Sony HAP S1 disappointment

[catcay1]

First time post here,
As a non-expert, but experienced listener, purchased the HAP S1, pre-owned last year. Was slightly concerned and confused about the sound quality. Some playbacks of the CDs seemed flat, or oddly high pitched. Using Spotify if flat-out awful sounding. I then read the excellent, but disappointing reviews on this site. I have a vintage NAD system, with ADS speakers, all of which were purchased in the late 80s. Still attached to my system but looking for better performance. Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated,

Thanks very much,

 

[staticV3]

Honestly depends on what kind of features you need.

As a modern audio hub, the WiiM Ultra paired with Fosi V3 Mono Amps hits a value sweet spot, only downside being the lack of AirPlay support really.

And if you don't need a screen or all that much output power, there's also the WiiM Amp or upcoming Amp Pro.

 

[Svend P]

Even though the Sony really didn't measure well, the general consensus is that most of it is not audible. Speakers and room acoustics play a much larger role, and I think that is where you should look for improvement. If you get an umik-1 and share measurements, it would be easier to pinpoint what is wrong.

Review and Measurements of Sony HAP-S1 Streamer/Server

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sony HAP-S1 digital player, server, streamer and integrated amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs USAD $998 on Amazon including Prime shipping. I must say, having worked for Sony years back (1990s), I still have a soft spot for...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[AnalogSteph]

Some playbacks of the CDs seemed flat, or oddly high pitched. Using Spotify if flat-out awful sounding.

That doesn't seem right. Sounds like an issue with clipping, maybe there is something wrong in the audio section post-DAC. Or do you really mean things were playing slower or faster than they should? That would be... odd. (The one thing that you might have issues with without it being the player's fault would be CDs with pre-emphasis. Most rippers will not do anything with the emphasis flag except for iTunes, and then things will sound unusually bright. I've had to manually apply deemphasis - using a Foobar2000 DSP plugin - to about 7 albums out of 1500ish, all of them dating from the 1980s.)

Did you perform a factory reset and update the firmware to the latest version when you got the unit?

Such a unit is basically the combination of a small PC, a DAC and a small power amplifier, and it's a 10-year-old construction at that (which is why it still sports AB power amp ICs rather than Class D like you'd find in anything recent). Problems may be lurking in all areas.

 

[catcay1]

Thanks very much for expert insight and replies. Will start with the umik-1 and the factory reset. Thinking I may be moving on to a newer system/solution.

 

[catcay1]

That doesn't seem right. Sounds like an issue with clipping, maybe there is something wrong in the audio section post-DAC. Or do you really mean things were playing slower or faster than they should? That would be... odd. (The one thing that you might have issues with without it being the player's fault would be CDs with pre-emphasis. Most rippers will not do anything with the emphasis flag except for iTunes, and then things will sound unusually bright. I've had to manually apply deemphasis - using a Foobar2000 DSP plugin - to about 7 albums out of 1500ish, all of them dating from the 1980s.)

Did you perform a factory reset and update the firmware to the latest version when you got the unit?

Such a unit is basically the combination of a small PC, a DAC and a small power amplifier, and it's a 10-year-old construction at that (which is why it still sports AB power amp ICs rather than Class D like you'd find in anything recent). Problems may be lurking in all areas.

A more accurate description would be some playbacks sound slightly muffled, as a lack of finer frequencies. I sadly don't have the more refined acoustics vocab to convey the problem more efficiently. Thanks a million,

 

[Doodski]

A more accurate description would be some playbacks sound slightly muffled, as a lack of finer frequencies. I sadly don't have the more refined acoustics vocab to convey the problem more efficiently. Thanks a million,

Was the muffling and lack of higher frequencies a very subtle thing that one needs to listen for or was it blatant bad sound?

 

[JeffS7444]

First time post here,
As a non-expert, but experienced listener, purchased the HAP S1, pre-owned last year. Was slightly concerned and confused about the sound quality. Some playbacks of the CDs seemed flat, or oddly high pitched. Using Spotify if flat-out awful sounding. I then read the excellent, but disappointing reviews on this site. I have a vintage NAD system, with ADS speakers, all of which were purchased in the late 80s. Still attached to my system but looking for better performance. Any suggestions or insight would be appreciated,

That unit has a good deal of signal-processing capabilities, some of which are on "Auto" mode by default. Have you experimented with switching them off?

DSEE
DSEE HX
Are intended to restore high frequency content which isn't actually present in the recording. Would normally expect such features to make no real audible difference, but ..?

And the unit also has a rather elaborate tone control function. Has someone changed settings on your unit?

This info and more is contained in the Help Guide found here:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/su...dd-audio-network-audio-players/hap-s1/manuals

 

[catcay1]

That doesn't seem right. Sounds like an issue with clipping, maybe there is something wrong in the audio section post-DAC. Or do you really mean things were playing slower or faster than they should? That would be... odd. (The one thing that you might have issues with without it being the player's fault would be CDs with pre-emphasis. Most rippers will not do anything with the emphasis flag except for iTunes, and then things will sound unusually bright. I've had to manually apply deemphasis - using a Foobar2000 DSP plugin - to about 7 albums out of 1500ish, all of them dating from the 1980s.)

Did you perform a factory reset and update the firmware to the latest version when you got the unit?

Such a unit is basically the combination of a small PC, a DAC and a small power amplifier, and it's a 10-year-old construction at that (which is why it still sports AB power amp ICs rather than Class D like you'd find in anything recent). Problems may be lurking in all areas.

Very much appreciated. Would you happen to have a reccomendation for a quality replacement, thanks again

 

[catcay1]

A more accurate description would be some playbacks sound slightly muffled, as a lack of finer frequencies. I sadly don't have the more refined acoustics vocab to convey the problem more efficiently. Thanks a million,

I was looking at the Wiim Ultra, as suggested above, no experience with this brand though,

 

[catcay1]

Was the muffling and lack of higher frequencies a very subtle thing that one needs to listen for or was it blatant bad sound?

So, Spotify sounds bad, and some CD playbacks sound worse than others. I wouldn't say blatant, but def noticible.

 

[Doodski]

So, Spotify sounds bad, and some CD playbacks sound worse than others. I wouldn't say blatant, but def noticible.

Let's try something.
Link us to a bad sounding track or two and then we can test drive what you are listening to.
Does this sound like a dated recording but passable for sound quality? (Ignore the musical taste... )

Does this sound good with easily heard Latin percussion?

 

[AdrianG]

Honestly depends on what kind of features you need.

As a modern audio hub, the WiiM Ultra paired with Fosi V3 Mono Amps hits a value sweet spot, only downside being the lack of AirPlay support really.

And if you don't need a screen or all that much output power, there's also the WiiM Amp or upcoming Amp Pro.

The new wiim amp pro is out for pre order, this new amp comes with pffb and better dac than the previous model, do you think it will be worth getting the new version? How much better the new version can be

 

[staticV3]

The new wiim amp pro is out for pre order, this new amp comes with pffb and better dac than the previous model, do you think it will be worth getting the new version? How much better the new version can be

As always, wait for measurements.

Especially with WiiM products, which have a history of faulty first batches and subsequent hardware revisions.