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In Reply to: RE: Has anyone compared the Sony HAPZ1 to the Marantz NA11S1 posted by navman on September 08, 2014 at 19:00:40
Unless I'm mistaken the Marantz needs to have your computer on and active because it has no internal storage. I haven't hear the Marantz but I've spent several hours with the Sony and I think it sounds fantastic with all material. For me the whole idea of one of these machines is to cut the tie with my computer but not lose the convenience of having all of my music easily accessed.
The Sony does this at a considerable savings over the Marantz and really sounds great.
Follow Ups:
You are mistaken. The Marantz only needs a computer if you are playing files via USB. It plays files via NAS or thumb drive, internet radio, Spotify, etc. w/o a computer. It's a network music server. and DAC. Just no internal storage. Plus it sounds amazing. I like it better than the Luxman and much more than the Sony. YMMV
I'd be curious to know the size of your music library that you loaded to the Sony, and about how long did it take? How many files? What type?
I had the lower-end Sony HAP-S1 that was very good sonically. But I had some problems with Library and other misc software bugs. The library and management are handled in the same way between the HAP-S1 and HAP-Z1ES. I wrote about some of the bugs I encountered further down this thread.
I wouldn't mind giving the HAP-Z1ES a try if Sony fixed some of the problems.
Abe Collins,
Using CAT7 & the latest Dell XPS-Tower running Windows 10 it took 1 week to load a 6TB music library and another 4.5-5 days for the Sony HAP-Z1es to read/register the external HD.
The weakest link in the music transfer chain is the proprietary HD formatting that the HAP requires. You must first format the external HD using the HAP formatting tool. That is a fairly fast process.
Now, you are ready to transfer the your music files using the HAP Transfer APP from your PC/MAC to the HAP. That took me a full week and judging by Computer Audiophile posts this is not uncommon.
Let us assume that you have endured the 7 days transfer process and feeling pretty good about yourself. However, you are not ready to play music!! Why? Because the HAP must read/register all the files. That process is almost as time consuming as the transfer.
All that done, the Sony HAP-Z1es has a soft, over-bloated mid-range sound quality; gone are the crisp highs and controlled bass. Immediately disable the DESS Engine. It only make the SQ worse.
If you are thinking that by using the HAP internal 1TB HD expedites the transfer/register process alas you would be wrong; the process is just as frustrating.
NB: I replaced the stock HAP 1TB internal HD with a 2TB soon after I received the HAP. My initial thought was to replace the 1TB with a 4-6TB internal HD. However, the HAP will not read more than a 2TB internal. There are many posts concerning this topic on Computer Audiophile.
In sum: Forget the HAP-Z1es. Far too much work for very little reward. You would be far better served with the about to be released OPPO SONIC DAC/Player. The OPPO SONIC DAC accepts virtually any size USB HD plugged into the back of the SONICA for a closed system + streaming.
BTW: I am selling my Sony HAP-Z1es with the 2TB Internal HD for $850.00. Original 1TB internal is included.
Christopher
Qui tacet consentit.
Thanks! for sharing- Christopher.
The only hiccup in the loading process he had was his own fault: he admitted to not reading the manual carefully and ended up loading a lot of duplicate files that made the process longer than necessary. Every type of file however sounds very good to me in his Hegel /Joseph Audio system. The up converting engine exclusive to the top model works very well and makes a noticeable difference.
Edits: 09/10/14
The lower-end Sony HAP-S1 has the same Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) technology as the HAP-1ZES and I thought the setup sounded wonderful. I can only imagine that the flagship HAP-1ZES sounds even better. I have no issues with the sound of the Sony players. They're great.
I didn't have that many "dupes", not enough to significantly impact the upload time.
The reason I had some "duplicates" is because I keep more than one version of certain albums. So they weren't technically duplicates. Some albums were ripped from CD, some were Hi-Res rips from my vinyl or downloads from HDtracks, and others were DSD downloads. It was not easy to identify the version I wanted to play on the Sony so I thought I would find and delete the lower res ones. I found this very tedious to near impossible from the Sony.
I can easily organize, identify and differentiate the versions on my Mac music server but not on the Sony. If I were to do it again, I would remove (or move) the lower resolution files from the Mac before initiating the bulk transfer to the Sony because managing the library on the Sony after the fact is a chore.
DSEE is for mp3's, restores some information removed in the mp3 process.
Remastering Engine converts everything to 2xDSD.
for DSD Files.
Remastering Engine can be switched off
Thanks for clarifying. I'm not familiar with the 'remastering engine'. Still, the mid-fi HAP-S1 was very good sonically. I played standard 16/44.1 CD rips through it as well as 24/96, 24/192, and a couple DSD64 albums. Pretty impressive for $1000.
.
Oooh, Ooh, me want one!
Now I'm wondering what the 2k machine does that the 1k doesn't..aside from twice the storage. Not to mention you don't get the amp or headphone amp in the bigger one. I was told by more than one person that the internal build quality of the ES is top-notch and is usually seen at much higher price points, but I haven't heard the 500G version.
The Sony HAP-S1 has a built-in integrated amp of sufficient power with reasonably sensitive speakers. It also has a larger front panel display. Internal disk is 500GB but like it's bigger brother it will accommodate an additional external disk.
The flagship Sony HAP-Z1ES has XLR balanced and RCA outputs, no integrated amp, smaller display but being an "ES" component, it should be better built with better parts. And it should sound better.
I hear that Sony has a good return policy if you want to try one out. I bought my 'mid-fi' Sony HAP-S1 from Amazon and their return policy is also excellent. When I returned mine, I just said it had software bugs and was not ready for primetime, printed the return form and placed it in the box, and printed the shipping label. Placed the box on my porch and UPS took it away. No hassle.
I really liked the sound of the Sony. It was excellent but maybe I'm spoiled with the flexibility I have in the computer setup vs a dedicated player like the Sony. You never really give up the computer with the Sony anyway. It's still needed anytime you want to place more content on the Sony.
and am very happy coming from a CAPS Zuma/Auralic Vega.
24,000 + tracks on external and internal drives, 1.5 TB of PCM, 500G of DSF
First 2 weeks were very slow transferring main library. Now with a few albums a week it works well drag/dropping across network.
Sound quality is exceptional.
As I understand, Sony doesn't have a digital out, so separating what part of difference/improvement is due to transport and what due to DAC is impossible - but still.
Did you get a chance to try CAPS with another DAC, or Auralic with different transport?
TIA
I would say that the detail/shrillness balance is about perfect for most recordings and there is an engaging presentation that gets me more involved. That's not to say that I had all the various things adjusted correctly before and some of the value is in not having to think about that. I have also changed preamps so much is different.
I leave the DSEE and DSD-upsampling on by default but do not use volume leveling. I was a bit surprised to see the DSEE engaged on 24/192 PCM since you aways hear about using it for low bit-rate. I find its effect generally an improvement.
Yes, sound quality is outstanding. Do all of your files have proper ID3 tags and album art, and do they all come up correctly in the Sony? Are some being pulled from Gracenote from the Sony over the internet? And have they all been correct?
Thanks.
My library was well-groomed using JRiver but I only use very basic tags. Most artwork was embedded in the files so the Sony rarely picked artwork and it seemed accurate. I have also changed the tags using the Sony app so the original files on the NAS are no longer current. I have backed up the Sony drives back to another NAS.
I want one, just haven't pulled the trigger, so to speak.
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