peterlim8 Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I bought a chord qutest dac few months ago, and the dac was wonderful! What the Sony just did it part to supply bit perfect to the dac, and the dac will do the rest! Therefore no way the Sony will be obsoleting. The next upgrade will be adding a chord hugo m scaler, the game changer, and the Sony still play an important role. Chord hugo m scaler Last, I have disabled the analogue component of the Sony and no heat generation even 24/7. Link to comment
Richard Zane Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 10 hours ago, jimdukey said: On my Mac 275/2500/Kef 104.2 with newish Bass Drivers and Tweeters, Clarus Crimson ICs, Clarus Aqua PCs, the Sony sounds wonderful. Love Mac Tube amps and preamps. Have some myself and don't feel tempted by anything else, and although I have had many amps in the past, including many solid state amps and even some humongous Audio Research Tube gear, I keep coming back to McIntosh. Was very happy with the sound of HAPZ1ES, and also likewise with the PS Audio with the McIntosh amps. Never used McIntosh in the studio only in the home. One of the engineers that I was fortune enough to mentor with briefly at Eastman School of music (Phil Ramone) was also a McIntosh guy. He didn't use them in the studio either, but he did also have them in his home. He was not only a great producer and engineer but also a violinist. He wanted his music to sound musical. That's what the McIntosh amps sound like ... musical. Best to keep the signal somewhat neutral. I found the sound of the HAPZ1ES fairly neutral, and the sound of the PS Audio even more so. I wouldn't characterize either as sounding steely or thin. Contrary to what some had found with earlier firmware versions of the PS Audio, I found the PS Audio had a more palpable midrange tonality than the Sony but ... again, the Sony is really magnificent considering how less expensive it is. and I was never suggesting that simply because I was very impressed with PS Audio that I lost my enthusiasm and appreciation for the Sony. By the way, what tubes tubes have your tried in your 275? Link to comment
goheelz Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 On 2/23/2019 at 11:38 AM, RichardS said: But rather then give up on the Sony, I had decided to upgrade it with the Modwright tube output and power supply. Made a big difference. I've had a friend's Directstream here and compared it--the Directstream is very good. So is the Sony. The PS Audio revealed a bit more inner detail. The Sony portrayed more warmth and body (Mullard and Philips tubes). Interesting. Glad to hear about your results with the ModWright upgrade to the Sony. I've considered doing the same, although it's kind of pricey. Also: When you had the PS Audio Directstream on hand, did you try outputting the Sony to the Directstream via USB, thereby using the Sony interface with the Directstream DAC? Any thoughts on that approach? Link to comment
Richard Zane Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 "When you had the PS Audio Directstream on hand, did you try outputting the Sony to the Directstream via USB, thereby using the Sony interface with the Dwrrectstream DAC? Any thoughts on that approach?" There is only analogy outputs. You can't use the DirectStream with the Sony as a DAC for the Sony. besides, and as for the Interface, the PS Audio is currently a supported Roon Endpoint. I don't know why you would want to use the HAPZ1ES for that purpose. Certainly not as a control device. And as for storage would make sense on an SSD drive, either in a good quality server or just on an EXTERNAL SSD drive. For those of us with great tube amplification on hand, the Modwright was as apealing and had no allure. But I could see it when using the Sony with solid-state products. Link to comment
Richard Zane Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 10 hours ago, Richard Zane said: "When you had the PS Audio Directstream on hand, did you try outputting the Sony to the Directstream via USB, thereby using the Sony interface with the Dwrrectstream DAC? Any thoughts on that approach?" "There is only analogy outputs." Sorry I didn't catch the typo. Kind of funny though. Link to comment
sfseay Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 10 hours ago, Richard Zane said: "When you had the PS Audio Directstream on hand, did you try outputting the Sony to the Directstream via USB, thereby using the Sony interface with the Dwrrectstream DAC? Any thoughts on that approach?" There is only analogy outputs. You can't use the DirectStream with the Sony as a DAC for the Sony. besides, and as for the Interface, the PS Audio is currently a supported Roon Endpoint. I don't know why you would want to use the HAPZ1ES for that purpose. Certainly not as a control device. And as for storage would make sense on an SSD drive, either in a good quality server or just on an EXTERNAL SSD drive. For those of us with great tube amplification on hand, the Modwright was as apealing and had no allure. But I could see it when using the Sony with solid-state products. You most certainly can use the HAPZ1's USB output to a compliant DAC. I have used my HAPZ1's USB to drive an Auralic Vega DAC, a Bryston BDA-3 DAC, and the Mytek Brooklyn DAC goheelz 1 MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
audio.bill Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 When the HAP-Z1ES was first released it did not support connection to an external DAC. That capability was added via a firmware update a couple of years later. goheelz 1 Link to comment
RichardS Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I didn't use the Modwright / Sony into the Directstream. Probably would have been a good idea and made for a better comparison. We were comparing other DACs as well, and all but the Sony were streaming from my external drive through an Elac Discovery server. Regarding tubes, when I received my Sony back from Modwright, I was using an all tube preamp from Audio Horizons, and the combo was great (though now using a PS Audio BHK preamp, with Hegel H30 amp). I also compared using the Modwrighted Sony into my Devialet (doing a double digital/analog conversion) and even then the Modwright tube output sounded better (to me, anyway--in most all ways but especially in regards to natural life, warmth and body) than going straight digital into the Devialet, so the tube output stage definitely upped the ante (previously I had preferred going straight into the Devialet digitally). The BHK preamp may give up a touch of midrange dimensionality to the Horizon pre (loved those V-caps) but is better in many other ways, especially the bass, so much so that if I decide to keep the Sony I may change out the Mullard tubes to something lighter and tighter in the bass (probably should have kept the Amperex tubes, but I sold them with the Audio Horizon). Link to comment
Richard Zane Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 "better in many other ways, especially the bass, so much so that if I decide to keep the Sony I may change out the Mullard tubes." I have had a good experience with Shuguang Black Bottle (that's a premium version of the Shuguang tubes), and the bass is very tight, and the entire midrange and top is quite open with a good deal of dimensionality. You might give those a try. I would say the only downside to them is that they have a rather long run-in time before they sound their best. I've countered this by just finding a time when I am going to be away from home, and running them in while I am gone. To the point, I think you will be impressed with the low end after break-in is complete. I used to be skeptical about break-in times, but having a low noise system with clean power, and a heck of a lot of resolving power does present one's ears with undeniable proof that things are different. Yes, I know the skeptic's argument that one's ears have gotten used to the new tubes and don't find them as objectionable as when they were first plugged in. But there have been more than several instances where my spouse has walked in (and not heard the new tubes or listened during the break-in) and remarked with great surprise: "What did you do? Sounds different, more ... musical." So yeah, you can't judge the Shuguang Black Bottle tubes out of the gate, but I do think you will like the tight low end, and everything else about then also. I only say might because, as we all known, there are so many differences between systems and rooms, etc., that it's quite impossible to speak with certainty. I do think these tubes are known, however for a tight low end (once broken-in). Speaking of bass, what do you listen to when checking your low end tightness? Aside from sheer joy of listening to Ray Brown albums, do you have Tony Overwater's "Upclose" on Turtle Records? It's acoustic bass and saxophone, very well recorded as many Turtle and Spirit of Turtle records are. best, r. Link to comment
likearollingstone Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Having weird issues, does anyone know what the "?" means in the top right corner ? Link to comment
likearollingstone Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 other weirdness? External 5tb drive formatted on HAP (ext4) Tried to speed up copying by using EXT2FS on a Winbox, files copying quickly, but when I tried to recatalog with differences..it would get to 20% and hang (like even overnight) I tired then to just recatalog whole drive and it came up with an error "can't complete" I figured I had to just reformat and try again, so I took drive off and backed the whole file structure to ntfs (about 900GB), THEN, put the drive back on the hap, deleted the folder I tried to copy over direct (50GB) and just recopied it via network (while drive was attached) and it worked fine. What gives with this crapola linux OS?? Link to comment
likearollingstone Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Final weirdness...So I thought these files were in the database..it's about 240GB of lossless ALAC (.m4a) files from a custom IPOD, now it's showing up as unrecognizable files...I then renamed the folder (via network) and then just recreated it and copied just 1 of the folders over (via network) and it's fine! no changes..very wonky Link to comment
likearollingstone Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 oh and i forgot this one...yeah it's just blazing fast on a gigabit network 2 hours now for 3GB of files Link to comment
sfseay Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 This is old news. Start copying and be patient. Once done it is done.. Whining wont make it go faster! MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
likearollingstone Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 2 hours ago, sfseay said: This is old news. Start copying and be patient. Once done it is done.. Whining wont make it go faster! yeah 3gb of mp3 to external in 3 hours, not normal, but yes patience, thanks for the pep talk Link to comment
pal Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Hello everyone ! Happy & lucky owner of a HAP-Z1ES since 2014, light usage, no issues so far *BUT* alas the dreaded horizontal white line on the LCD showed up yesterday. As publicly announced by Sony, the error is corrected for free until the end of July, but I don't know what to do. I don't have total confidence in the electronics subcontractor supposed to do the repair, but moreover, I need to hand it over myself as Sony expects me to pay for shipping it in (they'll return it repaired for free though). As I do not want to pay an absurd value for shipment (to have it tumbled cross-country) I would rather do a 5h drive to hand it to the repair center myself. But now, how serious is this problem? Does it impact operations in any way? Will further lines develop over time? I'm rather thinking of living with the line there and call it a day. Or should I do otherwise? Many thanks in advance for any feedback!! Link to comment
jimdukey Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I guess it can't be fixed via Network Update? Unless it effects choosing what you want listen to, or maybe the screen becomes unreadable, I wouldn't bother. Of course, others may know more... Link to comment
sfseay Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 You can purchase the LCD screens for the HAPZ1 and install them yourself. MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
Mike chasz Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Can you elaborate in this- purchasing and installing, please Link to comment
sfseay Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 9 minutes ago, Mike chasz said: Can you elaborate in this- purchasing and installing, please I'm not sure now where I saw this information, but Google is your friend. MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
sfseay Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 16 minutes ago, Mike chasz said: Just as I thought... I'll take that as a pithy remark... https://encompass.com/model/SONHAPZ1ES Now go figure it out MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
pal Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 3 hours ago, sfseay said: I'll take that as a pithy remark... https://encompass.com/model/SONHAPZ1ES Now go figure it out Hey - not bad! A replacement LCD is worth around 52 USD there. Now all I'd need is someone to do it for me, as I can't exactly trust myself for such an operation... Anyway, thanks for the link ! Link to comment
sfseay Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I think the LCD Display is around $124.00 if I'm not mistaken. I think the LCD window is just the glass, but I'm not sure. MAIN SYSTEM - SST Ambrosia 2000 Second Edition Preamp and Son of Ampzilla II Amp, dCS Debussy DAC, Bricasti M5 Streamer, PS Audio P3 Power Plant, Aurender ACS10 Server/Streamer, Focal Sopra No. 1 Speakers, JL Audio F112 Subwoofer, Elac SUB3070 Subwoofer, 20TB Synology NAS, Small Green Computer i5/1TB SSD running Roon HOME OFFICE SYSTEM - NAD M10 Integrated Amp/Streamer/DAC, Auralic Altair Streamer/DAC, Oppo BDP-103 SACD, KEF LS50 Speakers Link to comment
pal Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 14 minutes ago, sfseay said: I think the LCD Display is around $124.00 if I'm not mistaken. I think the LCD window is just the glass, but I'm not sure. OK thanks for the heads-up. Anyway, the only item they have available is the 52 USD one >>> 446600501, WINDOW (LCD), SON446600501 Hopefully this is not just the glass!! Link to comment
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