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Resonessence Mirrus vs Sony HAPZ-1ES

Both of these units would allow me to eliminate a computer in my living room. I just heard both at The Show 2014 in Newport.

The Sony was played in many rooms with top notch gear and speakers. So that was a good endorsement for the Sony. I think the convenience factor of the Sony also played a role in why it was used in many rooms. All the systems sounded very good. I spent close to an hour in the Sony room listening to their top of the line speakers with he HAPZ. I could not get the demo person to turn off the DSD up-sampling. So the up-sampling must have been considered the way to go.

The Resonessence Mirrus DAC was played directly to a new 108 watt class A Resonessence stereo amp that has not been released yet. The DAC has a digital volume control that is supposed to be very good. The speakers that were used were 15 year old B&W, purchased by Resonessence from eBay for $400. I was quite blown away by how good the sound was and the fact that they did not purposely use top notch speakers. I was thinking wow what would this system sound like with some top notch speakers. The SD-Card feature of the Mirrus is maybe a better solution than the fan based eSata hard drive of the Sony. The theoretical limit of the cards the Mirrus supports is 2 tera-bytes. I think today you can buy 256 giga-byte cards.

I cannot directly compare the Sony and Mirrus since I have not heard them in the same system, but if I had to bet money, I would place it on the Mirrus based on my cursor listen. Has anybody compared the 2 DAC's in their systems? If so, I would appreciate any feedback.

If I go with something like the Mirrus I can eliminate by very good pre-amp and go directly to my amps. Has anybody with a Mirrus done this? Did you prefer it direct vs a analog pre-amp?

The Sony is very good sounding unit, 50%+ cheaper, extremely convenient, and I would keep my pre-amp. Which I am happy with (BAT VK-42SE).
yyzsantabarbara
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
11-25-14: Calvinj
@knghifi Sounds exciting. I haven't even used my usb on the resonessence yet. I'm going to probably try pretty soon. What usb cable you suggest?
Calvinj, I'm probably the last person to give advice on USB cables.

My HAP-Z1ES preloads all music to internal HDD or external USB drive so don't need USB cables, computer ... love the simplicity and SOTA SQ.

I started a new thread "MW Sony HAP-Z1ES" to share my experience. It has 130+ hours now and will update the thread when time permits.
calvinj
2,484 posts
 
@kinghifi. I understand. That's why I got the Resonessence I hate being hooked up to a computer period to be honest with you. I use the sd cards to listen most of the time.
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
@Calvinj, Once all music are downloaded to the Sony, you only need a computer if you have new music. It's basically a cd player with all your music on internal HDD/external USB drive.

Sony has built-in wireless but I have Ethernet drop for connection to the network. I use the free Sony HDD app on my iPhone 6Plus for remote.

I have it configured so all new music, DSD downloads or ripped music is automatically downloaded to the Sony when computer sits idle for 5 minutes.

It's feature rich plus with MW mod, it's a NO brainer for ME.
calvinj
2,484 posts
 
How much is the modwright mod?
knghifi
1,668 posts
 
How much is the modwright mod?
$2495 + $275 for ByBee option.

Again, once music is on internal HDD, you don't need a computer. It's a modern day juke box with internet radio. Just plug Sony to Pre and use smartphone app for remote. (There's a remote so don't need smartphone but is much easier) No USB cable, digital cable, LPS for Mac, drivers, off ramp, on ramp, JRiver ...

I suggest hard wired Sony to router for initial download. I think my initial download took 4 to 5 days.
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