Yes, portability is the key thing for me, and the Sony just does the business from one small device. The idea of sticking several gadgets together with rubber bands and trying to stuff them in your pocket never really appealed. The headphones are still improving as well - too many late nights!

I went for a demo of the Mojo today, and came home with one, which was probably inevitable.

Can anyone recommend me a music player to go with it that has a good user interface, optical or digital coax out and plenty of storage onboard or via cards (128G is not regarded as plenty, it's less than my not compatible, full, iPod Classic!)? Cheap would be good, too as otherwise an external wireless data store for iPhone/Pad is probably my best option. Fiio X5ii is the closest so far.

Thought i would chip in after following this thread for a while

I have had the Shure SE846 since April 2014 and have used them on many different sources

I have had the Sony ZX2 since July and it is by far the best mobile listening solution i have found to date

Wont try cable changes as i really do not expect any improvement despite claims to the contrary (dispelled this previously with extensive blind testing on other equipment before i get chastised)

No external HPA either or what is the point of adding bulk to a compact mobile solution?

I disliked the standard cables that came with the ‘phones. Too stiff and easily tangled. I’m not that convinced by cable construction making that much difference to the sound but electrically it makes a lot of sense. The Moon Audio cable I use is able to use the 4 poles of the Sony headphone socket rather than 3 of the standard connector which allows L&R grounds to continue right back to the source. The improvement (to me) was not subtle and also confirmed when I put the old cable back on a couple of weeks back. The Shure phones are fantastic out of the box but this really makes them sing.

I still think the whole combo is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my Hi-Fi journey and certainly well worth the money. I’d hate to think how much I need to spend to get the same level of performance in my home system. 

So I made a first step upwards and got myself the 200GB Micro SC card which will increase my mobile capacity with more than 70GB. I will potentially also soon get the mobile hard disk to ensure full, however I really have to get the feeling that I am missing something which so far I haven't had with my current setup (having the essential albums on it). But on the other hand a 200euro extension with 2TB is not a bad deal at all.

For the people who like me have a Shure SE846, the new headphone amplifier might be an interesting option as well while it only goes up to 24/96...

Just bought in addition the Seagate Wireless which should enable me to stream data to my Sony from a 2TB HDD.....let's see if I get it to work seemless...

Seagate Wireless Plus

Please let us know how you get on with that, Bert. It's one of the options I'm considering to add storage to my iPhone and iPad.

Compared to the high end set-ups generally discussed here, I have been 'getting by' with a Sony A15 walkman, and Shure 425s. Sounds allright, certainly not making me run out to upgrade, but equally not something that cannot be improved upon. The Sony has a high noise floor - not unlike the background hiss of my old NAP250 when driving high sensitivity speakers - but I understand that the ZX2 (with which it shares much of the innards) has that as well.

I have not yet found a portable headphone, in- or on-ear, that improves on the small Shures  - in some respects they challenge even my Audeze LCD-XC. All in all, nothing to challenge the main set-up but a lot better than my iphone and conveniently long battery life. 

EJ

Hi EJ,

The Shure 425's are great in their own right but they are definitely in a different league then the SE846, so you might still want to consider that if you listen often to your mobile setup. The noise floor is indeed there in the NW-ZX2, but so far I haven't found that a big topic as it doesn't bother me in 99,9 percent of the cases, so I am still a very happy customer.

It's brilliant, at least so far. For testing purposes I put Graceland from Paul Simon on it (24/96). And through my Sony I can access it and play it, flawlessly. So that put's me to rest as I heard saw a lot of negative feedback and the lack of flac support was mentioned - which I didn't know when I bought it. 

Now the final test will have to be. A lot of people reported that there would be problems with rescanning the whole database when you restarted the connection....if this is the case with the 2TB device then this would be a no go. Otherwise this is the perfect enhancement of my listening experience. Will keep the forum updated when I have copied a lot of the music on it.

P.s. copying the files was just a drag and drop from my pc....

Thanks Bert.

Just to clarify, is the Paul Simon track you used FLAC or another format as I could interpret your reply either way? I know these devices often have limitations; I almost bought a wireless media reader only to discover that it only supports mp3 for music, which is useless as far as i'm concerned.My files are currently in WAV format.

I agree about the scanning issue; it could ruin the whole concept if it takes more than a few minutes to rescan the library. My library is smaller, 450G in WAV but only around 200G if I convert to Apple lossless.

Good luck with the further tests!

Coming in at a somewhat lower level, have just begun to enjoy the new Fiio X5ii with and without that ubiquitous DAC (that shall not be named) and a variety of phones from Senny i80 through to 650 and a couple of other brands.

The fiddle of the micro SD cards will take some getting used to and the hassle with playlists for someone in a Mac environment but like being able to listen to FLAC on the go. New Maria Callas HD recordings sounded very good as did Linn's high res Mozart Requiem.

The world has moved on since my Gen 1 iPod!

Absence of bluetooth prevents the streaming option which may get this unit sent back within the Rainforest return tolerances, as this is very much a toe in the new waters.

Need to see how it compares to iPad, Hiface2 and Hugo as well.

Sorry for the confusion, yea the Paul Simon was a high tea flac file 24/96, and it amazed me as the native app doesn't support it according to official documentation and also according to negative feedback in reviews. But with my standard DNLA app on my Sony it just played fine. As said I will start copying now much more and see what happen with scanning and rescanning problem as it was reported by some people on reviews. If that doesn't form a problem and if the server on the drive doesn't have a number of files limitation anymore as also reported on the internet, this could just be the solution any Sony owner could need.

So I tested now with 200GB and I would say it's a half way working option. When you start up the DNLA player on the Sony you can play everything in all qualities up to 24/192 and it sounds great, as if you have it on a storage card in the device. However it kicks of a rescanning of the whole drive on start up - which means that it takes some time to see everything with 200GB - so must takes hours to see everything on 2TB while this could work in an office scenario not quite optimal, so I will still research if I can solve it. Using the sea gate media app doesn't deliver the solution as it can only play up to 16/44.1 flac, but not higher.... And I have also the feeling that through the app it doesn't sound as good as with the Sony provided solutions.....

so so only partly satisfied with this solution...

Thanks again Bert.

I think I may try a large capacity media player. It seems as if it might be a more practical option, although much more expensive. I should be able to get to about 400G this way, which is fine unless I start buying more hi-res music.

If you are only talking about 400G then it might work for you to get the 500G version of Seagate - it would most probably work quite well. Or you could get 2 200GB Micro SD cards - I have now gotten one.

I think that's my best option; I might even be able to settle for 2x128g cards plus whatever is inside the player, e.g. 32 or 64G. I can probably prune enough albums from my library for that to work and leave me with all my favourites. for mobile use.

For anyone tempted, the Sony is selling at £693 on Amazon at the moment (as my Camel Camel Camel price tracker has just alerted me). A good saving. 

WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE IT AT THAT PRICE.......

That's a pretty good deal. Mine was a refurb bought direct from Sony for £750, which I thought was a decent price at the time.

Hmmmm....

Yeah it's a good price (still the same price today) and quite a lot less than i paid for a new one 6 months or so ago.

Even so i still think it's worth what i paid. A cracking device and warmly recommended.