New Sony DAPs - Page 5 - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio

omph · #61 (**permalink**) 10-11-2008, 10:19 PM

This forum is bad for your budget... hah. I can't believe I'm considering selling my NEZ-A829 and the $50 plastic case (from japan) I bought only 6 months ago for another dap...

Ihatepopupads · #62 (**permalink**) 10-12-2008, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnuZ

Hello all,

I recently purchased a 16GB Sony NWZ-S639F and ran a couple of RMAA tests on the headphone out. Here they are:

Sony NWZ-S639F RMAA results | .sav

Please note that the Walkman was NOT loaded by a 33 or 330 ohm dummy headphone load during testing. The only load the Walkman saw was the input impedance of the 1212M, which is 10K ohm. These results, then, don't reflect the performance of the player directly driving headphones. Rather, they only reflect what a device with a 10K ohm line-level input (such as a headphone amplifier with such an input impedance, say) would "see" at its input at best.

Also note that although the RMAA report states that polarity is "inverted/inverted", it is the input of the 1212M that is inverted rather than the output of the Walkman.

My testing method:

1) Generated a 44.1kHz, 16-bit .wav file in RMAA and transferred it to the NWZ-S639F using Windows Explorer.
2) In the NWZ-S639F, turned off AVLS, all "sound enhancement" and EQ settings under the "Music Settings" menu as well as context menu found by pressing the "Option" button while playing a song. Volume set to 30/30.
3) Created a session in E-MU PatchMix DSP with "I/O Card In 1L/1R" set to -10 and internal sample rate to 44.1kHz. Created a Physical Source "I/O Card In L/R" strip containing only a Trim Pot insert set at +12.00dB (otherwise the recording maxes out at -13.5dB/-13.7dB relative to 0dB) followed by an ASIO send to ASIO IN 1/2 to send the resulting stream to the recording application bit-perfectly.
4) Connected using a generic 3.5mm stereo mini to dual mono TS cable.
5) Recorded using Sony Sound Forge 9.0e with ASIO and no post-processing other than cutting.

I'm quite surprised by these results as they are absolutely stellar for an MP3 player. The noise floor is low, and the THD and IMD reminds me of the measurements of my old M-Audio Revolution 7.1.

My only concern is the bass boost <500Hz which ramps up to +1.25dB <200Hz, even when all sound enhancements and EQ are turned off. Is it some sort of DSP setting permanently set behind the user interface? It sort of looks like it, but who knows. To a lesser extent the 0.2dB channel imbalance irks me a bit, but a 0.2dB imbalance is hardly noticeable if at all.

All in all, great player. If only it had gapless playback, I'd love this thing.

If it's like the a series, they had a dac setting in the service menu which had the bass boosted (by default) and I believe the treble too. People defeated this and changed their settings to get a more natural- flat sound. I would bet the s series has the same thing.

Ultimate Sony a728 Equalizer and DAC settings

The test results do look pretty good even with only a 10 ohm load. My s739 is on order, stupid sony USA- no 16 gig models

insicor · #63 (**permalink**) 10-12-2008, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodiuh

Does that mean it'll save my spot on a podcast now?

It saves your spot on each podcast individually, podcasts are listed under a different menu, and new podcasts are displayed with a little "NEW" icon. This is only if you use the app and drag-and-drop from iTunes I think. I haven't tested it with other programs.

gnuZ · #64 (**permalink**) 10-12-2008, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads

If it's like the a series, they had a dac setting in the service menu which had the bass boosted (by default) and I believe the treble too.

Does anybody have the service menu "code" for the S-series? I tried the one for the A-series to no avail. Thanks!

nywytboy68 · #65 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnuZ

Does anybody have the service menu "code" for the S-series? I tried the one for the A-series to no avail. Thanks!

From what I understand we may have to wait till this becomes available. The old code is DEAD for the new models, as Sony apparently didn't like us playing around in the service menu I guess. But, we'll get the new code eventually though.

Ihatepopupads · #66 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nywytboy68

From what I understand we may have to wait till this becomes available. The old code is DEAD for the new models, as Sony apparently didn't like us playing around in the service menu I guess. But, we'll get the new code eventually though.

Sony likes to put those little freq boosts on their players

. I should get my s730 tomorrow, I'll do a quick sound check- micro review on it. I hope there is less hiss than my a818 with my shures.

nywytboy68 · #67 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ihatepopupads

Sony likes to put those little freq boosts on their players

. I should get my s730 tomorrow, I'll do a quick sound check- micro review on it. I hope there is less hiss than my a818 with my shures.

Please, keep us posted. I'd like to know if it has the boosted high end (like my A829 did). also, if you manage to access the service menu,...........

davidhunternyc · #68 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 07:27 AM

^^^ I can't even read your posts because your avatar is so d*mn scary! : (

QQQ · #69 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 07:45 AM

What's the output power, 1,5mW?

nywytboy68 · #70 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhunternyc

^^^ I can't even read your posts because your avatar is so d*mn scary! : (

Now, look here HAL5000, your not exactly rockin' a user-friendly avatar yourself!!!!

Or is it just "Big Brother" watching?

Quote:

Originally Posted by QQQ

What's the output power, 1,5mW?

Should be the Sony standard of 5mw per channel.

Ihatepopupads · #71 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 10:27 PM

Ok got it today s738f . First thing is no hiss with e530, just like the french site said. There is a little hiss when you engage the eq, but still less than the a818, very good news. Second on this model eq boosts the power not cuts it. Radio is stellar and the screen looks the best I have seen for this size, better than nano and a818. Build quality is just what you expect from sony, rock solid, everything feels just right. The sound is better (imho) than the a818 and probably the best I have heard on any dap, take that with a grain of salt... But really it's quite stellar, Instrument separation is unreal and so is soundstage. I have all effects off. (tested with lame vbr 224 and 320)

I haven't checked anything else out (sense me, noise canceling)as this is a "loaner" my 16 gig is on the way. Oh and nywytboy68 I can't tell if the treble is bumped up or not, but it really extends and sparkles and is so smooth- so maybe

I'll try to find the service menu

some pics:

I have to remember to turn off my desk lamp when I take photos. :0

mobbaddict · #72 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QQQ

What's the output power, 1,5mW?

The e series is not very powerful, not enough to drive my D1001 in my opinion (especially when EQ is engaged). Don't know about the S series but a friend who owns the A810 series has the same problem. So beware.

nywytboy68 · #73 (**permalink**) 10-20-2008, 04:17 AM

My A829 doesn't have the podcast support feature damn it!!!

toughnut · #74 (**permalink**) 10-21-2008, 02:29 PM

Ihatepopupads, have u received your s739? may i know what iem u used to test the player? i really hope it wont hiss when paired with high sensitivity IEM

toughnut · #75 (**permalink**) 10-21-2008, 02:34 PM

i just notice that it's printed "MADE IN MALAYSIA" in second photo. yeah, that's our local products :P