Sony HAP-Z1ES‎ music streamer/DAC review

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  • polkfarmboy
    polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
    Being a new audiophile or since joining this forum I am still discovering tracks and gear so I still consider myself a novice. There aint that much ultra HD resolution tracks that are to my liking either. I still love alot electronic music and its hard to get hold of so my lil sonys all empty.
  • SCompRacer
    SCompRacer Posts: 8,350
    halenhoang wrote: »
    It all comes down to personal preferences, it is not a knock on anything or anyone. Ultimately, it is not about a badge that is placed on a product, really. I just noticed a trend of what sounds good is based on statistics, 24 bit, 32 bit, etc. How about we just sit, listen and enjoy.


    No worries here.

    All my life I have strived to have a fuller understanding of whatever I am dealing with. Shooting, hunting, my job, computers, photography, racing, audio, getting along with the wife....lol. Some say it ruins the fun, to me I always got better at what I was doing and enjoyed it more.






    Salk SoundScape 8's * Audio Research Reference 3 * Bottlehead Eros Phono * Park's Audio Budgie SUT * Krell KSA-250 * Harmonic Technology Pro 9+ * Signature Series Sonore Music Server w/Deux PS * Roon * Gustard R26 DAC / Singxer SU-6 DDC * Heavy Plinth Lenco L75 Idler Drive * AA MG-1 Linear Air Bearing Arm * AT33PTG/II & Denon 103R * Richard Gray 600S * NHT B-12d subs * GIK Acoustic Treatments * Sennheiser HD650 *
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Emlyn wrote: »
    erniejade wrote: »
    Elmyn from what I have been reading the sony also has a 20k limit. The other thing I wish it would do is be able to take a "normal pc " formatted drive and hook it to the back for uploading.

    I loaded 25K tracks on mine and found any tracks above the 20K database limit "confused" the player. Speed of track access seemed to be fine with that many files loaded into it, but it would not show the right cover art for tracks loaded after the 20K boundary was reached. Some of the tracks were also randomly spread in different folders than where they belonged after the 20K limit. I backed out several thousand files I was unlikely to ever listen to. Bear in mind though, that all of my tracks are in WAV format, including a lot of high resolution PCM tracks from HDtracks. At around 19K files, I'm still only using around 750GB. I did load a 2TB onto it through the USB port and it worked fine, but I just haven't needed to use its extra capacity so disconnected it.

    I guess the solution to get around the 20K limit is to buy two!

    I wonder if the issue is not the number of tracks, but HD space used. If the files were in FLAC would it still be 20k, or now 40k?

    Either way, it sounds like a firmware bug, which should be easily fixed.
    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • Emlyn wrote: »
    Only negative I can think of right now is that there is a very slight audible hum coming from the area where the hard drive is located. Not audible beyond a few feet though.

    Hello Emlyn,

    I have recently ordered a HAPZ1ES and recognized the mentioned hum myself.
    So I've returned the first unit and got another one in exchange - still again with the same hum. The spare device has a different MAC address, however still very close to the MAC address of the previous unit.
    Now my question: Have you meanwhile discovered the root cause for the hum? Or got rid of it - even with support from Sony?

    Thanks,
    Andreas

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    The slight hum from the hard drive is the result of their decision to use a disc based drive. I am aware some users have put a solid state drive in instead. The hum on mine is not audible from sitting distance, so it doesn't bother me enough to do something to change the drive.
  • Moose68Bash
    Moose68Bash Posts: 3,842
    Skip's advice is right on. Only an SSD will get rid of the noise.
    Family Room, Innuos Statement streamer (Roon Core) with Morrow Audio USB cable to McIntosh MC 2700 pre with DC2 Digital Audio Module; AQ Sky XLRs to CAT 600.2 dualmono amp, Morrow Elite Speaker Cables to NOLA Baby Grand Reference Gold 3 speakers. Power source for all components: Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One with dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel.

    Exercise Room, Innuos Streamer via Cat 6 cable connection to PS Audio PerfectWave MkII DAC w/Bridge II, AQ King Cobra RCAs to Perreaux PMF3150 amp (fully restored and upgraded by Jeffrey Jackson, Precision Audio Labs), Supra Rondo 4x2.5 Speaker Cables to SDA 1Cs (Vr3 Mods Xovers and other mods.), Dreadnaught with Supra Rondo 4x2.5 interconnect cables by Vr3 Mods. Power for each component from dedicated 20 amp circuit to main panel, except Innuos Statement powered from Silver Circle Audio Pure Power One.

  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,032
    I had one here for a while and didn't notice any hum. Then again I was in my rack with the door closed and I sit 14 feet away from it.
    The SSD drive no matter Hum or not is the way to go. SSD drives are amazing.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
  • jbreezy5
    jbreezy5 Posts: 1,141
    Come forth zombie audio thread. Ahh…

    I’ve been looking at used Hap Z’s for my office rig, but have seen a lot of complaints from buyers about set-up and incompatibility with Apple/ios.

    Does anyone still have this, and can you confirm whether the app still works with iPhone or not?

    I would be using a wired connection. Would there be any formatting changes that have to take place for the file transfer?
    CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC

    DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)

    Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777

    Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)

    Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150

    Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i

    Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart

    Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    I liked mine enough to buy a second to use in my home theater system. Replaced the internal drives with a 2 TB SSD after the warranty was up and supplemented with an external USB hard drive. The control app still works with an iPad which is how I control mine over WiFi. They can also be used with an external DAC but I haven’t felt a need to do that.

    The original and still valid complaint about them is the amount of time it takes to move a large library onto their drives because of the way the file transfer system limits speeds. Simply doesn’t transfer reliably without a direct physical connection to a router. YMMV but I found mine to sound slightly smoother by converting some WAV files to DSD in JRiver before loading them.

    The dual power supplies in these things are really over built. These things are heavy and I have had zero reliability issues with mine. If I remember right they also got internet radio at some point, but I haven’t tried that for years, and provide the ability to rip directly to the hard drive.

    Sony has had these in the market for a surprising amount of time with nothing but firmware updates.

  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    Note I have had about 40 thousand tracks on mine for a few years all in WAV format with some high res and DSD tracks. Once they’re loaded speed is good. It just takes three days to load everything from a computer.

    😳
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    jbreezy5 wrote: »
    Come forth zombie audio thread. Ahh…

    I’ve been looking at used Hap Z’s for my office rig, but have seen a lot of complaints from buyers about set-up and incompatibility with Apple/ios.

    Does anyone still have this, and can you confirm whether the app still works with iPhone or not?

    I would be using a wired connection. Would there be any formatting changes that have to take place for the file transfer?

    I would think unless you can get one for very cheap, it would make more sense to put whatever money you're going to spend toward something more modern.
  • jbreezy5
    jbreezy5 Posts: 1,141
    Clipdat wrote: »
    jbreezy5 wrote: »
    Come forth zombie audio thread. Ahh…

    I’ve been looking at used Hap Z’s for my office rig, but have seen a lot of complaints from buyers about set-up and incompatibility with Apple/ios.

    Does anyone still have this, and can you confirm whether the app still works with iPhone or not?

    I would be using a wired connection. Would there be any formatting changes that have to take place for the file transfer?

    I would think unless you can get one for very cheap, it would make more sense to put whatever money you're going to spend toward something more modern.

    Is there something wrong with it?

    This measures superbly per the Stereophile review, and in terms of sonics haven’t seen a single negative comment; quite the opposite.

    I like how overbuilt it is and the idea of using this in place of a CD player in my office set-up.


    CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC

    DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)

    Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777

    Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)

    Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150

    Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i

    Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart

    Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.
  • jbreezy5
    jbreezy5 Posts: 1,141
    @Emlyn - Is the app “HDD Audio Remote” in the Apple App store?
    CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC

    DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)

    Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777

    Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)

    Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150

    Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i

    Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart

    Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    I boxed up about 3,000 CDs after taking them out of their cases a couple years ago and stuck them in a few bins in a closet.

    :)
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    edited September 2022
    jbreezy5 wrote: »
    @Emlyn - Is the app “HDD Audio Remote” in the Apple App store?

    Yes, still there. I have an older iPad that topped out at iOS 12.5.5 so I don’t know if it may have issues with a newer iPhone or iPad if they are using a different iOS firmware version.

  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,056
    Is this not the thread where PFB was posting pictures of this while sitting on the sh..ter :D
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    gudnoyez wrote: »
    Is this not the thread where PFB was posting pictures of this while sitting on the sh..ter :D

    That was crazy...but maybe that was his best chair...IDK but was funny
    2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
    Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
    Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
    Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC

    erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a
  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,056
    edited September 2022
    nwph7ig9fcov.jpg

    Yep sure as s..t during the his morning dumpage. Tony Bs response was classic I never laughed so hard in my life. Of all the old threads to be revived it had to be this one, to the person that revived this um yeah seek out something more current.
    Home Theater
    Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable

    2 Channel
    Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+

    Stuff for the Head
    JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365

    Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
    Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin B)
  • jbreezy5
    jbreezy5 Posts: 1,141
    People post about Schiit all the time. What’s one more. 😂
    CD Players: Sony CDP-211; Sony DVP-S9000ES; Sony UDP-X800M2 (x2); Cambridge Audio CXC

    DACs: Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III (x2); Denafrips Ares II (x2)

    Streamers: ROKU (x3); Bluesound Node 2i and Node N130 w/LHY LPS // Receivers: Yamaha RX-V775BT; Yamaha RX-V777

    Preamps: B&K Ref 50; B&K Ref 5 S2; Classe CP-800 MkII; Audio Research SP16L (soon)

    Amps: Niles SI-275; B&K ST125.7; B&K ST125.2; Classe CA-2300; Butler Audio TDB-5150

    Speakers: Boston Acoustics CR55; Focal Chorus 705v; Wharfedale Diamond 10.2; Monitor Audio Silver-1; Def Tech Mythos One (x4)/Mythos Three Center (x2)/Mythos Two pr.; Martin Logan Electromotion ESL; Legacy Audio Victoria/Silverscreen Center; Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1; SVS SB-1000 Pro; REL HT-1003; B&W ASW610; HifiMan HE400i

    Turntable: Dual 721 Direct-Drive w/Audio Technica AT-VM95e cart

    Cables: Tripp-lite 14ga. PCs, Blue Jeans Cable ICs, Philips PXT1000 ICs; Kimber Kable DV30 coaxial ICs; Canare L-4E6S XLR ICs; Kimber Kable 8PR & 8TC speaker cables.