Sony HAP-Z1ES has arrived

[sjg]

hi, I wanted to report that I was able to load up music onto an external hard drive the sony can read using  my WD Mycloud EX2.

 

I formated my Seagate USB desktop expansion drive 4TB on the Sony HAP Z1ES.  Took that drive and attached it to the usb port on the WD MyCloud EX2 NAS.  Many NAS drives with USB input can read and write Linux formatted hds.  Filled it with my music.  Unmounted it from NAS.  Attached it to the Sony and after the Sony scans the drive and builds up its database for the 3.5TB of music -- this takes half a day.  And all is good.

 

I find this method more reliable and faster.  Feeding a large music library into the Sony directly over the network takes 10 to 100 times longer.  I have worked with 2 different Sony HAP Z1ES units now -- invariably at a certain point the  Sony hangs and the transfer stalls.  At least now I can avoid that painfully slow process.

 

Also, I tried the balanced outs but found into a vintage single ended system that there was low hum typical of going from balanced to single ended.

 

[sjg]

I use MP3tag on PC and Mac.  It may not be in the app store but it works fine.

[wildsam]

After installing a larger 2tb internal drive and filling it with my music collection the hap scans my library and even though all the music is working fine I have a question mark on the display that doesn't go away.

Anyone else noticed this or have a solution to remove the question mark?

[HiFiInsider]

@wildsam I believe it means your server is unable to connect to Gracenote to update the database.

[wildsam]

Ok I  changed the connect to gracenote setting to off and restarted the hap and the question mark still remains.

The hap's internet connection is working fine and all else works as it should.

Any other suggestions that I could try?

 

[boomklever]

I am not 100% sure, but I believe I had the same problem when the number of songs exceeded around 30.000.

[christoum]

2 hours ago, wildsam said:

Ok I  changed the connect to gracenote setting to off and restarted the hap and the question mark still remains.

The hap's internet connection is working fine and all else works as it should.

Any other suggestions that I could try?

 

You have to search the error into an album artist that you loaded. You have to see if there is wrong track order inside of the album to recognize the problem. One album can create this error. 

[sjg]

Any tricks to a hard reset?  My friend's unit is stuck on the intro screen and wont power down or up.  When it is plugged in the green light is always flashing. 

I have disconnected everything from the unit and left it unplugged for a few hours but when I plug it back it I get the same thing -- the splash screen flashes and then it finally gets stuck on the intro screen "HDD Audio Player/powered by Gracenote.

"

Has any one else seen this problem?

Thanks, Stephanie

 

[gstew]

Stephanie,

As far as I know and can see in the Service Manual, there is no hard reset mode. You can reset it to factory status, but that requires it to fully boot.

There IS a diagnostics mode that you can try. Please PM me for more information on that.

There is also a possibility (slight) that a blown fuse inside of the unit is causing the issue. I can also make some suggestions on that.

BUT my gut feel is that there is either a hard drive failure (not so bad, can be easily replaced, but music on the drive will be lost) or a fault on the Main (processor) board (would require a trip to Sony repair, parts may not be available).

Sorry to not have good news.

Greg in Mississippi

[sjg]

Greg, thank you for input on my friend's HAP Z1!  After letting it rest for half a day, after I had contacted Sony, I thought hell lets try one more time and see what happens.  After another dismal start, I was able to get the Sony HAP Z1ES to shut down and then start up normally.  I was overjoyed to hear the power supply go click.  I am not sure exactly what I did -- I may have held the power button while removing the IEC cord,  I know I tried so many things including using different ends of the power cord to power on and off the unit.

 

 

It seems to be working perfectly now.  We'll have to see if it stays this way.  I am not sure exactly what the cause was to send it to this never never land protection mode.  Let's hope we don't go back there:)

 

[gstew]

Glad that it came back. The 'hold the power button while removing power' is always a good safe bet, but there is nothing about that in the service manual.

That it came back means that it was not a fuse... none of them are reset-able. SO your friend would be well-advised to backup any music files only on the Sony... it was probably a HW issue that may recur.

If you or your friend are tech-capable, opening the unit and carefully pulling/resetting the cables is not a bad idea. BUT if you don't know how to do that with any particular cable (like the ribbon cable between the DSP board and the Analog board), leave it alone... you can damage the cable or board or both OR create more problems with improper pull/reset.

& Checking the unit's warranty status is also a good idea, just in case.

Greg in Mississippi

P.S. Replacing the harddrive is a fairly easy process to do and has been documented in many threads (including this one way earlier, I believe). BUT of course you then have to transfer your music onto the replacement drive, a slow process. The most likely culprit was a drive issue, so your friend might consider that as insurance.

[likearollingstone]

1 hour ago, gstew said:

If you or your friend are tech-capable, opening the unit and carefully pulling/resetting the cables is not a bad idea. BUT if you don't know how to do that with any particular cable (like the ribbon cable between the DSP board and the Analog board), leave it alone... you can damage the cable or board or both OR create more problems with improper pull/reset.
 

 

yeah and be real careful with static electricity, touch the power supply or steel outside case before putting your hands on anything inside

[HiFiInsider]

I wrote an article on how to upgrade the internal HD. You can see pics of the inside of the unit in the article.

 

https://www.hifiinsider.com/sony-hap-z1es-hard-drive-upgrade

[russellbobby]

Hi all,

Can I get the fuse value for the Hapz1-es?  My friend wants to try a Synergistic Blue fuse.

Thanks,

Russ

[gstew]

Russ,

LOL... there is no single 'fuse' in the HAPZ.

There are non-replaceable fuses built into each of the 3 transformers. No information on their type or values.

There are 4 soldered-in 2.5A 250V fuses on the Analog Power Board. It would take some serious surgery to replace these.

AND there are 2 T 3.15AL/250V fuses on the DC-DC Power Board. These could be replaced with the Synergistic fuses.

Greg in Mississippi

[russellbobby]

Thanks Greg,

I forwarded your reply.  Have you heard of a bump regarding fuse upgrades?

[Pigs on the Wing]

Any word on a follow-up for the Z1ES? I had its little brother for a while, and was planning to upgrade to the Z1, but I never got around to it. I'm assuming that there must be at least half a dozen more advanced players/streamers out there by now (I haven't done any research yet). It looks like MQA is starting to get a bit of a foothold. I wouldn't mind having something that supports it as well. Networkable would be nice, too. That would certainly eliminate any need to replace an internal HD. 

[gstew]

45 minutes ago, russellbobby said:

Thanks Greg,

I forwarded your reply.  Have you heard of a bump regarding fuse upgrades?

Russ,

 

Though I don't recommend it, I've played with bypassing all of the accessible fuses & found little or no difference.

 

I'm not a fuse snob... I have AMR fuses in my amps and PS Audio P10s, with good results.

 

Greg in Mississippi

[HiFiInsider]

@Pigs on the Wing judging by Sony's history, the next model may be lower in build quality but filled with features. Z1ES is way... over built for what it is and sounds beyond the $2K price tag. I love it so much I bought two and upgraded both to 2TB internal HD.

[wormcycle]

On 10/18/2017 at 12:48 AM, HiFiInsider said:

judging by Sony's history, the next model may be lower in build quality but filled with features. Z1ES is way... over built for what it is and sounds beyond the $2K price tag. I love it so much I bought two and upgraded both to 2TB internal HD.

Z1ES is a fantastic sounding device, I use it's with dual mono Nuforce headphone amps and I love it but... I will ditch it for whatever price I can get if Sony will not come up with the framework to use it as DLNA renderer in six months, and/or if they do not stream Tidal. It is just a total waste to have a DAC of the Bryston BDA 2 level of quality and be able to use it to play only your own CDs or downloads. 

[pro_info]

Hello everyone,
I plan to buy HAP-S1, and I have some questions to submit.
I ask my questions here because HAP-S1 and HAP-Z1ES are similar in functionality and run under the same firmware.
I said that I asked my questions to Sony's support, which unsurprisingly, proved incompetent not even knowing that USB DACs were now supported ...

 

The player's remote control only includes 7 buttons (http://helpguide.sony.net/ha/haps1/v1/en/contents/TP0000226436.html), is it still possible with these to navigate the menus as it is possible to do with the wheel left the device front? Buttons act as arrows? It cannot be stuck in a menu with these unique 7 buttons?

 

Regarding the web interface accessible by the IP of the device, is it possible to control the device (its menu) via UPNP request of the style "Validate", "Esc "," Up "," Down ", or is it only possible to navigate, set options, choose a track (What do mobile applications do, that do not act directly on the interface, the device menu?

 

The third concerns compatible USB DACs, do you know if the Asus Xonar U7 DAC, NuForce μDAC-3, NuForce μDAC-5 are supported? In my case I'm trying to get a digital sound so this kind of small DAC would be largely sufficient for my use (I own the first, which has a very good sound via a PC for that matter).

 

I hope you will answer my questions
Thank you all
And good listening

PS: I am French so the translation may be execrable, sorry for this point, do not hesitate to signal me if there are points that I must reformulate!

 

Bonjour à tous,

J'envisage d'acheter le HAP-S1, et j'ai quelques questions à vous soumettre.

Je pose mes questions ici, car le HAP-S1 et HAP-Z1ES sont similaires au niveau des fonctionnalités et tournent sous le même firmware.

Je précise que j'ai posé mes questions au support de Sony, qui sans surprise se sont révélés incompétent ne sachant même pas que les DAC USB étaient à présent supportés...

 

La télécommande du lecteur ne comprend que 7 boutons (http://helpguide.sony.net/ha/haps1/v1/fr/contents/TP0000226436.html), est-il néanmoins possible avec ceux-ci de naviguer dans les menus comme il est possible de le faire avec la molette gauche en façade de l'appareil ? Des boutons font office de flèches ? Il n'arrive pas d'être bloqué dans un menu avec ces uniques 7 boutons ?

 

En ce qui concerne l'interface web accessible par l'IP de l'appareil, est-ce qu'il est possible de contrôler l'appareil (son menu) par l'intermédiaire de requête UPNP du style "Valider", "Echap", "Monter", "Descendre", ou est-ce qu'il est uniquement possible de naviguer, régler les options, choisir une piste (Ce que font les applications mobiles, qui n'agissent pas directement sur l'interface, le menu de l'appareil?

 

Le troisième concerne les DAC USB compatibles, est-ce que vous savez si le DAC Asus Xonar U7, NuForce µDAC-3, NuForce µDAC-5 sont supportés ? Dans mon cas je cherche à obtenir un son numérique donc ce genre de petits DAC seraient largement suffisants pour mon utilisation (Je possède le premier, qui a un son très bon via un PC d'ailleurs).

 

J'espère que vous saurez répondre à mes questions

Merci à tous

Et bonne écoute

 

PS : Je suis Français donc la traduction risque d'être exécrable, désolé pour ce point, n'hésitez pas à me faire signe s'il y a des passages que je dois reformulé !

[sjg]

Export list of Favorites -- Random Ordered Play

 

I am trying to create a list of Favorites for my friend's family.  He passed away and had 600 favorites selected on his Sony HAP Z1ES.  I am using an old Macbook Pro laptop with Snow Leopard OS.  On the internal drive there are 2 greyed out folders, might the list be located there?  When I had the unit setup at my house I was able to find different folders like this easily on my network, but I use a Windows system at home. 

 

Also, is there a way to play favorites in a random order?  Is there a way to play a playlist in random order?  I've not been able to find that function on the Sony App.

 

Thank you.

[pal]

12 minutes ago, sjg said:

Export list of Favorites -- Random Ordered Play

 

I am trying to create a list of Favorites for my friend's family.  He passed away and had 600 favorites selected on his Sony HAP Z1ES.  I am using an old Macbook Pro laptop with Snow Leopard OS.  On the internal drive there are 2 greyed out folders, might the list be located there?  When I had the unit setup at my house I was able to find different folders like this easily on my network, but I use a Windows system at home. 

 

Also, is there a way to play favorites in a random order?  Is there a way to play a playlist in random order?  I've not been able to find that function on the Sony App.

 

Thank you.

 

Hello there - on March 9, 2015 (really, 2015!) I made a very similar query: HOW TO EXPORT THE DAMN FAVORITES from the device.

 

Go figure? Nothing zero NADA.

 

It is extremely immensely outrageously frustrating that such a high-end device does not allow for importing and exporting playlists.

 

IMPORTING AND EXPORTING PLAYLISTS.

 

We're not wishing it would brew coffee, do the laundry or play vinyl natively.

 

It's freaking 2018 and we'd like that the thing would be able to export favorites FFS.

 

In the meanwhile, maybe we'll have to keep on waiting a bit longer, by when, if waited long enough, those problems may no longer be relevant to some as your personal situation shows.

 

/rant over

[waltoly]

12 hours ago, sjg said:

Export list of Favorites -- Random Ordered Play

 

I am trying to create a list of Favorites for my friend's family.  He passed away and had 600 favorites selected on his Sony HAP Z1ES.  I am using an old Macbook Pro laptop with Snow Leopard OS.  On the internal drive there are 2 greyed out folders, might the list be located there?  When I had the unit setup at my house I was able to find different folders like this easily on my network, but I use a Windows system at home. 

 

Also, is there a way to play favorites in a random order?  Is there a way to play a playlist in random order?  I've not been able to find that function on the Sony App.

 

Thank you.

Not aware of any way to access a file that contains favorites.  Or playlists. So you cannot import, export, or edit such a list. It all has to be done one at a time through the interface.

 

You can play favorites in random order. There's a hard-to-see button right next to the skip track forward button. It cycles through playing tracks in random order, or playing albums in random order. The button to the right of the random button is the track repeat button.

[dennis336]

Check out Sony instructions 

https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=HAPZ1ES

 

Sent from my iPad