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New Sony HAP-Z1ES Firmware Out Today

I installed the newest firmware today and was pleasantly surprised that the player now supports an external DAC via the USB connection. It now does DSD over USB2 and there is a provision to turn it on/off. I played a couple of different artists and the player seems to work perfectly with the iPad remote.  Here is the skinny, direct from Sony:


This firmware upgrade (version 18033R) provides the following improvements over version 17384R:

  • Adds support for the Media Server function
  • Adds support for the USB digital output function (USB hub support for connecting each of one HDD drive, one CD drive, and one USB DAC)
  • Adds support for Seek operations
  • Adds support for the Fade In/Out function
  • Adds the Go to genre/artist/album/folder function to the Options menu
  • Adds the following operations:
    • Queuing the track next to the one currently playing, and queuing the track last
    • Deleting the track from the play queue
    • Creating a playlist with the play queue
    • Deleting the playlist
    • Deleting the track from the playlist
    • Deleting the information of a disconnected external hard disk drive

128x128stereo5

Showing 4 responses by goheelz

goheelz's avatar
goheelz
297 posts
 
Thanks very much for this report.  Do you find it convenient to use the CD drive to load disks into memory (without using a computer as a first step)?  Also: any idea whether this unit will be physically updated in the near future, or will firmware updates by the main thing?


goheelz's avatar
goheelz
297 posts
 
@oblgny That's exactly the information I've been after with respect to the Sony HAP unit.  We seem to share the principle of keeping computers the heck out of one's listening room, at least to the extent possible these days. What you describe --- Apple USB CD drive for loading disks (mine and those of music-listening visitors) at leisure into the HAP --- is what I'd had in mind, and you've confirmed that this works fine.  The new firmware, which according to the excellent post by @stereo5 now allows the addition of outboard DACs, is another great development.  Guess I'll need to just go ahead and buy the HAP and see how long I can resist getting it hot-rodded by Dan Wright.

goheelz's avatar
goheelz
297 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for the various helpful info on this thread.  Found a Sony at ta good price, and I've now installed the HAP-Z1ES in my system and ripped a few hundred CDs to the internal hard drive.  Took a little while, but now it's done, and the table app makes navigation very easy.  Sound quality is pretty decent at this point, and the convenience is awesome compared to spinning single CDs.  Spotify Premium is integrated very nicely with the tablet app, thanks to the recent firmware update.  Is Tidal on the horizon?  Who knows, because how in the world does one get actual product information for this unit out of Sony?  Until it gets released as firmware, that is.

But I'm already thinking of upgrades.  Has anyone else tried an outboard DAC via USB to bypass the Sony DAC?  What are your results?  And is doing so better than starting with, say a 2K ModWright hot-rodding of the Sony?  
goheelz's avatar
goheelz
297 posts
 
@davehg Interesting to hear about the perceived improvement after the latest firmware.  I recently updated firmware as well, although I did not A/B the sound quality, presuming there would be only functionality updates, not sound updates.  I will say that the HAP-Z1ES seems to improve over time (burn in), although that may be psychological, right?

Anyone know for sure whether Sony's going to keep this model up to date?  Like most users, I'm eager to try higher-res streaming (preferring Spotify) if and when it becomes available.
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