After Fuze a Sony A845 for 160USD?
Dec 1, 2012 at 8:57 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 20
honfoglalo

honfoglalo

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My Sansa Fuze has broken, and now I am using a Clip+ (from my mother) with a Brainwavz M2 earphone.
 
In my country now I can buy a Sony A845 (16Gb) player for less than 160USD (Everything is more expensive here unfortunately than e.g. in the US). I could buy a Fuze for 90USD from the ebay, although I liked the Fuze, its screen and build quality is not on the top..
What do you think, would it be a good choice for the more 70USD to get the Sony? I have to decide urgently, cuz its the last model in the shop.
 
Thanks for your help!
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 11:46 AM Post #2 of 20
It depends - it doesn't have the microSD slot like a Fuze and you can't put Rockbox on it.
 
That said, all the Sonys have good sound and are quality players... I'd buy a Sony over a Sansa anything.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 12:41 PM Post #4 of 20
Quote:
honfoglalo said:
16Gb is enough for me and I never use the Rockbox on the Fuze. The question is: will be the Sq worse from the Sony than the Fuze?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't think so. Every Sony that I have had has sounded very nice to me.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 12:50 PM Post #5 of 20
My concern..
"As part of it, hiss is heavy and in your face. I use sensitive earphones such as the FitEars Private 333, Earsonics SM3, Victor FX500, and even the stock earphones and all hiss - a lot. I consider this a big problem with sound, especially as players from Apple, Cowon, Microsoft and others don't hiss nearly as much. Is it too much to ask Sony, a company known far and wide for sound products, for a clear signal? The hiss permeates everything, like a think blanket on music or under music: nothing is 100% clear.

This is the same with every single Sony I've owned except for the S636 which for some reason was about as noisy as the Sansa Fuze V2 (so only a little more than I like). 

The other annoying thing is: this badboy has a clicking artefact in the background which echoes at regular intervals ALL THE TIME. It is quiet though and if you are not bothered by Sony hiss (how in the name of God is that possible), then you may not find it a big (or even small problem)."
 
from http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53732#post455091
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 12:54 PM Post #6 of 20
They do have difficulty driving BA iems - the A865 couldn't drive my Klipsch properly. I mean, they sounded worse than earbuds with the Sony.
 
 I was mostly using the Senn IE8s I had with the A845 and I thought it was a good player.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 12:54 PM Post #7 of 20
Quote:
honfoglalo said:
My concern..
"As part of it, hiss is heavy and in your face. I use sensitive earphones such as the FitEars Private 333, Earsonics SM3, Victor FX500, and even the stock earphones and all hiss - a lot. I consider this a big problem with sound, especially as players from Apple, Cowon, Microsoft and others don't hiss nearly as much. Is it too much to ask Sony, a company known far and wide for sound products, for a clear signal? The hiss permeates everything, like a think blanket on music or under music: nothing is 100% clear.

This is the same with every single Sony I've owned except for the S636 which for some reason was about as noisy as the Sansa Fuze V2 (so only a little more than I like). 

The other annoying thing is: this badboy has a clicking artefact in the background which echoes at regular intervals ALL THE TIME. It is quiet though and if you are not bothered by Sony hiss (how in the name of God is that possible), then you may not find it a big (or even small problem)."
 
from http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53732#post455091
Click to expand...

For me, I never use IEM's, so hiss is not a concern. If you do use them, maybe it could be an issue.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 1:40 PM Post #9 of 20
The screen and build quality, the UI are all better than a Fuze, plus the EQ enhancements are better unless you Rockbox the Sansa.
 
But you most likely will have problems with BA iems like the SM3.. I, personally, could live with that as long as I had other iems that go well with the Sony.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 2:08 PM Post #11 of 20
Any dynamic driver iems will be fine with the Sony, just BA ones it has problems with.(hiss and worse)
 
And there probably is a way to correct hiss with a LOD/headphone amp. I'm not too sure about this - I only listened to my Klipsch with the Sony A865 long enough to realise that it sounded bad and no EQ'ing would compensate.
 
Perhaps someone better educated about this than I will post.
 
Dec 1, 2012 at 7:05 PM Post #12 of 20
Quote:
honfoglalo said:
My concern..
"As part of it, hiss is heavy and in your face. I use sensitive earphones such as the FitEars Private 333, Earsonics SM3, Victor FX500, and even the stock earphones and all hiss - a lot. I consider this a big problem with sound, especially as players from Apple, Cowon, Microsoft and others don't hiss nearly as much. Is it too much to ask Sony, a company known far and wide for sound products, for a clear signal? The hiss permeates everything, like a think blanket on music or under music: nothing is 100% clear.

This is the same with every single Sony I've owned except for the S636 which for some reason was about as noisy as the Sansa Fuze V2 (so only a little more than I like). 

The other annoying thing is: this badboy has a clicking artefact in the background which echoes at regular intervals ALL THE TIME. It is quiet though and if you are not bothered by Sony hiss (how in the name of God is that possible), then you may not find it a big (or even small problem)."
 
from http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53732#post455091
Click to expand...


I just plugged my XBA-4 (balanced armature) into my new NWZ-A844 (8GB, hey it was a good price for another non-US / our prices usually suck country)... No hiss what so ever, sounds great... The hiss might affect EU models only? I'm only guessing. If the one you saw isn't an EU model buy it and be happy.
 
Dec 2, 2012 at 10:02 AM Post #14 of 20
Quote:
honfoglalo said:
Its an EU model unfortunately.
Click to expand...

You can buy an LOD cable and use an amp with it and that will get around the player's issue with BA IEMs.
 
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