I still use MP3 players to save on phone battery and phone storage, now before anyone says "why not stream like everyone else does?" simple: because I don't like the idea of paying more money to have less control of my music, at least once the music is downloaded/imported I can just access it whenever I want and not to suit the server maintenance schedule of whichever site I'm subscribed to. Plus with streams you need a constant internet connection which ultimately means you're letting the phone networks and broadband companies decide where you can listen to your music.
@@yohvh There's only one issue with the offline listening, which is that you're limited to 3,333 tracks maximum. I mean granted that's a pretty big number, but it pales when compared to an MP3 player that can hold 2TB worth of audio. And while it's pretty impressive that the servers have never gone down, I'm still skeptical about how long they can keep that consistency going. At the end of the day it just makes more sense to me to just preview the artists music on UA-cam or SoundCloud and then buy the track, or even their whole album as either a CD or download. Not least because Spotify (from what I can tell) locks you into their software which means you have to take up needless space on your computer or phone just to listen to a couple of songs offline. EDIT: Spotify have said they're going to increase the storage to 10,000 songs but that's still less than what an MP3 can hold, plus once you've got the songs you can still listen to them without having to continue paying a subscription.
For me It's not about hi-res-hi-fi-stuff, it's about having a dedicated device with dedicated controls and a bit more output power for certain headphones.
Scott Cooper there was a reason for the skyrocketing price of 160gb ipods. Now you can upgrade it with a 256 gb ipod touch, but he ipod classic was the king for a really long time
I agree. It's weird with a cable, like it's not even a good revenue scheme to lock users into your ecosystem 'cause it's just a cable. Maybe there's some technical reason for it?
Super* Review Technical reasons make standards stay, no ? More thank likely they are thickheaded or they already had a bounch of them and had to use them somehow
I love Sony MP3 players, I am so happy that Sony still makes the best and most reliable MP3, I only wished that Sony made it possible to replace the batteries easily, my soldering skills are abysmal.😞
@@SuperReview I still use my iPod 5th gen Classic (late 2006) Just replaced the 1.8 tiny HDD with a 128GB SD card and an iFlash adapter Battery holds for days SD read and write speeds are much faster than those of the HDD tons of music organised in playlists and still sounds GREAT thanks to Wolfson DAC and less "electronic" compared to other mp3 players Only downside is that it doesn't recognize the commands sent from the remote control on my headphones, like the later models of iPods do
Wag 669 I JUST did this to mine. After many years my 5th Gen HDD went out and decided to update the memory to an SSD and changed the battery. The SSD makes a world of a difference!
@@Wagner669 The gen 5 has a better DAC than most phones, and many DAP`s, but I`d still go with another brand that doesn`t use child labor and scams customers et cetera, apple is a shit brand
It's November 20th 2022, and I was lucky enough to obtain a still sealed, brand new a45. Well, first thing I did was install the Mr Walkman firmware, then loaded my SD card into it, and BINGO, great sound and fully operational. I've actually had it for 2 days and the battery is still showing full even after 2-3 hours per day of use. So there seems to be no degradation of the battery. This will be my backup for travel should my a55 go out. I cannot tell the difference between the to sonically. At home I use my astell&kern kann alpha. These are close, but the alpha has more power. Glad I found this player in New condition.
Sounds great. I have a small question...From what i understand,the power button works like in the case of a phone. You tap it,it turns the screen on or off alternatively. If you hold it for longer,it turns the device on/off alternatively. So far,so good. But how do the side buttons work,play/pause,forward/back track,volume ? If you press them when the screen is off(but playing music), do the screen lights up ? If not,and you can mess with music controls while the screen stays off,it saves battery. I have the smaller,older nwz E383, two of them actually. One annoying feature of that device is that it lacks dedicated side buttons for volume,so when you press volume keys(up down on that "mickey mouse" key design),it lights up the screen too,which consumes battery. And those are tiny screens compared to this. That's what many people struggle to understand,that screens consume the majority of your device. Worked in electronics retail some years ago,and never fell into the trap that bigger phones are more battery efficient. You increase the size,yeah the battery may increase in cappacity,but the screen does also. So it evens out in the end,given everything else is the same(same os,same battery technology...). On the other hand,small mp3 players(or DAPs) are fantastic when on the move. Used to travel for my work al over the globe,and just took my phone,and this small device. A lot of power(single or two) day tourist sight seeing.Phones(no data) used for gps,and taking some pictures,and music on the mp3 player. Light and comfy,no extra batteries,no cables.Just leave the hotel room,and come back in the evening,or next day. The ability to literally blind operate your mp3 player in you pocket,is fantastic. No sticking out big cumbersome phone out,just put your hand in your pocket and change volume,play/pause. Sometimes not even doing that,just pressing it through the fabric of your pants. Thanks for your time,and if you can answer my small curiosity,it will be great. Just check if the screen lights up while you play/pause and change tracks.
This player supports Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth technology which is available in some of their wireless headphones. Sounds great. This player also supports a 256 gb micro SD card. I have one and have about 210 gb of music on mine, many of them in lossless format.
256gb sold separately.... selling a device like it with 16gb is like selling it with no memory, less than 10 gb are avaiable for music after formatting and taking the space for the os!
Thanks for your review!! Let me tell a little about my experience with hi-res audio. First, a little background. I'm 52 and I used to have the very first Sony Walkman, lol!!. So it has been a long journey. Second, you said on the video that you can't tell the difference in sound quality between hi-res, or flac files and regular mp3s. It is not exactly your fault. We all have become kind of deaf thanks to mp3s. Most of us are used to listen to mp3s. It will very difficult to note differences right away. But here it is my experience: I have a hi-res audio player and hi-res headphones. I started to listening to music every day using only that equipment. More and more I began to feel and note more things. I discovered sounds that weren't there before. After some days, when I returned to listening using my cell phone, just for example, I couldn't stand its sound quality!!!!. I just couldn't. There was a big difference with my hi-res player. My cell phone, which I used to find fine, it sounded awful. I don't know if it is a good comparison, but it felt like VHS and HD kind of thing. So, that is my take on hi-res audio. If you get used to listening to music using this hi-res player, it won't be a turning back option anymore.
I'm finding it really matters how well the original music was recorded -- some music, even in the highest quality, just doesn't sound great under scrutiny..
Probably. You will need to get the music files first onto a computer, and then you can drag and drop them onto the Walkman. They will be hi-res only if the original files are hi-res.
mistermiah21 Hi-Res audio files are a different kind of files. You can't convert regular audio files to Hi-Res. Their source are not CDs. From a CD you can rip to FLAC, WAV, ALAC files in 16 bit quality. Those Hi-Res audio files needed for this Sony player are 24 bit. It is studio quality audio. 24 bit files can be ten times bigger than regular ones. But beware, there is not turning back after listening to Hi-Res audio. Everything will sound awful.
Çerastes Well, that it is why I wrote about someone totally used to listening regular audio files and mp3 ones. I have a spectacular pair of Hi-Res headphones, and an amazing Hi-Res Fiio player. It is a very basic Hi-Res setup and NOW I CAN note the difference very well between regular and Hi-Res audio and as I said, all of us will need a couple or more days to get used again to high quality audio files, including CD quality. Most people nowadays are happy with mp3 and crappy iTunes audio files. I was happy!! How come?? I was a CD quality fan, but my first iPod converted me based on the convenience of putting a lot of mp3 files in one gadget. Now, with this Sony device here, you can put a lot of music at high quality whether 24 bit or 16bit CD quality. It is great But I repeat: you sre used to listening to mp3, it will take some time to return to appreciate CD quality and Hi-Res audio. Sorry, but that it is the way it is.
I have had a range of Sony Walkmans over the past 10 years. At first they were unbeatable compared to any iPod. The latest one I bought was the NW-A25 from a couple of years ago. The sound quality is great compared to any iPhone or iPod, which all seem to deliver a very flat dull sound., I find that is mainly due to the better equaliser and sound processing options on the Sony. If Apple would only allow custom EQ settings and other sound options in their music app, the sound quality would be much higher. I mostly use Spotify these days which has a customisable EQ and makes the music sound just as good as the Sony, plus I have the convenience of millions of songs wherever I go, so I don''t really use my Sony any more.
8:02 You can fix this in the settings. Go to "Playback Settings" and switch "Artist List Display" to "Album Artist". A file can have an album artist tag (singer) and a song artist tag (singer featuring ...). If you play the song now, it displays the song artist, but there's no mess in the library.
I just want an genuinely good iPod. A music device which I can store my music for years I am not the kid from the 90s or something. I am a 20s kid. Still I want a cool music device which just for music. But doesn’t to find the perfect one. Quite disappointed there is no bring back the iPod. It was quite a device. I am pretty patiently for a perfect IPod to pop out right now. Love your video and great job on reviewing it.
Idk about him, but give me a iPod with a good battery, good storage and a regular headphone jack and I will be sold. It would be amazing to have an apple device with a amazing battery, but it would be even better if the one thing I’ll never leave home with had a good battery just to last longer than it does.
I bought one. Best thing I ever bought. Sold my iPods as they’re no match sonically and no more horrible synching. It’s a pity about the cable though. Black was my only choice and I’m glad as it’s cool. I bought the inorlo clear cover on amazon which you really need! It does little quirky things with some albums like doubling the track count and some cover artwork won’t show but the audio quality makes up for it.
You can't use a mac to upload your files. Use a pc. Download the media go software. It'll let you organize whats already messed up on your device and a lot more.
I truly can't understand people who make those weird faces when they hear I keep using mp3 player instead of using the phone. I had my Sony mp3 player since 2012 and it just died last week. It was sooo good and great to use! I used that every day in the gym, on my way walking to work and on my holidays, on the plane. Basically everywhere! The battery lasts for very long time. That Walkman lasted for 11 years so now I look for a new player and I'm not even looking at any other brands than Sony. This one is my number 1 to look for. Thanks for the review!
I bought one of these for Christmas and it sounds pretty good and easy to use and you can also extend the storage space with a micro sd card, I put a 128gb card in mine, it's not as good as the creative mp3 players that sound amazing and are louder and with more bass which I prefer, I prefer to listen to music on an mp3 rather than my phone. This also has Bluetooth and a radio
Just bought the A55 yesterday with used condition and I love it. The sound quality was great for a entry level Walkman DAP (finally Sony can created a product with great value) and it's freaking small, I easily put my Walkman into my short without worries. The only problem with this tiny DAP was it using proprietary USB port which is bad decision wich where the competitor was using normal USB even USB-C.
I recenelty listened to an High-res album that I have known since I was a boy (teenage, I'm 38 now) and have listened to probably 100,000 times (and I'm not exaggerating, it's my favourite album) or more. Guns N Roses Use your illusion. Listening to civil war, I can hear backing vocals that I didn't know was there and I have hear fingers moving across guitar strings, none of these things are in my CD ripped flac file. There may be subtle differences in the music or it could be huge, all depends on the master I'm guessing. I'm using the reviewed player and some Philips Fidelio X2HRs= audio excellence.
Great video that partly inspired me to get one myself. The sound quality is very noticeably better I was getting than with a phone (Samsung S8) even using a cheap USB DAC. Using CD-quality FLACs the mid-range is much more detailed, like comparing a photo with good contrast with one with shades of grey. Incidentally, there is an option in settings to choose whether to sort by Artist or Album Artist, so that might give a different result where each track was shown as a different artist.
Mostly classical. The first was a Dvorak symphony. The individual instruments sounded much more how I would expect them to. The woodwind were especially flat on the phone. The setting to simulate a concert hall was very effective in making the soundstage wider. I am usually quite sceptical about the artificiality of these equalisations, but in this case I liked it. With pop music (I tried some Ke$ha first), the difference was less clear because what I am hearing is much more affected by the strength of the beat and I suspect the phone manufacturer has souped that up anyway.
You didn't talk about the amp and other sound features, which make sound very rich & customizable. Also you didn't mention Sony's biggest pro: Bass, which on these tiny music devices remains unmatched by any cellphone out there. High sound volumes matter on devices which lack bass, but if bass is there, then it makes up for volume not going too high. It's a personal preference but somehow with adequate bass, sound seems kinda fuller.
To be honest, I'm not sure what to do with most of the audio adjustment settings. Some of them sound like snake oil (one "upscales" audio to hi-res), others just not so useful for what I'm looking for. I have used the EQ, though, and it's very effective. Here is some info on the other modes: www.headfonia.com/review-sony-wm1a-walkman/2/
I tried player in Germany and as always i found out that it was not loud at all like some other sony player i tried.With all options enabled its loud as iphone on 6 bar out of 10bars for example.And its shit!And when i saw it even has EU limitation for volume that lowers volume more i was shocked,if you turn on that its half loud.
Yeah, I'm not sure what they get out of it. It certainly costs them more to manufacture a new connector, and I don't see a robust accessory market that uses it...
I was almost heading to store to buy it, but stayed back after realizing that it has a proprietary port for data/charging. Hope Sony grows sensible with next versions...
your super review missed only one or two small details: the first being the maximum external storage capacity of the Walkman (which actually is fairly high, I heard in another review that someone did get a 200GB memory card working in there), and the second being the available software for computers: while it doesn't matter as much Sony do offer a piece of software called 'content transfer' which basically lets you choose between either basic dragging and dropping of audio files, or automatic transfer which will automatically transfer any new files in a particular directory (including the default iTunes directory) onto your Walkman.
There's no advertised maximum for the Micro SD expansion, but yeah, I've read people have success with 200GB+. As for software, I (thankfully) haven't installed any 😁
+Super* Review the software is incredibly minimal, it's basically just a tiny window, but it is nice to see an MP3 player that lets you choose to either go with an iTunes style sync or a traditional drag and drop set up
I'm 55 years old. I owned the very first Walkman, the FM Walkman. I owned many after that ranging from the tape players and discman to the minidisk. To date, and as a DJ 🎧 nothing beats the sound of the vinyl 12 inch record.
Just came to your channel after watching Techmoan's video on the A55. Thank you for your video. I feel so bad that channels such as Techmoan have a million subscribers yet you went into so much more detail. While he hates the A55, he was nice to include 20 affiliate links in the description and top comment. I've gained a lot of respect for your channel, instead.
you and most people on this comment section sound like you're nitpicking but here's some criticism for you next time you make one of these videos please bring the device closer to the camera so we can actually see the buttons and screen
Enjoyed the review but wanted to add my two cents. I have been listening to many digital audio players (DAP) since my Sansa Clip lost the left channel when I dropped it. My smart phones can certainly play music but I use the heck out of them and want the battery for communication and GPS. I listen to music a lot so having a separate DAP saves some battery on my phone, especially if transmitting via Bluetooth. Since I listen to a lot of music, I want the best quality I can afford and for me, the DAP's offer better quality than my phones do. The UI of this is not bad at all and easy to navigate. I’ve never used an Apple product but the issue of the artists being broken up in the library has occurred with every smart phone I’ve used and every DAP so it can’t be held against the NW-A45. I would think it has to do with the ID3 tagging system. The only thing that does bother me about the NW-A45 is the fact that is requires a proprietary cable for charging and file transfer. However, there are so many things that I like about it, this is not a deal-breaker. This unit is small and has a good weight to it. It feels very well constructed. It has hard buttons AND a touch screen. I love that. It has FM radio. I love that too. It has Bluetooth and NFC. I’ve heard several reviewers say it “only” has 16GB. I think 16GB is great at the current price of $148 on Amazon. Plus you can add at least up to a 200GB microSD card. If you prefer a separate music player to your smart phone, I can definitely recommend this. The closest competitor I have is a Cayin N3, which I like a lot. It costs about the same right now and has no on-board storage. It’s too soon to tell which I prefer the sound of, or if I hear any difference, but I can say that if I only had the NW-A45 and not the Cayin N3, I would not be disappointed.
Even the newest iphones have ANCIENT audio codecs if your doing wireless, they haven't even adopted aptX yet. It is way behind everything else. Their still using AAC, if you do use the dongle, you can get a decent inline dac/amp, for 50 and under, or the dragonfly for 200 is awesome.. fiiO makes a superb dac/amp with balanced outputs for 99 bucks. Sony has one to, that looks almost identical, for a good bit more, surprisingly fiiO used top notch D/A converters, from Burr Brown and ESS as found in OppO players. and good Ti Op~Amps, so dont dismiss them, their build quality is great to, If you are rocking an iphone, I would seriously consider one of these, even if your doing android, These new walkmans are awesome, check out the top of the line one, its incredible! great review!
Nice review, I picked one of these up new a month ago for $130 new. I can confirm the player will run smoothly with a 1 TB Sandisk micro SD card. Hi Res takes a lot of space! One other thing, Sony did update the firmware on the player, don't know when they did but mine was up to date. That might help the interface a bit. Overall I'm happy with this little player, not a good as my Pono, but paired with Sennheiser HD 599s it has a lively sound. I guess in January Sony is releasing an NW A55, only difference I've read is the USB cable is normal, not a Sony only.
Thanks for the report, I haven't tried anything except 128GB cards. The A55 has been out for over a year in Asia. And Sony just released the A105, an Android-based player, also not available in the US. I have a review going up soon.
Wonders do u think i tunes can beat hires audiO...no way apple music or complicated bUt perfect music.... hiresaudio is not so complicated like i tunes but it has some uniquens than itunes...more than tat sony is the king of sounds in gadets..so u cant say iphones or best.iphones or dying day by day nd there is no crazs lik before for iphones nd ipods ndit was still in the mobiles market bcoz of ios not for specs.but me to lov ipods but nwa45 haV some unique sounds tat even iphone x cant produce nd i buyed nwa45 nd iam enjoyng my days but iam planning to bye an ipod but rit now i spended al of my money to bye tis.soon i wil bye an ipod nd i will do an itunes vs hiresaudio comparision video in my channel
Precisely how? They're mostly built like trash, with woeful specs, and not even by Apple. Apple are a software company passing on anything hardware to companies who CAN make stuff. It's laughable how often they're mistaken for a hardware manufacturer, just because they get manufacturers to slap their logo on the back. Also in the mp3 player stakes, consider that they were asking about £80 for a 2gb player, without even any display (the Nano I believe). Philips, on the other hand, would set you back £30, with 8gb and a display. Routinely, the choice between Apple's inadequate offerings and almost any other manufacturer is a no-brainer.
Possible replacement for my 2nd gen iPod Touch. Yes, I still almost daily drive my 2009 iPod touch. Surprisingly the vintage battery is still lasting me whole day.
I really wonder if ui experience is a cultural thing. so many american complain about Sony ui , But I have never had any issues with them. However I bought an ipod, and I hated the UI so much I never went back to it. I keep going back to sony walkmans.
Interesting hypothesis, very plausible. The Sony UI pretty well organized, a bit sloppy in appearance but it makes sense. My biggest issue with it is choppy scrolling animation.
It's not just this though, I see most review of sony products done by americans and it's always negative.(even cameras.."great camera but ui sux" ) Europeans tend to give more positive reviews on sony ui.
Good point on the camera UI, I hear that a lot too (but I haven't used a Sony camera for a significant amount of time). Then again, people seem to like Panasonic camera UI, and I think it's more confusing than Olympus 🤷♀️
I'm right here, homie. As someone who does a fair bit of UX/UI design professionally, I find the old iPod UI is more cohesive visually, works more quickly, less lag in the UI, and that the scroll wheel performs better than the Walkman's touch screen. Don't have to be an audiophile to recognize it.
Haven't yet come across any alternative that beats a standalone portable music player. Still rocking an iPod Classic on a daily basis; suppose I'd average maybe 4hr+ of use a day: - a fantastic amount of storage (120Gb - not quite as much as I'd like, but still got over 12,000 songs on it) - instant access to what I want to listen to, when I want to listen to it - phenomenal battery life (though admittedly it's an upgrade - get about a month or so between charges) - physical controls instead of a touch screen (better battery life, simpler/quicker operation, can be used blind) - non-interrupted listening At this point, if anything happened to my iPod, I'd do my damnedest to replace it with another Classic. It's not the perfect device, mostly let down by bad OS decisions and format limitations, but it's honestly by far the best portable music option for my needs at the moment.
Yep! Since 2007!!!...I still have both my 120 GB / 160 GB iPod 6th Gen Classic and the real treat about these old trusty iPod Classic's, you can upgrade parts including adding 1TB flash drive if you really want, which will speed up the iPod even faster and makes the battery last longer, compared to the original mechanical drive. It's definitely worth it.
I'd love to upgrade to flash, but just plain can't afford it. Reckon I'll just wait 'til the hd fails, and consider it then. (Having said that, thus far I haven't had any problems at all from the hd. It's held up really well considering the amount of use it's had!)
LG V line with Tidal and good headphones is life ! Please review the V30, the V20 (which I own) is already super good on audio, the V30 supposedly even better.. So if you're starting to enjoy good audio, make sure to try it out and share your feelings about it with us !
Yeah specially when you're in the mood to stream random songs. You can just download it from tidal or other sources. A separate hifi player not running on android makes it a hassle to store music and not to mention those terrible UI.
Thank you for reminding me of the Sansa Clip+. I owned two of those back to back right until the battery died and I couldn't get my hands on another. I currently own the NW-A35 and love it. I find myself going out of my house with my phone less and less, thanks to it.
True story: I have a Sansa Clip (original) that's stuffed in the ceiling tiles at work, hooked up to a pair of speakers and every 90 minutes plays an audio clip of Glados from Portal. It's been running for ~5 years without being touched.
Thanks a lot for this video. I'm a 19teen old Walkman and metal music lover. I have my old NWZ-E384 and like it a lot but now I've run out of memory xd so I have to search for a new one. I think that I Will buy this one. Xoxo from Poland!
Great review. Long time phone user here and I will definitely give this a try. Btw, anyone ever tell you that you look like Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
Excellent album! I was thinking about buying the a45 when it comes out on bhphoto jan 16th. do you have an sd card in yours? if so, do you have any earthly clue if it would support the new 400gb sandisk card? they claim on the site it works up to 192gb, but I've read of people using a 256gb card. So i'm wondering if it's just the size of the library and not so much the card as long as it's the right format?
I have a 64 GB card in mine, can't really guess if the player accepts larger than indicated on the site. Didn't know there's a 400 GB Micro SD card, that's huge! Probably also expensive, eh?
It's really funny that I have the exact same headphone as you. For me at least, my experience was very different to yours, I could definitely discern the audio quality. Using the same headphone, I would go by the quality of listen, Laptop (Surface Pro 6) > NW-A45 > Phone (Sony XZ1 Compact). But using the player as a DAC blows all three of them out of the park. Cheerios.
I used to have an Ipod, and I remember that the "artist" sort was also a pain in the good old Ipod. So I copy (or whatever the correct word is) CDs directly to the itunes and let's say the artist was X, then in the same album it was a X ft. Y song, itunes took that as another artist; you would need to go to album information, then change the artist name from X ft. Y to just X, then in the comments section write down X ft. Y and there you go; you have all in perfect order. My point is that, yes we are all spoiled by the music plataforms in past 10 years or such, but If you're thinking in getting one of this Sony devices, I'm pretty sure that you have your music library on perfect order, so this shouldn't supoosed to be a "con". In the other hand, if you download music from internet without getting everything in order: boy you'll have a hard time getting this together.
I suspect the plastic is there for the antennas (NFC, Bluetooth), yeah, but there are alternative solutions (see: smart phones) that can result in nicer build. I'm just an aluminum junkie :P e.g. ua-cam.com/video/YKaQg-ZCx3A/v-deo.html
Good review but not for audiphiles! I use my ipods every day, for the simple reason that I HATE the music to stop or down volume because if a call or a notification, it's the audiophile way! This is hi-res audio line of Sony! Much better than ipod! I always use my ipod connected to a Sony portable amp!
Really, it isn't difficult to beat Apple - their stuff is built like trash. Fools plenty of people because plenty of people just want to "buy into a lifestyle". A posing device. Apple know this, and they know they can sell severely underwhelming spec, but suckers will still buy it. Only now with the battery thing are more people slowly waking up. But to the fact that the iPhone 8 battery isn't even up to 2000mAh..? Unlikely, because Apple don't want people to know exactly what feeble spec they throw into their trash.
Also the great thing about a media player is that it's not a phone. Grown ups don't need to be connected all day. They live lives. I know it's hard to get likes and there's no selfie camera but again these are for grown ups.
I've sampled this on a Sony shop in my city, and I didn't exactly expect that they'd still have a demo unit for it. I don't remember the names of the songs, but they had a sorta country fiddle DSD file, and I was definitely surprised. I am glad I wasn't deafened by mp3's, as one of the comments mentioned. I can already clearly hear the difference when I swtiched back to my phone. It all may be just some placebo going on but I'm sure as hell I'm going to enjoy the DAC/Amp coming soon. I've bought the AS10's from your recs (and other reviewers) and I have to say.... Fuck you for throwing me into this rabbit hole of a hobby hahaha
That FLAC file you were playing was at 44.1 kHz/16 bit tops. That's still not consider High Resolution Audio. The word FLAC will be yellow when Hi-Res. I own the NW-A35, which for this comment purpose is basically the "same" and as far as sound quality goes I'm 1000% happy. This unit really brought up to life my Klipsch x11 IEM's. I've been recently listening to "Pink Floyd's - Dark Side of the Moon" on DSD quality and the crispiness and clarity of the drums, for instance, was outstanding among other impressive stuff. The VPT feature on Studio mode also improves the sound quality. With that being said, there are some features to improve on the unit: 1 - There's no searching files through typing the name. That's a bummer when having a 200GB mini SD card full of music. 2 - Volume can only be controlled through the physical buttons. I miss being able to control it just with a single touch on the screen like on the iPod. 3 - Interface's smoothness is far from 2018 standards. 4 - Proprietary USB cable. While those are big flaws in my opinion, they still don't overshadow the sound quality I get from that little thing. Which for me is the most important feature on a music player. Hope this helps.
I've just got the NW-A45 cause my A35 got soaked in Ginger Ale... Things to notice comparing the 2: 1 - The smoothness of the interface is now acceptable comparing to the old model. 2 - Still no typing the name of the file to search for it. 3 - Volume CAN be now controlled on the touchscreen. 4 - I had an issue I didn't mention on the comment above and is that for some reason when connected to a bluetooth speaker (Beoplay A1 in this case) you couldn't control the volume through the player, only from the speaker. Now they have included an option when that doesn't seem to work and now works fine. That's a big improvement. I still haven't checked the DAC function but just wanted to comment on that. I'm very happy with these upgrades. Well done Sony !
Do you still recommend this in 2022? Does it support a folder view or is everything through the music app? How about the battery, if I buy a used one, will I have any problems with the battery? Does this (and/or a105) come with fm radio?
You can change the *_Artists_* grouping by selecting *_Album Artist_* from the settings. The way its showing different *_Artists_* for the same *_Album_* is because there are *_Artists_* featured in these songs and its in the *_Artist_* tag. However, if properly tagged they all should have the same *_Album Artist_* . The issue you mentioned (Not really an issue) is present in almost all Smartphones and Daps if the *_Artist_* tag on all these songs of that *_Album_* were not the exact same (even spaces, Underscore, etc.) it will show as a different/multiple *_Artists_* . What I do is I remove the Featured *_Artists_* from the *_Artists_* tags and put it in the title as "Song A (Ft. *_Artist_* B)" because not all my songs are tagged with *_Album Artist_*
I believe the more expensive models comes with earphones. *Shrugs* I wouldn't have used them anyway, so I don't mind. It's not quite as nonsensical as a Nintendo 3DS shipping without a charger 🤪
Because people who buy these kinds of devices tend to already have their own preferred earphones, so adding them with the player would only increase the cost when many people won't even use them.
Nice review sir! Is there other options for a DAP? I mean, some audiophile difference between our phones, but way more cheaper than this? If there are any.
@@SuperReview thanknyou. Ill check it out. Im looking for a budget dap that i could feel the difference with my smartphone. Though, i really dont know of there are any. =)
You're a little long winded. It took you 4 minutes to turn on the device. When you're reviewing a device, we want to see less of you and more of what you're reviewing. Also, please no monologues just tell us "what's in the box."
It's interesting review. One thing thou, i bought the A55 and i love the interface. I never like those mobile music app (specially Apple music app which is the worst experience ever) because they all use to have too much color and BS going on in the interface, lots of ads, lots of "subscription" buttons everywhere and unnecessary web feeds and news that i don't care. I just love this very simple interface from Sony's walkman.
I really liked Sony MP3 players but when Windows 10 stopped supporting them by eliminating Windows Media Player where you couldn't record your own CD's, and/or put your music on your Sony MP3 players I gave up on Sony, and it's too bad because I have a thousand + pre-recorded CD's, and yes I still use CD's!!!
High res audio is perfect for Audiophiles. Every few years they increase the bitrate of the same albums. It's chasing a dream that you will never be satisfied with. An Audiophile in a nutshell. Not trying to put down Audiophiles. But ever since I bought some warm sounding headphones to go along with a music steaming subscription, I no longer have the Audiophile itch. And I ended up selling all my ultra high end equipment to get a really nice computer. It was worth it.
Yeah, I'm purposely limiting how deep I get into this chase. A lossless music player + some decent headphones is enough -- don't want to be spending $thousands on this 🤪 Lately I've been really enjoying a $30 pair of headphones :D
I read a book on zero waste and from that book, they mentioned about that streaming causes too much energy consumption and as for MP3 players, I find them ok as they are easy to access without WiFi.
So 1yr on, what are your thoughts on the player as have heard of some nightmare stories with the database refresh, boot loops and other problems ?. I need to order a dap soon and have currently narrowed it down to the Sony NW-A45, Fiio M9, Cowon D2. I hope that you get to review the upcoming Sony NW-A100 as that looks to be quite feature packed.
I still use this Walkman almost every day, it's held up surprisingly well. Would say that after almost two years, the battery is no longer as strong as it was when new, but it's still stronger than most DAPs I've owned. Haven't had a single issue with database refreshing, boot loops, or otherwise.
Super* Review That is really good to know that it has been built to last. I was just reading that there is also a series 5 out now as well and while it isn’t officially in the UK as yet, it can be bought from a few outlets at a very reasonable price. Thanks for the reply.
Hi, I'm using a FiiO M5 and I have two unforgivable errors I complaint about, that even cheap cellphones handle very well: - The first second in silence at the begining of playback after a few seconds of inactivity and - About half a second at the end in every song is cut... very noticeable when two songs don't have silence between them. So... Have you noticed if any of those problems happen in the Sony Walman? Thanks in adavance for your answer.
I got iphone 6s 128 gb, I store a hell lot of songs In my phone and since it has a jack never felt a need of ipod or upgrade to another iphone. I just love the sound quality of iphone 6s.
I still use MP3 players to save on phone battery and phone storage, now before anyone says "why not stream like everyone else does?" simple: because I don't like the idea of paying more money to have less control of my music, at least once the music is downloaded/imported I can just access it whenever I want and not to suit the server maintenance schedule of whichever site I'm subscribed to. Plus with streams you need a constant internet connection which ultimately means you're letting the phone networks and broadband companies decide where you can listen to your music.
i agree
bro. spotify never really went down as far as i know. And you can download your music for offline storage on spotify..
@@yohvh There's only one issue with the offline listening, which is that you're limited to 3,333 tracks maximum. I mean granted that's a pretty big number, but it pales when compared to an MP3 player that can hold 2TB worth of audio.
And while it's pretty impressive that the servers have never gone down, I'm still skeptical about how long they can keep that consistency going.
At the end of the day it just makes more sense to me to just preview the artists music on UA-cam or SoundCloud and then buy the track, or even their whole album as either a CD or download. Not least because Spotify (from what I can tell) locks you into their software which means you have to take up needless space on your computer or phone just to listen to a couple of songs offline.
EDIT: Spotify have said they're going to increase the storage to 10,000 songs but that's still less than what an MP3 can hold, plus once you've got the songs you can still listen to them without having to continue paying a subscription.
Plus streamed music quality is pretty crappy
@@whatisthis__95 doesn't that depend on where you're streaming from?
For me It's not about hi-res-hi-fi-stuff, it's about having a dedicated device with dedicated controls and a bit more output power for certain headphones.
Unless you are in Europe, and all your players here will be limited to 80dB, unless you unlock it.
Usually Sony players have less output power than phones.
@@Fl0yt Just put America as your country to bypass this nonsense
Heck, I’m still rocking my old 160GB iPod. It’s big enough to hold my entire collection and still going strong after all these years.
Scott Cooper there was a reason for the skyrocketing price of 160gb ipods. Now you can upgrade it with a 256 gb ipod touch, but he ipod classic was the king for a really long time
@@druidobianco9734 Or fit an Iflash and go from 160GB to 1TB or more :-)
plus almost no radiation emanates from it
I have it as well but it doesn't sound even near to the walkman
Same. I got rid of my phone and rock an Ipod classic for music.
damn sony never learns, come one custom cable really, didnt they learn anything from the psp and ps vita memory cards...
I'd prefer a USB cable, but it's not nearly as bad as PS Vita memory cards :p
Super* Review Yeah but still, do we need to reinvent the wheel ewch time. Standards are there to make peoples lifes easier..
I agree. It's weird with a cable, like it's not even a good revenue scheme to lock users into your ecosystem 'cause it's just a cable. Maybe there's some technical reason for it?
Super* Review Technical reasons make standards stay, no ? More thank likely they are thickheaded or they already had a bounch of them and had to use them somehow
+Don Dan I agree with you. For some reason Sony have to ruin great products with proprietary media or connectors.
I love Sony MP3 players, I am so happy that Sony still makes the best and most reliable MP3, I only wished that Sony made it possible to replace the batteries easily, my soldering skills are abysmal.😞
iPod: *goes to sleep*
Walkman: It's free real estate.
I would take a modern iPod with buttons.
@@SuperReview I still use my iPod 5th gen Classic (late 2006)
Just replaced the 1.8 tiny HDD with a 128GB SD card and an iFlash adapter
Battery holds for days
SD read and write speeds are much faster than those of the HDD
tons of music organised in playlists and
still sounds GREAT thanks to Wolfson DAC and less "electronic" compared to other mp3 players
Only downside is that it doesn't recognize the commands sent from the remote control on my headphones, like the later models of iPods do
Wag 669 I JUST did this to mine. After many years my 5th Gen HDD went out and decided to update the memory to an SSD and changed the battery. The SSD makes a world of a difference!
@@Wagner669 The gen 5 has a better DAC than most phones, and many DAP`s, but I`d still go with another brand that doesn`t use child labor and scams customers et cetera, apple is a shit brand
Super* Review I would love an iPod that did nothing but play music. Don’t like having everything on my stupid phone.
When you don't have money but you still watch it
That's sad bro
@@carlossebastiannecroticgot7232 It is.
hahahah its true bro !
Sad life
Why U NO Money/?
It's November 20th 2022, and I was lucky enough to obtain a still sealed, brand new a45. Well, first thing I did was install the Mr Walkman firmware, then loaded my SD card into it, and BINGO, great sound and fully operational. I've actually had it for 2 days and the battery is still showing full even after 2-3 hours per day of use. So there seems to be no degradation of the battery. This will be my backup for travel should my a55 go out. I cannot tell the difference between the to sonically. At home I use my astell&kern kann alpha. These are close, but the alpha has more power. Glad I found this player in New condition.
Sounds great. I have a small question...From what i understand,the power button works like in the case of a phone. You tap it,it turns the screen on or off alternatively. If you hold it for longer,it turns the device on/off alternatively. So far,so good.
But how do the side buttons work,play/pause,forward/back track,volume ?
If you press them when the screen is off(but playing music), do the screen lights up ?
If not,and you can mess with music controls while the screen stays off,it saves battery.
I have the smaller,older nwz E383, two of them actually. One annoying feature of that device is that it lacks dedicated side buttons for volume,so when you press volume keys(up down on that "mickey mouse" key design),it lights up the screen too,which consumes battery. And those are tiny screens compared to this.
That's what many people struggle to understand,that screens consume the majority of your device. Worked in electronics retail some years ago,and never fell into the trap that bigger phones are more battery efficient. You increase the size,yeah the battery may increase in cappacity,but the screen does also. So it evens out in the end,given everything else is the same(same os,same battery technology...).
On the other hand,small mp3 players(or DAPs) are fantastic when on the move.
Used to travel for my work al over the globe,and just took my phone,and this small device. A lot of power(single or two) day tourist sight seeing.Phones(no data) used for gps,and taking some pictures,and music on the mp3 player. Light and comfy,no extra batteries,no cables.Just leave the hotel room,and come back in the evening,or next day. The ability to literally blind operate your mp3 player in you pocket,is fantastic. No sticking out big cumbersome phone out,just put your hand in your pocket and change volume,play/pause. Sometimes not even doing that,just pressing it through the fabric of your pants.
Thanks for your time,and if you can answer my small curiosity,it will be great. Just check if the screen lights up while you play/pause and change tracks.
This player supports Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth technology which is available in some of their wireless headphones. Sounds great. This player also supports a 256 gb micro SD card. I have one and have about 210 gb of music on mine, many of them in lossless format.
Deron Baker Hello my friend. So the Nw45 support up to 256gb? I can’t find official information. How many songs do you have?
@@coldvga It supports exfat formating that supports up to 2TB (not that there are any such cards.)
Wow, 256GB support and lossless format (FLAC)? Time to hunt for one and some nice speakers.
256gb sold separately.... selling a device like it with 16gb is like selling it with no memory, less than 10 gb are avaiable for music after formatting and taking the space for the os!
Holy fvckballs, thx for the infeaux!!
Thanks for your review!! Let me tell a little about my experience with hi-res audio. First, a little background. I'm 52 and I used to have the very first Sony Walkman, lol!!. So it has been a long journey. Second, you said on the video that you can't tell the difference in sound quality between hi-res, or flac files and regular mp3s. It is not exactly your fault. We all have become kind of deaf thanks to mp3s. Most of us are used to listen to mp3s. It will very difficult to note differences right away. But here it is my experience: I have a hi-res audio player and hi-res headphones. I started to listening to music every day using only that equipment. More and more I began to feel and note more things. I discovered sounds that weren't there before. After some days, when I returned to listening using my cell phone, just for example, I couldn't stand its sound quality!!!!. I just couldn't. There was a big difference with my hi-res player. My cell phone, which I used to find fine, it sounded awful. I don't know if it is a good comparison, but it felt like VHS and HD kind of thing. So, that is my take on hi-res audio. If you get used to listening to music using this hi-res player, it won't be a turning back option anymore.
I'm finding it really matters how well the original music was recorded -- some music, even in the highest quality, just doesn't sound great under scrutiny..
or maybe hes using an iphone ear thingy to compare hi-res audio. lol
Probably. You will need to get the music files first onto a computer, and then you can drag and drop them onto the Walkman. They will be hi-res only if the original files are hi-res.
mistermiah21 Hi-Res audio files are a different kind of files. You can't convert regular audio files to Hi-Res. Their source are not CDs. From a CD you can rip to FLAC, WAV, ALAC files in 16 bit quality. Those Hi-Res audio files needed for this Sony player are 24 bit. It is studio quality audio. 24 bit files can be ten times bigger than regular ones.
But beware, there is not turning back after listening to Hi-Res audio. Everything will sound awful.
Çerastes Well, that it is why I wrote about someone totally used to listening regular audio files and mp3 ones. I have a spectacular pair of Hi-Res headphones, and an amazing Hi-Res Fiio player. It is a very basic Hi-Res setup and NOW I CAN note the difference very well between regular and Hi-Res audio and as I said, all of us will need a couple or more days to get used again to high quality audio files, including CD quality. Most people nowadays are happy with mp3 and crappy iTunes audio files. I was happy!! How come?? I was a CD quality fan, but my first iPod converted me based on the convenience of putting a lot of mp3 files in one gadget.
Now, with this Sony device here, you can put a lot of music at high quality whether 24 bit or 16bit CD quality. It is great
But I repeat: you sre used to listening to mp3, it will take some time to return to appreciate CD quality and Hi-Res audio.
Sorry, but that it is the way it is.
I can't tell if he's stoned or Canadian
In this video, I had a cold 😷
a stoned canadian maybe 😁
Is there a difference?
regarding what?
@@davidholt2335 You bet there is.
I have had a range of Sony Walkmans over the past 10 years. At first they were unbeatable compared to any iPod. The latest one I bought was the NW-A25 from a couple of years ago. The sound quality is great compared to any iPhone or iPod, which all seem to deliver a very flat dull sound., I find that is mainly due to the better equaliser and sound processing options on the Sony. If Apple would only allow custom EQ settings and other sound options in their music app, the sound quality would be much higher. I mostly use Spotify these days which has a customisable EQ and makes the music sound just as good as the Sony, plus I have the convenience of millions of songs wherever I go, so I don''t really use my Sony any more.
Best thing I bought ever. Less wasting iPhone battery and it looks like a little cool lighter that lasts several days
I use mine way more than I thought I would.
as a human who needs music in their daily life this is very good to hear! really considering skipping out on an ipod
Blablabla that’s amazing!!!! thank you for your input ;)
8:02 You can fix this in the settings. Go to "Playback Settings" and switch "Artist List Display" to "Album Artist". A file can have an album artist tag (singer) and a song artist tag (singer featuring ...). If you play the song now, it displays the song artist, but there's no mess in the library.
I just want an genuinely good iPod. A music device which I can store my music for years I am not the kid from the 90s or something. I am a 20s kid. Still I want a cool music device which just for music. But doesn’t to find the perfect one. Quite disappointed there is no bring back the iPod. It was quite a device. I am pretty patiently for a perfect IPod to pop out right now. Love your video and great job on reviewing it.
What would make the perfect iPod for you?
Idk about him, but give me a iPod with a good battery, good storage and a regular headphone jack and I will be sold. It would be amazing to have an apple device with a amazing battery, but it would be even better if the one thing I’ll never leave home with had a good battery just to last longer than it does.
@@jarrelljohnson7345 try fiio m3k
I mean this Walkman is already better than any iPod was
Growing up in the 80s and 90s I never heard anyone pronounce the Walkman the way you do :D hehe. Great video by the way.
I bought one. Best thing I ever bought. Sold my iPods as they’re no match sonically and no more horrible synching. It’s a pity about the cable though. Black was my only choice and I’m glad as it’s cool. I bought the inorlo clear cover on amazon which you really need! It does little quirky things with some albums like doubling the track count and some cover artwork won’t show but the audio quality makes up for it.
Interesting, I wonder what causes the double track count -- I haven't seen that, but maybe related to some metadata or file system stuff.
You can't use a mac to upload your files. Use a pc. Download the media go software. It'll let you organize whats already messed up on your device and a lot more.
KRAZEEIZATION I’m hoping I get one for Christmas 😂
I love the sound on this but it also works brilliantly with a 400 GB microsd card
I truly can't understand people who make those weird faces when they hear I keep using mp3 player instead of using the phone. I had my Sony mp3 player since 2012 and it just died last week. It was sooo good and great to use! I used that every day in the gym, on my way walking to work and on my holidays, on the plane. Basically everywhere! The battery lasts for very long time. That Walkman lasted for 11 years so now I look for a new player and I'm not even looking at any other brands than Sony. This one is my number 1 to look for. Thanks for the review!
I like the idea of being able to listen to music without the distractions that come with a phone.
Having physical buttons is awesome.
I bought one of these for Christmas and it sounds pretty good and easy to use and you can also extend the storage space with a micro sd card, I put a 128gb card in mine, it's not as good as the creative mp3 players that sound amazing and are louder and with more bass which I prefer, I prefer to listen to music on an mp3 rather than my phone. This also has Bluetooth and a radio
Just bought the A55 yesterday with used condition and I love it. The sound quality was great for a entry level Walkman DAP (finally Sony can created a product with great value) and it's freaking small, I easily put my Walkman into my short without worries.
The only problem with this tiny DAP was it using proprietary USB port which is bad decision wich where the competitor was using normal USB even USB-C.
Halo Yoga, boleh tahu belinya di mana?
I recenelty listened to an High-res album that I have known since I was a boy (teenage, I'm 38 now) and have listened to probably 100,000 times (and I'm not exaggerating, it's my favourite album) or more.
Guns N Roses Use your illusion.
Listening to civil war, I can hear backing vocals that I didn't know was there and I have hear fingers moving across guitar strings, none of these things are in my CD ripped flac file.
There may be subtle differences in the music or it could be huge, all depends on the master I'm guessing.
I'm using the reviewed player and some Philips Fidelio X2HRs= audio excellence.
the album is 75:56 minutes long. if you wanted to listen to it 100,000 times it would take 14.37 years of continuous playing.
Huserf Gaabi www.dictionary.com/browse/hyperbole
Oh, literal Huserf!
😂😂😂
@@ajborowski ' have listened to probably 100,000 times (and I'm not exaggerating'
@@ryrugs 'have listened to probably 100,000 times (and I'm not exaggerating'
Great review! I had been looking for a review on one of these for awhile. I appreciate the honesty and lack of bias you seem to have. Thanks.
✌️
I've had this Walkman for years. Works like a gem.
Still great 🤙
Great video that partly inspired me to get one myself.
The sound quality is very noticeably better I was getting than with a phone (Samsung S8) even using a cheap USB DAC.
Using CD-quality FLACs the mid-range is much more detailed, like comparing a photo with good contrast with one with shades of grey.
Incidentally, there is an option in settings to choose whether to sort by Artist or Album Artist, so that might give a different result where each track was shown as a different artist.
What music are you listening to that brings out the best in it?
Mostly classical. The first was a Dvorak symphony. The individual instruments sounded much more how I would expect them to. The woodwind were especially flat on the phone.
The setting to simulate a concert hall was very effective in making the soundstage wider.
I am usually quite sceptical about the artificiality of these equalisations, but in this case I liked it.
With pop music (I tried some Ke$ha first), the difference was less clear because what I am hearing is much more affected by the strength of the beat and I suspect the phone manufacturer has souped that up anyway.
I wish you zoomed in on the screen and showed us in detail but I like the review as a whole.
I like to listen to music from the original Sony Walkman Cassette-player TPS-L2 from 1979 (the first Walkman)
Ok Starlord!! HAHA!! 😜👌
Dario, I don’t know which Walkman I have (cassette) but it’s the yellow one and still working great.
Thanks for the information, but who the fuck ask you?
I use WF XB700s with mine and was pondering WF 1000XBMs. Do the latter allow EQ adjustment?
Thanks.
Don't think so, it doesn't run apps and I don't think the device EQ works over Bluetooth.
I was watching the vid and scrolled down and SHOCKED to see the amount of subscribers. This is high quality stuff. Keep it up. Subbed
All my friends think they are so cool with their Zunes but I'm getting a Walkman anyways
How many friends you got with Zunes?
Super* Review
I have a white 30gb in excellent condition. It’s actually my wife’s and she barely used it.
I like your unboxing process. You respect the product.
You should check out Just Doin' Life ✌️
he was secretly listening to LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It. thanks for the review
You didn't talk about the amp and other sound features, which make sound very rich
& customizable. Also you didn't mention Sony's biggest pro: Bass, which on these tiny music devices remains unmatched by any cellphone out there. High sound volumes matter on devices which lack bass, but if bass is there, then it makes up for volume not going too high. It's a personal preference but somehow with adequate bass, sound seems kinda fuller.
To be honest, I'm not sure what to do with most of the audio adjustment settings. Some of them sound like snake oil (one "upscales" audio to hi-res), others just not so useful for what I'm looking for. I have used the EQ, though, and it's very effective. Here is some info on the other modes: www.headfonia.com/review-sony-wm1a-walkman/2/
I tried player in Germany and as always i found out that it was not loud at all like some other sony player i tried.With all options enabled its loud as iphone on 6 bar out of 10bars for example.And its shit!And when i saw it even has EU limitation for volume that lowers volume more i was shocked,if you turn on that its half loud.
+Branislav Kondic And reviewers lie alot,pls dont trust them try it by yourself
Weird. I found the Sony at max volume was the same volume as my Mac + iPhone 6 at max volume.
+Super* Review Well thats my experince and irony is thay i used sony headphones that i use always
love the pronunciation.. not just Walkman.. it's a Walk-man
Properity charging port is a bad move from Sony really bad... Dealbreaker bad! It's a pity it would be a contender for me. Thanks for showing! 👍
Yeah, I'm not sure what they get out of it. It certainly costs them more to manufacture a new connector, and I don't see a robust accessory market that uses it...
I was almost heading to store to buy it, but stayed back after realizing that it has a proprietary port for data/charging. Hope Sony grows sensible with next versions...
They have been using this connector long before 2011
It's not so bad as you think. The battery life is astounding.
I really wouldn't say it was a dealbreaker. Standardised connecter, convenient? Yes. Dealbreaker? No.
your super review missed only one or two small details: the first being the maximum external storage capacity of the Walkman (which actually is fairly high, I heard in another review that someone did get a 200GB memory card working in there), and the second being the available software for computers: while it doesn't matter as much Sony do offer a piece of software called 'content transfer' which basically lets you choose between either basic dragging and dropping of audio files, or automatic transfer which will automatically transfer any new files in a particular directory (including the default iTunes directory) onto your Walkman.
There's no advertised maximum for the Micro SD expansion, but yeah, I've read people have success with 200GB+. As for software, I (thankfully) haven't installed any 😁
+Super* Review the software is incredibly minimal, it's basically just a tiny window, but it is nice to see an MP3 player that lets you choose to either go with an iTunes style sync or a traditional drag and drop set up
I'm 55 years old. I owned the very first Walkman, the FM Walkman.
I owned many after that ranging from the tape players and discman
to the minidisk.
To date, and as a DJ 🎧 nothing beats the sound of the vinyl 12 inch record.
I got an FM Walkman in a drawer somewhere 😂 Unfortunately my cassette Walkman doesn't work anymore, but the FM one does.
Just came to your channel after watching Techmoan's video on the A55. Thank you for your video. I feel so bad that channels such as Techmoan have a million subscribers yet you went into so much more detail.
While he hates the A55, he was nice to include 20 affiliate links in the description and top comment. I've gained a lot of respect for your channel, instead.
I'll have to watch his review, wonder why he doesn't like A55. FWIW, I like Techmoan's content.
you and most people on this comment section sound like you're nitpicking but here's some criticism for you next time you make one of these videos please bring the device closer to the camera so we can actually see the buttons and screen
Great feedback, thanks 👍
He needs to be nitpicky for a device Sony expects $250 for!! That's alot of money for what it is.....
Enjoyed the review but wanted to add my two cents. I have been listening to many digital audio players (DAP) since my Sansa Clip lost the left channel when I dropped it. My smart phones can certainly play music but I use the heck out of them and want the battery for communication and GPS. I listen to music a lot so having a separate DAP saves some battery on my phone, especially if transmitting via Bluetooth. Since I listen to a lot of music, I want the best quality I can afford and for me, the DAP's offer better quality than my phones do. The UI of this is not bad at all and easy to navigate. I’ve never used an Apple product but the issue of the artists being broken up in the library has occurred with every smart phone I’ve used and every DAP so it can’t be held against the NW-A45. I would think it has to do with the ID3 tagging system. The only thing that does bother me about the NW-A45 is the fact that is requires a proprietary cable for charging and file transfer. However, there are so many things that I like about it, this is not a deal-breaker. This unit is small and has a good weight to it. It feels very well constructed. It has hard buttons AND a touch screen. I love that. It has FM radio. I love that too. It has Bluetooth and NFC. I’ve heard several reviewers say it “only” has 16GB. I think 16GB is great at the current price of $148 on Amazon. Plus you can add at least up to a 200GB microSD card. If you prefer a separate music player to your smart phone, I can definitely recommend this. The closest competitor I have is a Cayin N3, which I like a lot. It costs about the same right now and has no on-board storage. It’s too soon to tell which I prefer the sound of, or if I hear any difference, but I can say that if I only had the NW-A45 and not the Cayin N3, I would not be disappointed.
How are you mick meca mine'
omahahaha Hi
Hey./
Plot twist: Sony's Walkman has smaller bazels that their flagships...
A coworker recently got a Sony Xperia phone, looks almost just like the Walkman, but blown up a bit :D
Go get xz3
Mole learn to spell
Yeah many People dont understand the higher audio quality of walkmam
Even the newest iphones have ANCIENT audio codecs if your doing wireless, they haven't even adopted aptX yet. It is way behind everything else. Their still using AAC, if you do use the dongle, you can get a decent inline dac/amp, for 50 and under, or the dragonfly for 200 is awesome.. fiiO makes a superb dac/amp with balanced outputs for 99 bucks. Sony has one to, that looks almost identical, for a good bit more, surprisingly fiiO used top notch D/A converters, from Burr Brown and ESS as found in OppO players. and good Ti Op~Amps, so dont dismiss them, their build quality is great to, If you are rocking an iphone, I would seriously consider one of these, even if your doing android, These new walkmans are awesome, check out the top of the line one, its incredible! great review!
Nice review, I picked one of these up new a month ago for $130 new. I can confirm the player will run smoothly with a 1 TB Sandisk micro SD card. Hi Res takes a lot of space! One other thing, Sony did update the firmware on the player, don't know when they did but mine was up to date. That might help the interface a bit.
Overall I'm happy with this little player, not a good as my Pono, but paired with Sennheiser HD 599s it has a lively sound. I guess in January Sony is releasing an NW A55, only difference I've read is the USB cable is normal, not a Sony only.
Thanks for the report, I haven't tried anything except 128GB cards. The A55 has been out for over a year in Asia. And Sony just released the A105, an Android-based player, also not available in the US. I have a review going up soon.
Would LOVE to see Apple make a throwback iPod Classic.
WITH a scroll wheel, please 🙏
Yeah which only can read mp3...
You now have 256 gb ipod touch, that’s the new gold standard for ipods
It will probably costs us $1000 with about same specs
Thanks
Imagine a high end ipod....? There's no such thing as a high end Apple product, believe me 😏
Wonders do u think i tunes can beat hires audiO...no way apple music or complicated bUt perfect music.... hiresaudio is not so complicated like i tunes but it has some uniquens than itunes...more than tat sony is the king of sounds in gadets..so u cant say iphones or best.iphones or dying day by day nd there is no crazs lik before for iphones nd ipods ndit was still in the mobiles market bcoz of ios not for specs.but me to lov ipods but nwa45 haV some unique sounds tat even iphone x cant produce nd i buyed nwa45 nd iam enjoyng my days but iam planning to bye an ipod but rit now i spended al of my money to bye tis.soon i wil bye an ipod nd i will do an itunes vs hiresaudio comparision video in my channel
Depends on how you define high-end. I think most of their products qualify, by some measure at least.
Precisely how? They're mostly built like trash, with woeful specs, and not even by Apple. Apple are a software company passing on anything hardware to companies who CAN make stuff. It's laughable how often they're mistaken for a hardware manufacturer, just because they get manufacturers to slap their logo on the back. Also in the mp3 player stakes, consider that they were asking about £80 for a 2gb player, without even any display (the Nano I believe). Philips, on the other hand, would set you back £30, with 8gb and a display. Routinely, the choice between Apple's inadequate offerings and almost any other manufacturer is a no-brainer.
...
I can tell you're rational by your careful use of language, thank you for the explanation.
Agreed, you really can not have a rational debate with an individual like that. I suspect that he is nothing more than a lonely troll.....
Support this channel people!!
His reviews are really good. Keep it up bro☺
You re the guy that I followed a couple time ago! love your m43 lens's review!
LOL, it me
Possible replacement for my 2nd gen iPod Touch.
Yes, I still almost daily drive my 2009 iPod touch. Surprisingly the vintage battery is still lasting me whole day.
I really wonder if ui experience is a cultural thing. so many american complain about Sony ui ,
But I have never had any issues with them. However I bought an ipod, and I hated the UI so much I never went back to it. I keep going back to sony walkmans.
Interesting hypothesis, very plausible.
The Sony UI pretty well organized, a bit sloppy in appearance but it makes sense. My biggest issue with it is choppy scrolling animation.
It's not just this though, I see most review of sony products done by americans and it's always negative.(even cameras.."great camera but ui sux" )
Europeans tend to give more positive reviews on sony ui.
Good point on the camera UI, I hear that a lot too (but I haven't used a Sony camera for a significant amount of time). Then again, people seem to like Panasonic camera UI, and I think it's more confusing than Olympus 🤷♀️
I'm right here, homie. As someone who does a fair bit of UX/UI design professionally, I find the old iPod UI is more cohesive visually, works more quickly, less lag in the UI, and that the scroll wheel performs better than the Walkman's touch screen. Don't have to be an audiophile to recognize it.
ryukiT3 Why you bitching, mind your own business. You Europeans are irrelevant anyways
Haven't yet come across any alternative that beats a standalone portable music player.
Still rocking an iPod Classic on a daily basis; suppose I'd average maybe 4hr+ of use a day:
- a fantastic amount of storage (120Gb - not quite as much as I'd like, but still got over 12,000 songs on it)
- instant access to what I want to listen to, when I want to listen to it
- phenomenal battery life (though admittedly it's an upgrade - get about a month or so between charges)
- physical controls instead of a touch screen (better battery life, simpler/quicker operation, can be used blind)
- non-interrupted listening
At this point, if anything happened to my iPod, I'd do my damnedest to replace it with another Classic. It's not the perfect device, mostly let down by bad OS decisions and format limitations, but it's honestly by far the best portable music option for my needs at the moment.
Yep! Since 2007!!!...I still have both my 120 GB / 160 GB iPod 6th Gen Classic and the real treat about these old trusty iPod Classic's, you can upgrade parts including adding 1TB flash drive if you really want, which will speed up the iPod even faster and makes the battery last longer, compared to the original mechanical drive. It's definitely worth it.
I'd love to upgrade to flash, but just plain can't afford it. Reckon I'll just wait 'til the hd fails, and consider it then. (Having said that, thus far I haven't had any problems at all from the hd. It's held up really well considering the amount of use it's had!)
LG V line with Tidal and good headphones is life ! Please review the V30, the V20 (which I own) is already super good on audio, the V30 supposedly even better.. So if you're starting to enjoy good audio, make sure to try it out and share your feelings about it with us !
Funny enough, I got this Walkman because I just got a Pixel 2, and it doesn't have a headphone jack :p
It does make sense to consider a DAP then ! but the streaming capabilities on a phone make it easier to setup an audio library tho :)
B. Lemaitre maybe try fiio x5 or ibasso DX200 both dap can stream music
Yeah specially when you're in the mood to stream random songs. You can just download it from tidal or other sources. A separate hifi player not running on android makes it a hassle to store music and not to mention those terrible UI.
Another option would be to buy the Fiio Q5.
Thank you for reminding me of the Sansa Clip+. I owned two of those back to back right until the battery died and I couldn't get my hands on another. I currently own the NW-A35 and love it. I find myself going out of my house with my phone less and less, thanks to it.
True story: I have a Sansa Clip (original) that's stuffed in the ceiling tiles at work, hooked up to a pair of speakers and every 90 minutes plays an audio clip of Glados from Portal. It's been running for ~5 years without being touched.
Thanks a lot for this video. I'm a 19teen old Walkman and metal music lover. I have my old NWZ-E384 and like it a lot but now I've run out of memory xd so I have to search for a new one.
I think that I Will buy this one.
Xoxo from Poland!
Do you know if your old NWZ_E384 or this new NW-A45 has wi-fi ? Thanks
@@piggypiggypig1746 my old 384 doesn't have WiFi. Either the New A45 I suppose
@@scarlettohara7862 Thanks for your quick response :)
Great review. Long time phone user here and I will definitely give this a try. Btw, anyone ever tell you that you look like Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?
It comes with 45 songs from the NWA for free
fm84!!!
Heck yeah. Here's the FM-84 album I listened to if anyone is interested: fm84.bandcamp.com/album/atlas
Excellent album! I was thinking about buying the a45 when it comes out on bhphoto jan 16th. do you have an sd card in yours? if so, do you have any earthly clue if it would support the new 400gb sandisk card? they claim on the site it works up to 192gb, but I've read of people using a 256gb card. So i'm wondering if it's just the size of the library and not so much the card as long as it's the right format?
I have a 64 GB card in mine, can't really guess if the player accepts larger than indicated on the site. Didn't know there's a 400 GB Micro SD card, that's huge! Probably also expensive, eh?
One of the best albums of its genre I've listened to it in years!!
Yep best atlas the best album
It's really funny that I have the exact same headphone as you. For me at least, my experience was very different to yours, I could definitely discern the audio quality. Using the same headphone, I would go by the quality of listen, Laptop (Surface Pro 6) > NW-A45 > Phone (Sony XZ1 Compact). But using the player as a DAC blows all three of them out of the park. Cheerios.
Hifi player with the smoothness of apple ios UI and an open source like android would be a dream come true.
Man I think I want the opposite, a super barebones mono-color OLED with buttons instead of touch screen.
Is is your new channel mr. Michromatic? When i saw your face on thumbnail instantly subscribed. Good luck!
we need subs he needs subs cmon lets go!
I used to have an Ipod, and I remember that the "artist" sort was also a pain in the good old Ipod.
So I copy (or whatever the correct word is) CDs directly to the itunes and let's say the artist was X, then in the same album it was a X ft. Y song, itunes took that as another artist; you would need to go to album information, then change the artist name from X ft. Y to just X, then in the comments section write down X ft. Y and there you go; you have all in perfect order.
My point is that, yes we are all spoiled by the music plataforms in past 10 years or such, but If you're thinking in getting one of this Sony devices, I'm pretty sure that you have your music library on perfect order, so this shouldn't supoosed to be a "con".
In the other hand, if you download music from internet without getting everything in order: boy you'll have a hard time getting this together.
💯
or, idk, just write the feature in the song title?? like isn't it the standard for music tagging ?
5:15 - The Song called „Running in the Night“ from FM-84. You’re welcome.
Wonderful Review! The back it's plastic since the NFC chip needs to be "free" from the aluminium chassis to pair.
I suspect the plastic is there for the antennas (NFC, Bluetooth), yeah, but there are alternative solutions (see: smart phones) that can result in nicer build. I'm just an aluminum junkie :P
e.g. ua-cam.com/video/YKaQg-ZCx3A/v-deo.html
Good review but not for audiphiles! I use my ipods every day, for the simple reason that I HATE the music to stop or down volume because if a call or a notification, it's the audiophile way! This is hi-res audio line of Sony! Much better than ipod! I always use my ipod connected to a Sony portable amp!
Oh yeah, it's nice to not have to worry about notification sounds while listening to music :D
Neuroboy Pi brw i hav a dout tat mp3 in ipod is better than the mp3 in nwa40.....?
vic key I always connect the ipod to a Sony pha headphones amplifier! It works like a DAC, to have good quality sound!
Really, it isn't difficult to beat Apple - their stuff is built like trash. Fools plenty of people because plenty of people just want to "buy into a lifestyle". A posing device. Apple know this, and they know they can sell severely underwhelming spec, but suckers will still buy it. Only now with the battery thing are more people slowly waking up. But to the fact that the iPhone 8 battery isn't even up to 2000mAh..? Unlikely, because Apple don't want people to know exactly what feeble spec they throw into their trash.
Neuroboy Pi Dude, just put your phone on silent if it bothers you that much.
Holy shit I thought you were "Dynamo" the Magician.
LOL, I looked it up, seems legit.
Shazzzam!!
NW-A45 = backwards spells SPAWN ...juz sayin.. ;)
Oh wow.
Homo spelled backwards is Omoh.
@@afistfulofpimples1745 Nilbog spelled backwards is goblin.
Juz sayin.....
5pawn
Does it pair with sony w1000xm3 headphone and samsung sound bars?
Probably, it has Bluetooth, but I haven't tried it.
Just subscribed your review was smooth and straight to the point 👍
For me Sony Walkman is a best device to listen music. But it does lack some feature that is a bummer ☹️.
Which features?
Also the great thing about a media player is that it's not a phone. Grown ups don't need to be connected all day. They live lives. I know it's hard to get likes and there's no selfie camera but again these are for grown ups.
Eh, phone is life for some.
I've sampled this on a Sony shop in my city, and I didn't exactly expect that they'd still have a demo unit for it. I don't remember the names of the songs, but they had a sorta country fiddle DSD file, and I was definitely surprised.
I am glad I wasn't deafened by mp3's, as one of the comments mentioned. I can already clearly hear the difference when I swtiched back to my phone. It all may be just some placebo going on but I'm sure as hell I'm going to enjoy the DAC/Amp coming soon. I've bought the AS10's from your recs (and other reviewers) and I have to say.... Fuck you for throwing me into this rabbit hole of a hobby hahaha
IT NEVER ENDS, GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN
I died laughing.
That FLAC file you were playing was at 44.1 kHz/16 bit tops. That's still not consider High Resolution Audio. The word FLAC will be yellow when Hi-Res. I own the NW-A35, which for this comment purpose is basically the "same" and as far as sound quality goes I'm 1000% happy. This unit really brought up to life my Klipsch x11 IEM's. I've been recently listening to "Pink Floyd's - Dark Side of the Moon" on DSD quality and the crispiness and clarity of the drums, for instance, was outstanding among other impressive stuff. The VPT feature on Studio mode also improves the sound quality.
With that being said, there are some features to improve on the unit:
1 - There's no searching files through typing the name. That's a bummer when having a 200GB mini SD card full of music.
2 - Volume can only be controlled through the physical buttons. I miss being able to control it just with a single touch on the screen like on the iPod.
3 - Interface's smoothness is far from 2018 standards.
4 - Proprietary USB cable.
While those are big flaws in my opinion, they still don't overshadow the sound quality I get from that little thing. Which for me is the most important feature on a music player.
Hope this helps.
I've just got the NW-A45 cause my A35 got soaked in Ginger Ale...
Things to notice comparing the 2:
1 - The smoothness of the interface is now acceptable comparing to the old model.
2 - Still no typing the name of the file to search for it.
3 - Volume CAN be now controlled on the touchscreen.
4 - I had an issue I didn't mention on the comment above and is that for some reason when connected to a bluetooth speaker (Beoplay A1 in this case) you couldn't control the volume through the player, only from the speaker. Now they have included an option when that doesn't seem to work and now works fine. That's a big improvement.
I still haven't checked the DAC function but just wanted to comment on that.
I'm very happy with these upgrades. Well done Sony !
Do you still recommend this in 2022?
Does it support a folder view or is everything through the music app?
How about the battery, if I buy a used one, will I have any problems with the battery?
Does this (and/or a105) come with fm radio?
Yes, still recommend. No folder view, though, you'll want to make sure your ID3 tags are good. A105 does not have FM, though maybe there's an app.
@@SuperReview Thanks
good video!
How bout a review of NW-A55?
No
A little overpriced, built-in battery. That means its lifespan depends on the battery, which is 2-3 years.
FWIW, two years later, battery life is not as good as it used to be, but it's still better battery life than almost every other player I've tried.
thanks for the review. its always good to know an alternative choice for apple products.
You can change the *_Artists_* grouping by selecting *_Album Artist_* from the settings. The way its showing different *_Artists_* for the same *_Album_* is because there are *_Artists_* featured in these songs and its in the *_Artist_* tag. However, if properly tagged they all should have the same *_Album Artist_* .
The issue you mentioned (Not really an issue) is present in almost all Smartphones and Daps if the *_Artist_* tag on all these songs of that *_Album_* were not the exact same (even spaces, Underscore, etc.) it will show as a different/multiple *_Artists_* .
What I do is I remove the Featured *_Artists_* from the *_Artists_* tags and put it in the title as "Song A (Ft. *_Artist_* B)" because not all my songs are tagged with *_Album Artist_*
Walkman without earphones.. well done sony
I believe the more expensive models comes with earphones. *Shrugs* I wouldn't have used them anyway, so I don't mind. It's not quite as nonsensical as a Nintendo 3DS shipping without a charger 🤪
One of the versions comes with some wired, in-ear-canal buds with special functionality. That version is more expensive.
Because people who buy these kinds of devices tend to already have their own preferred earphones, so adding them with the player would only increase the cost when many people won't even use them.
people buying a mp3 in 2018 will use it with a hifi earphone of their choice...
A m i l l i o n y a w n exactly
Videos are too high quality to only have a thousand subs.
Why thank you.
non expandable memory in 2019 is a joke
Who talks like this?
@@SuperReview me and many other memers REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
i think NW stands for new walkman and the A means its their main series, cuz the NW-B ones are like with buttons to navigate, an "old" layout
Makes sense.
Nice review sir! Is there other options for a DAP? I mean, some audiophile difference between our phones, but way more cheaper than this? If there are any.
I haven't tried a ton yet. The Fiio M3K is decent for the price, I did a review of it.
@@SuperReview thanknyou. Ill check it out. Im looking for a budget dap that i could feel the difference with my smartphone. Though, i really dont know of there are any. =)
You're a little long winded. It took you 4 minutes to turn on the device. When you're reviewing a device, we want to see less of you and more of what you're reviewing. Also, please no monologues just tell us "what's in the box."
Just so I know who's asking, who's "we"?
There we go, now I know who "we" is.
@@SuperReview No need to be defensive. It's constructive criticism. I'd like more of the product's review instead of our monologue.
@@bobhart6301 I love feedback, I just like it when people speak for themselves and not others ✌️
It's interesting review. One thing thou, i bought the A55 and i love the interface. I never like those mobile music app (specially Apple music app which is the worst experience ever) because they all use to have too much color and BS going on in the interface, lots of ads, lots of "subscription" buttons everywhere and unnecessary web feeds and news that i don't care. I just love this very simple interface from Sony's walkman.
I really liked Sony MP3 players but when Windows 10 stopped supporting them by eliminating Windows Media Player where you couldn't record your own CD's, and/or put your music on your Sony MP3 players I gave up on Sony, and it's too bad because I have a thousand + pre-recorded CD's, and yes I still use CD's!!!
FWIW, I use an app called EAC to rip CDs on Windows 10.
You deserve way more subs excellent video
Gotta start somewhere ✌️
High res audio is perfect for Audiophiles. Every few years they increase the bitrate of the same albums. It's chasing a dream that you will never be satisfied with. An Audiophile in a nutshell. Not trying to put down Audiophiles. But ever since I bought some warm sounding headphones to go along with a music steaming subscription, I no longer have the Audiophile itch. And I ended up selling all my ultra high end equipment to get a really nice computer. It was worth it.
Yeah, I'm purposely limiting how deep I get into this chase. A lossless music player + some decent headphones is enough -- don't want to be spending $thousands on this 🤪
Lately I've been really enjoying a $30 pair of headphones :D
Awesome man, thanks for the reply. Which headphones are you using at the moment if I may ask?
Koss KPH30i and Koss KSC75. Both so good, so cheap.
Yes I am getting ready to order some koss ur-40s as I am really missing having an open back headphone. And I can find them for about 30 but online.
trying to decide between the ur40s or the portable pros for a couple days now. Maybe I should get both haha.
I like the way you reviewed the unit
Woohoo!
I read a book on zero waste and from that book, they mentioned about that streaming causes too much energy consumption and as for MP3 players, I find them ok as they are easy to access without WiFi.
🤔
You’ve reviewed so many daps, would you choose a Sony NW-A45/55 or Shanling MO/Q1 if offered at exaclty same price?
Sony
0:00
No, I can't believe it
Time passed so fast
So 1yr on, what are your thoughts on the player as have heard of some nightmare stories with the database refresh, boot loops and other problems ?. I need to order a dap soon and have currently narrowed it down to the Sony NW-A45, Fiio M9, Cowon D2. I hope that you get to review the upcoming Sony NW-A100 as that looks to be quite feature packed.
I still use this Walkman almost every day, it's held up surprisingly well. Would say that after almost two years, the battery is no longer as strong as it was when new, but it's still stronger than most DAPs I've owned. Haven't had a single issue with database refreshing, boot loops, or otherwise.
Super* Review That is really good to know that it has been built to last. I was just reading that there is also a series 5 out now as well and while it isn’t officially in the UK as yet, it can be bought from a few outlets at a very reasonable price. Thanks for the reply.
I swear nothing I've owned plays music better than my old MP3 Walkman. It sounds so much richer than my Google pixel. Shame is just 4gbs
I had to adjust the output level because the European version is regulated and not as loud as the USA version.
Yeah, that's a bummer. Did you try the Reloaded firmware mod?
Hi, I'm using a FiiO M5 and I have two unforgivable errors I complaint about, that even cheap cellphones handle very well:
- The first second in silence at the begining of playback after a few seconds of inactivity and
- About half a second at the end in every song is cut... very noticeable when two songs don't have silence between them.
So... Have you noticed if any of those problems happen in the Sony Walman?
Thanks in adavance for your answer.
Nope. I HAVE had those problems on other players, but not the Sony.
Maybe on the Fiio, check if there is a "gapless" option you can enable.
I got iphone 6s 128 gb, I store a hell lot of songs In my phone and since it has a jack never felt a need of ipod or upgrade to another iphone. I just love the sound quality of iphone 6s.