Mobile Hifi Rediscovered

have the first experience of the Sony. Good base sound while I didn't yet do an extensive test, still a burn in required of course. Ease of use is high.

Last night before I went to bed I had a further listen to the combo. Funny thing is an amazing sound stage which I never have experienced from my setups before and lot's of more detail. I am now burning in in the background while I am listening to my main system.

interesting job still ahead to select the music which will be on the internal memory - free around 110gb and the main micro sd card and than the expansion to other cards I still will get.

will require some kind of smart logic.

also experienced the comfort of lying in bed and having access to my whole collection which is on the network. While super high res requires a connection quality which I don't have every where in the house - it adds a level of comfort when I am on the balcony. So I am so far very happy and interested how the sound will further evolve.

one last point I deliberately didn't choose a Astell & Kern as it doesn't have such a great battery life. and the sound of my device is very nicely musical.

Thanks for the posts Bert.  Am thinking about upgrading my mobile setup at the moment so will follow this with interest.

I'm currently using an iPod Classic 160GB and B&W P3 'phones. My dealer leant me one of the Astell & Kern players - forget the model name but it was the c. £700 one - and while an improvement over the iPod it did not seem worth the step up in price to me. 

Everybody will need to make the assessment themselves if it's worth. But if I may so frank - your headphones are ok, but will not be on the level which enable good devices to shine. So you might want to test shortly with a better headphone to see if it's still true. 

I get what you are getting at. Like you I was prepared to be overwhelmed by the Astell & Kern, but I was not that impressed. But if you allow yourself to get more into it, you will appreciate the detail, soundstage etc which no normal mobile audio can give. For now I find the Sony more engaging. While it still has some burn in to do. 

To compare it a bit. Astell & Kern is more typical hifi, Sony is more Naim like. While I am not ignoring the pure quality of Astell & Kern. Also please keep in mind, also mobile devices need a burn in to get to the maximum sound quality - so I don't know if you tested a fresh device.

a final couple of considerations. I have lived with iPods for years and appreciated most recently also streaming Qobuz in cd quality through my iPhone. However I wanted to also be able to listen to high res when I am in the office or on the road. I also want one collection of audio in one format which I just then divide a bit across memory cards without having to do conversion of base files maintain multiple libraries etc. 

but as as mentioned in the starting point - everybody needs to evaluate for him or herself if it's worth the investment. As a funny consideration however, my whole mobile setup including multiple memory cards is less expensive than my NDS - Nac 552 connection, something to consider :-)

I am thinking of getting a Pono...have anyone tried this ??

I've had my eye on one of the new Sony portables for a little while now, so thanks Bert.  

Tried it at the high end in Munich. Seemed decent however not impressive. There is an interesting review I read some time on the Internet. The reviewer stated that he also was not impressed at first, but then getting into it longer he mentioned that there was a rightness in how the Pono delivered music. Tip is to try these type of things out in a quiet place it's difficult to get the best insight during the typical hifi event.

Hi Bert - Interesting thread thanks for posting.

How do you manage your music library and transfer files onto the Sony ?

James

Hi James,

I have two NAS's one for my main system and one for the Muso. The music is on those ones in flac and I do transcoding on the NAS to wav for playback in NDS and Muso.

Than I have a separate backup drive which serves as additional security backup and now helps me also with the mobile action. I haven't done it yet but I will use a different drive on which I will leave a copy of the files in the following section:

- core selection directory for memory of my Sony

- core selection for the normal extension micro ad card

- additional selection of jazz for additional card

- additional selection for pop, rock etc for additional card

- additional selection for classical music for additional card.

as I have around 2,5 TB of music it would be around 25 percent of my collection which I would then have also mobile, I think that should work as I still have direct access to my NAS when I am at home on the balcony, and I also have Qobuz streaming access for when I am in the office.

Sorry missed one part of the answer. Transfer of files I just do simply through normal windows explorer. Sony has also provided media management software, but I find it more practical like this.

Thanks Bert - i'll take a look at lunchtime at the Sony site for info on the media manager but it looks like it's easy to manage the transfers. 

Thanks again

James

Yes it is easy, it's just my personal taste of how I like to interact with the device.

So moved 75gb of music to my Sony yesterday evening, it took more than two hours, but to be expected. It's difficult to split up the collection in memory cards - while it's already a challenge to determine the core set on the internal memory.

i guess I will still have to switch around every now and then. I am speeding up the burn in by also running the device and the earplugs over night and day.

Hi Bert,

Enjoying this thread & look forward to your further impressions. 

Did you try any other headphones w/ the Sony before deciding on the Shure SE846? 

Best regards,

Pat

No I didn't, there was also not an option for me to hear the Sony before anyhow and I have been very much into Shure since I listen mobile (very many years back) and have gone through the different top end models. I shortly considered an Ultrasone Edition 5 - unlimited and might still add that going forward, but for real mobile use the Shure is much more than adequate ....

Seems to be a bit hard to get hold of - Amazon have it listed at over £1k and the Sony store seems to have run out of stock (with a price of £750).

Looks a nice bit of kit Bert so i'll be interested to hear how you find it once you've got a few more miles under its belt. 

James

Bert, did you consider the ZX-1? I note that (at least here in the UK) the ZX-2 is priced at almost double what a ZX-1 costs, so I assume there's a very good reason for that.  Is it gold plating of the copper chassis?  

Interesting - no DSD (no loss to me) and no additional memory card slot but otherwise it looks very good for the price.

James

Before shelling out for the Walkman NW-ZX2 (which runs on Android 4.2), have a look and listen to the Sony Experia Z3 smartphone. The Z3 also does Hi-Res audio and (from what I've read) appears to offer the same technology as the Walkman, with the big plus that it's a phone, and a waterproof one at that.   

Reasons are simple, considerably better sound, better battery life, 128 GB on board and 128 Gb card in exchange slot. Standard ready for balanced headphones. And totally up to date.

IPhone is my phone and I wanted a special device for only mobile audio.

Thanks Bert. 

I understand. The Walkman with a Sony headphone amp (PHA-3 in the photo below) makes a wonderful mobile system. Or a Hugo...

Possible - but a quite expensive and heavy additional option. Perhaps something to consider with full sized headphones.