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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
milesian's avatar
milesian
4 posts
 
I plugged in my Meridian Explorer DAC and works fine. Only issue I am seeing is with MQA files. The DAC is not showing a blue light which makes me suspect at this point the HAP is not passing the MQA protocol, which seems strange. Is there a new ipad app that usually goes along with a firmware upgrade. I did find the new playback settings on the HAP menu. 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5 OP
6,404 posts
 

I thought there would be a new iPad app but there isn’t one yet. I am having a problem with one of my Hap-z1es players. Each one has it’s own iPad for the remote app. The one in my office which hosts the router doesn’t always connect with the app on my iPad Mini. It takes a few tries to get connected where before upgrading the firmware, I never had a problem.

Suprisingly enough, the Sony player in my main system which is on a different floor and much further away from the router has no such problems. The iPad pro connects perfectly everytime with the Sony app. I hope they release a new app upgrade soon.

knghifi
1,668 posts
 
My local dealer friend received his Lampizator Atlantic yesterday and wants me to break it in for him.   I'm going to use my MW Sony HAP USB to drive it and compare against the ModWright analog output stage. This will be fun.
milesian's avatar
milesian
4 posts
 
I find the wireless connectivity occasionally flakey and tend the leave  the HAP switched on all the time. Sometimes, even in the same room, my Ipad can't find the device. Switching to a wired ethernet connection seems to be a bit more stable.
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
knghifi,  Please keep us informed about how the atlantic does compared to the MW analog output.  I had been thinking about trying one of the Lampizator DACs.  Now I can wait for you to run the experiment. 
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