As promised, here us the continuing review on NWZ-ZX1 with the Bluetooth function with Sony MDR1RBT Mark II. I need to apologize since that's the only Bluetooth high end headphone that I have.
One signature that I found a bit disappointing is the hissing background noise that exist in all songs I played. Less hiss on 24bit recordings, more on lower quality stuffs, especially on MP3 at 192 kbs or lower. The hiss is not truly bothersome, just a low hiss. Some people might not even notice it. It just exists at the background. Some other reviewers mentioned that it is caused by the SMaster build-in amp. I don't know the real reason tho.
Anyhow, from all the same songs played from the previous part 2, one thing is also certain that this player turns MDR1RBT Mark II into a basshead headpiece with details and wide sound stage. The bass becomes so prominent across all songs that it tends to makes the songs more fun on dance genre and dark on rock genre, at the same time loss some of the sharpness.
The high frequency lost it's sharpness, the low lack depth and loss some impact, but vocal is still sweet and lushful. It does remind me of Monster Beats sound signature. Should Sony add a tad more impact, MDR1RBT Mark II will sound like the classic Audio Technica ATH-M50.
At least with all the lost frequencies, Sony's decisiona to use Bluetooth 3.0 is a smart decision indeed. One song that I always use to test Bluetooth headphones is Nightwish' Bye Bye Beautiful. Almost all Bluetooth headphones wavered when playing this song, losing their dynamic bass impact at the first beat of the drum; it's like the headphone lost power, which it is. Even MDR1RBT Mark II lost a tiny power to play it, however MDR1RBT Mark II keeps trying to maintain its power, thanks to the built-in amp in the headphone I believe. Smart move, Sony.
I do noticed that when playing dance beat songs, the music becomes more enjoyable and less analytical. Hence, details become less. The soundstage simulate club space, including the woofers. You definitely can feel the rumbling. Which means this piece is a killer wireless cans to watch movies.
Action movies come to live, transporting me to the cinema. I just hope Sony has the sense to produce Bluetooth feature into their Blu-ray players. However, due to the nature of HiRes Audio plauer NWZ-ZX1 is, playing movies on this unit is not a fun option. The audio player characteristic quality kicked in and never left, so movies audio become too flat to enjoy. I recommend Sony Xperia Z series or Samsung Galaxy 5" screen or above for superior movie watching enjoyment.
Note: Why I do not recommend other brands? Read my previous articles and you will find my bad experiences with other brands.
Rock music, however, suffers a bit. The bass is too loud, especially when the ClearAudio+ is on. It took me a while to finally programmed the equalizer to have suitable sound characteristics, but it is still lacking depth, compared to the wired sound.
One thing I noticed NWZ-ZX1 has offered is the option to prioritize quality over audio connection. This feature is helpful to eliminate network noises in frequency busy places. You can find the option in Settings, Bluetooth, Menu, Sound Enhancements dan Wireless Playback Quality.
Now, comparing NWZ-ZX1 and Astell&Kern AKs as Bluetooth music player, I must say AKs are superior, but with over 30% price difference, I would settle with NWZ-ZX1 because of other benefits that AKs don't provide.
So there, Sony NWZ-ZX1 in 3 parts (I want to write other match up, like UE700, etc, but I don't want to bore you guys. So let me know if you want me to continue on). This 30th anniversary Walkman is Sony's effort to bring back Walkman into the market. I consider this series successful. I see more amd more music listeners buy Walkman (ZX1, A15, F887, etc). It's a high quality DAP, although not for the big cans fanatics, but for daily commuters and students who want to listen for excellent music, this player and it's younger siblings are definitely the right choice, especially HiRes Audio DAP on the budget. Heck, even FIIO immediately retaliates with X1. High end DAP is definitely gone light-weight portable. More options are better for us, right?
One signature that I found a bit disappointing is the hissing background noise that exist in all songs I played. Less hiss on 24bit recordings, more on lower quality stuffs, especially on MP3 at 192 kbs or lower. The hiss is not truly bothersome, just a low hiss. Some people might not even notice it. It just exists at the background. Some other reviewers mentioned that it is caused by the SMaster build-in amp. I don't know the real reason tho.
Anyhow, from all the same songs played from the previous part 2, one thing is also certain that this player turns MDR1RBT Mark II into a basshead headpiece with details and wide sound stage. The bass becomes so prominent across all songs that it tends to makes the songs more fun on dance genre and dark on rock genre, at the same time loss some of the sharpness.
The high frequency lost it's sharpness, the low lack depth and loss some impact, but vocal is still sweet and lushful. It does remind me of Monster Beats sound signature. Should Sony add a tad more impact, MDR1RBT Mark II will sound like the classic Audio Technica ATH-M50.
At least with all the lost frequencies, Sony's decisiona to use Bluetooth 3.0 is a smart decision indeed. One song that I always use to test Bluetooth headphones is Nightwish' Bye Bye Beautiful. Almost all Bluetooth headphones wavered when playing this song, losing their dynamic bass impact at the first beat of the drum; it's like the headphone lost power, which it is. Even MDR1RBT Mark II lost a tiny power to play it, however MDR1RBT Mark II keeps trying to maintain its power, thanks to the built-in amp in the headphone I believe. Smart move, Sony.
I do noticed that when playing dance beat songs, the music becomes more enjoyable and less analytical. Hence, details become less. The soundstage simulate club space, including the woofers. You definitely can feel the rumbling. Which means this piece is a killer wireless cans to watch movies.
Action movies come to live, transporting me to the cinema. I just hope Sony has the sense to produce Bluetooth feature into their Blu-ray players. However, due to the nature of HiRes Audio plauer NWZ-ZX1 is, playing movies on this unit is not a fun option. The audio player characteristic quality kicked in and never left, so movies audio become too flat to enjoy. I recommend Sony Xperia Z series or Samsung Galaxy 5" screen or above for superior movie watching enjoyment.
Note: Why I do not recommend other brands? Read my previous articles and you will find my bad experiences with other brands.
Rock music, however, suffers a bit. The bass is too loud, especially when the ClearAudio+ is on. It took me a while to finally programmed the equalizer to have suitable sound characteristics, but it is still lacking depth, compared to the wired sound.
One thing I noticed NWZ-ZX1 has offered is the option to prioritize quality over audio connection. This feature is helpful to eliminate network noises in frequency busy places. You can find the option in Settings, Bluetooth, Menu, Sound Enhancements dan Wireless Playback Quality.
Now, comparing NWZ-ZX1 and Astell&Kern AKs as Bluetooth music player, I must say AKs are superior, but with over 30% price difference, I would settle with NWZ-ZX1 because of other benefits that AKs don't provide.
So there, Sony NWZ-ZX1 in 3 parts (I want to write other match up, like UE700, etc, but I don't want to bore you guys. So let me know if you want me to continue on). This 30th anniversary Walkman is Sony's effort to bring back Walkman into the market. I consider this series successful. I see more amd more music listeners buy Walkman (ZX1, A15, F887, etc). It's a high quality DAP, although not for the big cans fanatics, but for daily commuters and students who want to listen for excellent music, this player and it's younger siblings are definitely the right choice, especially HiRes Audio DAP on the budget. Heck, even FIIO immediately retaliates with X1. High end DAP is definitely gone light-weight portable. More options are better for us, right?
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