Sony HAP-Z1ES Hi-Res Music Player RMAF 2013

Tks for the valuable info.

I'm curious and don't have additional HDD, and the info may help others.

Quote from Computer Audio:

"I don't think Z1ES boots from internal hard drive, it boots from some SSD inside.
Because after I install the new drive(indeed new drive, blank, NTFS formatted), booted properly but Z1ES no longer sees it, and I can't format it. I have to do factory reset from the settings, and after that, it formats the disk, and guess what? All sample music is copied to the new drive! So there is a separate storage on board with OS and sample data. The original 1TB drive is only for music and database."

that's what happens when you put in an empty formatted drive rather than cloning the drive that came with the unit

I would agree its probably using SSD since the boot times are extremely fast. I'm also impressed by the Sony interface/software and the use of GraceNotes. Its simple, accurate and stable. The whole system just gets out of the way and lets you enjoy your music.

It appears Modwright, Red Wine Audio and EVS are, at least, considering modding the HAP-Z1ES.