About the new portable (well, almost) DAC and headphone amplifier from Sony, I briefly mentioned in my review of the new flagship headphones Sony MDR-Z7, it was time to talk about it in more detail, because the device turned out to be very interesting, although it didn't do without minor oddities.
Sony realized that the portable (and not so) HiEnd-technology market is very good in terms of margin, and began to master it with might and main. True, until the second half of 2013, the steps were very modest. Sony, as the company that was at the beginning of the portable audio revolution, could not help producing headphones, players and other equipment, but it was more focused on the “ordinary” consumer, and this consumer had already long ago confidently switched to smartphones as a sound source. Sony marketers thought and decided to move to the upper segments. The NWZ-ZX1 player and XBA-H3 hybrid headphones introduced this vector, and a series of recently announced products (XBA-Z5 and MDR-Z7 headphones, the hero of this review, NWZ-A1x player) became the bet the company makes.
I think the primary goal Sony pursued with releasing PHA-3 was to create a decent source for the MDR-Z7. Headphones for $ 700, of course, will not play at full strength from any smartphone or regular player, especially since the NWZ line of players do not yet have a powerful amplifying part. PHA-3 was very, very versatile. You can connect almost anything to it: a personal computer, an external source of digital music on optics, Android devices and Walkman players, iOS devices, PHA-3 can work with all of them as a DAC, receiving music in digital form. There is also a line input that allows you to use the PHA-3 as an amplifier (albeit not the most powerful).
In accordance with recent trends, Sony has implemented in the device support for high-resolution records, the most used now (384 KHz / 32 bits) and DSD support. Also attracted by the possibility of using PHA-3 with balanced headphones, in which both channels are connected separately.
Naturally, such a device could not be compact and inexpensive. Considerable size and weight are supported by a solid price tag of 1000 dollars. What does the buyer get in return?
Specifications
- Frequency range: 10 Hz - 100 KHz
- Distortion: <0.01% @ 1 KHz
- Load impedance: 8Ω - 600Ω
- Maximum input voltage: 2 Vrms
- Output power: 100 mW @ 32Ω per channel in normal mode, 320 mW @ 32Ω per channel in balanced mode
- Outputs: 3.5 mm TRS headphone, 2 × 3.5 mm TRS balanced
- Inputs: 3.5 mm TRS linear, micro USB for PC / Mac / Android / Walkman, USB for iOS devices, optical
- Power supply: 3.7 V from the built-in battery, 5 V from the USB port
- Size: 80 mm × 29 mm × 140.5 mm (not counting protruding nodes)
- Weight: about 300 grams
- Supported PC modes: up to 384 kHz / 32 bit, DSD: 2.8 MHz, 5.6 MHz
- Supported iOS modes: up to 48 kHz / 24 bit
- Supported modes via optical input: up to 192 kHz / 24 bit
Package and Delivery
With a price tag of $ 1,000, Sony actually didn’t have other options than to carefully work out all the details of the PHA-3 package to create the right perception of the product. The box is double-layered, as in the MDR-Z7. The outer box is made of black and white glossy cardboard, inside contains another box of thick cardboard black. It opens approximately in the middle, in one half is the amplifier itself, in the other - accessories. The package is just gorgeous, it includes:
- USB cable for PC connection or charging
- MicroUSB cable for connecting Android devices
- cable for Walkman devices (a thing very useful considering Sony’s love for non-standard connectors)
- speaker cable with two 3.5 mm angled TRS connectors
- two pairs of rubber rings to connect the amplifier with a player or smartphone
- rubber gasket to protect the player / smartphone from scratching
- instruction (including in Russian)
Judging by the reviews, the charger is also included in the package, although in my review version it was not.
At this point there are no complaints, which was to be expected.
Design and management
Appearance PHA-3 - austere and impressive. Considerable size makes it fluctuate on the edge when the device from the portable goes into the category of "non-stationary". This makes it a bit like another station wagon, the CEntrance HiFi M8.
The body of the creation of Sony - all metal, black. The metal has a pleasant roughness and practically does not slip in the hands. The shape was chosen very well - an elongated parallelepiped with rounded ends and side walls, slightly protruding forward to protect the volume control. The rear panel contains all the inputs, a charging connector and a line output, as well as input and output switches. It is impossible to make a mistake in choosing the desired position even to the closest user: all inputs are marked with lines leading to the corresponding switch position.
The front panel is simpler. Here you will find: a volume control combined with a switch, indicator LEDs and three output jacks. I still do not understand why Sony did not use one of the well-established connectors for balanced output, but the fact remains that in their vision a balanced output is two sockets for 3.5 mm jacks. Naturally, Sony itself and its partners Kimber Kable already support this connector option. Owners of the same top-end headphones that have already been inserted into one or another balanced cable will have to either get an adapter or change the plugs used.
On the left side there is a selector switch and a switch for the DSEE HX proprietary sound enhancer. There are long rubber bands on the top and bottom of the case that will prevent your PHA-3 from scratching.
The most difficult claim for PHA-3 is battery related. The operating time of the device on one charge is a little over 5 hours, if used in the DAC mode. The charge from a standard USB port, in turn, takes about 15 hours, but if you charge it with an external charger, the time will be reduced. I used the iPad charger and it took me a little over 6 hours. In this case, the jacks for connecting to a PC and charging are separated, so to use the device at the same time as charging you will need a second cable (and a power supply if I am mistaken and not included in the package). The most interesting thing is that with a discharged battery, the PHA-3 refuses to turn on, and only charges when turned off. This, combined with the short duration of work, makes PHA-3 use cases non-trivial. I understand the desire of Sony engineers to avoid interference from the charging battery in the audio circuit as much as possible, but this could be achieved with less loss of usability.
Sound
To listen to PHA-3, I used the following equipment:
- MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 as a source
- Audirvana Pro as a player
- Lossless Records
The following headphones were used to evaluate the sound:
- Sony MDR-Z7
- Ambient Acoustics AM6 HiRez
- HiFiMan Re600
- VSonic Gr01
- Philips Fidelio X1
- Dunu DN-2000
Judging by the promo photographs available on the Web, inside the PHA-3 there is a well-known and popular chip ESS Saber 9018. Also, the photos show the presence of a fully balanced gain circuit, although it is unrealistic to discern what chips are used there. Of course, with time photos of the entrails will be more, to the delight of lovers of fortune-telling on chips.
Unfortunately, power is not the strongest side of the PHA-3. If with a balanced output we have 320 milliwatts per channel with a load of 32Ω, then the usual output frankly disappoints with its 100 milliwatts. When using an unbalanced connection for headphones with a sensitivity worse than the average, you just have to forget. I don’t know what Sony wanted to achieve by this, or to motivate to use a balanced output (I think they will release interchangeable cables for all their headphones), or to show that they are not so interested in the market of avid audiophiles using high impedance headphones . The latter, however, is unlikely, since who else, except for the audiophile, will spend $ 1,000 on such a device?
The PHA-3 sound is very good in detail, especially for a portable device. It is close to neutral, has no pronounced accents and anomalies. If PHA-3 had cost $ 300 less (and two times better is cheaper), there would be no particular complaints about its sound. But taking into account the price tag claims still arise, because with a higher price from the device and the demand is greater.
Bass collected, quite energetic, although with some headphones it lacks elasticity. I do not know how this can be explained, but the increase in the note or the harsh sound PHA-3 succeed better than the decline. Because of this, there is sometimes a strange feeling of “irregularity” of the rhythm section. It becomes tougher and jerky, which does not benefit individual genres. In general, the problem is quite narrow, so I would not call it big. Bass pleases with its texture, resolution and depth, on unsharp compositions, it pleasantly envelops, giving the music vivacity.
The mids are immaculately good, they are served with the right control, they have the right emotions and they always ... I don’t know which word to choose ... perhaps appropriate. All the slightest nuances inherent in this range will be transferred with the utmost rigor. The tools are perfectly separated, their character is preserved, the imaginary scene is built well both in depth and in width.
The upper frequencies are not bad, they are detailed and elaborated, but in the strange pursuit of the upper frequency response of 100 KHz (a completely marketing solution), Sony lost the naturalness of the upper-most HF. The end of the high-frequency range has a light, but noticeable synthetic coloration, which again is not a problem for cheaper devices, but the PHA-3 gets “in appearance”. Fortunately, this problem also manifests itself only on a limited range of headphones and recordings.
Naturally, the PHA-3 works great with Sony technology. This applies to both players and headphones. Almost all combinations are very good, but, naturally, with freshly represented MDR-Z7, the synergy is especially complete. I think it was for them that PHA-3 was developed. The sophisticated midrange amplifiers compensate for a slight decrease in the headphone range in this range, and thus the problem almost disappears.
findings
PHA-3 was a very interesting, albeit ambiguous product. If it had been developed by some other company, I would have blamed on its high price tag and predicted the success of the device in the secondary market. But we are dealing with a typical product of Sony, which has always been marked by increased prices, and for it the device is quite well-rated for itself. Connoisseurs of branded sound companies get a great addition to the fleet of their devices, a bunch of this clutch with the ZX1 player and the company's top headphones are really good. That brand fans will provide the company with a good level of sales. The rest I advise before buying a PHA-3, after all, evaluate it with your devices for at least an hour and estimate if you can put up with the existing oddity of charging. If so, the good sound and richness of the PHA-3's inputs make it a very interesting device.
The article is based on materials .
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