Sony Walkman Exists in 2023?
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- Опубликовано: 17 июн 2023
- Turns out it never left...
Spotify vs. Apple Music: • Spotify vs Apple Music
Sony Walkman A306: austin.tech/Walkma
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@austinevans - Executive Producer
@LukePollack - Shooter & Editor
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if i had infinite money i’d probably buy one but i can’t spend that cash on something just because it’s neat
Don’t worry, he didn’t make the vid just for you.
@@rev8962 damn i was just pointing out that it’s neat but shared my opinion on the product. i enjoyed the video and know the video wasn’t just for me
@@HuffGLaDTem mhm same.
There is the older A105, which is basically the same thing, which you can pick up for half the price these days.
I love the walkman
It was nice to see a tech review like this that does a good job of understanding why this device exists instead of just reviewing it like an incomplete smartphone.
I’ve tried using dongles with my phone and while that solution “works”, they’re awkward enough that I decided carrying a second device was actually the less inconvenient option. Wound up going with a Hiby instead of a Walkman, though.
Compared to other devices in the same product category, the Walkman line mostly seems to compete on specs with stuff around half its price. And the “you can walk into a store and buy it” purchase convenience advantage vanishes if you live in a country where volume limiter regulations mean a device with laughable power output unless you import instead like you’d do for the competition anyway.
None of the newer smartphones like having headphone jacks. I'm not buying a new car so I can connect it wirelessly with my car stereo. Buying an MP3 player makes more sense to me.
@@RokkitGrrlThese days there's a lot better than MP3 that these are built to play though.
What's that weird port that Ken keeps plugging his headphones into? Some sort of jack... for headphones? A headphone jack?! That can't exist in a portable device.
This would work for my husband. He is still using an old iPod Touch. It uses the original 30 pin sync/charging cable. The Touch is starting to show its age. My husband wants to keep his music off his phone.
I have one lol only because it helps make my phone battery last longer & if it runs out of battery then of course I can just switch to my phone! Good way to make your phone battery have a longer battery life in the long run also without wearing it down so much because lets be honest, we all listen to music for more than at least 30 minutes.. awesome work here ken!!
especially using streaming services like apple music, spotify etc. they connect using your network which will overtime put a strain on your battery but very minimally. still a good view on it either way
@@malerie-nm2df yeah and this you can just have music downloaded & use it without a network which will increase it's battery life also!!
Does it have a built-in speaker?
I'm getting one because of battery too. Been listening on my Samsung using dac dongle and tidal hifi, and oh how fast was my battery draining! Definitely need a dap, not because of things listed in the video, but to just have a dedicated battery for music ahaha
The Walkman CD players were good! I had one that lasted forever in elementary school. I had a few Walkman MP3 players in middle school & early in high school, I’ll say 2006-2010. I can actually remember the CD player killing the cassette player, mp3 player killing the cd player & smartphones killing the mp3 player and 29. I work with a few people who just graduated high school and they thought I was old when I asked them if they remember ripping and burning CDs 🤣😭
I mean the Walkman outlived the iPod so there's that!
Not really, phones became the new iPod.
@@JuanDelPueblo the iPod brand is dead and so are the devices, they were replaced by phones but Walkman lives on for now at least.
@@alvzcizzler but who owns a walkman in these days? And who in the right mind would paid $350 for a secondary device to do what you phone already do but slower?
@@JuanDelPueblo You're getting out of topic for nothing
@@alvzcizzler am I? Let me ask you then, do you own a Walkman device? Do you know someone who owns one?
Hey your acting on spiderman is on point. Keep up the good work. I did not know that you’re a youtuber as well.
I have a Sony Walkman NW-A55 which I purchased back in 2021 when I was working from home. I listened to mostly my own music library, and I found I had too much music to fit on my smartphone at that time (this was when smartphones were getting rid of expandable storage and higher storage models were quite expensive). I really loved it, and it worked well for me. The model I had still used Sony's own OS, as Sony's Android powered Walkman models at the time had horrendous battery life, 10 hours or so on a charge, whereas their own OS models were getting 30 - 40 hours.
Now though, I'm back to working in an office and so I can't really use headphones. Not to mention I was able to get a good deal on a phone that, while still lacking expandable storage, has enough capacity to hold my full music library. Nowadays, I use a small Bluetooth speaker on my desk and either play local files from my phone or stream audio from my Wi-Fi connection. I still have the Walkman, but it's use-case for me has diminished enough that I rarely use it anymore. Still glad they exist though, and for the right person they are most certainly a great choice.
I desperately wanted a discman as a kid but never got it. My first mp3 player however was a Walkman and one of my first phones was a Walkman phone so even though I’m an apple Stan who can no longer be bothered with downloading everything when Apple Music tells me what to like and collects all my fave music for me, I’ll always have a soft spot for the Walkman product segment.
It's SUCH A SHAME that LG left the mobile phone business.. It was known that they had ONE HELL OF A built in Quad DAC in some of their phones G and V series (ThinQ etc) because you had both a phone, and a high quality music player all in one unit... 🤔👌
😎🇬🇧
Yeah RIP V series.
Why can't dap manufacturers just make a DAP / Phone hybrid?
I'd buy it in a heartbeat
@@Alepap. Yeah, IF ONLY manufacturers who made phones that have a bloody headphone jack DID IT great justice by backing up with a proper DAC, there are quite a few people out there that 1- DON'T particularly want to carry two devices, 2- WANT to listen to their high quality/lossless streams how they are supposed to be via a cabled headphone/IEM setup, and/or 3 - WANT to enjoy their built up collection of media in great quality as they have done so with CDs/Digital for decades, such as I, who has over a 1500 albums of various genres all ripped from Vinyl, Tape (both standard & digital) and CDs...
The only powerful media player I have (I'm an Android user) that helps with getting as much as I can out of my music is 'PowerAmp' (it's a FAN-TAS-TIC app! 👌), again, JUST WISH more phone makers would put as much effort into the sound through the headphone jack as they do with what comes out of the screens ie - automatic screen refresh rate 1 to 120, high frequency touch sampling, QuadHD, Amoled, '1500 billion' NITs brightness etc etc... It's so disappointing... 😒
The rog and Xperia lines are the last of its kind with good quad dac
Absolutely, thankfully though they had three phones that still got Android 13. The v50, G8, G8X all got Android 12. All of those still make very good portable audio players if you just buy them on the resale market. I think it's a better value proposition than the Walkman just because it has way more internal storage, and expandable storage, and a more modern version of Android and wireless charging and a better camera and all that jazz
@@treebushSony actually doesn't use quad DAC for saber chip. It's an okay DAC but nothing I can drive 600 ohms like the v series or the g series from LG. Rog did use the identical DAC in rog 5. But I think they stopped doing it in the ROG phone 6, 7 etc... Come back to a more traditional head DAC instead of a more high five sabre chip
I recently bought an LG G8 unlocked with its quad-DAC for $105 on amazon.
Android 12, excellent screen, microSD and 128GB of internal storage.
My old iPod touch was dying so I went that route instead for a secondary music-only device and I'm very glad I did.
So nice that you really get into the weeds of the features here. It made me double-check the specs and realize it's also a USB-C DAC! It suddenly became appealing to me because I have forever looked at DAC/AMP reviews but never considered myself audiophile enough to want a dedicated one.
That Walkman does seem like a device that can fit in specific use cases very effectively.
i think alot of people including you can benefit from a Fiio BTR5 as it does the same things but still uses your phone
@@KnowThyWeaknessI’m curious, which brand has better DAC, Fiio or Sony?
@@ernest1587 both are good brands, get the one in your budget with good overall reviews. Unless you're in the top 1% of listeners that can pick out tones in frequency ranges, you won't notice the difference. Your ears will adjust to whatever sound you give it. This argument for what's better is subjective cause we have different ears, headphones, and budgets. Get something that can drive what you have
The USB DAC function is far better than most native laptop audio jacks when playing audio. Only downside is latency with what displays on screen.
@@zugo-tg7125 I agree USB sounds better. However my external speaker system + subwoofer has a remote with a headphone jack I can leave on my desk. My btr 5 is slightly better sound but using the remote jack doesn't need me to adjust what output device to play through. The convenience has me excuse the sound difference. It's why I say it's subjective
I have a Sony A55. I only use it with my iems. It wont drive proper headphones but the sound. Man the sound is amazing even after 3 years. I find that it was a great investment. The dap is so good and it gives life to actual instruments bein played. If you like computer generated audio you don't need it. Use your phone.
I would like to hear his take on some of the portable DAC/AMPs available. I'm talking about the those from brands like Shanling, FiiO, and Qudelix. They are cheaper, smaller, and give you the option to use them with a wire or with Bluetooth.
I personally use the BTR5 from FiiO, because my wire headphones sound better than my Bluetooth ones, and sometimes that is what I want to use on the go; it cost less than a third of the price than the Walkman. You can even get a neckband from Moondrop, Little White, use it with adapters and now you're all set. These all have their use cases even for non-audiophiles but for people not interested in audio it might not matter.😁
I got the M11s cuz I have a big music library and I like having the balanced options, but the BTR5 is worth it's weight in gold as far as I'm concerned. $300 for it, some good headphones, and an apple music sub and you're living the audio highlife.
Q5K supremacy🖖
I have the BTR5 as well and love it. I keep it in my laptop bag with a nice pair of headphones for when i am traveling or away from home and want good audio. I use a different Fiio dac with my desktop at home but don't remember the exact model. I have come to really like Fiio and would love one of their DAPs if they weren't so expensive.
It would've been a more compelling buy if it had both 3.5 and 4.4 balanced out, which is very useful when you want to drive some IEMs such as Planars like Timeless and Wu Zetian Heyday.
But for the price, I'd rather just refurbish an old Android phone and install LineageOS and get a USB-C Dual DAC like the tanchjim Space or the Truthears Shiro + add a microSD card if possible
I bought one and love it. I don't use it for streaming and I don't connect it to wifi. I like being in control of my own files and just dragging and dropping my music files onto the micro SD, inserting it back into the player, rebuilding the data base and listening to my files independently of a phone or the internet. The only time I link to wifi is to check for an update otherwise it's not connected. Another big plus is how much better my files sound on this vs my iPhone. I listen to mostly Old Time Radio Shows(showing my age) and I was very impressed how this tiny player made them sound which is very impressive when you consider how low quality some of these files are. This little player has impressed me so much I'm now willing to look at the higher end units down the road. My only concern is battery replacement?
I was excited to see this product line make a comeback and I have been considering leaving my phone behind and just relying on my watch so a dedicated device sounds fun. However... I do not like that there is no clear future for devices like these. The older ones had no operating system and their lifespan was limited by the availability of the medium they played and the mechanical quality of the parts they were made of. I don't think we will ever see anyone successfully revive this style of player so really it does come down to audio quality and expendable income. If the audio quality was otherworldly then sure... but at the end of the day it's just an android device that can DAC it up a bit.
Love the channel btw.
Bringing DAPs instead of phones when I'm outside really helps me take things easy once in a while. Bought a cheap android OS DAP a few months ago and I've been using it more than my phone outdoors.
mind sharing what the DAP is? ❤😊
@@dryjakiew ruizu z80
I have the zx707 and I love that thing. Phones cannot get close to what it does. But yes I agree it's laggy at times and that bothers me. But one thing people should know is the built in player sounds way better than streaming on it
I have a FF15 themed Sony Walkman that I purchased back in 2019 to use as a dedicated audio player while commuting. I only got to use it for a few months before the pandemic happened and caused it to collect dust since then. After watching this video I might just start using it again when the opportunity arises.
Why don't you listen song from your phone?
@@jony_9497 My music library is over 400gb, and iphones don't support FLAC and expandable storage. So I bought a DAP and chuck a 1TB SD Card into it. The DAP can even some of my higher impedance headphones.
Got one recently. The apple dongle I use on my iphone actually has quite decent sound quality, but I just don't like the form factor and the fact that there are so many distractions on my phone. It's hard remembering what it's like paying full attention to the music I'm listening to, and for me the small walkman reminds me of the fun I had listening on iPods. I usually just download my Apple Music library in hi-res and listen in airplane mode.
For enthusiasts who already spend some money in quality wired earphones I think the walkman A series is well-designed and well-priced!
I love that Sony still maintain a camera shutter button in it's fones. I wonder how amazing would be a Walkman phone with media control buttons (maybe in the left side that's usually empty on most phones), a proper DAC and headphone jack.
They could even come with (the horror, THE HORROR) quality headphones with detachable cables in the box!
Man! Denki is underrated. 😪
very informative video! I will have to look up that walkman! I always wondered if they would ever come out with one again.
Great video. Really sold me on it till the end bits about the updates and the sluggishness. If it had a stronger processor and more current android, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
I have a Sony NW-A55l which isn't an Android driven device like this but if they have followed the same software operation then the bookmarks will be a disaster for podcast listeners or audiobook users. First issues is basic navigation, if you switch the device on go into the file tree to find a track to play it will let you step backwards from the track out to the main file tree with navigation buttons BUT if you start the player at a track the backwards navigation button will only take you the the album and no further so if you want to jump to another album from the same artist you have to go to the top of the file tree and find it from scratch.
If you save tracks to one of the 10 bookmarks lists you have to remember which list you're using as you can't rename them or go into them when saving to check the contents.
Saving a podcast or audiobook in the bookmarks list starts it from the beginning, not from where it was bookmarked, I get this when saving a song but there needs to be an option for other content, not much fun scrolling through a 10 hour audiobook to see where you left off...
Final issue is that when you've pulled up the bookmarked content and played it the player will not go to the next item in the folder where that content is located, it goes to the next item in the bookmark list, so if you bookmark a podcast and want to run straight onto the next one in the folder you have to stop the player at the end and go to the top of the file tree to find the next from scratch. This somewhat negates the point of bookmarking in the first place.
Great video and very informative. Btw, which Sony model headphones are you using in this video?
Thank you.
One of my favourite phones ever was my Sony Ericsson W810i Walkman-branded feature phone. It unfortunately used the Memory Stick Duo format like the PSP but was a great little music player for the time and overall fun device.
You just unlocked a memory. I had a psp and forgot about the Memory Stick Duo format.
i think i have one of these somewhere. was a good phone for the time, even had internet.
@@SimonBauer7 Yeah, it was the Internet on the Sony that finally convinced me it was worth the extra data costs for a smart phone. I guess I was into quirky phones because I upgraded to the Palm Pre.
Definitely a niche product but I'm glad it's still around
Hey. Thank you for this review. Great job. Would you recommend this player for using with Apple Music? How is the performance there?
Great nuanced review with an understanding of what this is actually for. Super like for Ikenai Borderline, the Bocchi the Rock wallpaper, and Yurucamp keychain!!!
I've been looking into dedicated music players for my workouts and this seems to fit the bill nicely
I had one back in 2010 I think. Those things were awesome back in the day. Great ipod competitor.
Spotify should create a direct competitor of walkman. Sometimes i want to disconnect to my phone but i just can’t do it because of Spotify.
the best solution i think is somthing like the Fiio BTR5 external DAC. It has an USB C Port so you can connect your Phone by USBC to USBC Cable or it has also Bluetooth on Board. And the Bonus is it has an balanced Output 2.5 mm Port as well as the normal 3.5mm Jack. And with its Software you can change the settings on your needs included a 10 Band Equalizer to adjust it to your Headphone.
You really make sensible content. That's why I like your content
I have that NW-A306 since I am not using my phone as my PMP. the USB-C can be use if you want a DAC/AMP or USB-C to 3.5mm to amplifier. though the sound stage is already superb, you can still use a DAC or amp - still depends on you.
I think it's reasonable to carry a dedicated listening device especially in today's day and age where everything you do is condensed in to a smartphone, which hopefully will decrease the amount of time interacting with smartphone. Or at least, that's how I justified myself If I happens to owns it.
Which is why I just play it off my watch haha. Less phone screen time is good time.
It also has an advantage, if it fails, your cell phone isn't going to be affected. I've heard about one guy who had to ditch his cell phone because of issues with the media player. I didn't believe it until it happened to my old LG phone.
@@Nick-pc9tf Offline music or streaming? Aren't most watches limited to just streaming music ?
@@reverend_wintondupree Yeah I stream. I can store locally like my phone, but I don’t.
@@Nick-pc9tf But can you store and play music on the watch
ken that's no walkman, that's Bocchi Za Walkman!
I still use my ipod touch, because I bought alot of music 10 years ago and put all my cds on it. Mixed music, rare cds, plus I didn't have to buy it twice. Love my ipod!
As a person who doesn’t use phones most of the time, this device is a perfect fit for me
My first cassette player back in highschool 1998 is a sony walkman with feather touch button. Yes they put feather touch button as a features back then.
I still use and carry my ipodtouch around with me everywhere I go, I listen to my music, podcasts and audiobooks through the ipod and not my phone, so carrying a secondary device around will not be a problem. I am looking to replace my ipodtouch as it is getting old and some of the apps are getting harder and harder to use.
I had a Sony Minidisc recorder Walkman when I was in high school some 20 years ago. It was a fantastic device and I was always really saddened that the format didn’t take off as it should’ve.
a smartphone would still suffice for me, this isnt targeted for people like me whose already comfortable with a smartphone as its primary music player. its a neat device ngl, but its mainly for enthusiasts. i dont see myself using this down the line, even if i had the money for it. also, neat bocchi cameo there.
Honestly, given that I have a Walkman NW-A45, I couldn't see getting the A306. And with how rarely I listen to music from my phone with wired headphones, I can't really see myself getting a DAC that plays nice with iOS (though that's more likely than buying the A306). To me, this seems more like a device for someone who's getting either their first dedicated digital audio player or is getting their first one since the days of the iPod and Zune.
i was excited for the Z707 and A306 when they announced but im in the same boat as you where i have the A55 and WM1A which is already the same or maybe better solution for a DAP. ended up skipping them for cos Streaming is not an issue when at home as i can use my dongles for iPad instead
Is this compatible with iTunes? Like if you have playlist on iTunes, can you just drag and drop the playlist over to the Walkman?
If you think that is crazy I have the NW-WM1ZM2 Walkman and oh boy is it big, heavy, and more importantly expensive but I absolutely love this thing it's like a little Bible on me and it goes everywhere I go and I'll probably have it with me for a good long while
it's really cool & i would buy one but over 300 is wayyy to steep i thought it would be more in the under 100 or maybe 150 max
Amazing video. Nice shots, Little Bit of history - congenial Guy. Subscribed. ✌🏻
Lol the lag at 5:32 just opening a song in Spotify - ngl apart from being able to use this as a USB DAC for your computer, I fail to see the value proposition in this vs. a used LG G-series or V-series with a Quad DAC. For example you can pick up an LG G8 for like $50-75 USD; it'll run exponentially faster, has vastly superior battery life, is still decently compact at "only" 72mm wide, has MicroSD support up to 2 TB, can play back pretty much any format the NW-A306 can (including FLAC, DSD, etc), and can drive medium to high impedance headphones. Oh, and you can use it as a backup or beater phone too. All that for close to $300 cheaper than the Walkman...
with Apple's iPod failed to get more new customers interested context of their phones and others captured the market completely, Walkman coincidentally became the audio brand that survived in the new era
I really appreciate this review for actually understanding why someone would want to purchase this. Most reviews I've seen for the recent android Walkman's boil down to "its just a small, laggy smartphone, just use Spotify lol" and completely ignore why these Walkman's are what they are.
My NW-A105 lets me chuck a 1TB MicroSD in it, and haul around my entire Hi-Res music library in a tiny little device. And because my music is stored locally, I can just keep it permanently offline and disconnected from my accounts and services, making it nice and separated from my other stuff. I cant really do any of that with my main phone, it doesn't even have expandable storage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
thats a you mistake. plenty of phones with local expandable storage available now that arent crap. i could do that with my phone.
@@SimonBauer7 Not many of the high-end phones that I would ever want to use do. Also, did you read the comment? One of the best things about recent Walkman's are their ability be a completely disconnected and separate companion device, as well as having a great DAC and music playback and easy music sync with PC through Sony Music Centre.
Even if my phone did have expandable storage and a 3.5mm connector. Why would I want to use all of that storage on my *primary* device for music instead of photos, videos, applications etc. Why would I ever want to use my phone for listening to said music if the DAC isn't great? What if I want to listen to music and not have my phone with me? Not to mention the fact that even the best audio playback apps on Android don't come close to the features of the Walkman app.
@@SimonBauer7yeah sort of I mean you can get the LG flagships that still have expandable storage. Course maybe some budget phones. But you can't find any flagships released in the last year that still have SD card support, at least not in the US besides Sony.
So yes I think a better value proposition is the LG v60 or G8 or something. Those are a lot bigger of course, and the battery won't last nearly as long because it has to drive a much brighter screen and all the other functionality.
I would recommend people to get the LG phone instead in the circumstance but I can understand why some people want something smaller
@@HotdogNoireI assume he was talking about using like the LG v60 as a standalone music player not as your primary phone. Which is a great value but I completely understand why somebody that's really into it would prefer the Sony Walkman just because it's more diminutive, they want something that's not driving a huge 1080p screen and running Android 13 etc...
@@michaelcorcoran8768I have a very cheap TCL smartphone that used to be my main phone five years ago. It's now relegated to an iPod Touch/Walkman of some sort, which I think is a nice move since it's a cheaper option than buying a Walkman or a MP3 player. I do think I should get a portable radio....
I don’t have this one but I have one like it and it’s so fun to go to cd shops and look for CDs for my favorite albums to rip, also the sound quality is great. It’s totally not necessary since most people
Have smart phones but sometimes I just wanna put my phone away and actually listen to and enjoy my music. It’s a lot of fun to listen to the same songs on this device and hear the details you could have never heard from the radio or through a RUclips video. If you got the money and love music, it’s a good buy.
I love my walkman. I have an NW-A105. It's awesome but the battery life could be better.
Does it support gapless playback?
Lol, love your raps bra. They make my day.
I like to play music from my phone onto my JBL speaker but hate when phone calls and texts ruin my playback !
let me tell you i run A-45 walkman and HR audio is awesome and not my highest priority this thing is a beast to store all your music. I have 360 gigs on this, 2000 songs and I still have 345 gigs. i highly recommend if you want HR audio and have a sizeable library.
As someone who also owns a NW-A45, I wholeheartedly agree. IMO, the Walkman series lost features and soul once it became what is basically a smartphone without a sim card tray. I understand why Sony did it, but I don't have to like it. I'm using Mr. Walkman's modded firmware (a port of the A50 series, makes the UI feel snappier).
Cool! I had a Sony Walkman mp3 up until 2012. I had SO many songs on it. Memories! Now I just use my phone for music.
if u want something small but still have android os and acceptable audio for walkman alternative..i recommend the xperia compact xz1..this is what i carry as the walkman.. it is also pretty cheap..
How does this compare in sound quality to your modded iPod?
Hi - great video! Very fun and informative!
Can it play RUclips music videos which have been downloaded (within RUclips), and do the downloaded video use the SD card memory for this please?
Looks neat, though, for $350 I don't know .......I have my SanDisk for the past 12 years still works. Boochi the rock wallpaper nice!
thanks for the video, how does the sound compare to your modded ipod..
I would love for Denki to answer this question.
That wallpaper!🔥🔥🔥
great review. the practicality is kinda lost on something so expensive when you can get one of LG's last smartphones at like ~$150, which has 128 gb and is a full fleged smartphone with a built in DAC. I mean, if you're going to carry around another device in your bag anyway, why not buy a second smartphone with ALL of the features of a phone, with a DAC, and also as with a second screen functionality? Ex: LG V60
Good video Ken :)
my mum has one of the older ones, she loves it still even when her phone can do the same she like to still use it.
Basically, if you own your music in hi-res files, you should get a device like that. Some smartphones (most of Sony's) have an audio processor that support Hi-res but most of them don't. Also, the physical buttons on these Walkman makes that you can control the level of sound way better than smartphones.
Oh man now I have a mental image of Bob Ross wearing tights 😩
I might buy one in few months
Got bored of getting phone calls or having people asking to take pics of them
i had walkman casette n cd back then but my fav music player is ipod nano 6gen the one u can make as watch... i hope they didnt get rid of it... gud thing i still have it using it in my car with 3500 songs in it
Ken, forgot to mention that I the japanese imported model sony walkman is not volume limited compared to u.s. model. The u.s. model for the sony walkman is volume limited where as the japanese imported model sony walkman volume limit is uncapped. I still have my portable sony walkman cassette player, sony walkman portable mini disc player and portable sony walkman disc man. I just need the japanese model of the sony walkman to add to my sony collection plus it runs android too which is something that I want in a sony walkman. I have the fiio m11 android dap, fiio q3 dac amp for traveling, schiit fulla 2 dac amp and schiit hel 2 dac amp for use at home. The schiit hel 2 dac amp works with android from the usb c port since it works on my sony xperia 1 iv however it will drain more of your phones battery. My akg lyra mic also has a usb c port and also works with my sony xperia 1 iv. The only amps I have not tried with android yet are any of the analog tube amps for analog sound. I prefer the sound of analog with its analog warmth sound from tube amps and from vinyl. I would take analog if I had to choose between digital and analog. Most music record in digital are compressed and sound too fatiguing to listen with the boosted treble and muddy bass. The loudness wars made music hard to pick out the details since music needs the dynamic range to hear sounds from the quietest parts of the track to the loudest parts of the track. Whenever I buy a cd and rip them to wav or flac, the music is very loud when I barely turn up the volume and my ears start ringing because the way the music was mixed and mastered very loudly with boosted treble and boosted bass that muddys the bass. I also have the sony xperia 1 iv android phone and a sony 4k blu ray player. My sony xperia 1 iv can barely drive my sennheiser hd 600 open back up headphones but my sony xperia 1 iv can drive my neumann ndh20 close back headphones since they are 150 ohms compared to 300 ohms on my sennheiser hd 600. I use my sennheiser hd 600 even when traveling by bus. Sometimes I switch between my sennheiser hd 600, fiio fa1 iems and my neuman ndh20 depending on what I feel like using at the moment. I also have a pair of moondrop quarks the 3.5 mm port non dsp version as a back up. I just wish sony had a hifi dac like the lg v series of phones, htc phones, zte axon 7 and even the newer asus rog phones.
You should try the ZX707 or the NW-WM1AM2, my personal favourite.
am still rocking a cd player for music and audiobooks so that's that
I always care my iPod touch every where I go, I don’t use my phone to listen to music, podcasts and audio books, tragically my iPod touches battery is struggling to keep charge for long and some of the apps I use don’t really work now and won’t update to the latest version
I wish they still made a slim walkman player with microSD card support
Sticking with iPod classic as I want the nostalgia and no other distractions. This is a cool device though.
I still use an MP3 player because it means I can listen to music anywhere (don't need data connection) and it doesn't use my mobile battery, storage or data. Good for long journeys in the car. Headphone jack gang.
I actually currently use a Walkman a55 for all my music consumption
I been looking for something like this for a couple weeks now, something that can play music but without a camera. 350 is a good price Imo
Would love to see you guys take a look at their newest mid ranger the ZX700!
Tough sell is an understatement 😅
i bought one of these and a flip phone instead of a new phone and honestly it rules
the earpads you use influence the sound at least 2X more than whatever sony tries to sell
I’m still rocking the latest (and last) gen iPod Touch, but when that dies I think I’ll pick me up a Walkman if they’re still around
my phone still has a headphone jack and that is an upper midrange phone from 2022. with 5g, 120hz amoled, good cameras etc. why would i get a flagship for 5times the price and no headphone jack and a seperate devide for music?
Excellent review. Subscribed.
Got a Walkman mostly to not get distracted by my phone.
If I can transfer my 1200 + iTunes library over I'd consider picking one up.
I like having a dedicated music player then using my phone no notification distractions
Makes me drool for such mp3 player while watching this ugh and i swear no single friggin mp3 are available here anymore
I bought a couple Walkman MP3 players in 2008/2009. I liked them because they were drag and drop from my laptop without the use of a program like iTunes. Problem was, they were limited in size. I had a 8GB then a 16GB, with the initial software on them they were a little less than that though. I eventually relented and got the 160GB iPod. It's still the only Apple product I've owned to this day.
my Walkman NW-a55 has a 512gb micro SDXC in it. so we've come a long way.
Walkmans are brilliant for people who want to own music and listen to albums. I have a Sony and so do both my kids.
How is it compared to fiio?
Believe it or not. I'd use it for PS1 and lower emulation. The form factor plus certain android bluetooth controllers would just make it neat. Being a walkman would be secondary to me.
Also if anyone is wondering "why not just buy an emulation device?" I say why even buy a walkman in 2023? Because it's novel.
what is the tiny backpack thats in 2:54 ?
I would buy one. After 30 years iTunes and listing/loading music on to an iPhone still sucks. So yea, this makes sense.