Bundling has always seemed to be the ultimate choice for portable players, but previously bundled products are either IPCs or national bricks, and there are not many options available. However, with the revival of the portable market, the bundled gameplay has begun to flourish, and not only can the country bricks play bundles, and now foreign bricks can also be bundled. The common ones are AK and SONY. However, to elaborate, the bundled routine is not the same, AK pays attention to the integration, external amp and player directly fit, looking cool but certainly small size can not be. And SONY is the traditional way - player + external decoding / amp, although the need for external wire connection, but the collocation flexibility is also much higher.
But having said that, since the invention of the bundling game began, it was a high-end game. The national brick bundle had a few thousand dollars. This price is a bit high for ordinary players. However, many large manufacturers also know this problem, so they have also launched some bundled components with relatively affordable prices. PHA-1A is one of them.
SONY PHA-1A Portable Headphone Amplifier Silver
This machine is an upgraded version of PHA-1, the appearance of the iron black professional style into a round silver aluminum block, but in the body at the same time, the function and configuration did not shrink, the only regret is the cancellation The line input, want to be pure amp is not a game, but I guess so many people do not play, after all, as a decoding amp, this obviously is a lot of performance wasted. Audio specifications are still supported to 24/192, the interface chip is the CM6631A, the DA chip is the WM8740 common in desktop computers, and the amp uses the TPA6120, which is the most advanced integrated solution and uses the very mature and classic design. If PHA1 is the first test of SONY in portable decoding, then PHA-1A is a product that has been condensed and streamlined after various generations of products.
Sony (SONY) NW-A25 Sony h.ear series music player sony walkman
Since it is a light bundle, then the front-end is definitely not on the high ZX2, but I still borrowed a friend's ZX2+PHA3 set as a reference, this set is good? I don't think I need to say much. I absolutely can call it a bundle with a very strong yuan price. However, we will not say anything about local tyrants. If you are light, use the low-profile and affordable A25.
The combined images of the two are smaller than the flagship set.
Interfaces and the like are all generic and can be upgraded in the future. As for upgrading the decoding or upgrading the player, it depends on personal preferences.
The earplugs are bound to be the heady Z5+Z7, and the belief set is completed.
Judging from the sound of the two sets of bundles, it is clear that the flagship package is dominant, but the small size and high selling price are places where this combination is limited. High fever may be liked, but novices are obviously more receptive to the A25. +PHA-1A, after all, is an external decoder, as the carousel is the cheapest A25 and the most expensive ZX2 is not much different, of course, the essence of the core is the A25 can not only achieve the turntable function, while light and compact price is also more affordable . If the push-pull bundles all want to be taken into account, then there is no doubt that the ZX2 is stronger, but only as a bundled combination, the A25 not only has the above advantages, but also has remarkable endurance.
Since it is a set of beliefs, the sound is not surprising. It will be known as a "SONY" product. We all know that the evaluation of SONY products on the forum is more polarized. I really don't like what I like. I think there are two reasons. One is tuning, the other is collocation. SONY's portable player and headphones earphones I think is a typical style of the popular tuner, listening to classical can not say no, but certainly not too yummy, especially the big dynamic, you can hardly find that kind of bold and unrestrained feeling , But just like you used the HD600 to listen to the popular smell, the surgery industry specializes, not to mention good or bad. The second is to match, Z5 and Z7 with a lot of players sounds a lot of low frequency, and not very controllable, but under the drive of PHA-1A and PHA-3 this problem has been well controlled , And this control does not mean that intentionally reduce the low frequency, more should be the increase in low frequency control.
A25 + PHA-1A + Z5 can be said to be a very good combination of a portable group, driving a good Z5 state is still very brave, thanks to that huge dynamic unit, low frequency is quite full. What pop music is listening to is an atmosphere, but too much low frequency appears to be chaotic. Although this combination does not have the strong explosiveness and sense of control on the PHA-3, it is significantly more condensed than the A25 direct push low frequency. I think that voice is the kind of sweet route of the Japanese signboard style, but there are some differences with the iron triangle's dyeing, the new iron series tuning has not so outstanding iron triangle flavor, and the feeling of enchanting is gone, SONY is the same, You can feel that the voice is a bit sweeter, but if you don't compare it, you won't feel any change in its vocals.
The high frequencies are quite transparent. Before I saw the WM8740 used in the PHA-1A, I suddenly found out that many of my country bricks use this DA chip. However, how do you say that sounds are often warmed? You have to taste it, but This taste is achieved by sacrificing qualities. Although we can say that the quality of the earbuds like the Z5 is very good at this sacrifice, but don't forget that the Z5 low frequency itself is quite a bit, and that it's a little warmer and I feel that besides listening to Aunt Cai, she'll be nice. Others may not be able to listen. There is no such worry when you say something. If the shortcoming of A25 is that the sound is neutral but not full, then PHA-1A will make up for this. At the same time, it does not suppress high frequencies, but it is not too sharp and bright. Feeling, a very smooth and consistent sound.
Z7 needless to say, in fact, SONY's large headset product line we have been a bit can not read, early CD3000, R10 are closed design masterpiece, and later out of the SA5000, F1, V1 has become a high degree With open design, ZK and Z7 products have become closed structures in recent years. However, although both are closed designs, the characteristics of these two headphones are not the same. ZK I think is a very balanced product. As a member of the professional series, the appearance size is also very compact. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a work that can be combined with HD25 and DT1350. The Z7 is more like a fully-enhanced version of the Z5. The 70mm large diaphragm brings more full-bodied low-frequency and full solid vocals, but such a headset is obviously not very good push.
The Z7 is generally paired with the PHA-3. The sound under this set is indeed quite good. Like the Z5, the PHA-3 adjusts the sound of the Z7, which not only exerts the characteristics of the big unit but also provides powerful control. The difference between PHA-1A and PHA-3 is mainly in the driving mode and the amount of decoded information. The PHA-3 has a more balanced output. This is obviously beneficial for large headsets, and the amount of decoded information is also more abundant, but For SONY products, they all have a characteristic - do not pursue extreme high and low frequency extensions and details, but emphasizes an integrated, tri-band coherent and smooth sound, Z7 is slightly sacrificed under PHA-1A A bit of quality, but the overall sense of hearing is not bad, just consider this bundle of miniaturization is obviously more biased toward portability, from this point of view I although the earbuds sound field is not as good as headphones but I prefer to match the Z5. (Contrary to me, my friend prefers the Z7. He thinks that since the bundle is sure to be equipped with a large headset, it makes more sense.)
Lightweight is not low quality, this may be the best evaluation of this combination. Now that there are so many portable devices, it is not difficult to play with bundles. There are many inexpensive bundles that can be chosen. But since all plug-in amps have been released, the sound of the dial itself is not so important, and the requirements for battery life, operation, and volume are more. From this point of view, the gap between A25s at the same level is much larger. . Basically it is better than me or more expensive than me or bigger than me, and my level is not as good as I use, this convenience is reflected in the use of many domestic bundles are also a short board.
Now think about the money you could buy a D50 before, but now you can buy a player and a portable decoding amp. Although the high-end products are turning into bricks, the low-end market will still prefer this kind of compactness. Convenient machines, perhaps in the future, will be more and more lightweight bundled users.