spitfire71 Posted February 25, 2014 Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Recently picked up a Sony mz-n1 portable to give the rh1 a rest. I find the sound quality isn't a patch on the rh1, sounding a little warmer with a soft treble. I'm surprised as it's a relatively newer player. In general, it sounds a bit muddled. Any suggestions for top quality players to get sound wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted February 25, 2014 Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Do you mean mz-n1 or mz-nh1? Cheers Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azureal Posted February 25, 2014 Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 If you are using any of the MDLP modes like LP2 or LP4, the MZ-N1 may not sound as good on playback because it does not have the Type-S DSP for improved MDLP playback. The MZ-RH1 does have a Type-S DSP and can make a significant difference in the playback of some MDLP encoded recordings. Are you playing through the headphone output in headphone mode? The RH1 has a digital amplifier versus the analogue amplifier in the N1, this could also account for the difference in sound as well as what settings you have for bass/treble settings. I would expect an SP recording played back from both units using the "Line-out" setting turned on, into an amplifier, to sound very similar. However, every unit I have has a unique sound style, so who knows! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire71 Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 Answer to the first reply, i'm using the mz-n1. All recordings are only made in real time SP on the Denon DMD-1000 home deck or a Sony MDS-20ES deck. The source material are flacs fed from the pc. The recordings really are top notch from these and sound fabulous on both the home decks and the rh1. I've gone through the menu in the n1 portable and ensured the sound setting is switched to the off position so theres no influence there. I realise there's a difference in the digital amp of the rh1 over the analogue of the n1, but wasn't expecting that big a difference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkrockaddict Posted February 26, 2014 Report Share Posted February 26, 2014 As far as i can say the SQ is not that bad concerning the N1. In fact i didn´t even notice a difference to the RH1. I can check this later.What Headphones are you using ?..just to mention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire71 Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Headphones I use with most of my portable stuff are the Beyerdynamic DT231 Galactic, Etymotic HF5 IEM's, Grado SR125i, UE Triple Fi 10 pro. As you can see, most are quite revealing of the sources they are used with and will show up any deficiencies. I am quite sensitive to noticing if a source isn't up to scratch and sadly the N1 seems to be the case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punkrockaddict Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I pulled out some of my N1´s and compared them to some Rh1´s with both Grado SR80 and Koss Porta pro. If there is a noticable difference ( disc was Sp recorded digitally from cd) i couldn´t hear it. Nor can i say that the N1 sounds bad.. Iam unsure if i do hear the same differences as you do.Maybe iam overaged Could you describe what is different or bad in the N1´s sound ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire71 Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 The sound isn't as crisp as the RH1, lacks punch, sounds a little mushy. Don't get me wrong, it's still listenable but not the best listen. Using BA IEM's also gives a noticable hiss to the sound compared to the RH1. Hell, my Sansa Fuze sounds a whole lot better than this too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azureal Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Answer to the first reply, i'm using the mz-n1. All recordings are only made in real time SP on the Denon DMD-1000 home deck or a Sony MDS-20ES deck. The source material are flacs fed from the pc. The recordings really are top notch from these and sound fabulous on both the home decks and the rh1. I've gone through the menu in the n1 portable and ensured the sound setting is switched to the off position so theres no influence there. I realise there's a difference in the digital amp of the rh1 over the analogue of the n1, but wasn't expecting that big a difference! Well, it certainly sounds like you have the setup to make a good comparison, I know my 20ES makes the best SP recordings I am personally able to create. I have read good things about that particular Denon deck as well. The sound isn't as crisp as the RH1, lacks punch, sounds a little mushy. Don't get me wrong, it's still listenable but not the best listen. Using BA IEM's also gives a noticable hiss to the sound compared to the RH1. Hell, my Sansa Fuze sounds a whole lot better than this too... Like punkrockaddict, I'll have to get out a nice SP disk and make a comparison as well, unfortunately, also like punkrockaddict, my ears are almost 50 years old, I am certain my tinnitus could be measure in dB it is so loud! The N1 was one of my first Type-R machines which I bought in maybe 2001 or 2002, it was also my first MDLP and NetMD unit, at the time I was doing a lot of bicycling and if I recall, I used it to rip and playback a lot of LP2. At the time I had no deck to make good quality SP recordings. Just for fun, I'll get these out tonight and do some listening. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire71 Posted February 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2014 I have to say, between the 20ES & the Denon DMD-1000, the Denon's my favourite, so much so that I own two of them:-) I find it produces a nice fluid almost analogue sound if that makes any sense... Also excellent as a Dac with the SBTouch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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