[Earwicker]

There's no cap on volume, it goes very loud, and on the whole the sound quality's stellar for a PMP.

 

[tds101]

Quote:

There's no cap on volume, it goes very loud, and on the whole the sound quality's stellar for a PMP.

Eh, I can deal with no gapless support (I wish I didn't have to, mind you), and if the volume cap isn't in effect on these I might consider importing one for myself then. I just want the satisfaction of knowing that if something goes wrong with it I'd have a USA warranty to keep my piece of mind in effect. Ordering it from Advanced mp3 Players in the EU voids my warranty - it's international & Sony won't support an unreleased player in the USA. Well, it's released - just not the 64gb model - darn it!!! 

 
Question: Does Advanced mp3 Players  have an international warranty? I never bothered before, as I only ordered players in the sub-$100USD range.
 

 

[4migos]

Quote:

That might be the case now, but I'm almost certain my NWZ-E436F was gapless with LAME MP3s...

yes this old model can definitely play gapless with mp3 format ( the first time i noticed when i listened to oasis familiar to milions, there was no gap between the songs ).. not many people know because not many people buy it , maybe because they think this is a low end models. many prefer to buy the s630/730 series at that time cause its simply the better one... i have a846,a828,s745,s739,s545 and this e436 which i bought almost 3 years ago..

ONLY THIS WALKMAN CAN PLAY GAPLESS WITH MP3 FORMAT!!!!
 
 

 

[Earwicker]

Quote:

yes this old model can definitely play gapless with mp3 format ( the first time i noticed when i listened to oasis familiar to milions, there was no gap between the songs ).. not many people know because not many people buy it , maybe because they think this is a low end models. many prefer to buy the s630/730 series at that time cause its simply the better one... i have a846,a828,s745,s739,s545 and this e436 which i bought almost 3 years ago..

ONLY THIS WALKMAN CAN PLAY GAPLESS WITH MP3 FORMAT!!!!
 
 

Yeah, thanks for that, I was sure my old 346 was gapless! 
 
Very curious regression from Sony... the 865'd have it all if they could sort out gapless support. Oh well, fingers crossed for a firmware update, meantime I'll have to get Foobar to combine my opera recordings into single MP3 files! 

 
 

 

[tds101]

I have that model (S639) and it doesn't play mp3's gapless,...and achmed is dead has it as well - no gapless mp3's on it, sorry.

 

[Achmedisdead]

Quote:

I have that model (S639) and it doesn't play mp3's gapless,...and achmed is dead has it as well - no gapless mp3's on it, sorry.

Yup, that picture in Earwicker's post sure looks like the S639 to me....and if that's what it is, then yeah, no gapless. I've never seen the E436 next to an S639 though....is it possible they would look that much alike?
 

 

[oyster]

No this is not S639, look at those earphones , i'm sure this is E series.
& no E series is not gapless but the gap between tracks is extremely less to be noticeable most of the times. The gap is almost say 1/10th of that offered by A728.

 

[7swell]

Quote:

Yup, that picture in Earwicker's post sure looks like the S639 to me....and if that's what it is, then yeah, no gapless. I've never seen the E436 next to an S639 though....is it possible they would look that much alike?
 

Yes they do look very similar. Before buying an s639, I saw both the E and S models at best buy and there were slight differences. Basically the form factor and layout were exactly the same, but the E436 had more plastic and was a fingerprint magnet. From pictures online you pretty much won't be able to see a difference.
 
 

 

[tds101]

Quote:

No this is not S639, look at those earphones , i'm sure this is E series.
& no E series is not gapless but the gap between tracks is extremely less to be noticeable most of the times. The gap is almost say 1/10th of that offered by A728.

 


Quote:

Yes they do look very similar. Before buying an s639, I saw both the E and S models at best buy and there were slight differences. Basically the form factor and layout were exactly the same, but the E436 had more plastic and was a fingerprint magnet. From pictures online you pretty much won't be able to see a difference.
 
 

 
I find it somewhat hard believe that the lower series (E Series) would get gapless & the more premium S Series wouldn't. Really, not gonna happen. Especially since this has been a major issue w/99% of all of us on all sites across the interwebs. Seriously, unless you can locate the listing that the "E" series model your displaying is gapless, it's not gapless.
 
Now, got that specs link?

 

[4migos]

the spec didn't say if it gapless... but you really have to hear it by yourself to know that fact... yeah maybe just like oyster mention above,it's not completely gapless but it's definitely almost no gap than you can hear to any other walkman.. 
e436

s639

you can see slightly diferent in their shape.. the s slightly taller and slimmer.. sony announced them at the same time about in mid of year 2008...

 

[Kezghan]

god I love me some S639. Just sayin'. Nice to see some talk of it. Great player. Aging well. 865 looks great too.

 

[Earwicker]

Quote:

No this is not S639, look at those earphones , i'm sure this is E series.
& no E series is not gapless but the gap between tracks is extremely less to be noticeable most of the times. The gap is almost say 1/10th of that offered by A728.

Yeah it is the E series. I just borrowed my old E436 from mum and you're right, it isn't gapless but the transitions between tracks are more silent. 
 

 

[Earwicker]

Quote:

 
I find it somewhat hard believe that the lower series (E Series) would get gapless & the more premium S Series wouldn't. Really, not gonna happen. Especially since this has been a major issue w/99% of all of us on all sites across the interwebs

Wonder why Sony haven't fixed it then? The LAME codec's open source, it must be fairly easy to implement a decoder that determines gaps based on MP3 metadata. Especially for a company with Sony's resources! 
 
Perhaps they want everyone to buy iPods instead? 

 

 

[Xymordos]

I think I get what OP means. I found that S-Master seemed to thin out the sound (I found the sound really thin and lightweight) so much that the instrument separation caused massive black spaces to appear in the soundstage, which sounds pretty cool. But when matched with some IEMs, it'll cause a very hollow sound in the mids. 

 

[leylandi]

Sony has just announced a new flagship Walkman at IFA 2011, running you guessed it, Android!!. More as the story develops.  Image source Engadget from the press conference.

Here is a link to CNET and their information about the new prototype, but basically it is an android powered Walkman which is being dubbed the "Walkman Mobile Entertainment Player".  The device ships with S-Master AMP along with noise cancellation.  It can also tap into Sony's Music unlimited service which means it probably has WiFi.

No details on pricing or availability but Nagashima from Sony said, "We are working hard for early introduction of this product."  Hopefully this means soon and this year.  No information on CPU but it comes with a 4.3 inch screen at 800x640 resolution with a non-reflective LCD tech (according to CNET) but the resolution is probably 800x480 and not 640.