Sony Hi-Res Audio Lineup 2014

Following Sony's Sound Clinic Event in July, the Japanese company is back in KL to showcase their latest audio lineup, including the much anticipated MDR-Z7.

The event kicked-off with Sony showing a video of their latest Hi-Res audio lineup followed by models showcasing the new products.

Marketing General Manager, Hideyuki Wada on the construction of MDR-Z7

Models showcasing flagships, NWZ-A15(left) and MDR-Z7(right)

Sony is also dwelling into the cable market, with 8 different cables engineered with Kimber Kable.

A chart onThe evolution of Sony's High-end Headphones

There were 4 different sections showcasing the new audio lineup:

The "Flagship" section: 

Everything from the latest MDR-Z7, MDR-1A and MDR-1ADAC to UDA-1 and PHA-3.

MDR-Z7 paired with a UDA-1 DAC to a Sony VAIO

MDR-Z7 Headphones

The visible angled 70mm drivers

Air vents under the cups

Kimber Kable

Successor to the PHA1 and PHA2

The difference between Hi-Res and MP3 at the touch of a button. MDR-1ADAC (Headphones)

MDR-1A, with it's gold strip to differentiate itself from the MDR-1R

NWZ-A15

Sony's new flagship smartphone, Xperia Z3 was also at the event. Unlike it's predecessor, it is able to play Hi-Res audio.

Sony Xperia Z3

An interesting Music Video Recorder by Sony

Sony's Audio Cable lineup

The "Live Experience" Section:

An interesting section where you listen through headphones as two performers, enclosed in a boxed space play their instruments. This is aimed to let you "Feel the Space" and listen to the performance as though you're in that box with them. 

 The "Bass" section:
Here Sony showcased their heavy-hitting Extra Bass lineup.

What's new was the MDR-XB450BV, the headphones feature Vib Bass Booster which vibrates the headphone to bass in the music accordingly.

Lastly we have
The "Sports" section:
The section showcased audio companions for sporty music listeners like the wireless and waterproof WS615 Walkman.

The new products will be launched at the end of October. The MDR-Z7 is priced is RM2349 while the NWZ-A15 Walkman is priced at RM699.

Sony Hi-Res Sound Clinic @Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral

Sony has been going around Asia promoting their 2014 lineup of products with their latest Hi-Res Audio label. According to Sony, High Resolution Audio refers to a collection of digital processes and formats for music, that allow the encoding and playback of music using higher sampling rates than the standards used in CDs.

On the 22nd to 23rd July, Sony Malaysia partnered with headphone dealers Jaben and Amplified to host the occasion under name, Sony Sound Cinic at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral.  Jin went for the second day of the event to listen to what Sony had to offer.

There to introduce Sony's 2014 flagship music player was Tomoaki Sato. Sato-san is in-charge of the Video and Sound division of Sony Corporation Japan and he is also the man behind the NWZ-ZX1 Walkman.

Sato presenting features and ideas behind the 2014 Hi-Res flagship, ZX1

The 2014 Hi-Res audio lineup

Sato explained about the the company's goal to achieve the best audio possible, with the production cost being the last thing they had to worry about. The ZX1 Walkman comes with a variety of features, looking stylish being the obvious one. The Walkman runs on an OMAP 1 Ghz dual-core processor with Android as the OS. The demo units at the event was running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The device supports file formats like PCM (WAV/AIFF) and loseless formats like FLAC (192kHz/24bit) and ALAC.

The ZX1 has a built-in S-Master HX audio engine that reduces distortion at different frequency ranges. DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) HX technology upscales compressed audio files like MP3 to restore some of the subtleties found on original recordings. 

Lastly, the ClearAudio+ technology in the device, as the name states, helps deliver clear and distinct audio playback. Did I mention the device also has a whopping 128GB of storage space? Perfect to fit the big file size of lossless music files of audiophiles. 

 The ZX1 and F880 Walkman (left)devices without their outer chassis and the aluminium chassis of the ZX1(right), carefully cut from a piece of aluminium

Also presenting at the event was Sony Corporation Japan's Yuji Nishinosono. Nishinosono-san was there to introduce his masterpiece, the UDA-1.

The "Father of the UDA-1", Yuji Nishinosono

The UDA-1 was Sony's USB DAC(Digital-to-analog Converter/Amp that also supported high resolution formats of audio, ensuring an excellent listening experience. Attendees of the event also got a demo of the UDA-1 paired with Sony's new SS-HA3 speakers with a listening of Michael Jackson's Thriller in Hi-Res goodness.

One of the large capacitors used in the UDA-1 that was being passed around

An attendee admiring the ZX1

The F880 Walkman paired with an MDR-1RMKII

There were also promotions specifically for attendees of the event

 The Hi-res lineup for attendees to have a listen

The Sony ZX-1 Walkman is now available in all Sony Store outlets around Malaysia for the price of RM2,199.The pricing for the Sony UDA-1 DAC/Amp has yet to be revealed.

 Sato-san and Jin with the Sony ZX-1 Walkman

Nishinosono-san and Jin with the UDA-1

Duckie Jin