Sony NW-ZX2 Walkman with High Resolution Audio, LDAC, NFC and Bluetooth - Black

am a user of walkman for over 35 years ,have owned every walkman since they put their first on the shelves in late 70s to date, my last one was F887 which suddenly died few days ago and sorry to say sony UK had been totally hopeless they refused any help as it was bough in US, so out of desperation bought this from UK, and must say it has so far exceeded all my expectations, wonderful device,purely for music, enough space for infinite collection , already have 4000 songs on it which i have collected in last 30odd years from all over the globe, it handle every genge with proficient ease, cannot fault it yet will have to wait and see for few weeks or months to be sur , my first digital was X1060, that is still alive and is being used by my wife in her car, for music no one does better than sony,its not cheap but worth the money,its design is more of 80s era which i belong to so really love it

Excellent sound and we'll built player. It's longer and heavier but richer sound quality then the NWZ-ZX1 and I love it that you can expand the memory and the sound from the microsd (128gb) is just as good. Not impressed by the case as it should be like a wallet with screen cut out so you don't have to keep taking it out. You also don't get a USB charger plug. Works great with Sony hi-res MDR-1ABT Headphones

Yeah, it's expensive, however it is an amazing piece of audio. I use this in my car with the added PHA3 it's sound fantastic and has got me well and truly focuses on my next Hi Res investments from Sony. Build quality is also as you would expect for the price, solid feel with and expensive look. It's no lightweight and uses android, don't let this out you off. It's an audio player - and as such it is the best I have heard ....... So far.

If music is the calming of the soul, this is the train you take to get ther.

Incredible sound and managed to squeeze in a 200gb memory card plus the 128 gb on board..Also make sure you pair it with some decent cans, I have the shure 874's and the combination of tidal through the player into my shures is just exceptional. Pioneer have a new player out So that might be worth a look.

Prompt delivery , excellent condition , product delivers quality sound and battery life excellent and even functions well with 200gb micro sd card

Update 29/07/2016---------------------------------------------------------I am *really* enjoying this player. Honestly, unless you have *really* demanding headphones this is one superb unit. Recently I tried Chord Mojo as well as the new Acoustic Research AR-M20. The Mojo I did not like. DAC's are all well and good - but you need a transport as well as keeping them both charged, This is a pain. Also, they are bulky although OPPO got it right with the HA-2. The AR-M20 is on a par with the ZX2 sound-wise - but will drive much more demanding headphones and go very loud. However, the AR-M20 has a number of flaws which I may elaborate against that unit at some point. Let's just say that in terms of polish, the Sony is amongst the best I have tried (leaving only the Questyle QPR1R). But, if you need serious volume, I'd recommend the AR-20 despite its S/w flaws (and is a very attractive unit).For even better sound on the ZX2 (yes, really), download Power Amp. Whilst slightly quirky in some aspects, as other reviewers have mentioned, it is a very good player. In addition, it has excellent EQ capabilities so you are sure to find something you like. I use the "Bass & Treble" preset and this increases both of these very slightly for a real full-bodied sound. Loving it!!!! Tonight, I'm going to get my Sony ZX-100 out again and compare just out of interest as my ZX2 must, by now, be fully burned in.Update 31/05/2016Okay, so I really missed this unit and couldn't resist buying it again when it came up from Amazon warehouse for a sub £600 figure. It was in mint condition so very pleased. I will do a second sound comparison at some point but suffice to say I'm keeping it.Anyway, for now I wanted to give users some tips on protecting the device which is not much different to holding a wet fish. The first item to get is the iGadgitz Black Rubber Silicone Gel Case. This is a nice fit and will allow you to hold it without it slipping out of your hand. The second item is a case since, if you pop it in a bag, it will still have the screen exposed etc. The best one I've found so far is the Shocksock case for Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. This is a nice fit with the gel case attached. I'd advise to always have the gel case fitted.If you insert into the Shocksock without the gel case fitted, be careful. The gel case gives it a bit of a tighter fit which I prefer and there is little chance of it shooting out. See pictures. Hope this helps. iGadgitz Black Rubber Silicone Gel Case for Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 Skin Cover + Screen Protector Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus Case, Shocksock [IMPACT SHOCK RESISTANT] [Black] Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus Neoprene Case Pouch with Velcro Closure and Carabiner for Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus - Black Overview-------------Still looking for the elusive 'ultimate' device, I stumbled across the Sony NW-ZX2, the best that Sony has to offer, which received positive reviews. Therefore, I bit the bullet and purchased it. Being roughly twice the price over the ZX100 (which I also own), I'm not expecting it to be twice as good (such is the nature of Hi-Fi) but it does need to be a worthwhile improvement. This review will compare my journey with the ZX2 and ZX100 as I'm sure many people will be contemplating a similar path. I also learned some lessons along the way.....First a little bit about my upgrade path. I had used an iPod classic for many years with good results (or so I thought). When I started getting seriously into 'portable Hi-Fi' I knew there was better out there so a lot of research ensued. Without going into too much detail I purchased a Sony NWZ-A15 together with a set of Sony MDR-1A headphones. This was a good step-up from my iPod classic and I enjoyed my new Sony.Then, the Sony NW-ZX100 arrived on the scene and I decided to purchase that unit. I believe that this was the upgrade to the ZX1. This was an improvement in sound from the NWZ-A15 (although not huge) so I used this for a few weeks.However, I was still looking for something that had a little more 'oomph' so I purchased an OPPO HA-2 and drove this by my original NWZ-A15 unit together with a newly-purchased set of OPPO PM-3 set of headphones. This certainly gave the required 'oomph' I was looking for so I 'retired' my ZX100 back to its box.But, having to recharge the HA-2 pretty much every day was tiresome after a while and the combo itself was quite bulky so, I got my ZX100 back out of retirement and began to use this even though it didn't reach the ear-splitting volume of the HA-2 (possibly a good thing in hindsight) but still provided great sound.The ZX2 Device itself--------------------------------This is a big chunky device, heavy too. However, it looks very classy in matte black. I fitted a 128Gb card and did not use the on-board 128Gb itself. This was essentially to retain compatibility with my existing devices which all use cards. I planned to use on-board memory for new stuff to check out, at a later date.With almost a full card, the library is rebuilt initially in about 14 minutes. From then on, changing a few files, you are good to go in about a minute which is very nice.The touch screen, is 'only' 854x480. In practice, it is very clear and highly usable. Although most modern phones have significantly higher resolution, the reality is it is hard to tell the difference.The resolution on this device is perfectly adequate and artwork is displayed well.It is a great device to hold, feeling nice and solid, but it is like holding a wet fish. I highly recommend this from Amazon:iGadgitz Black Rubber Silicone Gel Case for Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 Skin CoverIt gives great grip and will protect your unit from scuffs. Although good, the base is exposed, and it is certainly not as good as the equivalent case for the NW-ZX100:iGadgitz Black Silicone Skin Case Cover for Sony Walkman NW-ZX100For the ZX100 case, even the charging port itself is protected and only the display and the 'hold' button is exposed. The vast bulk of the device is covered which, if you have OCD about scuffs like me, is a real boon.Screen protector: The 'Hi-Res Audio' sticker is on the ZX2 screen itself. This makes putting a screen protector on a little tricky since it can't sit flat on the screen. The solution is simple. Use the top layer of an old screen protector and, very gently starting with the corner, feed it under the logo. By waggling the protector, the logo will come of easily. Take your time and do NOT use your finger nails - you will wreck the logo. Then, gently place the logo on the actual unit itself. You will need to clean the screen to remove residue from the logo at which point you can put a screen protector on cleanly. See photo.Note that the one area which may sway you towards the ZX2 regardless is its Wifi capability allowing you to use the likes of Spotify and Tidal. This is simply not possible on the ZX100. Personally, I don't use these services so not a big deal for me but may be for some.Both the ZX100 and ZX2 use Sony's proprietary connector. Why Sony stick with this connector, I don't know. At least the iPod classic connector copies files very quickly. Files transferred to the Sony go over at a snail's pace. As you get no advantage from the connector, I purchased this: Google "Sony WMP-NWM10".This allows you to connect either device to a standard micro USB cable. If nothing else, at least you can use your standard USB cable at work, say, for charging without carrying Sony's own cable around with you. The WMP-NWM10 simply plugs into the connector on the device and can be left there permanently.Source material-----------------------All of my favourite music is now lossless. Actually, it is ALAC (.m4a) as iTunes makes easy work of converting my CD collection to lossless. There is no difference between FLAC and ALAC apart from the compression algorithm. When uncompressed for playing, the actual data should be the same (hopefully, after much research!). Everything else in my collection is 320kbs. Note that I *can* (now) hear the difference between lossless and MP3 (320kbs). I couldn't at one time but now I can. I guess that's down to knowing what to listen for. However, this is only by quickly flicking between the two on the combo unit mentioned above. The lossless version is what can only be described as 'smoother' but there is not a huge amount of difference. The test track was Metroland on OMD's excellent album, English Electric.In reality, if you were played one or the other and had to guess, I doubt if it would be possible to tell. The difference is very slight. However, there is some comfort in knowing that, no matter the deficiencies of the player itself, the source will be perfect and is, in effect, the CD itself that you are carting around.Certainly, with MP3, there are a number of settings that can effect the sound when ripping it and you will always have that niggle that it's not quite right and could be improved by some of the other settings. This is too much hassle so lossless it is. The only downside with lossless is the size. It is generally 3 times the size of a 320Kb album so not actually too bad. My aim is not to carry around every track ever written - but my favourite albums and new material. I am not going 24-bit as my ears are not that good and file sizes are huge.As I still use an iPod to dock with my surround sound Blu-Ray player, I wanted to keep to about 118Gb of music which will satisfy all devices. I use iTunes as a manager to check the integrity of my library. You can easily see if bits are missing, the genre is incorrect etc. Classical is a real pain as there is no standard for naming - so iTunes can be used to check the same classical track from different artists is the same (there is no reason for it to be different).Despite me not being an Apple fan, iTunes is a good piece of software for this purpose and finding anomalies. For syncing to the Sony, I recommend Allway Sync which basically does what iTunes does. Detect the differences and transfer only those tracks changed, deleted or added. It works very well. The Sony does NOT alter tracks transferred across, unlike the Astell A & K Jr seemed to, which meant more data was transferred than required (as Allway Sync detected a difference). Hopefully, this got fixed. Also the library builds massively quicker than the A & K did so you are good to go quite quickly.Interface------------The O/S is Android unlike the NW-ZX100 which uses Sony's proprietary O/S. Much has been made of the use of Android. I actually use an Android device as my main phone so am very familiar with how it works. Even though ZX2 uses an older version of Android (Kit-Kat) it still does the job. Generally, the touch screen is cited as a better way to use the device than Sony's proprietary software.Personally, in everyday use, I preferred to use Sony's own proprietary system. It is very quick and does not prove a hindrance at all. With Sony's own player on the ZX2, you are left scrolling up and down until you home in roughly where you need to be (the screen blanks when scrolling if using 'Folders'). So I am not sure what all the fuss is about. The good thing about the ZX2 is the ability to download other music players of which there are a number of them on the Play Store. I personally avoided this as the built-in player does the job well enough and I didn't want to over burden the device and perhaps affect the sound quality in some way.Finally, Sony's own proprietary system is much more battery-friendly which, with a portable player, is important. In the end, both interfaces are perfectly usable and is not a huge stretch to use either of them.Headphone for testing-------------------------------The headphones used were primarily Sony MDR-1A's which are great and also very sensitive. I also tested with OPPO PM-3' on both units. I would say that the PM-3's were about two steps quieter on both devices than the MDR-1A's. I.e. 30 (max) on the PM-3's were about 28 with the MDR-1A's. If you like your volume really loud (as in ear splitting) then you won't be getting these kind of levels with the PM-3's. However, they are loud enough provided you are in a quiet environment. They won't provide the volumes that the HA-2 combo could provide - but generally they are perfectly loud enough. Listening to both headphones on the same track yielded no detectable differences. The Sony headphones are really well designed and amazingly comfortable.For the rest of the review, I stuck with the MDR-1A's which are excellent anyway and that bit louder. Note that I've yet to find a volume hack to remove the EU volume limiter which I believe is present on both the ZX100 and ZX2. I will keep looking ....Device burn-in---------------------The ZX2 was a 'used' unit from Amazon Warehouse and, even though factory reset, still retained the 'up' time within the device which exceeded 100+ hours. I will therefore assume that it had already been burned in. I probably used it myself for over 60+ hours so this is a safe assumption. The ZX100, on the other hand, was probably used for only 20 or so hours previously so maybe not quite burned in. However, during the course of my tests I used the ZX100 a lot, along side the ZX2, so they burned in quite soon after.Sound Quality--------------------This is the main point of the review and one that I was obviously keen to check out - particularly against the ZX100. At one point, I was going to sell the ZX100 and stick with the OPPO HA-2 combo but I couldn't bear to part with it.For comparison, you need good source tracks. It is amazing how many tracks are poorly mastered - especially older stuff. Therefore, you are much better sticking with fairly recent albums. I used Mike Oldfield's Tr3s Lunas which has very clear sound and some great bass on it along with OMD's English Electric. Even if you don't like OMD (which I don't, particularly) this is truly wonderful album. In addition, I used Matt Bianco's Hifi Bossanova which is great for vocals along side London Grammar and If You Wait. All these albums are ones I listen to in their own right as well as excellent for testing purposes.Testing involved playing the same track simultaneously on each device - but delayed by 2 seconds. Thus, quickly switching headphones over meant I could hear exactly the same segment. I have to say it is still very difficult 'remembering' what something sounds like - even within a very short interval. I probably spent well over an hour doing this kind of test over 4 weeks. It doesn't sound a lot but listening to 15 second chunks at a time for comparison, it certainly adds up.The volume was set to full on both units (which were pretty much the same level) and all additional sound settings were set to 'off' although I did experiment with settings during the course of testing on both devices. 'Off' is best, in my view.Initially, I thought the ZX2 was a better sounding device. Particularly on Tr3s Lunas Firefly track which has a very deep 'thump' which I didn't think played quite as well on the ZX100. However, after time (and much listening) I found there to be no detectable differences. Whether this was because the ZX100 was beginning to burn-in more I'm not sure. It is very easy to let your mind play tricks on you. Anyone who is comparing it to a device they no longer have cannot be relied on because of this. You *need* both devices sat there for critical comparison.Where the ZX100 sounded slightly garbled, I'd quickly check the same segment out on the ZX2 only to find it sounded the same. The vocals on Matt Bianco's 'Lost In You', for example, sounded great on both devices.Throughout the 4 weeks I spent with the ZX2 I would frequently think that it was better - only to hear it played just as good on the ZX100. Damn!Conclusion----------------I was really hoping that the ZX2 would prove to be superior and, therefore, my 'ultimate' device but sadly it wasn't. If it was 'better' it was only marginally. You are not going to listen to the ZX100, then the ZX2 and go 'wow' this is so much better. To some degree, this is expected in the Hifi world. Spend loads of extra money for a slight increase in quality.I don't think this is because the ZX2 is not good - it is very good. I just think that the ZX-100 is so good, it's hard to better the ZX2.Personally, if I did not have the ZX100 I would have retained the ZX2 as I really liked the device.However, the ZX100 has its plus points. Smaller, lighter and just as capable so I'm (reluctantly) keeping the ZX100 and returning the ZX2 - albeit having to be prised out of my hands.The conclusion I came to is that the ZX2 is a superb sounding device - but the ZX100 has not been compromised in the sound department. Only its lack of WiFi would steer you towards the ZX2.As regards the OPPO HA-2/NWZ-A15 combo, yes, that is great but the convenience of a single device can't be ignored. Therefore, I will stick with the ZX100 as my everyday device and not bother going back to the HA-2 combo even though this produced a cracking sound. It's simply too much of a nuisance to keep it charged up and it's nice to know that my ZX100 is not that far away from the sound the HA-2 produces at normal volumes.If you want the volume levels, I would suggest my HA-2 combo or the superb sound Acoustic Research AR-M2, which is a similar price to the ZX2, but produces the best sound I've heard from a portable device.

First the disclaimer - I am not a knowledgeable audiophile. I am heavily into classical music and wanted to upgrade to a music player better than my ipod. Buying this item at such a high price was a gamble, but Sony has always had a good reputation for its audio equipment. I have this item for only a few hours so this is a first impression that I will update at a later stage.The NW-ZX2 has a very solid feel. The screen is very good and is very responsive. The player is extremely easy to use. I have tried out Flac files and three high resolution files. The sound is a revelation and surpasses my expectations.