Sony Vaio Z2 audio options

Had this VPC-Z216GX/L just a couple weeks, and on my first triip with it

Damn those speakers! And the included noise-reduction earbuds look like a sad joke.

So: I have a set of Shure SE-535 IEMs, and a slightly older set of Sennheiser IE8s. Sony presently offers two new premium in-ear monitors: the quad-armature XBA-4, or the dynamic (liquid polymer) MDR EX-1000.

The XBA-4 is supposedly bass-heavy w/ somewhat sibilant trebles according to user comments at headfi.org. The neutral MDR has gotten much better reviews among audiophiles, at least.

Street prices between the two are: XBA-4 about $320 in mid-April 2012, or MDR EX1000 at about $350. (Check listings from reputable sellers on Ebay for current best numbers.) Note: There's also a pretty-good MDR EX-300 which is only a third the price of the flagship model, and a triiple-armature XBA-3 too.

Questions -- > What are most people with Z2s doing for movie and audio play in standalone mode? (Yes, the HDMI cable connection or the Intel wireless link link both picture and sound to your home audio system, but I'm more concerned with 6-hour airplane rides, using movies and mpo3s stored on thumb drives.)

 

Not sure I understand your question. Obviously, on a plane, you need to use phones and you clearly know more than most people about them. It just so happens that I made a little project of testing small bluetooth speakers to overcome the abominable speakers on the Z (Z1 only a little "less terrible" than Z2) yet not introduce significant bulk, weight or even wires. Turns out there's some pretty remarkable engineering in this space, driven by the enormous demand from the 72 billion iPod/iPhone installed base among the 9 planets where they are sold. Seriously, though, it does go to show you what a huge ready-made market will do to inspire companies to invest some R&D and get it right. So in answer to your very first Newbie question I happen to have a fairly exhaustive review that I've been waiting for the right forum to publish it in!

There are several truly miniature bluetooth speakers that put out sound comparable to at least a laptop with good native sound. They are so small and light (especially #1, below: 0.3 lb - 4" x 2" x 2") that I can't imagine a situation when their extra bulk over and above the Z would be burdensome. I'm pretty blown away by the quality and volume these tiny boxes put out (links are to Amazon listings):

1) Logitech Mini Boombox - $85 Amazingly good fidelity for its size. Bass is it's weakest point, as you'd expect, but nobody would find its sound a bit unpleasant for music or movies, and it will fill a small-med. room. Built in speakerphone mic, remote music player controls, 8 hours battery life or plug in mini-USB DC power or run audio cable from headphone jack of audio source to jack in back of speaker. As you may have guessed, I own this (tried the other two and chose this) and I can tell you, the range is greater than any bluetooth device I've ever used: 15-40 feet depending on obstacles. As I describe this, I am even more impressed by what Logitech have accomplished, especially at the price. It even looks cool, true to its name, but with flair. Excellent reviews on this everywhere except The Verge; they either got a bad sample or had wax in their ears!

2) Monster Clarity HD Precision Micro - $59

Very similar profile to the Logitech, above, but about 20% larger and heavier with better bass but significantly worse high end and start distorting at about 50% volume. Battery life about 4-5 hrs; not sure if has speakerphone mic or player controls. If I had never demoed the Logitech I might be using the same language to describe these, but these are a 7 to the Logitech's 9. Ugly duckling of the three.

3) Jawbone Jambox - $199 Most people consider this to be the wunderkind of tiny bluetooth speakers. Their sound is the most refined of the three but not enough better in my book to justify the price and somewhat greater bulk (6" vs. 4" 12 oz vs. 4, so we're still talking small!). Their design is polarizing: love it or, well, don't! This is by far the most popular and longest running series of the mini-bluetooth "hi fi" speakers and many will tell you the rest are pretenders. You can't go wrong with these, and they get the longest battery life (10 hrs) and have all the same features as the Logitech. On audio quality alone this is definitely the best of the three. Weighting for price, bulk and even aesthetics, it's my #2 choice.

 

Ahh.the mini-speaker ruse!

I've used/owned everal of this type in the past, but it's difficult to bring stuff like these to your airplane seat. I/ would suggest to anyone looking for a home setup to look past the 2" subwoofers and think backwards, from their home theatre system. (And BTW, never buy a Bose.)

To the best of my knowledge there's nothing wrong with the circuitry in the Z from delivering clear sound, it's just the speakers they chose to give us. (Seriously, most cell phones I've had are much better at delivering room-level audio than what's in the Z computer. This was a conscious decision by Sony to sell add-on products, not cripple their flagship laptop.)

Bluetooth stereo headphones are a fascinating technology, and worth looking at (for travel scenarios). As of a couple years ago, these weren't being recommended by audiophiles because of (a) drops and interference, (b) limited bandwidth, meaning you were losing some of the music, and (c) they were just another thing to recharge on the road. But the BT standard has evolved, taking care of much of the first two reservations.

The recharge issue is something you run into everywhere, so about the time you get up to 6 or more recharge devices in your hand-carry, you start looking for hotel chains that don't skimp on wall outlets. (Or charge extra for Internet connections, but that's another issue.

So we come down to three competing headphone technologies for road warriors -- Bluetooth stereo headphones, active noise-reduction headphones, and/or "classic" wired in-ear monitors (the kind a lot of musicians use). I'm leaning toward auditing a set of Sony MDR-EX1000s, but I'd want to put them up against the top contenders in the first two categories.

And in fairness to the issue of road use, active noise reduction,which requires a powered circuit and open microphone, may be the most important issue because of the environments you'd be using headphones in. In default form on the Vsio Z there's a tray icon for the Sony-included earbud speakers with some nominal user "adjustments" possible, like changing the sensitivity cone of the mike pickup. (The microphone is the one that's built in to in the laptop.) Sony does not offer enhanced listening products which integrate with the Vaio Z's noise reduction "technology", so there's almost a question whether the NR is consistent only with the included cheap ear pieces, or would apply to any 3rd party headsets you plug in as well.

 

If you're looking for on-the-go super quality sound, consider JH-3A DSP Amp with JH16 Pro Custom In-Ear Monitor | JH Audio

 

^ $1.700...Insane

 

Just to clarify, I was not suggesting using a bluetooth loudspeaker, however tiny, in an airplane. Your only choices there are earphones. I should think that obvious, but I specifically pointed it out because of the ambiguity of the OP's question.

Back to these very small (read: easy to bring with the Z2 without adding material bulk or weight) bluetooth loudspeakers...like the BT earphones that have improved, the loudspeakers have also improved dramatically over the last couple of years, so for audio "on the go," but not when you are on an airplane or other public space, having one in tow will boost the sound coming out of the Z's speakers to the quality of some of the better (but not the best), say, 15" laptops. To me this makes them the perfect solution to the Z's rotten speakers. Put another way, I am very confident that if the Z's own speakers sounded as good as these tiny wireless speakers, no one would complain about it's on-board audio.

For an additional $20, I recommend SRS Audio Essentials, a software app that processes audio coming out of the sound card (thus processing all sound coming out of the compuer, from the headphone jack, to the USB port, to the Bluetooth audio gateway) with just enough boost to meaningfully enhance the audio and bring the quality of sound from the bluetooth speakers into the "very good" laptop range. It makes the Z1's speakers loud enough and good enough to use in a pinch for watching a flick or for background music while you work. Sorry, but it cannot coax listenable sound out of the Z2's speakers .

 

Outstanding suggestion! But unfortunately, in my household we don't do custom IEMs. (We also don't have left-handed Shun knives in the kitchen, which would be my preference in a (cough) "perfect" world.

Custom IEMs are a class above the universal fit models. (For people here who don't know, they take an impression of your ear and build the in-ear piece into that mold.) This eliminates the usual problem of getting a perfect seal, which otherwise you have to screw around with different sized and material foam tips for universal in-ear monitors. As you can see from the linkie above, custom IEMs don't come cheap. The market tends to skew toward oil sheiks and (already-famous) rock stars.

Would custom IEMs work well with the Z? Yes, but in spite of the Z, as opposed to being integrated with it. Neither Bluetooth nor the built-in noise cancellation feature would come into play. However, the amp included with the IEMs in this suggestion would offer much more control of your music.

 

I was just wondering, do the frequency response, dynamic range and distortion properties of most format of music available for digital download merit earphones of even the $300 caliber? I find that it sounds ok through home audio and my several Klipsch, Sennheiser and Shure earphones, but through them I hear noise and significant compression. Is there a way to convert commercially purchased digital music and "unlock" the full fidelity that the likes of iTunes and Amazon compress down?

 

you need FLAC for that. mp3 is a lossy codec, and the details you want are already lost.

 

Can you be a little more specific? Other than ripping music from (somone's) purchased CD, I don't know where to buy music online or otherwise that is FLAC encoded or otherwise able to be un-compressed into a full fidelity, full dynamic range.

Any pointers would be most appreciated. I know this isn't a Z or Sony question, but it's kinda relevant for Z owners because, well, we have the hardware power to produce/convert/reproduce some fairly impressive audio files,, but if all you do is download and decode mp3 or mp4 audio... Thanks. My ears have missed the "rest" of the music ever since I went digital/no media.

 

^If you want to buy, hdtracks.com is good.

Sadly, uncompressed audio is a good example of the RIAA being behind the time. FLAC is much easier to steal than it is to buy.

 

Although FLACs are nearly pure, most audiophiles cannot tell the difference listening to mp3s encoded at 320 kilobits per second. 256 Kbit/s mp3s are usually fine for my ears. A lot depends on the type of music you prefer; Deadmau5, for example. is more nuanced than Daft Punk. Dinosaur rock is best heard at a great distance, if not at all.

Yes, there are huge differences in sound reproduction. Instrument separation, sound stage presence, accuracy/fidelity of certain timbres ... these are all qualities which most people can discern, once they know what they're looking for. So if you don't want to get spoiled, never listen to music on a headpiece or ear set that costs more than ten bucks. ;p

And even at the top end, there are still huge differences in the way music is reproduced. When I enjoyed my music with Sennheiser IE8s, I "knew" these were in top ten, as far as overall sound rating goes. But when I acquired a set of Shure SE-535s, generally considered in the top 2 or 3, it was like I had just doubled my music library! So many differences in the way the instruments come out, "events" are emphasized, etc.

After listening with a good headset for a while, everything else sounds like mud or garbage cans. Correction -- like AM radio.

 

Thanks Beaups. I was afraid that the RIAA wouldn't have it right yet (many of its members still think digital music is a "fad," lol. Hadn't heard of hdtracks.com, though. Much obliged.

 

I also have a set of Shure SE535's, in terms of non-custom in-ears those are the best you will find. You can try different models but I'm pretty sure even the XBA models will not match it. They will never match it on isolation, those olives/foams from shure are superb and much better compared to silicon or hybrid tips.

I do find them to be a bit irritating after 3/4 hours of use so for long flights I use Bose QuietComfort15 noise canceling headphones. No, they don't sound as nice as the Shure's or other high-end in-ear monitors but they are comfortable and cancel out almost all of the flight noises.

 

So you have taste without the resources to exploit it. While frustrating, you're in far better position (from some perspectives) than those with money but no taste.

The way to avoid the problem you cite is best addressed by avoiding (lossy) compressed audio. One option is to rip CDs to WAV. FLAC is another option. If you really want see if hi-end portable audio is worthwhile, check out these recordings, 192/24 Master WAV Discs.

 

Most in-ears are fine directly from the Z, including, well presumably you already know this - the 535. Stick with that for earphones, no need to jump up to anything else unless you need better fit / isolation, in which case you need to move to customs.

Speaker wise, I'm looking at the Jawbone Jambox as a potential general-purpose candidate, even for e.g. listening in the en-suite bathroom which is something I do often in hotels while taking an extended dip, but one of my iPads which I currently use for this task itself took a dip recently so I'm keen to have something cheaper in hotel bathrooms now.

Difference between high-bitrate lossy and lossless is irrelevant for mobile listening.

 

I find the bundled noise cancelling earphones ok but just for movies. For music I use the XBA-4.

 

Any good sety of headphones should be fine and nice boost over the included earbuds. They aren't awful, but not that great either. Since they are a freebie throw-in, no cause for complaint. If all your music player is doing is playing uncompressed audio, then its value relative to that of the phones and amp is minor. You can play audiophile tracks on a cheap player and as long as your using an external DAC and amp, you can get really good results.

 

OK, let's break it down.

- Active Noise Cancelling around and over-ear phones: Best for very specific use - cancellation of the droning component of jet engine noise and most fan-like noises, where they can be spookily effective. For the vast majority of other stuff (screaming babies, etc), relies on the passive isolating capability of the headphone assembly.

- Passive isolating around-ear phones: Depends on exact design, but models such as the Sennheiser HD280 provides generally decent noise isolation along with good comfort. But most over-ear passive isolated phones provide a very poor aircraft experience, as they have a tendency to form a sounding chamber for the droning noise, actually enhancing the perception of it.

- Passive isolating over-ear phones: Depends on exact design, but models such as the Sennheiser HD25-1 provides superior noise isolation but allied usually to lesser comfort. Models with direct ear coupling and a small chamber usually do pretty well with droning noises as well, providing an overall consistent level of noise reduction.

- Passive isolating in-ear dynamic earphones: In-ear dynamics provide anywhere from poor to very good sound quality, depending on the drivers in use - the median example being something like the Sennheiser CX300. However dynamic drivers requires air movement to be effective, which requires that dynamic driver in-ears have at best "good" isolation. Extended-coverage sleeves such as that found on Nokia's in-ear headsets (and curiously, nowhere else that I've come across) can however improve isolation as well.

- Active cancelling in-ear phones: Noise cancelling characteristics similar to equivalent headphones, but once again, noises which falls beyond the effective coverage of the active cancelling DSP are only dealt with as effectively as passive phones. Most active cancelling earphones are dynamic, which means the above compromises will be evident.

- Passive isolating in-ear balanced armature phones: Balanced armatures require an air seal to work effectively, so when used as intended they provide the most isolation of any passive isolating equipment - well beyond any headphone (bar those giant ear defenders). While active cancellation systems are more effective against certain types of sounds (such as jet engines) passive balanced armature phones provide, on aggregate, the best isolation that any portable ear/headphone can provide.
The limitations of balanced armature drivers as opposed to dynamics is that a single driver can only effectively address a fairly restricted frequency range, leading to a tone that can be best characterised as 'anaemic' with most single-driver phones, though it depends on how the drivers are tuned. This requires that to get a 'natural' sound, multiple drivers of varying optimal frequency response be used. This complicates the design, and also greatly increases the cost of the earphone leading to poor sonic value when compared against headphones and some dynamic in-ears. However earphones using these drivers provides the best compromise of portability, overall isolation and sound quality if you take cost out of the equation.
Not all in-ear balanced armature designs are the same, and not all eartips are the same. Balanced-armature eartips above all come in many different types, including different lengths (e.g. compare Comply maximum isolation P-series foam tips against the T-series, which comes standard with many earphones including Westone and Shure) and different types (foam, silicone, etc) - so experimentation is required in order to find the best fit for you.
The absolute best isolation is experienced from a balanced armature earphone when you custom-mould the pieces for your ear. This does however once again increase the cost of the phone, be it in the form of an add-on moulded sleeve (less effective but still better than generic-fit tips) or a custom-moulded casing (best option).

 

Excellent summary! This puts the Sony BA-4 (quad armature) square against the dynamic 16mm film in the MDR EX-1000. (These are the two at the very top of Sony's IEM line, representing the penultimate of the two design theories. Both accurately reproduce sounds higher and lower than most humans can hear.)

My dynamic set (Sennheiser IE8s) versus my triple-armature set (Shure SE-535s) gives some advance indication of how the two Sony models will behave, signature-wise. It also helps that there are more reviews appearing practically every week, usually comparing these four headsets.

Price: in just a few weeks the BA-4s have dropped under $300; the MDR EX-1000s are still about $330. You can still pay full retail (but why?)

All things being equal, I'd have already ordered a set of MDR EX-1000s. But I'm still holding off in the event I can find superior active noise-cancellation, and it looks like I'll have to go to full cups for that.

 

Indeed! And one that indicates more than a passing familiarity with the subject matter.

 

BTW if you haven't tried them, here's the Comply P-Series next to what Shure ships. It does make a difference, believe me.

Any reason why you're so keen on the Sony BA's? Had a look at the Westone 4 / 4R?

 

This is going to sound like a lame question in front of all of you audiophiles, but here goes: Does Bluetooth have enough bandwidth to deliver the a signal worthy of a holy-sh-t pair of earphones? I have a Sony-Ericsson MW600 Bluetooth receiver with a 3.5 headphone jack, into which you can plug any headphones (or speakers) with that size plug. On some pretty decent Sennheisers (model? about $100) I get sound quality through the BT module that is indistinquishable from the sound plugging directly into the computer's jack. Is that only because: a) with midrange phones the dynamic range is not great enough to matter or, b) my 56 year old, misspent rock concert youth ears can no longer discern highs and other subtleties? And, if this particular BT receiver (it listed for about $75 originally) is not capable of doing justice to high end phones, does anyone know if there is a better such receiver that is? Bottom line: being tethered to a computer or audio receiver takes much of the utility out of the experience for me. One more question: does BR 4.0 have higher bandwidth or just longer range?

Thanks, audiophiles!

 

Not really. While SBC thru A2DP tops out at a fairly high bitrate it's not a great codec - and obviously, if you're listening to lossy music then it's effectively been lossily compressed twice.

Common implementations of APT-X does begin to address the problem, though it's still lossy compression. However you need APT-X support at both ends of the wireless chain, so in most cases you'll have to run a cumbersome APT-X dongle on either PC or handset.

Example APTX headphones:
Bluetooth Headphones : Bluetooth Stereo Headphones : Bluetooth Stereo Headset Headphones : iPhone Bluetooth Headphones : iPod Bluetooth Headphones : Jaybirdgear.com
Sennheiser USA - Best Bluetooth Stereo Headset MM 550-X - Noise Canceling, Travel Headset, Around Ear, Foldable - Personal Audio
Nokia Europe - Nokia Essence Bluetooth Stereo Headset - Features

Both companies sell iPhone dock dongles for APTX transmission but I personally wouldn't bother unless you get APTX on your phone - currently APTX is implemented only in very recent Android handsets.

Likely both a) & b), but more b) I suspect.

The quality limit doesn't stop me from using my generic-fit balanced armatures with the Nokia jacked BT headset (similar to your Sony) though for convenience's sake - and when I do that, I'm usually listening to podcasts anyway. When it comes for time to break out the customs I always run wired, mainly because I use them in scenarios I'm going to be sitting down for a while (plane, train, etc).

 

hey everyone, so I bought a set of shure SE535s, not sure how good they are, but I am using the foamy type of earbuds, can you guys recommend another type of earbud tips that are better?

 

It's entirely down to personal preference, shape of ear, etc.

I'd suggest giving the long Comply's I showed earlier a try if you want higher isolation.
P-Series - Comply? Foam Tips

Good fit is key, so it's usually best to buy all the sizes to start with.

 

@vogelbund: re: post #25. Thanks for that very informative response. I just happened to have gotten an HTC One X today that suports apt-x. not sure where to find a dongle to go on the headset side - prefer this to being relegated to a single pair of APT-X-ready phones such as those you linked to. Searching I have not found an apt-x dongle. I have gotten really spoiled by the Sony MW-600 BT dongle that you can hook any headphones into, and hope I can find the same for APT-X. Clearly there is no A2DP dongle needed at the source (phone/computer) and by having the 1/2 pen-sized BT dongle to clip on your shirt and run any standard headphones from it gives amazing versatility. Will do some searching for an APT-X receiving-end dongle and then will invest in something like the Shures.

Separately, of all the wireless solutions providing EX DAC modules transmitted across a room to an audio receiver or powered speaker, do you have a preference? Some options discussed here (Tom's Hardware).

In case it's not clear, I'm trying to employ the best of digital compression to do wireless surround sound that isn't very lossy.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

^
Did you get the ATT version or the international version of the HOX?
I have the international version.

 

ATT. Love it, except no SD card How do you like yours? (yes, we'e off topic!)

 

None yet. And then probably only from Nokia, assuming they stick around Even the Essence isn't actually available yet and the earphones are captive.

No idea. Not a big stationary wireless audio guy - I see zero point. But then I'm not married and not under the cosh of the wife...

 

Oh, I know. I try to go through a "tip phase" only every other year, because a lot of attempts can be downright annoying. Last time, I migrated back from triple-flanges to foam.

At a certain age it seems your ears can be more interested in producing "wax" than hearing things, so there's a lot of obsession with cleaning, olive-oil soaked cotton swabs, etc. Skin that is fair (northern European) tends to dry and flake, even in the ears, and that's more grunge to deal with.

Of the two Sonys, the people who know prefer the dynamic model [MDRs]; Sony marketing seems more intent on pushing balanced armature [BA-4s] likely because more of the production can be automated and repeatable. (And therefore cheaper to make.)

I have been gravitating toward the former model (MDR) but am not keen on increasing my geek factor with a couple large ear protrusions, which I think of the MDRs as.

Yes, I've auditioned the Westone 4, and it's an incredible IEM in its own right. If I had to replace either of my present set this would be on the short list.

The current shopping phase is attempting to find Sony-made equipment which is designed to be used with, and possibly even integrating with, our Sony Vaio Z2 laptops. The effort is practically exhausted (with no better answers, but a lot of elucidation on the considerations faced).

Sadly, Sony seems to have stolen a page from Microsoft, whose Zune media players were as good as anyone else's on the planet but were crippled with kludgey software trying to get double-digit IQ consumers to "buy" music from Microsoft (like everyone else was doing from Apple). MS apparently felt that marketing to the low end of the scale required its product managers to not be much smarter than them -- and so the software never got "fixed", and so everyone also has a simple little Cowon mp3 player for the times they're just too annoyed by the Zune stuff.

Sony seems to be copying this approach by not realizing its Vaio Z2 buyers would rather have real product enhancements than "stylish" ones. So: the Sony Bluetooth mouse can have a color-coordinating snap cover for $8. (What's that all about?)

 

I'd just say be done with it - instead of swapping among generics, go custom. I still need generics around for commutes but otherwise (properly fitted - follow audiologist instructions exactly - and also customs are not necessarily static, i.e. they might need a remould in a couple of years) customs are the best compromise for regular extended-sit-down travelling use - well, apart from the comparatively speaking incredibly poor sonic bang for the buck.

 

Yes, the remould was one of several detrimental factors I'd considered. (I only get near an audiologist about once in never.

As of this evening, though, now back to square One: the Sony website lists the dynamic MDR-EX1000 as "no longer available", leaving their IEM market with the current top-priced XBA-4 (balanced armature) at a retail $349. Unless they have followups to be announced in the next couple weeks, I may be off the Sony brand entirely.

 

Well, you won't know if it'll work better for you if you don't try it.

 

Tee hee (No wonder you own so many great toys. I know, their for your business, but you wouldn't spend that much even on business equipment if you had the "cosh of a wife!"

 

How much would customs cost for the shure se535?

 

For Shure Earphones | Sensaphonics

Custom sleeves on generics, results are apparently quite variable. A lot of people report positives though. I've never had it done, I can see the compromises evident in terms of exactly what customs would be good for - but it's the only option if you're uncomfortable with committing to full customs.

 

This is true of Many things.

A couple weeks ago, I got up the courage to try the "Giant Clam" (aka "geoduck") as sashimi at a restaurant in Wynn's Encore. Delicious! Now, next time we go back to LV, I'll go for the full Giant Clam meal at Aria's Chinese gourmet restaurant, Blossom.

For things I put in other orifices, I tend to be more picky.

The grief I feel over Sony discontinuing the better of its prosumer headphone offerings was increased by discovery that downscale models had also been squelched. It appears the Liquid Crystal Polymer film was a bit fragile in peoples' hands (hence the 90-day-only warranty). After a lot of thought, I ordered one new MDR-EX600 via Ebay. It's cheap enough ($170) to be a throwaway if necessary. Aluminum housing instead of magnesium, but you still have a detachable (threaded) cord set, unlike the BA series.

It may be a couple more years before I approach custom moulds, if ever. As a Usenet enthusiast I get lots more fresh music than I have the time to comfortably enjoy, and periodically do a massive purge to bring the collection down to 6,000 pieces I might actually listen to.

 

great wealth of knowledge. thanks to you all for sharing.

 

We all learn from each other here. I find it useful to see what the limits are -- in the initial query I didn't know if Sony had built an extensive array of sound-reproducing products to integrate with the Vaio Z (and compensate for the speakers we have).

Now although I'm awaiting a set of (downscale & discontinued) Sony MDR-EX600s to arrive, I continue to study quad-armature models:

Westone 4 (new 4R has a replaceable cable) versus Sony XBA-4. The latter is what Sony, fresh off a reported $50 billion loss in the first quarter, has chosen to continue their premium consumer in-ear monitor marketing efforts.

Either would work better for the original objective with the Vaio Z2 than what was ordered. I knew that, but figured I might not be able to get any Sony dynamic IEMs at all, after the present stock was gone. Some merchants are selling MDR-EXs at closeout price; others already have a premium over original retail. It's possible a clean set of EX1000s could be market priced like unobtanium in a year... this has happened with a few legendary products.

Could Sony improve the Vaio Z2 by going tech-heavy with audio? That is, could our laptops have additional DSP, etc. circuitry making essentially a new feature (and further reason to buy a Z2)? I'd like to see that happen (just like I'd like a second audio minijack for starters).

As a design exercise, they could start with the requirements of a mixing DJ -- someone like Deadmau5, Afrojack or Tiesto. I suspect the eventual product would be a lot more mainstream-appealing than Sony thinks -- and would offer some serious advantages over Apple's design choices as well.

 

No. Adding size, weight and power consumption to the Z and it's no longer a Z. It may be possible for a third-party to develop a small mixing box with DSP/MIDI in/out, etc. that could connect via the LP or USB 3 connection.

 

No point re sound hardware. They - in terms of boxes which offer those functions - already exist. Would a super-compact box engineered in the vein of the Z sell? Not in any worthwhile numbers.

Let's face it, only pros would be interested. But combine that with the fact that most music pros end up going Mac once they can afford a PC that's not a pile of junk, because it's easier for them as producers - heck, even I actually do a lot of audio production in OS X, despite resolutely cutting video and doing all other aspects of media production in Windows. There won't be many musicians out there forking out >$2K for a Windows notebook.

Yet while it's true that consumption of audio - as opposed to the abovementioned production - is actually superior in Windows in my experience, once again people who care about such things are too few and far between to make any overtly custom products worthwhile.

You could make it a thing like HP does (although Sony's "S-Master" doesn't really have consumer zing, and neither does it have much cred with any meaningful pro contingent) but it would just be a thing - doesn't necessarily actually sell the machine to new people.

Though the least they could do is not take the pee by giving us speakers that are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay worse than even the iPad - the freakin' iPad - in a >$2K notebook.

 

I tried the Z's speakers.

Once.

Briefly.

 

I agree... except for the fact that Sony would likely put everything on a single ASIC, massing less than one of our Chiclet keys.

The only hard part I could see would be additional ports, but that's where they could use the external Blu-Ray / graphics drive. (For that matter, as long as we're using an external, why wouldn't they just make a larger USB hub/port?)

You're thinking a piece like this as costing something like a Roland keyboard. I figure Sony already has power, manual input and a display, so there isn't much left (except perhaps for time-delays, buffers, and other sonic filters). I would expect a Z2 like this only ~$100 more, which is in the margin of error for most of us. (But it would completely decimate the indie music business, and finally give Apple a wake-up.)

 

BTW, I broke down and got a Westone 4R today, too. Now all I need do is grow a few more ears.

 

They could, but who'll pay for it?

Enjoy the Westones. I prefer them to the Shures in terms of tone, if not in terms of fit - for me the flat face of the inside of the body seems to result in less nestling in my ear than the Shures but obviously this is an individual issue - the only tips which work at all for me are the long Comply's, but I usually use them with that for the isolation anyway.

 

When I said "margin of error", what I meant was that if you're paying $3000 for a laptop -- and Toshibas top out under $2K -- you'd be more inclined to shrug a "whatever" at a small change in price They could put a razzle-dazzle marketing video together of all the things you *could* do, perhaps assuming most of us aren't taking our sport utility vehicles off the road.

As to who would pay for initial development, that gets stickier. I think the Z series is a lot more popular in Japan than here.

There's also a marketing concept of putting out a product that costs you money (witness the first 4 years of Nissan GT-R production) in hope that the halo effect trickles down to everything from a 370Z to a minivan. The dilemma is how you differentiate your (laptop) product line from Lenovo, Dell, et al.

Thanks. Yes, I get Complys with this. The more I read up, the more I saw Westone was always being discussed in the top 3-4 (like most of my other universal IEMs). A replaceable cable got rid of one of the last serious objections. And since Sony has bet their ship on balanced armature models going forward, I can always try an improved product from them down the road a bit.

But 4 armatures will have to do it -- I was using a triple-bladed razor until I decided to go all ZZ Top.

 

If you look in the business dictionary, under the listing for Toy, Executive, you'll find a picture of the Z2. It's not meant as a musician's toy or as a [insert specialty of choice here]'s toy. It may be used by musicians, students and whoever else very successfully, but at its core, the Z is designed specifically for people who's egos (always) and budgets (often) exceed their computing needs.

 

Ha! ROFL!

OK -- I admit the carbon fiber's a bit much. But we didn't mind paying for it -- just like we wouldn't mind having the equivalent of a super Creative Soundblaster tucked into the internals. That's the "margin of error".

I only got this Z2 a couple months ago, after looking at all the existing and arriving "ultrabooks", and concluding none of them were going to be adequate.

But: I have a couple Toshiba Qosmios (w/ 18.3" screen), and an almost-useable set of speakers. This works out well in a cruise ship sort of environment, where you're not going to be schlepping the thing around very far. Otherwise it's ridiculous -- like carry a surfboard.

At the other end, I had a Motorola Xoom, and if you're a smartphone type, this is a nice "big" screen in a relative way. But computationally you can do about as much on an Android system as you could a 1984 IBM PC/XT. Most tablets are severely restricted on I/O connections -- use the WiFi, or load your stuff on a microSD card, and that's about it. You can play music and watch tiny movies, like a Chumby.

So the Sony Vaio Z2, for better or worse, was the only one that would allow a full array of programs, connections, external add-ons, decent display, etc.
in a significantly portable fashion. Take a look over in the left margin of this page and you may see an ad for the Asus Zenbook. (Great name!) But when you start going through all the specs, #and# the build quality, it's evident your Z2 will run rings round this. (Or any other contender.)

Three years from now I expect all the ultrabooks to have the specs of the Sony I'm using today. But why wait three years?

Beyond this -- calling something a toy -- well, the two driving forces behind all PC development over three decades have been (1) Pr0n, and (2) games. The whole UUencoding thing came about so that BBSes in the late 80s could send larger files over what was (previously) a TTY system.

But I don't know how well the Vaio Z2 handles either of these. I can transfer and edit HD movies of my grandkids; I can display them on the nearest big screen.