Sony Malaysia yesterday (23 July) proudly demo-ed the premium Walkman NWZ-ZX1 at its first ever Hi-Resolution Sound Clinic for the media and special invited guests. The consumer electronics giant also showcased other Hi-Res Audio products namely Walkman, headphones and Hi-Fi lineup.
The ZX-1 is a high performance portable music player built like no other. Audiophiles on the go will appreciate its no compromise sound quality thanks to Sony’s proprietary audio technologies and support for Hi-Resolution Audio. Hi-Resolution Audio offers six times the quality of what a lowly CD can deliver.
The ZX-1 doesn’t just sound fantastic, it’s also uber sexy – machined out of a single piece of aluminium, with a molded base at the rear which acts as an amp block. The block houses all electrical components necessary for high-quality audio reproduction. The internal design is rigid and overall solidly built and lightweight.
While there is no real standard specification for Hi-Resolution Audio, Sony defines it as audio that is converted to digital at superior sampling and bit rate than that of CDs.
In an ideal world, we’d be enjoying near analog quality audio through our devices. However, due to limitations in delivery platforms and file sizes, lossy compressed formats like MP3, AAC. ATRAC and WMA aside from AIFF and WAV formats on audio CDs were developed.
For more hardcore audiophiles there are lossless formats like FLAC (192kHz/24bit) and ALAC format for superior sound quality.
In the end, it’s all about compromise as the advent of streaming services like Spotify and Deezer make audio compression technology even more crucial.
We had the liberty to have the ‘Father of the ZX-1’ Tomoaki Sato in our midst during the sound clinic. He explained at lengths about the engineering and attention to detail that went into the ZX-1. Importantly, the ZX-1 engineers had one principal objective – deliver the best audio quality, and not be dictated by a price point.
So this is where the ZX-1 comes in. A portable music player that supports 192kHz/24bit and 96kHz/24bit specifications and a plethora of audio formats/standards.
The ZX-1 is powered by a OMAP 4 Cortex-A9 1Ghz dual-core processor with the latest S-Master digital amplifier built-in. S-Master helps reduce distortion and noise at all frequency ranges.
Next, DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) HX technology upscales your favourite compressed MP3 sound files to near Hi-Res Audio quality.
ClearAudio+ technology then takes it step further to ensure realistic and distinct audio playback.
The flagship ZX-1, like the F880 and Z1000 digital media players, couples the Walkman brand’s superior audio prowess with the versatility of the Android platform. It runs Android 4.1 with Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity built-in.
Sony also didn’t skimp on storage, packing in 128GB, making it the largest capacity Walkman ever made. The ZX-1 comes with a 4-inch (854 x 480pixel) TRILUMINOS Display for mobile touchscreen.
Want the best sound on the go? Grab the Walkman NWZ-ZX1 at all Sony Store outlets, for RM2,199.
