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Newer EU Sony Walkmans have worse volume cap than before.

post #1 of 10
6/19/11 at 4:57am
Thread Starter 
I have quite a few Sony Walkman DAPs but two of them I own which were both bought in the UK have different volumes. The DAPs in question are my Sony S639f and Sony A845. The volume at 20/30 on my S639f is equivalent to the maximum volume of 30/30 on my A845. I then set both DAPs into test mode and came to a startling discovery. On SPSET on the S639f it is set at EU (SPS:OFF) yet on the A845 it is set at CEW (SPS:ON) which explains why my S639f sounds louder than my A845. Does anyone know what CEW stands for?

Anyway it looks like Sony have got worse with their volume capping on new European Sony Walkmans.mad.gif
Edited by Artmuzz - 6/19/11 at 5:11am
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post #2 of 10
6/19/11 at 5:09am

Hmm.. see if you can bypass it with a different region firmware? (Europe --> North America)
I know many did that with Cowon players and it gets rid of the volume limit.
Just wondering, (because I'm in Canada and never heard what the max volume...) how bad is the volume limit?
Although it may frustrate people, I honestly think it's a pretty good idea (the volume regulation) considering I've seen tons of people blaring their portable headphones on the bus due to poor isolation. Ear-drums be damned.
And, thanks for sharing your discovery, sorry I can't contribute to your discussion.

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post #3 of 10
6/19/11 at 5:15am
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately, the Sony DAPs don't have the feature where you can choose between Europe or Rest of World. The volume limit on newer EU Sony Walkman DAPs is ridiculous. On my new Sony A845 I have to play music at it's maximum volume where with other DAPs I own (Cowon J3 Sony S639f) I play music at around 15 to 20.

Does anyone know what CEW means? As I know EU means European Union.
Edited by Artmuzz - 6/19/11 at 5:21am
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post #4 of 10
6/20/11 at 7:19am

I just got the sony nwza845 today and my god its awful..... The max volume setting is like half volume or less on my ipod.  Im disgusted to find out this cant be changed. Im so angry right now

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post #5 of 10
6/20/11 at 1:59pm

Thank the French for this, why in the UK we suffer all this EU crap is beyond me.


Edited by anadin - 6/20/11 at 2:00pm
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post #6 of 10
6/20/11 at 2:10pm

Its a fucking joke, i wanted better SQ but cant tell if its better because its barely audible

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post #7 of 10
6/20/11 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by anadin View Post

Thank the French for this, why in the UK we suffer all this EU crap is beyond me.



because they are so spectacularly lazy, im sure sony would be better off just refusing to sell products in france rather than cripple their products across the continent.  for once its not the EU as a whole at fault, just the french and sony being lazy

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post #8 of 10
6/24/11 at 2:45am
Thread Starter 

My advice is that if anyone in the EU wants a loud Sony DAP then buy an old EU pre2010 model or the American/Asian current model off eBay. If anyone cannot get those models and have to make do with Sony's terrible EU volume limit cap then I highly recommend the purchase of the Fiio E5 amplfier to run Sony's new EU volume limit capped DAPs. 

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post #9 of 10
6/24/11 at 3:07am

I just ended up returning mine..... Hugely disappointed in Sony. Well Cowon has my business now instead

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post #10 of 10
6/24/11 at 5:54am

I never used my EU X Series over 20 out of 30 on volume meter. Usual listening is 15 which is 50% of the volume it can produce. I have not tried any headphones that are not sensitive so I cannot say about those, but if you have 600 Ohm phones you beter use an amp.

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