and the LPG holds his own.

How about a moderately hungry to drive headphones?  How do they sound out of the 1Z vs. Paw Gold?  I auditioned the Paw Gold once and it was a remarkable player and almost beat out the PHA-3 by itself.  Ultimately, I prefer the PHA-3 due to its superior balanced output section.  The 1Z seems to be a real deal.

 

[Mimouille]

How about a moderately hungry to drive headphones?  How do they sound out of the 1Z vs. Paw Gold?  I auditioned the Paw Gold once and it was a remarkable player and almost beat out the PHA-3 by itself.  Ultimately, I prefer the PHA-3 due to its superior balanced output section.  The 1Z seems to be a real deal.

I don't use headphones at all.

 

[Jalo]

The US market it about to go live with both the Cans and the Player. We can take your orders and deliver in about 2 weeks.

Will you have the 1Z at your store in Torrence for demo? If so, when?

 

[Jalo]

Now I spend a little time comparing the Z with my LPG, both single ended with my SE5 Ultimate. The Z has more width and air, and equivalent depth. The LPG is slightly more warm. Overall the Z seems to have the edge technically but these are still small differences and the LPG holds his own.
The LPG is slightly more warm.
"
Before this comparison and from all the impressions reported in this and the other thread, I was under the impression that the 1Z has a very warm sq. But if the LPG is slightly more warm, then I am not too concern about the 1Z being too warm or too dark as I've heard the LPG. Btw, do you know if the 4.4 mm Kimber Cable is silver, or copper and how many cores?

 

[Jalo]

How does the 1Z do digital out? Via the WM port? Via microusb? And can it digital out DSD? The 4.4 mm is for balance out, what about the 3.5? Only SE out or can it do balance also as in TRRS?

 

[gerelmx1986]

How does the 1Z do digital out? Via the WM port? Via microusb? And can it digital out DSD? The 4.4 mm is for balance out, what about the 3.5? Only SE out or can it do balance also as in TRRS?

1Z and 1A do digital-out via WM-port with a special cable called WMC-NWH10
I thin it can do DSD-out up to 11.2MHz
3.5mm can also do pseudo balanced with TRRS

 

[Whitigir]

1Z and 1A do digital-out via WM-port with a special cable called WMC-NWH10
I thin it can do DSD-out up to 11.2MHz
3.5mm can also do pseudo balanced with TRRS

1/ Correct, you only need this special cables if you want better quality
2/ correct, and AK380 only do up to 1/2 of that
3/ correct, but it is not pseudo balanced. It is Separate ground. This is different than Pseudo balanced. Pseudo balanced is different routing of signals but without inverter, and inner circuitry could be joined ground. Separated ground is totally different. It has nothing joined on the inner circuitry, is totally separated, and provide cleaner signals while keeping the integrity. Sony doesn't release too much info on this technology, they do disclose that it is superior to Single Ended. In my case, Zx2 with this TRRS connection is clearly superior.

 

[TSAVJason]

1/ Correct, you only need this special cables if you want better quality
2/ correct, and AK380 only do up to 1/2 of that
3/ correct, but it is not pseudo balanced. It is Separate ground. This is different than Pseudo balanced. Pseudo balanced is different routing of signals but without inverter, and inner circuitry could be joined ground. Separated ground is totally different. It has nothing joined on the inner circuitry, is totally separated, and provide cleaner signals while keeping the integrity. Sony doesn't release too much info on this technology, they do disclose that it is superior to Single Ended. In my case, Zx2 with this TRRS connection is clearly superior.

Good answers!

 

[nanaholic]

1/ Correct, you only need this special cables if you want better quality
2/ correct, and AK380 only do up to 1/2 of that
3/ correct, but it is not pseudo balanced. It is Separate ground. This is different than Pseudo balanced. Pseudo balanced is different routing of signals but without inverter, and inner circuitry could be joined ground. Separated ground is totally different. It has nothing joined on the inner circuitry, is totally separated, and provide cleaner signals while keeping the integrity. Sony doesn't release too much info on this technology, they do disclose that it is superior to Single Ended. In my case, Zx2 with this TRRS connection is clearly superior.

 
Regarding separate ground there's really nothing special technology wise about it - sharing a common ground point was made for the sake of cost/convenience factor, separating the channels is always going to be better due to fundamental electrical theory of one part of the circuit cannot be interfering with the other part, that's really all there is to it.

 

[Mimouille]

Now I spend a little time comparing the Z with my LPG, both single ended with my SE5 Ultimate. The Z has more width and air, and equivalent depth. The LPG is slightly more warm. Overall the Z seems to have the edge technically but these are still small differences and the LPG holds his own.
The LPG is slightly more warm.
"
Before this comparison and from all the impressions reported in this and the other thread, I was under the impression that the 1Z has a very warm sq. But if the LPG is slightly more warm, then I am not too concern about the 1Z being too warm or too dark as I've heard the LPG. Btw, do you know if the 4.4 mm Kimber Cable is silver, or copper and how many cores?

No idea about the cable. Concerning warmth, I first thought 1Z was warmer, but now it seem fairly neutral.

 

[Jalo]

1Z and 1A do digital-out via WM-port with a special cable called WMC-NWH10
I thin it can do DSD-out up to 11.2MHz
3.5mm can also do pseudo balanced with TRRS

Thanks, do you know if there is any difference in sound between 1a and 1z if we only do digital out to an external DAC/amp? I am just curious if the sound difference describes here only applies to the dap as the differences between the two models seem to be in the DAC (S Master chip) and the subsequent amp components.