About what? WM 1 From the previous evaluation, we can see that Sony's 70th anniversary signature trilogy: resplendent, steady and low-key WM 1Z and WM 1A high-quality portable players.
As for the A30, we can see the previous comments: Sony Walkman A30 is a music player that gives consideration to thinness, high sound quality and battery life.
High sound quality and portability give ZX series a new mission. The photo is ZX 100.
When it comes to ZX300, many people will think of ZX 100 released two years ago. Speaking of ZX 100, it is a somewhat disappointing product for the author. Its initial positioning is between A20 and ZX2, but the overall design is closer to the enhanced version based on A20. The operation interface is still based on the physical panel at the bottom of the screen. The texture of the operation panel is somewhat incompatible with the aluminum alloy body, and the tuning pays too much attention to low frequency. However, ZX300 is not the successor of ZX 100, but a brand-new product.
About ZX 100? You can see the previous evaluation: Hi-Res music player that returns to the essence of pure music playback, Sony Walkman ZX 100 to play.
Regarding ZX2, you can look at the previous comments:? The crystallization of sound metaphysics, played by Sony Walkman ZX2.
Although the official protection design provided by the original factory is similar to that of WM 1 series, both are black leather, but the flip design is not the downward design of WM 1 series, but? The original protective covers of A30 and A40 are side-lift, and plastic materials are still used as the way to fix the ZX300. The upper cover is designed by magnetic attraction, and the thickness of the cortex is much thicker than that of the protective covers of A30 and A40.
The appearance is similar to the physical design of ZX 100, but it is completely different. If ZX300 and ZX 100 have the same characteristics, I'm afraid there is only a slender body structure and a size that can be easily put into a pocket. Apart from naming, the correlation between ZX300 and ZX 100 is not high, unlike ZX 100 which is based on a series. ZX300 is a cheap and light version that takes the essence of WM 1 series, but at the same time, it is not only a cost-reducing version based on ZX300, but also a brand-new design and planning product.
Different from ZX 100' s design that the lower part of the fuselage protrudes, ZX300' s fuselage is a complete plane design, with a large skin on the back and a large solid button on the side similar to WM 1, which can control the volume of music playback without opening the screen. In addition, music lovers are excited about the two output interfaces on the top of the machine. ZX300 and WM 1 series are both models with 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced output, which also means that the driving force can be multiplied through the balanced interface.
The front of the ZX300 is high-quality frosted glass, which is not easy to produce glare due to strong light, and the sliding touch is better than ordinary glossy glass. But it may be strange that the screen is actually only the upper part. Since the screen does not occupy the whole fuselage, why use such a long and narrow glass?
I guess it is for the sake of structure and beauty, because the relationship between circuit boards, batteries and other components should be placed in the fuselage, and the size of the ZX300 should not be too large. Sony chose to put all the components in a narrow body design, and the frame should have enough openings to put all the components in. However, because the screen used is 3. 1 inch WVGA ratio, the whole opening of the fuselage cannot be filled, but if a single piece of material is used, the fuselage will look like ZX65433.
As a series of walkman products, it is troublesome to stick to WM port, which is the symbol of walkman. In addition to using dedicated transmission lines (or matching microUSB to WM port converter), the technology of transmission interface is also relatively backward, and many big brands have successively introduced USB Type-C. Interface, not only can access quickly through USB 3.0 or above transmission speed, but also can choose to use more efficient charging technology.
Inherited the most important core of the fully balanced S-Master HX architecture ZX300 in WM 1 series, and adopted the S-MASTER HX chip of the same generation as WM 1 and A30, which can support up to 32 bits, 32 bits 32bit 384kHz. And in the balanced output mode, the native DSD 1 1.2MHz grid is supported, the single-ended output is set to 50mW+50mW @ 16 ohm, and the balanced output can reach 200mW+200mW @ 16 ohm, although it is slightly lower than WM/kloc-0.
Seeing the data of single-ended and output specifications, it is not difficult to understand that the S-Master HX architecture of ZX300 and WM 1 series have the same design. Single-ended output will only carry out single DAC and single amplification, while balanced output will use DAC and symmetrical amplification, resulting in four times of two sets of outputs, which is different from the situation that the balance-supported portable player only has twice the output difference after merging the left and right outputs through the balance architecture, but it also symbolizes the power consumption of the ZX300 under balance.
In addition, the structure and parts also inherit WM1a. In addition to cutting the fuselage with aluminum alloy, a gold-plated high-purity oxygen-free copper bottom plate is installed between the circuit board and the shell, and the back is made of high-rigidity aluminum alloy bottom plate, which has both strength and conductivity. Copper-plated resistors extending from ZX2 and WM 1A are used internally, and the same double-layer capacitor as WM 1 series is installed between the battery and the amplifier circuit. The extension of S-Master HX also has four ft-caps (5 capacitors in WM1series).
Other components related to sound include two different sampling modes of dual clock design, 44. 1kHz and 48kHz. When playing DSD, it is necessary to perform native decoding in 4.4mm balanced output mode. If it is single-ended, it will be converted to PCM mode to play DSD files. Therefore, if there are players who need to listen to DSD, it is recommended to buy headphones with 4.4 interface to liberate their energy.
?
?
?
?
?
The user interface is the same as WM 1, A30/A40, but the user experience should be improved. For example, the music that the author often listens to is relatively fixed and the operation problem is not big. However, for some people who have loaded a lot of music by many artists in their storage space, Sony's current system lacks the convenient search mechanism under the previous Android system, which is also a criticism of some players.
Does DAC mode increase the flexibility of use?
Compared with MW 1 series, ZX300 also has a new DAC mode, which can be used with PC and Mac. Selecting DAC mode on the home screen can convert it into USB DAC. In addition to updating to the Windows version of Windows 10 Creators Update, other Windows versions require other drivers. On the Mac? Update with Windows 10 Creators? Plug and play, it should be noted that USB DAC mode cannot access file data in ZX300.
Paired with 4.4mm five-pole balanced headphones can better reflect the value. Sony also provided two earphones based on the original design but with a 4.4mm five-pole balanced terminal, including MDR- 1BP and XBA-N3BP, as a matching test. The wire bases used in these two earphones are the same as the original 3.5mm single-ended version, but the earphone terminals are changed to a 4.4mm balanced terminal. MDR- 1BP still provides the 3.5mm line of single-key controller, but XBA-N3AP only provides a single balance line.
At first glance, the tonality of ZX300 is somewhat similar to that of WM 1A, and the sound tends to be rational and analytical, with a slightly smaller sound stage space, less detailed information and more low frequencies. Compared with the overall sound, it sounds bright and thin WM 1A, but the sound of ZX300 is more balanced, but it is worth noting that although ZX300 is not as bright as WM1a.
Maybe it's because of tuning, or Sony's engineering team intends to make the difference between ZX300 and balance more obvious. On the premise of matching the same earphone, the difference between using single-ended and balanced output of ZX300 is more obvious than WM 1A, especially when matching headphones with more details and higher driving force.
The matched MDR- 1BP provides a single-ended and balanced line, and the line itself is made of the same material. You can feel the difference between the two output surfaces when you listen cross-listening, but the difference in details is not obvious. After all, Sony emphasizes that its DAC architecture is special and will not affect the SN ratio because of the single-ended balanced architecture. But in addition to the better advantage of left and right separation, the compactness of low frequency and the fullness of intermediate frequency will make people feel that they are not in the same machine.
The performance of MDR-N3BP is equally impressive, just like a friend has a standard single-ended MDR-N3AP as the control group. If the single-ended driver is much better than the mobile phone, it still feels that the low frequency is a bit loose and the sound field is not very good, so use a balanced line to connect. Although the low frequency has a sense of quantity, it has many obvious forms and can also obtain significant dive extension. Judge the performance gap between single-ended and balanced.
Connecting these two earphones, we can find that both MDR- 1BP and MDR-N3BP can be regarded as earphone combinations made by Sony to make it easier for consumers to explore the single-ended and balanced performance of the ZX300. Another match that I think is more suitable is HiFiMAN? X version? Because under the official suggestion, the most suitable driving upper limit of Edition X is about 450mW in single-ended mode, while the left and right channels of ZX300 can reach 200mW in balanced mode, which is quite close to the demand.
If we really want to compare, there is still a gap between WM 1 series and ZX300. However, according to the music listening habits of the general public, the ZX300 with a more balanced triple band is more acceptable than the WM 1A dubbed as black brick. Although the medium frequency of the commemorative version of the BRIC WM 1Z is gorgeous, it also means that the sound pays more attention to individuality than balance, and the unit price is also very high.
The most important thing is that the sound of WM 1A is much larger than that of ZX300 in both volume and weight. I saw a consumer's evaluation of the ZX300 in Amazon, Japan, which should also prove this point. He said that although he already had WM 1Z, he didn't want to take it out because of its size and weight, so he bought the same 4.4mm ZX300 for outdoor use. I also think the difference between ZX300 and WM 1 will be difficult to distinguish because of the environmental noise if you are on the bus or on the street.
Although the author is not a long-term user of Sony Walkman, he has also been baptized by several recent Walkman players. The early Z 1050 left a good impression on the author, except that it could not expand the storage, and the driving force of ZX 1 was poor, but at least the sound was pleasant. On the contrary, the driving force of ZX2 and ZX 100 did not improve, and the sudden increase of low frequency made the sound unbalanced. In contrast, the author thinks that the sound of A 15 was normal at that time.
When WM 1 and A30 series were launched last year, the author also had a refreshing feeling. Not only does the tuning become neutral (many old cable powders are dissatisfied because they have lost the warm paste characteristics of the intermediate frequency in the past), but the driving force is also improved. The 4.4mm balanced output of WM 1 has stable terminal structure and better driving performance. Although the machine response was stuck at first because of the system * * *, it was later modified.
However, the gap between A30 and WM 1 is obvious in overall performance and price range, and the previous generation of ZX2 and ZX 100 can hardly be regarded as a compromise between the two product lines. When the ZX300 was released this year, the author saw the 4.4mm balanced output of WM 1 and began to look forward to it. After all, both price and portability are more suitable for carrying out than WM 1. After the actual experience, I feel that the ZX300 is the key product to expand the 4.4mm terminal.
Although Taiwan Province Province was listed almost one month later than Japan, the official price of Sony in Taiwan Province Province is better than the suggested price in Japan. The overall performance of ZX300 is only slightly inferior to WM 1A, but the overall tuning is more balanced, the volume is easier to carry, and the price is more approachable. No wonder Japan's Kakaku price comparison website is the current champion of both sales and attention.
On the whole, I personally think that the ZX300 has played a good card for pure music lovers. It not only inherits the advantages of ZX 100, but also has a more neutral sound performance. Although it lacks the extended functions of WiFi and app, the built-in storage is reduced to 64GB. On the whole, ZX300 is still very competitive in this price segment, but it is strongly recommended to use it with 4.4mm balanced output to give full play to its full strength. If only single-ended output is used, it would be too violent.