S-Master (HX) Amplifier Exclusive - Another Sony Thread

[Saidera]

Briefly as an introduction, Sony's S-Master Amplifier (along with variants named MX or HX) continues to be a key differentiator for the brand's core audio products. Its evolution over the years makes for interesting reading. Its technical specifications, associated circuit designs, and internal chip workings have changed so much, and the S-Master name has been put onto Sony products from IC Recorders to VAIO laptop docking stations. This thread will attempt to delve into its origins as well as its current status. Information on S-Master is limited to marketing materials and information gained from hearsay, mainly due to the non-existence of datasheets. But we will do our best here to be accurate.

Several years ago a headphone was released called MDR-1ADAC, which integrated the S-Master chip into the headphone itself. This design concept was quickly shelved and the attention shifted to the WH-1000XM line of popular wireless headphones which use a QN1 chip. This QN1 chip can be characterised as an all-in-one S-Master combined with noise cancelling functionality.

The MDR-1ADAC used an XMOS chip as seen here.

One question is why S-Master has remained in use by Sony, despite the large number of options available from other chip manufacturers.

Another purpose of this thread is to raise the concept of an S-Master USB dongle. Clearly, there are numerous challenges given that a dongle is much smaller than a headphone. Yet the size of an IC Recorder posed no impediment to the implementation of an S-Master HX.

 

[GXAlan]

Does Sony still use their own ICs for S-Master? Or has it become a branding exercise?

What I don't understand about Sony is that they have some of the deepest tech/R&D and it sort of dies out as soon as it goes for one generation or two.

Look at home theater AVRs. In Japan, it seems like the Denon flagships are still used with high-end speaker systems so you would think there is a reasonable market for continued development. In contrast, Sony had S-Master Pro nearly 20 years ago but the final set of AVRs went back to regular Class AB amps and my understanding is that the final set of AVRs were only sold in the US. Their HT-A9 soundfield processing would be great if it could be applied to a new home theater AVR.

The HAP-Z1ES got pretty good reviews. You would think a second generation product taking advantage of streaming and DLNA/UPNP would be popular. The other paradox is that the PlayStation division has some of the best UI and the Xperia division isn't bad with their UI, but the Sony iOS/android apps for the HAP-Z1ES is poor compared to something like Sonos.

 

[GXAlan]

2005 version

 

[restorer-john]

You should do some research into Takashi Kanai. He started at Sony in 1978 and was a major contributor to the S-Master amplifier design.

Here's an excerpt of an interview with him:

I believe he may hold some patents in his name in relation to the S-Master design too, IIRC.

 

[GXAlan]

The "mad scientist" of Sony audio

When we think about how electronics products are developed, we might imagine huge teams of faceless engineers, executives embroiled in endless discussions in elaborate conference rooms, and an almost Kafkaesque process that no one person really understands or controls. Having visited the...

www.soundandvision.com

There's the full interview.
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The other problem with Sony high-end audio (at least in the US) is that they will release something great and then drop support for it. Something like the SCD-1 has no spare parts. They TA-A1ES is maybe out of production or maybe not. No one knows. The STR-ZA5000ES was never updated for eARC support.

 

[restorer-john]

The other problem with Sony high-end audio (at least in the US) is that they will release something great and then drop support for it. Something like the SCD-1 has no spare parts. They TA-A1ES is maybe out of production or maybe not.

The SCD-1 is 23 years old. Not even I have a problem with Sony dropping support for an obsolete player that old.

Unless you buy Accuphase, you can forget parts 7-10 years after discontinuance, even on TOTL stuff.

 

[Snoopy]

Interesting how he mentions the importance of the Chassis design and vibration.

Something I noticed often in reviews by a Japanese reviewer he puts alot of money into isolation hifi-feet, damping material for the chassis.. and cables. Power cables, silver cables etc

Wonder how much of this stuff really does anything at all.

 

[Saidera]

Thanks for the link! Was not surprised to see Takashi Kanai's face. I think I've written about him in passing here, when discussing the Vinyl Processor DSP for walkmans (which was recently measured by the WolfX700 | L7Audiolab). It was Kanai who wrote about how he was in hospital once and somehow he ended up with Sony's wireless portable speakers and was astounded by its sound quality. And also a decade ago he was quite astonished by the quality of a 3.5 mm jack on a cheap Xperia phone for playing back simple CD files. More recently, he's been into gardening but has been struck down multiple times by pneumonia. It's tough to survive in these times.

He's like, the only engineer from Sony who maintains a popular website. There could be others but who knows where they are.

Source: the Kanaimaru blog

 

[restorer-john]

Interesting how he mentions the importance of the Chassis design and vibration.

Something I noticed often in reviews by a Japanese reviewer he puts alot of money into isolation hifi-feet, damping material for the chassis.. and cables. Power cables, silver cables etc

Wonder how much of this stuff really does anything at all.

If you test your amplifier/player/preamplifier in isolation, in silence and into a dummy load it doesn't matter. If you actually use it, in a system at elevated levels- levels enough for the panels to vibrate, then yes, you will have effects. Sony has long championed effective damping, isolation and absorption, from their heatsink design to clamps, capacitor damping and circuit board supports and suspension.

Plenty of solid state amplification, especially high gain stages (phono etc) are affected by vibration with it being utlimately audible or easily shown on a 'scope. Microphonics are not the sole province of tubes.

 

[restorer-john]

He's like, the only engineer from Sony who maintains a popular website.

Heitaro Nakajima maintained a website for him and some of his fellow retired Sony engineers. Sadly, when he passed, his son kept the website and the operation going only for a few years. It has now disappeared. I have much of the site archived.

 

[Saidera]

You mean this site? https://www.nhlab.jp/

Nice blog, https://web.archive.org/web/20140427160839/https://nakajima-heitaro.jimdo.com/

Would be nice to see the unique egg shape speakers tested on ASR. But I can see some measurements on their site already.

 

[frabor]

I have a STR-DA7ES. Its a great unit, I have use it as an AVR and as a plain stereo. The power supply is not a switching type and it has a analog direct mode. It is really an analog mode, I printed the schematic and followed the path and when analog direct is engaged, the signal goes from the analog input to the amplifier bypassing the digital processing that is applied when multichannel I/O gets used. In the web site from Sony there is a very interesting technical manual that explains the tech with all detail using as an example the DA7100ES. Seems that the Da7ES was one of the first to use this technology. The unit is great, but I was looking for the next one in the series with full support for 7 0r 9 channels and if possible at least one 4K input. Any suggestions?

This is the short explanation by Sony about what is S-Master (below is the text from the link)

What is S-Master Digital Amplifier Technology?​

S-Master is revolutionary Sony® digital amplifier technology that allows for big, dynamic sound to be delivered in a sleek package.
Unlike traditional analog amplifiers, an S-Master digital amplifier uses less energy to produce the same signal. The increase in energy efficiency eliminates the need for a large heat sink and large power supply found in conventional designs.
In addition, S-Master digital amplifiers produce higher-resolution sound quality, monitored noise reduction and accurate sound reproduction.

 

[frabor]

This one looks good, I am looking for an old one, STR DA5800ES