Sony s739 vs s745

No need to bump when you are on top.

There have been a few people disappointed with the s745.

search some of the threads.

Sorry i was thinking of the A845, A847

Here is a review of the S745, audio performance is rated highly

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/musicplay/0,39050463,45086685p,00.htm

I have read that everything coming out of Sony japan to EU & UK is volume capped now, which cannot be reversed.

Everywhere else is fine, including Australia.

I find the volume of my a828 is more than ample. on my 63 ohm RE0s i rarely drive them more than 13 / 30.

My a828 has never frozen on me, but i haven't had much experience with the new models except the S544 which i found was buggy (maybe i got a lemon)

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulypaul 

I have read that everything coming out of japan to EU & UK is volume capped now, which cannot be reversed.

What??? I don't believe it.

Do you have a link to where you read that? I would like to read it for myself.

I'm shocked.

No, I'm more than shocked.

I'm shock-ed.

Only French models were limited, why would everyone outside Japan now have a volume limiter forced on them?

Quote:

Originally Posted by soozieq 

What??? I don't believe it.

 

Do you have a link to where you read that? I would like to read it for myself.

 

I'm shocked.

 

No, I'm more than shocked.

 

I'm shock-ed.

 

Only French models were limited, why would everyone outside Japan now have a volume limiter forced on them?

Its not everyone, just EU & UK.

Walkmans sold anywhere else are fine.

Heres the link.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/portable-music-mp3-ipod-etc/1196882-sony-nwz-a845-low-volume-2.html

The email from Sony UK is about half way down the page.

The thread is very comprehensive about the volume cap on S845s in UK. It makes very interesting reading.

Also accessing the Service Menu does not disable the volume cap because its part of the firmware.

Sony has really shot themselves in the foot with this one.

Cowon has overcome this by putting the cap in the region setting, so if you change the region to "outside EU" the cap is disabled.

The A845 is not as loud as the X-Series, this is can attest to since I have tried both and opted for the X series (bought in poland) since it was louder when playing the same song at identical volume.

although reading that thread on avforums, I am rather disturbed that some users have to have the volume as high as 25-30 in order to hear anything, I rarely if EVER go above 16 or 17 on my X series and older A series.

I recently purchased Sony E444 that is rated same as 5+5 mW, but surprisingly it is way louder than the A726. Also both sound very different.

It seems the warmer sounding players like A726, X1060, A845 have lower volumes because they generally do away with the harsh sounding components of music & hence sound sweeter & relaxed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ascariss 

 

although reading that thread on avforums, I am rather disturbed that some users have to have the volume as high as 25-30 in order to hear anything, I rarely if EVER go above 16 or 17 on my X series and older A series.

Is your X series capped ?

On my A828 I rarely go over 10 /30 on my 16 ohm ZEROs and 13 / 30 on my  63 ohm RE0s. Thats heaps loud enough.

I once tried 300 ohm hd600 sennheisers and had to go to about 27 / 30 with a little Eq to drive them adequately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ascariss 
although reading that thread on avforums, I am rather disturbed that some users have to have the volume as high as 25-30 in order to hear anything, I rarely if EVER go above 16 or 17 on my X series and older A series.

I've just been having a quick skim through too, doesn't look promising. When I read the link from paulypaul's post and saw the Sony email, I was really surprised. I mean, they dropped the limiter for everywhere except France about three years ago? So what on earth compelled them to put it back?

I've had two volume-limited daps, both bought from the UK (but dispatched from France... which wasn't made clear on the site) - and I thought they were broken because maximum volume clipped and was only just loud enough. There is no way I would ever (knowingly) buy a volume-limited dap if I could get the same unrestricted model elsewhere, regardless of the non-international warranty.

Why do Sony insist on going backwards all the time?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulypaul 

Is your X series capped ?

On my A828 I rarely go over 10 /30 on my 16 ohm ZEROs and 13 / 30 on my  63 ohm RE0s. Thats heaps loud enough

I would imagine it is, since I bought it back in april this year in Poland and comparing identical songs, same headphones to my A818, the X-series is slightly quieter, noticeable yes but does it bother me? no since like you I don't listen on high volumes.

What worries me though is that the new A-series is even quieter than the X-series and if the X was capped, wtf did the EU do to the A series.  I will be testing the A series soon enough since I want to pick it up to have a backup for my X series, and with the new 32 gig model coming, it should be the same price as my X which I got a deal on.

Although I will be waiting for september before making any purchases to see if and what sony decides to debut at IFA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oyster 

I recently purchased Sony E444 that is rated same as 5+5 mW, but surprisingly it is way louder than the A726. Also both sound very different.

It seems the warmer sounding players like A726, X1060, A845 have lower volumes because they generally do away with the harsh sounding components of music & hence sound sweeter & relaxed.

Since you are outside of the EU your player is not capped this is why it sounds louder, probably new DSP as well when compared to the one in the A729