Is that Sony ZX1 really almost $1000 for a high fidelity MP3 player?
I'd look at the Cowon devices for that price, like the Cowon iAUDIO 9+
I'm not trying to insult the ZX1 or it's owners, I'm just curious why you would pay that much money for a MP3 player with options like Cowons out there.
I hear you!
And with only 15mw per channel into 16 Ohms, at that! The ZX1 is for efficient IEMs, only!
And then Sony offers the PHA-2, which has a killer, DSD-capable DAC, that can be fed digitally from the ZH-1, which is great, but the PHA-2's amp section only outputs 90mW per channel into 32 Ohms - which might be fine for efficient headphones and IEMs, but there are a
lot of portable headphone amps that can deliver 500mW or more per channel (RSA, CEntrance, ALO, iBasso, Triad, etc.) for use with headphones that are
not efficient. Audeze support recommends 1000mW into 50-Ohm, for example, but the crazy expensive PHA-2 only outputs 58mw into 50-Ohms!
Ironically, the TPA6120A2 amp chip inside the PHA-2 is being powered by only a 3.7V battery, but the datasheet for the TPA6120A2 shows that it can deliver 1500mW into 32 Ohms if given a supply voltage of 12V (instead of 3.7). And if you supply that same chip with 15V, it will deliver 2000mW into 32 Ohms!!
But Sony seems to think that keeping the PHA-2 small and light, with an output of only 90mW into 32 Ohms, is more important than unleashing the potential of that TPA6120A2 with a larger, higher-voltage battery pack! And get this: The PHA-2 doesn't even allow you to supply a higher voltage via an external power jack (as with the Meier Audio, iBasso, and Triad Audio amps, not to mention others). Nope! The only power input allowed with the PHA-2 is a 5V port for recharging the 3.7V battery from a USB source! How convenient! Give me a break!
The only saving grace for the PHA-2 is that it comes with an analog Line Out jack - so that you can bypass it's paltry amp section and connect it to a real headphone amp!
I LOVE Sony for their UIs and their build quality, but they are clueless when it comes to recognizing how important output power is for sound quality!
End of Mike's Rant.