Sony HAP-Z1ES has arrived

[bmoura]

The HAP-Z1ES is very much as your describe. Very easy to use with its jog-wheel to select music. I'd call it a music appliance.

 

Fan noise? Can't say I've noticed that. I have one in my home office to listen to music with headphones and a headphone amp. Recommended.

[Supreme Dalek]

The HAP-Z1ES is very much as your describe. Very easy to use with its jog-wheel to select music. I'd call it a music appliance.

 

Fan noise? Can't say I've noticed that. I have one in my home office to listen to music with headphones and a headphone amp. Recommended.

 

Not so much fan noise but noise from the internal hard drive. Having a Yamaha HD1300 HD, CD recorder its internal drive is very noisy in use and I really don't want to buy a Sony and hear this thing whirring away during listening.

 

But I see a fan in the machine and fan noise is a potential issue too, anyone had the fan come on, is it noisy ?

[bmoura]

You can always replace the internal Hard Drive in the Sony HAP Z1-ES with an SSD. That would eliminate any hard disk concerns.

 

Vinnie Rossi at Red Wine Audio offers an SSD replacement as one of his HAP Z1-ES modifications if you don't want to do the swap yourself.

 

Red Wine Audio Components

[audio.bill]

Just wanted to confirm that I know of a Sony dealer has their HAP-Z1ES with a connected 4TB external USB drive, and it has over 50,000 tracks stored and works fine. It is a bit slower to react to remote commands than it was when there were fewer files stored, but it is still very manageable.

[Artie75]

I think noise is a non-issue. My Dell laptop, when the fan is stopped, makes more noise from the hard drive. If I hover over the HAPZ1es with my ear tilted toward the rear vents, 1 foot away, I can hear a very faint whir sound if I hold my breath. I hear nothing sitting a couple of feet away. The sound is probably the fan, since I know the many hard drives are virtually silent, such as my 1T Passport portable drive which is silent unless I place my ear on it. CD drives are another matter, and they can make huge amounts of noise in comparison.

[GrahamJohnMiles]

Been listening to mine since last Summer and still chuckling. Truth is if you love tearing your hair out trying to turn your Pigs-Ear PC into a Silk-Purse Music sytem, then stay away from the Sony. If you love listening to detailed and dynamic music with PRAT, then buy the Sony.

[legaltrouble]

Been listening to mine since last Summer and still chuckling. Truth is if you love tearing your hair out trying to turn your Pigs-Ear PC into a Silk-Purse Music sytem, then stay away from the Sony. If you love listening to detailed and dynamic music with PRAT, then buy the Sony.

 

+1

 

Listening now.

[Supreme Dalek]

Thank you for the info, most helpful

 

 

Regards Neil

[Supreme Dalek]

Went to a local Sony Centre today and bought their mint ex demo unit for well under half price, managed to haggle a wee bit and thus scored a better deal.

 

So the fun bit starts re setting it up.

 

Way I look at this if I don't get on with it I can resell, and get my money back at least, so no loss to me. Last time I took a punt like this it was an Olive4 HD which I didn't keep for too long, so I am hoping this is a keeper.

 

Had a listen in the shop, it wasn't busy in their back room, and I had to put my head on top to hear any noise, so looking good re that. Time will tell re the rest........

 

[Supreme Dalek]

Well it took nearly 5 days to transfer 37750 files to the HAP and the external drive that I had to reformat via the Sony. Tried FAT and it wouldn't recognise it and I updated the HAPs software before using it.

 

I could have used the copy and paste option but instead allowed the HAP to do it all. Its updating the data base as I type, no idea how long that will take.

 

Re noise.... ummmm well the HAP has been on, working since Tuesday night, so the quiet audible noise coming from it at the minute must be the internal fan, if not then I will look at exploring fitting a SSD, however if this is going to be the normal level of noise from this particular unit then its gone.

 

Time will tell but I must say that Sony designing this product in such away not to support a quicker file transfer system is crazy, unless they didn't imagine this for audiophiles with large collections and for newbies with small or no collections or the software running it isn't compatible. Either way re file transfer I think this product is flawed.

 

Anyway using NTFS for this task would have seen it done in a maybe a day or so max, not nearly a week as has been the case.

 

My hope is once the unit has finished updating and been switched off for awhile that in normal use it has no noise, as it had when I first powered it up.

 

Time will tell.

[Major Roadrash]

Has anyone tried an upgraded power cord with their HAP Z1ES?

Any recommendations?

Thanks.

[waltoly]

 

if this is going to be the normal level of noise from this particular unit then its gone.

 

My hope is once the unit has finished updating and been switched off for awhile that in normal use it has no noise, as it had when I first powered it up.

 

Time will tell.

 

In my opinion you should quit wasting your time and get rid of it now. That (very slight) noise will always be there as long as you have the internal hard-drive. Even if you were to replace it with an SSD you'd still hear the (even slighter) fan noise. This low level of noise doesn't happen to bother me because I exclusively use headphones with my Z1ES. But even without my headphones on, the noise it makes is very slight. Like what a quiet laptop would sound like.

 

Also, the file transfer process might not be optimum, but at least you only have to do it once. This seems to be a small price to pay for an otherwise excellent sounding unit that has a pretty good user interface (when operated from a tablet.)

[Supreme Dalek]

In my opinion you should quit wasting your time and get rid of it now. That (very slight) noise will always be there as long as you have the internal hard-drive. Even if you were to replace it with an SSD you'd still hear the (even slighter) fan noise. This low level of noise doesn't happen to bother me because I exclusively use headphones with my Z1ES. But even without my headphones on, the noise it makes is very slight. Like what a quiet laptop would sound like.

 

Also, the file transfer process might not be optimum, but at least you only have to do it once. This seems to be a small price to pay for an otherwise excellent sounding unit that has a pretty good user interface (when operated from a tablet.)

 

You may well be right. I am very sensitive to extraneous noise from equipment and while I was aware from the previous comments here, that there was a little, what I have here I can hear from across the room.

 

Anyway updating all done and music ready to be listened to. So I will see if I can live with it, if not I will sell it on and go down the silent pc road. Maybe I should have just done that but the Sony seemed on the face of it an option that needed to be tried, so trying it I am.

[Bill Allen]

You may well be right. I am very sensitive to extraneous noise from equipment and while I was aware from the previous comments here, that there was a little, what I have here I can hear from across the room.

 

Anyway updating all done and music ready to be listened to. So I will see if I can live with it, if not I will sell it on and go down the silent pc road. Maybe I should have just done that but the Sony seemed on the face of it an option that needed to be tried, so trying it I am.

 

The Whole Lot of You are Insane of this forum.

 

But this page on this thread made me laugh.

 

Thanks!

[dep14]

Need some help - My HAP Z1-ES has suddenly decided it does not want to connect to the gracenote server (errror 34000) when I go to "get music info". Simply stopped working.

 

Anyone else? Any help would be great. Thanks

[joaquin.mora.39]

The Whole Lot of You are Insane of this forum.

 

But this page on this thread made me laugh.

 

Thanks!

[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[Mike37]

Need some help - My HAP Z1-ES has suddenly decided it does not want to connect to the gracenote server (errror 34000) when I go to "get music info". Simply stopped working.

 

Anyone else? Any help would be great. Thanks

 

Hi dep14 - I have exactly the same problem. Will be interested to see if anyone has a fix for this.

 

Regards

Mike

[Artie75]

dep14, mike37: Add me to the list of those unable to connect when selecting "get music information." I get various error numbers including 34400,31600, 34800, etc. This has begun since the new system software (15261R) installation on 6/30/15. Their various "help" websites offer no insight, although they have updated numerous questions and answers on 6/30/15. This is probably some system-wide problem---Please Post any successes you may get in resolving the issue!!!

[Mike37]

dep14, mike37: Add me to the list of those unable to connect when selecting "get music information." I get various error numbers including 34400,31600, 34800, etc. This has begun since the new system software (15261R) installation on 6/30/15. Their various "help" websites offer no insight, although they have updated numerous questions and answers on 6/30/15. This is probably some system-wide problem---Please Post any successes you may get in resolving the issue!!!

 

Hi dep14 & Artie75, Getting frustrated with this problem since the 15261R software update, so emailed Sony Support.

 

Here is the rapid reply I just received from them:

 

"Dear Mike,

Thank you for contacting Sony Video and Sound Support and being loyal to Sony.

We hope you're doing well. We understand that you are facing issue with gracenote.

Sony is aware of the issue you have stated. As of now, we are experiencing the server error. we have escalated this issue to our next level of support and we hope this to be resolved as soon as possible.

If you face any difficulty, please get back to us for further assistance."

 

So at least it is a known issue, and looks like action is being taken.

 

Regards

 

Mike

[Artie75]

Thanks for the update. I'll wail a few days and email them if the problem persists. I fear the fix may not come as quickly as the response you received, if the vTuner outage 6-8 months ago is any example. -=Art=-

[Mike37]

Art, I fear you may be right. Especially after reading this:

 

"Tribune Company today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Gracenote from Sony Corporation of America."

 

Lets hope its a software bug, and not a political problem!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[danghony]

For me it's perfect. I have it in a cabinet under my tv but up close I don't really hear anything.

 

For convenience and sq for me it met my every need.

 

It works like a piece of audio gear. Turn it on and play music.

 

People have complained about the download time but I did about 300 songs at a time. I liked it so much that I re ripped a bunch of my music. The music I don't care too much about, I just pointed the drive to certain iTunes sub folders and voila you have those songs as well.

 

I tried the pc dac thing for a while and I realized it wasn't what I wanted.

 

Hope this helps.

[danghony]

Has anyone tried an upgraded power cord with their HAP Z1ES?

Any recommendations?

Thanks.

 

I bought a Pangea 14se from audio adviser. Great price and quality. I believe it made a difference especially in the bass area. Maybe it's just psychological but cheap upgrade compared to the piece of junk you get with the unit.

[Mike37]

Thanks for the update. I'll wail a few days and email them if the problem persists. I fear the fix may not come as quickly as the response you received, if the vTuner outage 6-8 months ago is any example. -=Art=-

 

Art, not sure where you are based, but I'm in the UK so I thought I would contact Sony support here also.

 

This is the particularly unhelpful reply I received from Sony UK:

 

 

"Dear Mr Pickup (my name is Smith - so who the hell Mr Pickup is remains a complete mystery to me)

Thank you for contacting Sony support regarding Gracenote server on your HAP-Z1ES.

In regards to your enquiry, please note that in an attempt to resolve this issue unplug the HAP-Z1ES from the power mains for 1 minute then plug it back in.

Also, you may reset the device settings to the factory default as follows:

Help Guide | Resetting to the factory default (Factory Reset)"

 

I'm less than impressed with the apparent lack of understanding of the problem, and far from confident that there will be a solution provided by Sony UK any time soon !

 

Did you contact Sony?

 

Regards

 

Mike

[joaquin.mora.39]

I am having problems with the unit due to the connectivity problem with the Gracenote server. Once it is connected to Internet via WiFi it keeps trying to update the database and, after a few minutes, it becomes unresponsive. The only way I can listen to some music is by disabling the Internet connection but then I cannot control the unit with the smart phone. Does anybody now how could I connect the unit to the network but stop it from trying to connect to the gracenote server?

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk