Want something a bit better sounding than your cell phone, with the ability to carry your whole lossless music collection? Enter, Sony Walkman NW-A35. This new release from Sony features five Panasonic POSCAP capacitors that are supposed to strengthen the power output from the previous generation. Speaking of power output, this player features the new Sony S-Master HX amp, which is also present within their more premium flagship players.
My first exposure to the A35 was at 2017’s CanJam in NYC. They had the A35 paired up with their MDR-1000x noise canceling headphones. The LDAC performance as a noticeable step up from standard Bluetooth and the MDR-1000x perform well above any NC headphones I had ever heard previously. Being a New Yorker that commutes on the audibly brash public transit daily, I was interested. A few months by and now I find myself with both.
External Design and UI:
Sony has once again utilized its “Loop Surface” external design language, as this player looks like a micro version of one of their flagship smartphones. I’m glad to see that they are now offering different colors, the red one I have is particularly striking against the black screen.
The player’s physical button layout is both logical and precise. The play and volume up buttons have some ribbing, so you can easily control the player without looking at it. Sony also included a hold button, which certainly helps defend against accidental screen clicks.
When I first got the player, I was a bit disappointed with the firmware. Scrolling was sluggish, and sometimes buttons had some delay. Now, on version 1.20, most of that is gone. The player is just as smooth as my previous AK player and has a pretty decent layout. You have a back, currently playing, library, and settings button sitting below the screen viewing area. Most people should be able to use it upon first use without issue.
Connectivity:
The player has a standard 3.5mm jack that puts out 35mW per channel @ 16Ω and also features NFC pairing, and SBC Bluetooth with LDAC support. I bought this player for the LDAC support, as my phone only has SBC Bluetooth, NOT a modern, high res audio codec like AptX or LDAC. Pairing the player with my MDR-1000x was easy as cake thanks to the NFC. All I have to do is tap the player to my left ear cup to pair. Once connected, I rarely experience any quality loss of interference. The radio they put in here seems to be a good one, much unlike my Google Pixel, which cuts out with any sudden movement. One thing my Pixel does do better, though, is remember the devices I connect to. With the Pixel, I turn on the headphones and they auto connect. With the Sony player, you have to re-connect from the menu each time, or use NFC (but many devices don't have that feature)
Sound Quality:
This player does not color the sound. If you are looking for such, move along. What the NW-A35 does give you is proper amplification for nearly any IEM to keep things transparent and presented how the headphone/IEM is tuned. Compared to my Google Pixel, soundstage is wider and the beefed up power output is noticeable.
To Conclude:
Sony has something unique to this player. As competition seems to be trying to make DAPs more like smartphones, Sony still thinks a music player should remain dedicated to the one task – which I appreciate. With such a great physical design, excellent playback ability, 30+ hour battery life, and wireless LDAC, I couldn’t recommend this player more!
My first exposure to the A35 was at 2017’s CanJam in NYC. They had the A35 paired up with their MDR-1000x noise canceling headphones. The LDAC performance as a noticeable step up from standard Bluetooth and the MDR-1000x perform well above any NC headphones I had ever heard previously. Being a New Yorker that commutes on the audibly brash public transit daily, I was interested. A few months by and now I find myself with both.
External Design and UI:
Sony has once again utilized its “Loop Surface” external design language, as this player looks like a micro version of one of their flagship smartphones. I’m glad to see that they are now offering different colors, the red one I have is particularly striking against the black screen.
The player’s physical button layout is both logical and precise. The play and volume up buttons have some ribbing, so you can easily control the player without looking at it. Sony also included a hold button, which certainly helps defend against accidental screen clicks.
When I first got the player, I was a bit disappointed with the firmware. Scrolling was sluggish, and sometimes buttons had some delay. Now, on version 1.20, most of that is gone. The player is just as smooth as my previous AK player and has a pretty decent layout. You have a back, currently playing, library, and settings button sitting below the screen viewing area. Most people should be able to use it upon first use without issue.
Connectivity:
The player has a standard 3.5mm jack that puts out 35mW per channel @ 16Ω and also features NFC pairing, and SBC Bluetooth with LDAC support. I bought this player for the LDAC support, as my phone only has SBC Bluetooth, NOT a modern, high res audio codec like AptX or LDAC. Pairing the player with my MDR-1000x was easy as cake thanks to the NFC. All I have to do is tap the player to my left ear cup to pair. Once connected, I rarely experience any quality loss of interference. The radio they put in here seems to be a good one, much unlike my Google Pixel, which cuts out with any sudden movement. One thing my Pixel does do better, though, is remember the devices I connect to. With the Pixel, I turn on the headphones and they auto connect. With the Sony player, you have to re-connect from the menu each time, or use NFC (but many devices don't have that feature)
Sound Quality:
This player does not color the sound. If you are looking for such, move along. What the NW-A35 does give you is proper amplification for nearly any IEM to keep things transparent and presented how the headphone/IEM is tuned. Compared to my Google Pixel, soundstage is wider and the beefed up power output is noticeable.
To Conclude:
Sony has something unique to this player. As competition seems to be trying to make DAPs more like smartphones, Sony still thinks a music player should remain dedicated to the one task – which I appreciate. With such a great physical design, excellent playback ability, 30+ hour battery life, and wireless LDAC, I couldn’t recommend this player more!
