Sony HAP-Z1ES has arrived

[bwillcox]

Well, my Yamaha CX-A5100 AVP I can be run in Pure Direct mode that will route the analog inputs directly to the amplifier. This bypasses any A/D and D/A conversions and (of course) skips any room corrections or bass management. I have tried this with the HAP a few times and it does sound fine, but find that I miss the surround sound modes offered by the AVP with my 11.2 channels.

[HiFiInsider]

any know how to or can link to instructions on cloning the internal HD? I want to make an exact copy to keep in storage. In the event of failure, I can just pop in the cloned hard drive. Possible?

[Hydrology]

any know how to or can link to instructions on cloning the internal HD? I want to make an exact copy to keep in storage. In the event of failure, I can just pop in the cloned hard drive. Possible?

 

When you either install a new internal drive or connect an external drive, the Sony will format first. I just have a 1TB USB drive that has the exact same content as the Sony's internal. If the time comes it will just be a matter of copy/paste. Not hard.

[sjg]

Got an External Drive connected and loaded up 500GB of music on my friend's Hap Z1. Music played after it was loaded but after the Sony went into standby mode or was turned off, it would no longer recognize the external hd. The external HD was not lit up on the little screen for HD status and could not be rescanned until after power cycling the hd and unplugging the usb cable. Only then would the Sony see it and the music it contained.

 

I talked to Eric at Sony ES installers hotline [877-619-7669] today and he said this was unusual and that it could be an issue with the hard drive going to sleep and that this issue comes up sometimes when bus powered external hd are used. The HD in question is a 4TB Deskstar in a Vantec NexStar CX USB2 case--wall wart powered.

 

So my question is have others run into this issue? And if you don't have any problems with your external hd, what external drive/hardware & powered enclosure are you using.

 

Thank you! Stephanie

 

PS. Eric relayed that there is an email address to get help for Sony ES products: [email protected] Too bad the phone number and their email is not listed in the web support for this product. I am not sure if it is listed in the user guide either.

[Richard Zane]

You mean you insert a new USB drive and once it is formatted, you open both in a separate window on your pc and cut and paste from one Window to the other? Is that your procedure? When you do that, how long does it take you to cut and paste and have all the files copied (and how much many files were on the HAPZ1ES when you attempted that? Was it over 20k files or under 20k files. Don't mean to belabor this point, I am simply curious to know the answers to each of the above questions. Thanks.

[HiFiInsider]

Has this crossed your mind?

 

I own two Z1es in my personal system. As I was setting up the second unit a thought came to me that is rather important for myself and everyone who owns this server.

 

The transport buttons on the front panel (HOME, BACK, ENTER, and knob), these are not available in the HDD Audio app nor the included IR remote control. The ENTER button is essential as it is required to set up WiFi, internal settings, reset the server, Import CDs from external drive, etc. If and when this button fails, there would be no other way to do those functions. The Z1es would be deemed inoperable at the failure of a single button!

 

I am proposing that Sony HDD Audio app team add the transport buttons to the application or the ability to control the Z1es with the HAP Music Transfer app via ethernet connection. Like my SCD-1 and SCD-777es, I plan to keep both of my Z1es for a long long time. It would be a shame for a signal button to “brick” this amazing sounding music server.

 

If you agree, pls. email Sony asking to add the transport buttons to the HDD Music app or the HAP Transfer app.

[Hydrology]

You mean you insert a new USB drive and once it is formatted, you open both in a separate window on your pc and cut and paste from one Window to the other? Is that your procedure? When you do that, how long does it take you to cut and paste and have all the files copied (and how much many files were on the HAPZ1ES when you attempted that? Was it over 20k files or under 20k files. Don't mean to belabor this point, I am simply curious to know the answers to each of the above questions. Thanks.

 

I had the foresight to set this up when i first bought the Sony. Rip my CDs (the bulk of my music source) using XLD Ripper and setup for the ripped files to be saved on a standalone 1TB USB external drive (plugged into my router so technically has become a NAS drive) which the Sony is set up to check for changes every hour. Quite simple really.

[sjg]

I just emailed Sony with HifiGuy528's suggestion to add functions to the HDD Audio App. Great idea. Hope others will too. I am not sure the best place to send this request so I sent it to the ES support team email [email protected]. If others know of another place I should send my request, please relay email addy.

 

thanks, stephanie

[Richard Zane]

I had the foresight to set this up when i first bought the Sony. Rip my CDs (the bulk of my music source) using XLD Ripper and setup for the ripped files to be saved on a standalone 1TB USB external drive (plugged into my router so technically has become a NAS drive) which the Sony is set up to check for changes every hour. Quite simple really.

 

 

I still don't see a fast way that every file on the HAPZ1ES can get backed up without taking a ridiculously long time. The Sony Manual suggests opening the HAPZ1ES and doing a drag and drop. Since the process of drag and drop from the HAPZ1ES across the EThernet is painfully slow, that's really NOT a solution in any shape of form. To me, it seems like Sony was asleep at the wheel when they devised this setup, as if a 1TB drive of high resolution files wouldn't have to be backed or restored. Backing up lossless files is one thing, and backuing up much larger DSD is several magnitudes more lengthy of a process.

 

If someone has a relatively painless way to do it, short of having a separate Linux system, and popping out the drive to make a copy, I'd like to hear about it. Sony never answered my questions, and while I am grateful for the HAPZ1ES for its sonic qualities, Sony fails to provide backup solution that makes sense, and they don't even respond to customer questions (Customer service appears to be non-existent the majority of the time. The Sony Community BBS is a case in point. Only Sony customers provide feedback. Sony is on permanent holiday except for the most inane and unsuitable remarks). I am sure many of you know what I am talking about. Are you listening, Sony? History seems to prove otherwise (they are not).

[JMotzi]

I still don't see a fast way that every file on the HAPZ1ES can get backed up without taking a ridiculously long time. ....

 

Why do you want to back up the HAP-Z1ES? At least in my case, all of the music on the HAP-Z1ES was copied from my central files storage. Whenever I buy new music, I put it in the central place and then send it to the HAPZ1ES. So if I had a disk failure on the HAPZ1ES and lost all of the files, I would be able to easily copy them back from the central files. At least for me there is no advantage to backing up the HAPZ1ES.

 

JM

[danghony]

Why do you want to back up the HAP-Z1ES? At least in my case, all of the music on the HAP-Z1ES was copied from my central files storage. Whenever I buy new music, I put it in the central place and then send it to the HAPZ1ES. So if I had a disk failure on the HAPZ1ES and lost all of the files, I would be able to easily copy them back from the central files. At least for me there is no advantage to backing up the HAPZ1ES.

 

JM

 

I agree. The hap works like an iPod. All my music is on my nas organized as I like it. If I lost all of it the hap sees the drive and syncs. I understand that the first download is slow. Mine wasn't too bad I have everything wired and only about 60 gig of music but I never had all the problems I'm reading about.

 

One other thing I like is that I keep the hap music on one set of folders and other music that I just want with iTunes on another folder.

 

So far I like the concept for my needs.

 

 

I'd like to have all the remote features that were mentioned above.

 

In a perfect world it would also have a digital in for another device.

[sjg]

The Sony Community BBS is a case in point. Only Sony customers provide feedback. Sony is on permanent holiday except for the most inane and unsuitable remarks). I am sure many of you know what I am talking about. Are you listening, Sony? History seems to prove otherwise (they are not).

 

As I mentioned in my posts above, you can contact Sony ES support and get help. Unfortunately the general Sony support/community forum agents don't know the HAP Z1, give out bad info instead of referring to to the ES support team. Truly Awful! I have wondered if some inside of Sony just want to kill this product. Anyways, here is the info for Sony HAP Z1ES support:

 

https://dealersource.sel.sony.com/dsweb/p/builtin/contact_support.html

[877-619-7669]

[email protected]

[Richard Zane]

As I mentioned in my posts above, you can contact Sony ES support and get help. Unfortunately the general Sony support/community forum agents don't know the HAP Z1, give out bad info instead of referring to to the ES support team. Truly Awful! I have wondered if some inside of Sony just want to kill this product. Anyways, here is the info for Sony HAP Z1ES support:

 

https://dealersource.sel.sony.com/dsweb/p/builtin/contact_support.html

[877-619-7669]

[email protected]

Yes, I know, I was speaking of the Community Forum. I've been around with them a number of times. It is truly awful as you say. I would expect that many inside Sony have very little understanding of the market that the HAPZ1ES serves, and don't understand the benefits or have a clue what a unique product it is (at its price point). Most magazines don't focus on this aspect ... meaning sonic value for the amount of money spent. As many of you have come to realize, I'm sure, the magazines that I used to read with some interest back in the 1970s are all featuring "State of the Art" systems that cost approximately a half a million bucks, with amps that cost 200k and pre-amps that 150k, and speakers that range from $60k to $220k. This does tremendous disservice to the industry in the long run, and it serves no one really because rather than a healthy industry that is growing in a particularly healthy direction, with more and more kids eventually looking to upgrade their playback to something that is decent, you have people throwing up their hands and essentially only following it as curiosity, you know, out of amazement, rather than thinking that something that they can appreciate is within their grasp. The recent Blogs at Stereophile and Absolute Sound from people reviewing the most recent audio shows only go to show that except for one or two inexpensive speaker products, nobody talks at all about new systems that perform adequately for a "reasonable" (affordable) price. ANYONE can make something that sounds way better than what was previously available before if enough money is available to produce the prototype. The issue is not that high fidelity can be improved, but rather whether it can be improved for less than a half a million dollars. And in today's press, we are really moving the line for state of the art to systems that cost in excess of a million dollars. That may be all right for a Platinum producer that is on his Third hit, and is looking to build a state of the art studio, but it is NOT okay for the audio industry.

 

By the way, I wanted to say and add, but forgot, in the post above this one, that ... "in a perfect world" .. we'd all be great musicians and composers and all get to play together on numerous instruments in every possible genre equally as well, and be able to do so every day of the week in harmony (by that I mean happily). We'd reach for the HAPZ1ES quite a bit less, perhaps, but we'd all enjoy life more, and even possibly live a whole lot longer. It's not about hobby for me. It's about the music.

[Richard Zane]

It's about the music.

 

I apologize for the consecutive replies - I do not trying to enforce any viewpoint - really - and this one final comment is not in support of anything except well produced and engineered source and played music, but in addition to the companies you probably all know, namely the popular and increasingly productive Acoustic Sounds, and the even better known pioneer, HDTracks, I hope all of you know and have explored the web site called NativeDSD.com where you over 800 high res titles are currently sold, some of them remarkably well recorded as well as in glorious DSD. I've been able to explore the interesting differences between 24bit and DSD by purchasing a PCM version at places like E-Classical.com and then purchase the very same album in DSD at NativeDSD.com. Hats off to NativeDSD for doing a remarkable job, and offering multiplicity of musical genres. If you haven't explored the glorious engineering of Turtle Records at NativeDSD or at SpiritofTurtle.com, you should. Listen to some PCM music from Turtle (it's also available on cd if you can find it), and having listened to Turtle Records in PCM (which sounds glorious enough actually ... because it's well recorded), and even if you have done so, listen in super glorious DSD on your Sony DSD player. Remarkable job they do. Listen to either Wilma Thalen's Sophisticated Lady or perhaps any of Tony Overwater albums in DSD. A personal favorite has always been "Up Close" but all of them are exceptionally done. What is interesting, as it is with Hyperion Records is listening to an example of well recorded source material on all three digital mediums, CD-16, Flac24 or ALac24, and DSD. One is first struck by how satisfactory even a 16bit Hyperion, Pentatone, or Turtle Records CD sounds (because it is well recorded), and how much more palpable the and coherently present the instruments are in DSD. The better the audio engineering, the better your audio system is and the resolution available, the more you will appreciate the work these engineers and of course the "work... play" these artists and trios have done.

[sjg]

Hi, I just wanted to report on my latest findings:

 

1. The Vantec NexStar CX USB 2.0 enclosure with the HGST Deskstar 4TB HD does not work well with the Sony HAP Z1. The Sony reformats the 4TB NTFS HD to 1.6TB. Some hardware conflict might also be why the Sony HAP Z1 could not keep its connection to this external drive after standby or power off.

 

I will not have the opportunity to hook up another 4TB drive for a couple weeks, but I will report back when I do.

 

The hardware conflict could have something to do with the fact that this enclosure is an older model -- maybe 8 yrs old? when 4tb drives were not common or that the Deskstar is a Nas type drive and is defaulting somehow into a RAID configuration?

 

As a quick test, I attached a 5TB Seagate Expansion drive to the Sony and it formatted correctly -- about 4.5 TB. This is an odd glitch. I'd love to hear what external hard drive/enclosures -- exact brand/models folks are using successfully and if anyone has seen this odd behavior of formatting the hd down to about half the hd size.

 

Thanks! Stephanie

[sjg]

Another question. Is anyone copying files stored on a NAS drive to the Sony. If so, what equipment. What is the process for doing it that way. I assume if the network folders can be mounted and accessed you can drag and drop as if they were stored locally on the computer.

 

thank you. Stephanie

[bwillcox]

Mounted shares on my Windows system from my NAS box worked for me at one time (last year sometime) but then it stopped working, I believe with an update to the Sony transfer program. What it did instead after that was run, looking like it was doing the transfer but the new files didn't show up on the Z1. As a workaround, I started copying the files to a local drive on the Windows system (via synctoy) and then doing the transfer from there.

[HiFiInsider]

I just emailed Sony with HifiGuy528's suggestion to add functions to the HDD Audio App. Great idea. Hope others will too. I am not sure the best place to send this request so I sent it to the ES support team email [email protected]. If others know of another place I should send my request, please relay email addy.

 

thanks, stephanie

 

Thank you Stephanie. I hope others will as well. The transport buttons are very important.

[danghony]

Another question. Is anyone copying files stored on a NAS drive to the Sony. If so, what equipment. What is the process for doing it that way. I assume if the network folders can be mounted and accessed you can drag and drop as if they were stored locally on the computer.

 

thank you. Stephanie

 

All my files are stored on my nas. No problem ever. I just use the transfer program and point to a mapped drive through my surface pro 3.

[pal]

Small survey - happy owner of a HAP-Z1ES & TA-A1ES combo, I currently have it matched with a couple of bookshelves Mordaunt-Short Aviano 1 XR which I intend to replace.

 

These speakers seem to me quite awesome for their budget price / range; I’m no real audiophile, but I appreciate their wide soundstage and musical qualities. However, I kind of feel some lack of clarity, I’d wish for some more live-like performance if you may call it like that…

 

I’ve been thinking of a couple of alternatives:

- The universally acclaimed KEF LS50 (Q-drivers)

- The more budget-friendly JBL Studio 530 (horn loaded)

 

My music library is extremely eclectic, ranging from independent rock to electronic and classical, with audio quality also ranging from lossless / FLAC to low bitrate mp3s (kind of counting on the HAP-Z1ES DSD remastering to hand some help here).

 

The listening room is small, and listening volume will be normally low.

 

What’s your current setup, if I may ask? Any advice?

 

Many thanks in advance!!

[HiFiInsider]

Anyone noticed slight distortion (clipping) from the XLR output? Sound like it is overloading my Moon Neo 430 amp, that kind of distortion.

[HiFiInsider]

figured out why there's distortion. It's my crappy music... lol.

 

I wonder if it's possible to hack the Linux OS and add TIDAL. That would be AWESOME.

[sjg]

pal -- you might do better to ask this question in the general forum where more folks may have experience with the speakers you list. Generally I advise to listen to the speakers in your room with your system -- and see what you prefer. Most local and many online dealers offer ways to do this. I'll be curious to hear about what you decide. best, Stephanie

[sjg]

Thank you bwillcox and danghony for providing information about your experiences transferring files from a NAS to the HAP Z1. I'd love to hear from other users.

 

1. What specific external hard drive attached to the HAP Z1 are you using?

 

2. Have you transferred files from Network attached storage? How did that work out for you?

 

Thank you!

 

Stephanie

[HiFiInsider]

I just finished a tutorial with lots of pics on how to upgrade the internal hard drive. Just Google "Sony HAP-Z1es hard drive upgrade". Hope it'll help someone here to enjoy this great server further.