Sony HAPZ1ES and HAPS1 Music Players

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by agentalbert, May 29, 2015.

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  1. agentalbert

    agentalbert Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    I couldn't find a thread on these other than a short one on someone modding the ES unit. Anyone here using either one of these and have any comments, pro or con? I've heard the ES player at a local dealers place and like the way it sounds and it seems like a great piece of equipment. Pricey, but probably worth it as my library of hi-rez files keeps growing. Currently I play them through an Oppo BDP-105 with an external hard drive. I don't own a tablet or smart phone, so I'd have to get one to operate the unit and that's holding me back. I know there is a basic remote, but it doesn't seem to offer much in the way of functionality, so it seems that if I'm gonna get one of these, a tablet is needed. I'd be adding the player to my home theater set up and running it through a Sony STR DA5ES receiver.

    It sounds like the unit is made to convert everything to DSD, but I'm not sure I'd want PCM converted to DSD. I assume this can be disabled?

    Any suggestions on lesser priced options that are almost as good? The price and the necessity to buy a tablet are the only things holding me back.
     
  2. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    It has been getting very good reviews. Looking forward to your report.
     
  3. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    The DSD mastering, I think that is how it is called by Sony, is optional and can be disabled.
     
  4. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    I have the ES and have compared it to other DACs, my conclusion is you'd have to spend multiples of the Sony's price to get better sound.

    My biggest issue is it can't take a USB input so I can use it for streaming on the computer, but for that purpose a fairly cheap USB DAC will be fine. I am sure some of it's advantage in SQ comes from not using an external server so I can see why Sony made that decision.

    They have upgraded the firmware so you can plug in a hard drive and play off the HD without going through the transfer process, which is a huge plus. The process to transfer your collection over is a little clunky but not really a big deal.

    Most smartphones will work fine for the remote but a larger tablet is nice to have.
     
  5. on7green

    on7green Senior Patron

    Location:
    NY & TN
    I always wonder why dedicated servers are preferred over a a PC with the latest software?
     
  6. BilboAlaska

    BilboAlaska Forum Resident

    I always wondered why one would prefer to use a PC instead of a dedicated server.
     
  7. DaveC113

    DaveC113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Front Range CO
    There are issues with using your computer... Most people report large increases in sq when going to a dedicated server/streamer. With the Sony you don't need an additional streamer or computer to play music.
     
  8. john greenwood

    john greenwood Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Your source?
     
  9. Daedalus

    Daedalus I haven't heard it all.....

    I acquired an Olive 3 server a couple of years ago. It has a 2TB capacity(it was a custom unit) and has a CD player built in. You can play a CD or copy it into the HD. It also connects to the Internet (by wire only) for artwork retrieval, remote file organization and streaming radio/etc. I back it up with another HD. The sound quality is excellent. You can load your CD collection and then use this as a convenient playback system. The software is somewhat frustrating in the way it assigns your classical material and the most reliable access is by album name not composer. But I like the CD rip feature and the Sony doesn't have that-I do not have purchased downloads-refuse to do so. CD prices for classical have never been cheaper so I would rather rip and store to reduce clutter. So the Sony is not for me without the CD unit but I bet the sound quality is very high for those who are more technically advanced than me-judging by Sony's high quality CD players(of which I own one).
     
  10. hippochai

    hippochai New Member

    Location:
    hk
    I bought one HAP-S1 from Japan 2 months ago, at the beginning 2oo cd upload is ok both to the internal and external back up hdd, after that
    I suddenly found that either the dvd/cd driver was not found or keep showing you need to use individual power for the cd driver (but I did already),
    I never changed the connection but it didn't rip any cd anymore, and I check my cd driver works ok in pc.
    Another problem is when I try to open the ''Explore Hap'' box in the HAP app in my desktop, it shows '' ...115 is not accessible. You might not have the permission to use the network resource. Contact the administrator of this service to find out if you have access permission. A specified longon session does not exist. It may already have been terminated.'' I try to solve this problem with the help of youtube , afterall I still cannot open
    my HAP app to see my two hdds! I cannot even uninstall the HAP app and install it again! Did any one meet such situation? thanks in advance!
     
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