bmoura
Opinions & comparison - Sony vs Exasound? I was interested in the Sony except for no multichannel. But I don't see that many 5.1 hi-rez available so, if I were a newbie to computer audio & hi-rez files, how do these 2 hardware/software approaches compare?
also, how does Sony's DSD upsampling to DSD on PCM sound to you?
Both products look top rate, one can do multichannel but the other can't but one costs 50% more than the other. other than no 5.1, is there any other tradeoff with the Sony?
Thanks!
SS,
Thought I would start a thread on the Sony HAP-Z1ES with your message.
The HAP is a popular solution to music download playback - not just with music fans but also at audio shows. For example, it was used by Acoustic Sounds as the music source last October when they debuted the Super HiRez music download service vs. using a high end DAC. I'm told it the HAP was also present in several rooms at the recent Axpona music expo in Chicago as the music source.
I'd call it a music appliance. You copy music files/downloads to the 1TB hard disk in the HAP-Z1ES (via Wi-Fi or Ethernet built-in to the unit) by the free HAP Music Transfer app or file copying via Windows Explorer. Hooking it up is as simple as connecting the two Stereo out jacks to a headphone amp, receiver or preamp and away you go. (I'm using it via a Headphone Amp). Much easier than a standard DAC which requires a connection to a computer or bridge via USB cable. The HAP switches songs via a front panel knob or a free app for Android and Apple IOS tablets. It has a color LCD on the front panel that shows the album art and information on the song now playing.
The Sony upsampling to DSD128 for all music files sounds good to me. As with the Stereophile review by Kal Rubinson (see
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-hap-z1es-high-resolution-file-player) , I've found that while you can turn the upsampling off, I've left it on for listening. And speaking of DSD128, the HAP plays DSD128 files in that format. So DSD128 files from sites like Native DSD and DSD File (Opus 3 Records), 2X the SACD resolution rate, work just fine and sound excellent.
What the exaSound brings to the party, in addition to 6 Channel Multichannel playback for DSD and PCM files is resolution up to QuadDSD (DSD256). The free violin DSD256 music sample you can get from exaSound is very impressive. My guess is that DoubleDSD (DSD128) is probably the sweet spot in the music download market. But there will be the occasional QuadDSD release and exaSound plays it back impressively. exaSound also offers buyers of their DAC a 25% Off discount on Multichannel and Stereo music downloads from NativeDSD.Com. A nice bonus!
One other choice to mention - Oppo is just now shipping their new HA-1 Headphone Amp which also includes DSD and PCM file playback for $1,199.
Choices, choices.....