All this talk of the MDR-Z7 inspired me to pull it out into the above configuration for a listen. Really surprised how complete.... yet truly underrated the Z7 is. Fact is that with the right gear in front it climbs and climbs. In comparison to running the Schitt Asgard single ended even using the outputs of the TA as a DAC, the Asgard leaves much to be desired.
Feeding the Z7 right results in changes to such a grand competitive place.......I can almost see the Sony big wigs and engineers nodding their heads in approval back in 2014. They must have been thinking that this IS the new Sony flagship!
All this talk of the MDR-Z7 inspired me to pull it out into the above configuration for a listen. Really surprised how complete.... yet truly underrated the Z7 is. Fact is that with the right gear in front it climbs and climbs. In comparison to running the Schitt Asgard single ended even using the outputs of the TA as a DAC, the Asgard leaves much to be desired.
Feeding the Z7 right results in changes to such a grand competitive place.......I can almost see the Sony big wigs and engineers nodding their heads in approval back in 2014. They must have been thinking that this IS the new Sony flagship!
How is the cradle holding the player? unfortunately i found a little dent in my wm-port jack and i am thinking of buying a cradle to charge it and connect it to the pc, if i encounter connecting issues
There are actually a multitude of ways to hook a Walkman to the TA. Note the high resolution Sony USB (as shown coming out of the 1Z in the picture) that cable gets a higher bit rate than the side TA connection. Laughably I (as an experiment to help a member) simply hooked the Sony Walkman with that Hi-Res adapter to the side port with a regular mini USB cable. He wanted to keep his computer hooked to the back of the TA but didn’t want to buy aftermarket the included Sony side mini USB connector for the Walkman. The included Sony has extra an extra stability plug next to a regular mini USB.
But there is also the little Sony USB plug which simply allows you to hook a USB to the back of the TA and join with a Walkman.
With all those options the Cradle is still the ultimate way to go and I will attempt to explain why. These are not my ideas but stuff I have learned over the years here from others.
1) The cradle has USB filters. Using the cradle has ended as the superior way not only due to the USB reclocking but also allowing us to use a high quality USB cable to allow the sensitive digital signal to enter the TA free of EMI. Thus a cable like the AudioQuest Carbon USB is the choice of many.
The cradle reclocks the signal and cleans up the noise like a USB cable purification system.
2) The cradle allows you to also hook up a computer to the back of the cradle and choose with a switch to use the Walkman or computer. It filters the computer too I think.
3) The cradle charges the Walkmans.
This is important to actually not use all the time as for battery safety you don’t really want your Walkman plugged in and charging 24/7.
AudioQuest Carbon USB. Best to find 1 foot not 5 foot model.
There are actually a multitude of ways to hook a Walkman to the TA. Note the high resolution Sony USB (as shown coming out of the 1Z in the picture) that cable gets a higher bit rate than the side TA connection. Laughably I (as an experiment to help a member) simply hooked the Sony Walkman with that Hi-Res adapter to the side port with a regular mini USB cable. He wanted to keep his computer hooked to the back of the TA but didn’t want to buy aftermarket the included Sony side mini USB connector for the Walkman. The included Sony has extra an stability plug next to a regular mini USB.
But there is also the little Sony USB plug which simply allows you to hook a USB to the back of the TA and join with a Walkman.
With all those options the Cradle is still the ultimate way to go and I will attempt to explain why. These are not my ideas but stuff I have learned over the years here from others.
1) The cradle has USB filters. Using the cradle has ended as the superior way not only due to the USB reclocking but also allowing us to use a high quality USB cable to allow the sensitive digital signal to enter the TA free of EMI. Thus a cable like the AudioQuest Carbon USB is the choice of many.
The cradle reclocks the signal and cleans up the noise like a USB cable purification system.
2) The cradle allows you to also hook up a computer to the back of the cradle and choose with a switch to use the Walkman or computer. It filters the computer too I think.
3) The cradle charges the Walkmans.
This is important to actually not use all the time as for battery safety you don’t really want your Walkman plugged in and charging 24/7.
How is the cradle holding the player? unfortunately i found a little dent in my wm-port jack and i am thinking of buying a cradle to charge it and connect it to the pc, if i encounter connecting issues
How does the player sits on the base of the cradle? If my 1A stars to lose connection or charge correctly i was thinking of this cradle to sit it tightly to charge it and connect it to the PC. Also it has he option to connect it to a dac/amp which is nice since DSD drains a lot of battery directly from the 1A.
How does the player sits on the base of the cradle? If my 1A stars to lose connection or charge correctly i was thinking of this cradle to sit it tightly to charge it and connect it to the PC. Also it has he option to connect it to a dac/amp which is nice since DSD drains a lot of battery directly from the 1A.
I would say that the connection would be close to the same. Though if you could imagine a spring loaded plug which then allows the Walkman to slightly shift from side to side all while still being plugged in. Don’t know if your familiar with the Walkman battery reset? You let your Walkman go to zero charge, then try to turn it back on twice to make sure it’s totally drained of juice. You then (with battery saver off) go to 100% charge uninterrupted. Thus before the process you make sure the battery saver is off. Then the Walkman will at times give better battery performance. Still you should not leave your player charging to 100% all the time. So even with the cradle charging, you should unplug it.
All this talk of the MDR-Z7 inspired me to pull it out into the above configuration for a listen. Really surprised how complete.... yet truly underrated the Z7 is. Fact is that with the right gear in front it climbs and climbs. In comparison to running the Schitt Asgard single ended even using the outputs of the TA as a DAC, the Asgard leaves much to be desired.
Feeding the Z7 right results in changes to such a grand competitive place.......I can almost see the Sony big wigs and engineers nodding their heads in approval back in 2014. They must have been thinking that this IS the new Sony flagship!
What headphone cable do you use @Redcarmoose & i've never quite understood what the benefit of the cradle is ?? ( Not that i can easily get one now, in the U.K. )
What headphone cable do you use @Redcarmoose & i've never quite understood what the benefit of the cradle is ?? ( Not that i can easily get one now, in the U.K. )
The cable for the 4.4mm balanced output with the TA simply adds some smoothness to the treble and cleans up the bass response a little. It works well with both the MDR-Z1R and MDR-Z7. People also say they notice benefits using the cable with the MDR-Z7MK2. You will also find a few in both this thread and the MDR-Z1R thread which have moved up to the Kimber AXIOS aftermarket cable.
I never would have purchased an aftermarket Kimber cable but it was free with the MDR-Z1R when I purchased. Later after testing it seemed to really affect the results in use.......now I feel lucky to have one.
I never would have purchased an aftermarket Kimber cable but it was free with the MDR-Z1R when I purchased. Later after testing it seemed to really affect the results in use.......now I feel lucky to have one.
The cable for the 4.4mm balanced output with the TA simply adds some smoothness to the treble and cleans up the bass response a little. It works well with both the MDR-Z1R and MDR-Z7. People also say they notice benefits using the cable with the MDR-Z7MK2. You will also find a few in both this thread and the MDR-Z1R thread which have moved up to the Kimber AXIOS aftermarket cable.
Thanks for the link to the posts regarding cradle....last time i looked the Sony Kimber cable was unavailable on Amazon U.K. Although i am considering buying a AXIOS cable....i'm ALWAYS considering buying things !...as @Whitigir says, i'm currently suffering from "upgraditis"
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it’s not a cheap cable and it certainly looks and feels like a high quality product.