I'm impressed.

Played around with one of these yesterday and I think it's the coolest thing I've ever seen in the the audio world! Once I started thinking what it is....instead of what it isn't...the switch in my head went on. It's not a DAC, it's not music streamer, and its not a disc player....but it can replace all three. I'm going to oversimplify this and call it a giant iPod that loads itself from your computer and passes a hi-Rez signal to your preamp. Once your music is loaded...again virtually automatically...you no longer need to have a computer connected or even powered on. Every type of file that I heard sounded great, and it was so easy to use. I won't get into all the specs, look them up if you want to, but I will say how impressed I am with its looks/build/use and most importantly sound.

Currently I have all of my CDs on a Mac mini using a Dragonfly DAC. Biggest drawback is having to keep the computer on and connected to the system. The Sony will be an independent unit once loaded, skipping the whole hard drive/DAC/computer source and all the required cables and power cords. At $2k it's not cheap, but it sounds ever bit as good as the NAD M51 DAC at the same price but has the added benefit of being its own source. I'm going to find the money for it.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Sony Hap-Z1ES - Link to Whats Under The Hood and Possible Modifications - smargo 17:16:11 03/06/14 (13)

I'm impressed. - Prisoners 10:03:31 03/10/14 (5)

RE: I'm impressed. - Disbeliever 11:41:23 03/10/14 (4)

Yes but not in the same system. - Prisoners 11:46:20 03/10/14 (3)

RE: Yes but not in the same system. - Disbeliever 00:19:20 03/11/14 (2)

My mistake. - Prisoners 16:17:48 03/11/14 (0)

Yep, black is almost mandatory nowadaze... - rlw 08:03:11 03/11/14 (0)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Link to Whats Under The Hood and Possible Modifications - fantja 14:10:38 03/09/14 (1)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Link to Whats Under The Hood and Possible Modifications - Disbeliever 01:10:03 03/10/14 (0)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Link to Whats Under The Hood and Possible Modifications - Disbeliever 00:26:13 03/07/14 (0)

Sony Hap-Z1ES - Under The Hood ...Photo - RadioWonder 23:08:14 03/06/14 (3)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Under The Hood ...Photo - RadioWonder 00:05:24 03/07/14 (0)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Under The Hood ...Photo - RadioWonder 23:11:55 03/06/14 (1)

RE: Sony Hap-Z1ES - Under The Hood ...Photo - smargo 04:53:33 03/07/14 (0)

Follow Ups

I'm impressed. - Prisoners 10:03:31 03/10/14 (5)

RE: I'm impressed. - Disbeliever 11:41:23 03/10/14 (4)

Yes but not in the same system. - Prisoners 11:46:20 03/10/14 (3)

RE: Yes but not in the same system. - Disbeliever 00:19:20 03/11/14 (2)

My mistake. - Prisoners 16:17:48 03/11/14 (0)

Yep, black is almost mandatory nowadaze... - rlw 08:03:11 03/11/14 (0)

I'm impressed.

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