As Sony engineers managed to maintain a high pace in the development of the new Sony Hi-Fi portable music system? Each year, the company launches on the market as fresh models as producer easier would be enough for five years. Only this season, the company has pleased fans of the personal stereo whole set of interesting new products. Among them we can find a miniature audio player NW-A35 / 37, coming to replace the A10- and A20-series, but the most important thing going on in the top-end segment – here we have a whole bunch of three new champions. New Flagship High End Player NW-WM1 Z, the new flagship DAC / Amplifier PHA-2A and the new flagship headphones MDR-Z1R – each of these models even singly ready done a lot of noise. And three of the three Japanese hero is quite able to make a real revolution!
SONY WALKMAN NW-A35 / 37
Bright colors, a relatively slim body, colorful touch screen and user-friendly interface – this Sony Hi-Fi portable music system is clearly aimed at a youth audience, like its predecessors A15 / A25. However, the differences from last year’s models also clearly visible at first sight: the developers abandoned the push-button control on the front part of the benefit of the touch screen, which A35 is extended to the entire area of the façade, giving it a resemblance to a smartphone.
On the facade of the buttons are gone, but in the end, they added – now with the side buttons can not just blindly adjust the volume, and pause playback or to move between tracks. The basis of the design of the player – a good friend of us chip S-Master HX in conjunction with the audio processor DSEE HX, which Sony is traditionally used as a potent means of compression artifacts when listening to music in MP3 and other formats Loss. However, the main purpose of the player – audiophile playback of HD-recordings: designers no accident taught him to handle not only the relatively common FLAC with a resolution of up to 24bit / 192kHz but also quite rare one-bit DSD at resolutions up to 2.8MGts. To broadcast the HD-music on Bluetooth wireless earphones without compromising on quality, the player is equipped with an advanced codec support LDAC, or if the built-in 16/64 GB of memory is not enough for the HD-file collections, it can be expanded with microSD repeatedly.
A noise-canceling function is active, which is equipped with a player modification marked 35HN / 37HN , allows you to cut the static background noise due to the special digital audio processing to the music could not drown out the roar of the subway either, nor the roar of aircraft turbines. Like its predecessors, the A35 autonomy surprised that you do not expect from a device with such tiny dimensions.
Even when playing a complex in the treatment of HD-ready files player to hold as much as 30 hours, and when working with light MP3 and all capable of playing almost continuously for two days without a break!
SONY WALKMAN NW-WM1Z
This flagship Sony Hi-Fi portable music system – a true Rolls-Royce of audio players! Its size and weight are not quite fit into the usual portable framework: a large 400-gram gadget is quite difficult to fit in a pocket, and certainly do not take with you on a jog. A fair share of the weight falls on the whole copper chassis, thanks to which the machine is not only a pleasure pulls his hand and is highly durable. It is able to withstand the most severe stress tests – of course, if somebody has the courage to expose the stress-test device with a price tag.
However, the work undertaken by Sony engineers to design WM–1Z , far from being reduced to strengthen the body. In the chain of his power appeared choice capacitors, eliminating distortion at the peak, and the internal wiring is replaced by a high-quality four-core cable to prevent data loss during signal transmission. Thorough processing has undergone foundation model – Integrated circuit S-Master HX. Now she has a native support for single-bit DSD files with a resolution of up to 11.2 MHz and plays them without conversion to multibit PCM. By eliminating unnecessary steps of digital processing of the audio player provides a more transparent sound without masking the smallest details of HD-recordings. If desired, this sound can be displayed on the wireless headphones, because thanks to the support LDAC codec with a high bit rate of the player is able to transmit HD-music via Bluetooth.
However, to maximize the effect of listening better to use headphones with balanced cables, which can be connected to the WM-1Z is provided thanks to the emergence of a special connector. To audiophiles have room for your favorite music player armed with a capacious 256GB drive for the microSD, but to live is not broke in the middle, armed with a powerful battery for 30 hours of battery life.
With this player you can safely, go camping! Unless, of course, the prospect of carrying a backpack additional 400 grams does not cause concern.
SONY PHA-2A
The new DAC / Amplifier High-End level Sony Hi-Fi portable music system engineers conceived as a successor flagship PHA-3 . Like its predecessor, the new device is packaged in a rugged aluminum enclosure and looks like a masterpiece of minimalist design – especially its symmetrical facade with a handle volume, elegantly recessed deep into the panel. Instead of two separate balanced interfaces for left and right channels on the front of PHA-2A is a single balanced connector.
This allows the new Sony Hi-Fi portable music system in harmony with other Sony devices last generation. On the rear panel – USB-connector for connecting iPhone or iPad, as well as a pair of microUSB. One of them is designed to connect to computers and portable devices, the other – to recharge the internal battery. By the way, the new PHA-2A installed a more powerful battery than the previous model, so now instead of three hours of battery device owner can count on all five. Thanks to the three-step switch level amplification device in harmony with any headphones, regardless of their sensitivity and impedance – it is ready to remove all the musical potential of even tiny valves, at least from the hefty planners.
The digital section of the PHA-H2 is equipped with a clock to eliminate jitter and supports DSD to 5.6 MHz, and PCM up to 32bit / 192kHz, so this device perfectly copes with any collection. An analog section operates in the extended frequency range from 10 Hz to 100,000, not to lose any smallest detail in the path of sound from HD-DAC to headphones.
SONY MDR-Z1R
What is missing Sony Hi-Fi portable music system High-End Player with support for HD-audio and flagship High-End DAC / amplifier with support for HD-Audio? Only one – the flagship High-End Headphones with support for HD-Audio! That’s why together with the audio player WM-1Z and DAC / PHA-2A booster the company has launched full-size headphones with an index of the MDR-Z1R .
This model immediately attracts the attention of the materials Q: ear cushions are sewed of soft sheepskin, flexible headband made of titanium plates and cups instead of the standard plastic is made of lightweight and durable aluminum alloy. The unusual shape of cups, reminiscent of the famous bell curve, not dictated by design considerations and accurate acoustical prediction and is aimed at the complete extinction of unwanted resonances. To the same end headphones are equipped with special acoustic filter formed on the basis of traditional Japanese paper. And this is not the most interesting thing that can be found in their stuffing!
The remarkable thing about Sony Hi-Fi portable music system Z1R – a unique large-caliber 70 mm speakers with ultra-light diaphragms three times thinner than a human hair. To combine lightness with high hardness needed to avoid deformation during vibration, these diaphragms are made by the special technology of polymeric film coated with aluminum and magnesium are equipped domes. Unconventional design Z1R speakers repeatedly reduce distortions in the high register and provide headphones remarkable ability to reproduce ultrasounds with a frequency up to 120 kHz!
That’s why they are so perfectly acting out the most refined audiophile and perfectly combined with the new Sony flagship models.
EVENTUALLY
Of the three recent Sony Hi-Fi portable music system High-End devices, issued the famous Japanese company – the player WM-1Z, DAC / PHA-2A amplifier and headphones MDR-Z1R – develops the most advanced kit, which only can be found in today’s market of personal audio. Well, if you feel sorry for the money or do not want to pull of gravity, it is to translate a look at the other end of the price range and pay attention to the brand new NW-A35. This smart player can also play HD-Audio! And it sounds great, it is easy to fit in your pocket and fulfills its price tag up to the last penny.
