Sony eschewed streaming for a hard-disk drive in its new
one-box HAP-S1 hi-res music machine, says David Price
It can be difficult to predict format
trends, and even consumer electronics giants can be caught off guard, but a new
range of hi-res music machines sees Sony make a welcome return to the hi-fi arena.
Things got difficult back in the late nineties, when MP3 files began to replace
Compact Disc. The company’s instinct had always been to maintain control of the
entire music recording and replay chain, from record company to format to
player. But for once, this great innovating consumer electronics group was
caught on the hop. The next generation of music listeners wanted their content
free and easy – and certainly not tied to anyone’s hardware. Belatedly, Sony
responded with its range of ‘Network Walkmans’ running the ATRAC format, but it
was like trying to push water uphill – the world wouldn’t listen. History tells
us that just a couple of years later, Apple seized the opportunity and wrested
the whole shebang from Sony’s grip with the iPod in 2003 and then iTunes three
years subsequently.
The new
one-box HAP-S1 hi-res music machine
Now though, Sony is back with a subtle but clever evolution
of the digital music player. This can only be a good thing, because when it can
be bothered the company can indeed do magic. First announced at IFA in 2013,
the new HAP-S1 high-resolution music player sets out to give easy access to
high-quality digital music in a sleek, one-box package. It has a 500GB hard
drive built in, and so forms the heart of a large music library – and
importantly it has clever new software that lets you transfer your music
library from your Mac or PC with ease.
There’s more. The new Sony doesn’t just play FLAC and Apple
Lossless (ALAC) files at the normal resolutions, plus all the other lower
quality compressed file formats further down the chain (AAC, etc), it also
supports PCM up to 24/192 and the latest incarnation of DSD. In short, it’s the
first affordable ‘music jukebox’ that can genuinely claim audiophile
credentials.
It
functions more like an ‘instant CD player’ than a computer audio product
This isn’t the first hard-disk drive-based music player, as
many will well know. We have already seen a slew of such devices appear on the market. Philips was one notable example of a company that dabbled with
this idea, then gave up.
Cambridge Audio and Yamaha also discontinued
their HDD players, and moved to network music streamers instead. In fact, the
closest thing in existence to the HAP-S1 is the Brennan JB7, which is an
altogether less audiophile proposition, as we shall see…
Sony is serious about its new one-box system,
having resisted the temptation to use cheap, low current consumption, high power
Class D power output modules. Instead, it has stuck with Class AB operation on
sound quality grounds. Its power amp is of dual mono construction, and is said
to have extended bandwidth to exploit hi-res audio sources, up to 100kHz. It’s
mounted to a commendably sturdy chassis of 3mm thickness aluminium, and a
low-noise cooling fan is fitted. This sits on eccentric insulators, made from
rubber of specially chosen hardness.
Sony
is back with a subtle but clever evolution of the digital music player
The HAP-S1 sports a low-loss EI ferrite core
power transformer, and careful attention has been paid to earthing, with a
single ground point and high-strength epoxy glass circuitboards said to be
twice the thickness of rivals. Trick power supply capacitors are fitted,
selected for sound quality, the company says, as are carbon resistors. Special
signal switching relays are fitted in lieu of semiconductor switches. Overall
quality of construction is excellent considering the price and the type of
product it is.
