Sony PS-HX500
”There’s a naturalness to vocals, which are confidently presented and demonstrate a pleasing midrange insight”
Record-ripping turntables have been around a while, but the Sony PS HX500 can record up to DSD 5.6. Ergo, Sony calls it a ‘hi-res turntable’. Fancy.
So how does it work? Equipped with an internal analogue-to-digital converter and USB type-b output, the PS HX500 simply hooks up to your laptop or computer’s USB input and, via Sony’s Mac- and Windows-friendly High Res Audio Recorder software, records the vinyl either as a WAV (up to 24-bit/192khz) or DSD (5.6MHZ) file.
The process is simple enough too: just choose your format, hit ‘record’ when the vinyl starts playing, ‘stop’ at the end and you have a hi-res file.
Aesthetically pleasing
Design-wise, the plinth is largely unadorned, save for a dial tucked in the bottom left-hand corner where you can switch speed from 33 ⅓rpm to 45rpm. And the low-sitting platter adds to that simplistic aesthetic.
Assembling a turntable can be finicky, but all the Sony asks of you is to plonk (with care) the aluminium platter and 5mm-thick rubber mat onto the 30mm-thick MDF plinth, hook up the belt drive and balance the tonearm using the counter and anti-skating weights. Sony is shouting about its new one-piece tonearm with an integrated head shell, claiming that, by locating the stylus point in the centre of its axis and limiting rotational movement, it can produce a more precise, stable trace.
Of course, there’s little advantage in ripping your vinyl to hi-res – or even playing it straight off the deck – if the PS HX500’S sound quality is poor. But we’re full of compliments for this deck.
We settle Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms on the spindle and there’s no mistaking the Sony’s penchant for detail as the synthesised pan ¡ute and drums in Ride Across The River have clarity and texture.
Coherent sonics
It’s articulate with the track’s offbeat rhythmic pattern, tying the multiple strands together for a coherent and layered delivery, and has the dynamic dexterity to bring fairly tenuous sonic shifts to our attention.
Sony is quick off the bench too, springing into action with the upbeat opening of One World. It thrusts the drumbeat forward and, with gusto and agility, puts its foot through the melodic guitar riffs that cut through the track.
It’s with the more sanguine tunes that the PS HX500’S slight tonal inclination to the light side of neutral reveals itself, the presentation favouring a crisp consistency over the full-bodied solidity of some of its rivals. It’s not something to penalise it for, but perhaps worth bearing in mind when it comes to system pairing.
Elsewhere, the Sony’s big, open sound lends itself to the lamenting guitar lines and aching organs in the album’s eponymous finale. There’s a naturalness to Mark Knopfler’s vocals, which are confidently presented and demonstrate the Sony’s pleasing midrange insight. Furthermore, the sundry piano notes in Miles Davis’s So What and the trumpetplaying that wheels over the top are both engaging, informative and staged with convincing stereo imaging.
Signature phono
We feel confident bestowing praise on the treble too. The intricate cymbalbrushing that fills the right-hand channel is clear and subtle, the Sony balancing detail with refinement admirably.
Big gains in clarity and detail are made when we switch to our reference Cyrus Phono Signature phono stage (£1200) – vocals are fleshed out and instruments are subtler and more sure-footed. Within its own price-bracket, though, the Sony’s own phono stage is very capable.
As always, performance is king, and in this instance that only furthers the Sony’s likeability. A very good buy.
VERDICT Anything that keeps vinyl fresh and appealing is gold in our eyes, and the PS-HX500 is a good example of that