One Signature Sound

Sony pushes the boundaries with ultimate ‘Signature Series’ audio range

Celebrating its 70 anniversary year, Sony has taken a look back at its prestigious audio heritage, like the world famous Walkman®. Using the very latest technology, the design and engineering teams have created this series to give you the highest quality, pure audio sound; this is Sony’s signature for sound quality. With High Resolution Audio capability and innovative convergence of superior analog and digital technologies, the best seat in the house is yours with the Signature Series.

This series of audio products faithfully conveys the heart and soul that artists pour into their music, from the sublime resonance of an orchestra to the overflowing passion of a live concert. Together they push sound to an entirely new realm – taking the headphone experience from “listening” to “feeling”.

All Signature Series products are based on the newly standardized φ4.4mm balanced connection. Sony has continued its pursuit of the ultimate materials and structures for reproducing the best sound possible, taking an unconventional approach to design. The organic shapes visible in every detail reflect a design based on the laws of physics for creating superior audio quality, and all materials have been selected based on the principals of acoustic design.

Atmosphere and musical detail

The MDR-Z1R headphones have a wide frequency range that gives the luxury of a natural and open soundstage with up to 120kHz playback in High Resolution Audio. The 70mm HD driver unit increases the sound space to create natural sounds with controlled airflow and flat plane waves.

Exclusively engineered using the best materials and handcrafted by artisans for the ultimate sound experience, has meant this pair of headphones is made in Japan. The new Fibonacci-patterned grill design is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence in nature[1]. With its equalised opening to ensure minimal sound colouration and faithful reproduction of High Resolution Audio sources. Owing to the Resonance Free Housing for elimination of unnecessary resonance, the sound has real atmosphere and fine detail, perfect for late nights in the library.

This exquisite product exhibits high-class luxury in every component, from the genuine leather ergonomic ear pads and lightweight beta titanium headband, to the stainless steel wire mesh housing protector.

Sophisticated and iconic

The iconic Walkman® is revamped for ultimate sound quality with the flagship WM1 series, including NW-WM1Z and NW-WM1A. A superb listening experience is possible with these digital music players that can handle any music file from the High Resolution Audio end of the scale to low quality mp3. Also, thanks to new DSEE HX™ it has five modes that you can select based on the type of music you are listening to; Standard, Female Vocal, Male Vocal, Percussion or Strings. This technology means it can carefully upscale lower bit rate files to near High Resolution Audio quality. The new Walkman®’s can deliver music with purity, precision and a natural acoustic balance.

Design is key while pursuing high quality sound, the WM1Z has a gold plated oxygen free copper chassis showcasing Sony’s excellence in engineering. And each component is sourced with meticulous attention to detail.

With its own easy to use menu this music player has a variety of modes to bring out the best in your music. The optimized audio line and clock control are just a few more of the star features for laidback listening. While the cable used inside the WM1Z is four wire braided cable engineered with KIMBER KABLE® used as the wiring material from the amp to the headphone jack. This achieves the richly expressive and refined audio quality.

This iconic product also has the much needed wireless features of Bluetooth®, LDAC™ so you can play your audio files from multiple sources.

A newly developed FT CAP（High polymer capacitor）has been built into the power supply of the amp section. Expansive transparency of vocals and instruments has been improved to achieve sharp, powerful bass notes.

For those who prefer a sleek and aluminium finish on the chassis there is also the NW-WM1A that gives low chassis resistance for clear and powerful bass notes. With its special oxygen-free copper cable used as the wiring material from the amp to the headphone jack for a powerful sound quality.

High quality amplification

The clear, dynamic sound provided in the TA-ZH1ES headphone amplifier, enables higher sound quality through your headphones. Offering a new standard for headphone amplifier listening, this product will deliver the superior sound of High Resolution Audio (Up to DSD 22.4MHz/PCM 768kHz/32bit) for a truly musical home listening experience.

The D.A. Hybrid Amplifier Circuit gives the combination of Sony’s full digital amplifier S-Master HX™ together with analog amplifier, and satisfies both preserving fine detail sound of S-Master HX and low distortion sound with the support of analog amplifier.

The newly developed Frame/Beam/Wall (FBW) chassis combines Wall structure with the familiar FB chassis that has been cultivated in the ES series. The Wall is created by shaving extruded aluminium and realises a ridged body that can suppress unnecessary vibration. Also the Acoustically Tuned Panel achieves the ideal sound while controlling vibration and resonance.

For preserving the feeling of original sound, ZH1ES has new DSEE HX and DSD Remastering Engine which converts PCM source to DSD 11.2MHz.

Compatibility is key with the ZH1ES and although this product is best enjoyed with a combination of the new Z1R headphones and WM1Z/WM1A, it is compatible with other models. With various inputs and a wide range of balanced outputs, plus unbalanced connections, you can enjoy music in very high quality with variety of headphones, without any compromise.

MDR-Z1R is priced at around €2200

NW-WM1Z is priced at around €3300

NW-WM1A is priced at around €1200

TA-ZH1ES is priced at around €2000

The Signature Series headphones and Walkman®’s will be available in store from October 2016. With the amplifier joining them from end of November.

www.sony.co.uk/ifa

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Technical Specifications

For more information, please contact your local PR manager or:

Rachel Batchelor, Corporate Communications, Sony Europe

rachel.batchelor@eu.sony.com / +44(0)1932 816851

About Sony Corporation:

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $72 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016 Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net/

[1]The Fibonacci sequence appear in nature in many places. For example, sunflowers optimize the filling of seeds by arranging them in spirals of Fibonacci sequence, resulting uniform and maximum number of seeds on a seed head