Four Way Portable (Sony ZX2, iPhone 6, AK100ii, Chord Mojo) Shootout w/ Andromeda IEM

Could you elaborate on why one would be better than another depending on tastes? Or is it strictly because of OI?

 

Nwzx2 has a interesting analogy timbre to it compared to the dpx1 which is very clean precise but more digital

 

Hi everyone!

I was thinking of buying a Cowon Plenue 1 and pairing it with my EX1000. But how would these iems sound with the ZX2?
Or will the Cowon be better?

I also have a Mojo...will the above daps be an improvement over this?

 

I am not sure if other ZX2 user experience this:

If the unit is left on standby for long periods(few hours or more) without playing music. The first instance you continue the playback, the zx2 will sound limper(bass) and less coherent(lack of 3Dness). But once the unit has been warmed back up(1-2hours), sound starts to return to normal.

 

found some measurements on ZX2:





http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?...iewDate=&isShowPopularPosts=false&from=search

 

Certainly the ZX2 doesn't sound like R2R/Schiit but as owner of two desktop(multibit resistor based) dacs: Audio-gd Master 7 and Schiit Yggdrasil,the ZX2 does comparatively well in it's own timbre, tone and texture rendition, given that the each of the two mentioned dacs cost about 2 times more than this DAP. In essence, as R2R dac owner, I don't feel anything overly "downgraded" when I am outside listening to my ZX2 portable rig.

Although It's unfair to compare a DAP to discrete desktop dacs, I felt that the ZX2 is one of the rare DAP that actually can challenge most decent deskop rig in terms of sound quality from IEM/Supraaural headphones.

Especially given the fact that current DAP market is fill up with mostly commercial off the shelf sigma delta dacs from Cirrus Logic, ESS and AKM(which all have some form of digitius or other annoying sound issues)

In my opinion, the ZX2 is certainly a true Walkman X successor with it's stellar sound quality.

 

Damn I miss mine. I'd like to buy another. I really enjoyed mine a lot. Just wish I knew of there was going to be a zx3.

 

Any mod want to give me friend status so I can sell my nwzx2 on the market place?
Will be priced to sell

 

Funny you mention this because I'm planning to sell mine as well haha.
Which DAP are you planning on replacing it with?

 

to the contrary of this forum, i actually prefer the uerr/dpx1 combo to the andro/nwzx2 combo, both are excellent but for my ears/tastes the former is better for me.

I will be selling both the andro and nwzx2 for excellent price on the f/s forums for anyone looking to follow in the "messiahs" footsteps

 

I've also been thinking of getting the DP-X1 haha. Heard that some units have build quality issues though?
AK380cu is also tempting me despite the outrageous price.

 

nwzx2>dpx1 interms of build quality, sound depends though on the iem and wut u like.

imotbh ymmv

 

Well there's something useful I discovered about the ZX2/ZX1's android platform:

You can download from the Google Playstore, the other Sony Music Player App, which does not support high res music playback but has a very useful feature where it can automatically download music album metadata from gracenote. It is not foolproof accurate identification system but it does save you a lot of trouble with editing your cd rips and it even downloads albums art and artist photos.

 

@Marvey was the ZX2 used yours or a loaner? I'm getting a Walkman craving, but I'm not an IEM guy. I'd just like to be reassured that a ZX2 (or maybe the new Walkman teased for IFA) will drive portables with some authority. I have no desire to drive full sized cans. If it is yours, have you tried it with HD25s, DT1350s, Portapros or whatever?

 

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/...hot 2016-08-27 at 10.20.32 PM_zps70d6gaqu.png

 

If this is indeed the ZX3 it'll be a day one purchase for me haha. I see "balanced" labeled next to the headphone out, September 2nd can't come soon enough!

 

Pricing is allegedly going to be in the 2-3k USD range ...... http://thewalkmanblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/is-this-new-sony-wm1-series-walkman.html

 

2-3K? Ouch...well at least that's still cheaper than the AK380 haha.