[Robert777]

What i felt was that there was more driving power and by this i dont mean volume. The added power from the amp provided and more dynamic SQ for my ears. I also tried it with the Fiio A5 and the results were very pleasing.

Did you connect the A5 via the headphone out or the WM port on the A35?

I am considering the A35 stacked with an amp, but I really do not want to purchase one of Sony's proprietary WM cables. I mean, I can take a slight hit on sound quality from double amping, but not if it is completely unlistenable.

Cheers.

 

[superuser1]

I just used the HO to the A5 as well as the E17k Alpen 2.

 

[mohdkhamsya]

What i felt was that there was more driving power and by this i dont mean volume. The added power from the amp provided and more dynamic SQ for my ears. I also tried it with the Fiio A5 and the results were very pleasing.

Thanks. This is a big issue for me with this player. I really wanted to like it but it just doesn't drive my ciems to its full potential as someone else pointed out. It does a really decent job but I always find myself reaching for my dx80 after a while. I'll probably return this. Is there anything else out there in this price range worth looking at? Something that can challenge the venerable dx80 (and dx90)?

 

[Wiz33]

Thanks. This is a big issue for me with this player. I really wanted to like it but it just doesn't drive my ciems to its full potential as someone else pointed out. It does a really decent job but I always find myself reaching for my dx80 after a while. I'll probably return this. Is there anything else out there in this price range worth looking at? Something that can challenge the venerable dx80 (and dx90)?

Yea, the A35 is a compromise in some ways. Since I know that my Z5 sound fuller on my HA-P50, Logically, using a HS-P90SD as my DAP will give me a better portable experience. But is the extra bulk, weight and shorter battery life worth it? My solution is keeping the Z5 for home use and bought a pair of XBA-N3 to use with the A35. Not as good as the Z5 or even the A3 is some ways, but good enough while I'm on the go.

I actually have a Fiio Q1 sitting around. I should get the Sony Walkman line out cable so I can send line level from the A35 to the Q1 and give that a try with the Z5 just for the fun of it. The Q1 is small and not too heavy and if it works for 18 hours as advertised, It'll last me 2 weeks between charge. This will let me use the Z5 on long trips away from home.

 

[davidcotton]

The Sony Conundrum!

According to gentec Sony's Canadian online dealer we are looking at at least 4 more weeks before the A35 is available in Canada. That means end of June or even the beginning of July. We will likely start to hear about the A40 series sometime between mid-September and October of this year. I assume this because it follows Sony's yearly product cycle. So if I have to wait until July to get the A35 should I then just wait a couple more months to see what Sony has in store for the A40?

Much like with the A10 to A20 transition I am not expecting huge design changes from the A30 to the A40. Might we see Sony add AptX support back in along with bookmarking and podcast support? Those who are unhappy about these features being taken out of the A30 series I doubt you will get them back. If Sony did add them in with a firmware update to the A30 series it could limit the upgrade appeal of the A40 series. I am also praying that Sony offers the higher storage A46 and A47 without the noise cancelling earbuds. It seems from this forum at least that most are opting for the A35 over the A36 and A37 with the earbuds.

Likely by September-October we should get to see what Fiio has in store for the X3-III and Cayin is promising further firmware updates for the N3. As it stands now the N3 is also not available in Canada yet, hopefully soon. I guess I will just wait and see what unfolds in the next month or so and decide whether to wait or pull the trigger.

Let's take your points from the top (as I still haven't learned how to quote properly thanks to the new site!).

1)Assumption=bad. Sure there could be an A40 announced in the near future (are we really nearly half way through the year? Yikes!) or there could not be. No harm in waiting, but if you want the sony a35 when it becomes available in your neck of the woods go ahead and get one. You can always try to sell it on headfi later on if Sony do release more players. As I recall it was closer to february/march time before it came out in the uk anyway.

2)IF they add bookmark features to the hypothetical A40 series I would seriously want to know why it couldn't have been added or been on the a35 series from the start. To give Sony credit they did release a couple of firmware releases right at the start (and one of them did fix an issue I had where mp3 playback was stuttering at the start of certain songs). It would depend on the form factor of the player released. If it is similar to what it is now then it could be the perfect player. For me it is so frustrating. Everything is right about it apart from that one feature for me. Size, battery life, screen response (particularly after the firmware fixes), gapless actually working, price and no bloody stupid volume knob! So if an A40 series is coming depending on price and form factor then I could be very interested in it. The A35 can become relegated to emergency back up player in my bag (because there is nothing worse then being stuck at work with no music!).

3)IF we are waiting on what other competitors are doing then it could be a long wait indeed! The other player I am mainly interested right now is the new forthcoming android player from hidiz. The downside to that one is the usual achilles heel of android players having about 12 hours battery life which is woeful frankly. I've nearly bought a pioneer xdp100r on warehouse sale on amazon this week (at least half price off) but something's just kept me from pulling the trigger. Didn't like the fiio x5-III much when I tried it either. Don't need apps, just a decent mp3 player thanks muchly. If Apple were to release either a 32 gig nano or a 128 gig touch without camera (where I work has a security ban on cameras for client confidentiality)I would get one of those and be done with. UI just works, no firmware updates required out of the box for the majority of things to work and so on and so forth. Much as I hate itunes (one of the driving forces for me getting a sony in the first place was to dump itunes!), apple hardware just works.

Cheers

 

[Wiz33]

The Sony Conundrum!

According to gentec Sony's Canadian online dealer we are looking at at least 4 more weeks before the A35 is available in Canada. That means end of June or even the beginning of July. We will likely start to hear about the A40 series sometime between mid-September and October of this year. I assume this because it follows Sony's yearly product cycle. So if I have to wait until July to get the A35 should I then just wait a couple more months to see what Sony has in store for the A40?

Much like with the A10 to A20 transition I am not expecting huge design changes from the A30 to the A40. Might we see Sony add AptX support back in along with bookmarking and podcast support? Those who are unhappy about these features being taken out of the A30 series I doubt you will get them back. If Sony did add them in with a firmware update to the A30 series it could limit the upgrade appeal of the A40 series. I am also praying that Sony offers the higher storage A46 and A47 without the noise cancelling earbuds. It seems from this forum at least that most are opting for the A35 over the A36 and A37 with the earbuds.

Likely by September-October we should get to see what Fiio has in store for the X3-III and Cayin is promising further firmware updates for the N3. As it stands now the N3 is also not available in Canada yet, hopefully soon. I guess I will just wait and see what unfolds in the next month or so and decide whether to wait or pull the trigger.

No conundrum. My motto is "Don't buy for the future but also don't wait for the next great thing". If you don't really have a need for it (like you already have a decent DAP), then fine, wait for the next great thing. But if you have a need for it (as in the A35 will be a noticeable improvement to your current setup), then buy it from offshore or just wait the extra month to get it locally. Even if they do come out with a A40, Given Sony's record in Canada, it'll once against be behind the rest of world by a large margin. At the end of the day. We're talking about a few hundred dollars, not a $5000 OLED big screen. You want it and you seems to have a use for it. Get it now. Who knows, you might get struck by lightning and die or win the lotto tomorrow ;-P

 

[fish1050]

No conundrum. My motto is "Don't buy for the future but also don't wait for the next great thing". If you don't really have a need for it (like you already have a decent DAP), then fine, wait for the next great thing. But if you have a need for it (as in the A35 will be a noticeable improvement to your current setup), then buy it from offshore or just wait the extra month to get it locally. Even if they do come out with a A40, Given Sony's record in Canada, it'll once against be behind the rest of world by a large margin. At the end of the day. We're talking about a few hundred dollars, not a $5000 OLED big screen. You want it and you seems to have a use for it. Get it now. Who knows, you might get struck by lightning and die or win the lotto tomorrow ;-P

Let's take your points from the top (as I still haven't learned how to quote properly thanks to the new site!).

1)Assumption=bad. Sure there could be an A40 announced in the near future (are we really nearly half way through the year? Yikes!) or there could not be. No harm in waiting, but if you want the sony a35 when it becomes available in your neck of the woods go ahead and get one. You can always try to sell it on headfi later on if Sony do release more players. As I recall it was closer to february/march time before it came out in the uk anyway.

2)IF they add bookmark features to the hypothetical A40 series I would seriously want to know why it couldn't have been added or been on the a35 series from the start. To give Sony credit they did release a couple of firmware releases right at the start (and one of them did fix an issue I had where mp3 playback was stuttering at the start of certain songs). It would depend on the form factor of the player released. If it is similar to what it is now then it could be the perfect player. For me it is so frustrating. Everything is right about it apart from that one feature for me. Size, battery life, screen response (particularly after the firmware fixes), gapless actually working, price and no bloody stupid volume knob! So if an A40 series is coming depending on price and form factor then I could be very interested in it. The A35 can become relegated to emergency back up player in my bag (because there is nothing worse then being stuck at work with no music!).

3)IF we are waiting on what other competitors are doing then it could be a long wait indeed! The other player I am mainly interested right now is the new forthcoming android player from hidiz. The downside to that one is the usual achilles heel of android players having about 12 hours battery life which is woeful frankly. I've nearly bought a pioneer xdp100r on warehouse sale on amazon this week (at least half price off) but something's just kept me from pulling the trigger. Didn't like the fiio x5-III much when I tried it either. Don't need apps, just a decent mp3 player thanks muchly. If Apple were to release either a 32 gig nano or a 128 gig touch without camera (where I work has a security ban on cameras for client confidentiality)I would get one of those and be done with. UI just works, no firmware updates required out of the box for the majority of things to work and so on and so forth. Much as I hate itunes (one of the driving forces for me getting a sony in the first place was to dump itunes!), apple hardware just works.

Cheers

1. Firstly, Sony is a retail electronics company and they run on a yearly product cycle. So I will bet the farm there will be an A40 series and Sony will need to add something to it that the A30 series does not have. Otherwise there is no reason to upgrade. The A20 series was the same device as the A10 except for an improved equalizer and noise cancelling. Neither of which I needed so I did not upgrade. I am only speculating about what Sony will add and bookmarking and podcast support could be two features. The lack of AptX support on the A35 is the main reason I am not 100% sold on getting the A35 as my A17 has it. So I am hoping it will be there on the A40 series. As for speculating on availability gentec is Sony Canada's chosen official online seller. When you click on the buy online option on the Sony Canada website you go to the gentec website. This tells me that gentec would likely be the first site to have an official availability date and this is the site Sony told to start taking pre-orders. You are correct the A40 series won't be available right away in Canada. But the A10 and A20 series did not get released in Canada until November and December respectively. The fact the A35 should be available much earlier this year means I may not have to wait as long for the A40 next year. If I only have to wait a couple more months after the A35 becomes available to find out about the A40 then why not wait? If the A40 does not have AptX then I have my answer and I can choose another DAP. I have my trusty A17 which was replaced new last August by Sony when I put in a battery replacement claim. So the A17 may be a 3 year old model but my replacement is only 9 months old and paired with my Q1 sounds quite good. I can afford to be patient and only buy when I find the perfect DAP for me. Also keep in mind that Black Friday and Christmas time this year could bring good deals. Especially if the A40 is announced before then.

2. As I already stated adding bookmarking and podcast support to the A35 lessens the appeal of upgrading to the next model released, presumably the A40. Sony isn't going to give features to an already released product when they can add it to the next model. Fifteen years selling audio products including Sony's tells me that much. Sony could have put noise cancelling on the A10 series but then why release the A20 series? Sony added support for LDAC to the A10 after release but the A10 already had bluetooth and they wanted the A10 series to work with their LDAC capable wireless speakers to boost sales. Sony will add a feature to an existing product if it is in their financial best interest. Adding bookmarking and or podcast support does not do that on the A35. I may be wrong but the next product release cycle starts in a few months so if Sony hasn't added bookmarking and podcast support already then don't hold your breath. Sony will be focusing on their new products to be released in the fall and if there are no more issues with the A35 you likely won't see anymore firmware updates.

3. As for waiting on other competitors, I am already waiting on the A35 so no harm in waiting for news of competitors offerings. I just found out that the Cayin N3 will be available from a store in Toronto next Tuesday. That is another DAP I am considering so now I will be able to audition it. As for buying the A35 and then selling it later you will take a financial hit each time you sell something. I am not a collector of DAP's, I buy one DAP at a time an choose the best one for my needs. It makes no sense to me having multiple DAP's as I can only listen to one at a time. Playing Russian roulette with my DAP purchases isn't something I can afford to do as I have much more important things to worry about.

When Sony chose to leave off AptX on the A35 it opened the door to me considering other manufacturers DAP's. The Cayin N3 is one, the Fiio X3-III may be another and if possible I would like the chance to audition them all and then buy the one that I like best. If the A40 looks like a better option and I am not sold on any of the other 3 then I can afford to wait until next year. God knows how many other DAP's will hit the market later this year and patience is a virtue when it comes to making the best decision.

 

[fish1050]

No conundrum. My motto is "Don't buy for the future but also don't wait for the next great thing". If you don't really have a need for it (like you already have a decent DAP), then fine, wait for the next great thing. But if you have a need for it (as in the A35 will be a noticeable improvement to your current setup), then buy it from offshore or just wait the extra month to get it locally. Even if they do come out with a A40, Given Sony's record in Canada, it'll once against be behind the rest of world by a large margin. At the end of the day. We're talking about a few hundred dollars, not a $5000 OLED big screen. You want it and you seems to have a use for it. Get it now. Who knows, you might get struck by lightning and die or win the lotto tomorrow ;-P

Well that is just it really,

What does the A35 offer that the A17 doesn't already have? Yes it has more power but the difference is marginal and my Q1 takes care of the power. For me the touchscreen adds no value as I prefer buttons, a better equalizer which I don't use, DSD support I won't use. The A17 has more onboard memory, longer battery life, AptX bluetooth support, podcast and bookmarking support. So if I am going to upgrade to the A35 there has to be a compelling reason. In many ways comparing features the A35 is a step back from the A17. Now I would like to stick with Sony as my home receiver supports LDAC and AptX. But I also have a couple of wireless speakers that have AptX but not LDAC support. Most of my friends and family have AptX capable speakers as well. So AptX is an important feature for me. I also use MediaGo software to work with and load my tracks onto my A17 yet another reason to stick with Sony. For me it is worthwhile to wait for an A40 to see if AptX will be included. This would make it worthwhile for me to wait until next year to get an A40. If the A40 will not support AptX then I may need to consider moving away from Sony. I will still be able to use AptX on my home receiver and on all mine and my friends wireless speakers if I go with another manufacturer like Cayin.

So the decision for me isn't as simple as buying now and not waiting for the future. Sony's present offering in the A35 doesn't give me an important feature I want. The future Sony A40 or whatever hopefully will. Either way if I can hold off until say October I will get a definite answer on what my future DAP purchase should be.

 

[Wiz33]

Well that is just it really,

What does the A35 offer that the A17 doesn't already have? Yes it has more power but the difference is marginal and my Q1 takes care of the power. For me the touchscreen adds no value as I prefer buttons, a better equalizer which I don't use, DSD support I won't use. The A17 has more onboard memory, longer battery life, AptX bluetooth support, podcast and bookmarking support. So if I am going to upgrade to the A35 there has to be a compelling reason. In many ways comparing features the A35 is a step back from the A17. Now I would like to stick with Sony as my home receiver supports LDAC and AptX. But I also have a couple of wireless speakers that have AptX but not LDAC support. Most of my friends and family have AptX capable speakers as well. So AptX is an important feature for me. I also use MediaGo software to work with and load my tracks onto my A17 yet another reason to stick with Sony. For me it is worthwhile to wait for an A40 to see if AptX will be included. This would make it worthwhile for me to wait until next year to get an A40. If the A40 will not support AptX then I may need to consider moving away from Sony. I will still be able to use AptX on my home receiver and on all mine and my friends wireless speakers if I go with another manufacturer like Cayin.

So the decision for me isn't as simple as buying now and not waiting for the future. Sony's present offering in the A35 doesn't give me an important feature I want. The future Sony A40 or whatever hopefully will. Either way if I can hold off until say October I will get a definite answer on what my future DAP purchase should be.

Then you fall under the "Don't buy for the future" rule, You already have something that's perfectly fine and useable. While the A35 does offer some improvements, it's not dramatically enough to warrant a must buy so you can definitely wait and see what else comes along. The way that you were setup about Sony Canada delay give me the impression that you're in need of a decent DAP but you already got one.

 

[Partlys4int]

For me the touchscreen adds no value as I prefer buttons, a better equalizer which I don't use, DSD support I won't use. The A17 has more onboard memory, longer battery life, AptX bluetooth support, podcast and bookmarking support. So if I am going to upgrade to the A35 there has to be a compelling reason

Especially as I'm starting to see more and more well-designed neckband bluetooth in-ear monitors, the lack of aptx on the A30 is becoming more ponderable.

 

[Raketen]

Especially as I'm starting to see more and more well-designed neckband bluetooth in-ear monitors, the lack of aptx on the A30 is becoming more ponderable.

No AptX? that's unfortunate, though Sony do at least make an LDAC BT band for MMCX headphones... i suppose you can always use regular bluetooth connection as well.

 

[Wiz33]

Especially as I'm starting to see more and more well-designed neckband bluetooth in-ear monitors, the lack of aptx on the A30 is becoming more ponderable.

Aptx HD doesn't offer any advantage over normal BT on any 16bit based format (m4a, FLAC,etc). the only time you'll see a difference is with 24 bit 48 but then again it can't handle 24 bit 96 or DSD without lost so it's also kind of useless. once you get into Hi-Res music. The only current solution that will get you 24/96 and DSD lossless is LDAC.

 

[Wiz33]

No AptX? that's unfortunate, though Sony do at least make an LDAC BT band for MMCX headphones... i suppose you can always use regular bluetooth connection as well.

Actually, that how I ended up with the A35. I've been using XBA IEMs for a few years starting with the XBA-20/30 then A3, N3 then Z5. Once I start buying Hi-Res music online. I notice that the normal BT solution will not be able to handle them. Then I saw the new MUC-M2BT1 BT neckband and saw that it has LDAC and went looking for a Sony Walkman and ended up with an A35. My current on the go solution is A35 with a set of XBA-N3 attached to the MUC-M2BT1 and it's working out great.

 

[AxelCloris]

NW-A35 is also great when using LDAC with the MDR-1000X. I may have to look into that wireless neckband.

 

[Stereodude]

I don't know why some of you think aptX is going to come back. Sony's all in on LDAC and that's what they're supporting now. aptX has disappeared from all their products and LDAC has shown up. A reversal would be quite unlikely. Especially this early into the game. In a few years if LDAC totally fizzles in the market you might seem them adopt a competing format, but it's not going to happen at this stage of the game.