[Szadzik]

Amazon.de sells them for 307 Euro, which is not a bad price, might pick one up as a replacement for my X-1060

 

[ramordep]

sharing picture of the not so famous Walkman A866
 

 

[nonsupremous]

Good pic.  How are you enjoying that Walkman?

 

[TonySunshine]

Hey where did you get that LOD?
Quote:

sharing picture of the not so famous Walkman A866
 
 

 
 

 

[purk]

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i sold my Sony S755 + fiio e5 and was planning to buy a cowon J3, until i saw this on the market.
can anyone tell me which is generally better? cowon j3 or sony A866?
 
i like instrument separation and drum beats, but still i want a clear sound with huge soundstage.
how does BBE compare to Sony's S-Master MX amp? i haven't heard bbe, so i dunno.

Well, the BBE is a sound enhancement featured in the Cowon unit.  From my memory, it is pretty impressive.  However the S-Master MX is a digital amp inside the X, A, and Z series walkman.  Unlike other players, these Sony units don't have a DAC.  It is basically the same technology as their Flagship HT receiver back in the early 2000, the Sony STR-DA9000ES ($4500).  I doubt any player beside the DX100 and H801 can compete with the Sony without the use of external amplification.  You can read more about it here.  I have the Z1060 right now and its headphone output is a noticeable upgrade from my X1060.
 
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/ES_STR_05_Final.pdf
 

 

[akasan]

I have the A865 and have the Z for a week now.  The A865 is good,  the Z puts out the best sound I have ever heard from any portable source.  Every time I've bought (and returned) a cowon (the X5 and the S9 I couldn't shake the digital (not exactly sure if this is the right way to describe it) feeling of the sound, also poor UI compared to other players.  i have not used the J3 although have played with it at BH and I would say the UI is an upgrade.
Quote:

Well, the BBE is a sound enhancement featured in the Cowon unit.  From my memory, it is pretty impressive.  However the S-Master MX is a digital amp inside the X, A, and Z series walkman.  Unlike other players, these Sony units don't have a DAC.  It is basically the same technology as their Flagship HT receiver back in the early 2000, the Sony STR-DA9000ES ($4500).  I doubt any player beside the DX100 and H801 can compete with the Sony without the use of external amplification.  You can read more about it here.  I have the Z1060 right now and its headphone output is a noticeable upgrade from my X1060.
 
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/ES_STR_05_Final.pdf
 

 

 

[purk]

Quote:

I have the A865 and have the Z for a week now.  The A865 is good,  the Z puts out the best sound I have ever heard from any portable source.  Every time I've bought (and returned) a cowon (the X5 and the S9 I couldn't shake the digital (not exactly sure if this is the right way to describe it) feeling of the sound, also poor UI compared to other players.  i have not used the J3 although have played with it at BH and I would say the UI is an upgrade.


 

Thanks for your input as I'm thinking about buying the A867 for myself if fund is permitted.  If the sound comparison b/w the two are true, the Z may just have more real estate to house a better or beefier version of the S-master Pro MX amplifier inside the unit.

 

[suburbanite]

Has anyone had both the NWZ-A86# and Ipod Touch or Classic?
 
I love my NWZ-A865 but I want more capacity and am looking at the NWZ-A867 v. a Refurbished iPod Touch 64gb or Ipod Classic.
 
The latter two would be supportable by my local Apple Stores, the former wouldn't.
 
I want this only for high-fi music, not video or anything else.
 
Thoughts?

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

Well, the BBE is a sound enhancement featured in the Cowon unit.  From my memory, it is pretty impressive.  However the S-Master MX is a digital amp inside the X, A, and Z series walkman.  Unlike other players, these Sony units don't have a DAC.  It is basically the same technology as their Flagship HT receiver back in the early 2000, the Sony STR-DA9000ES ($4500).  I doubt any player beside the DX100 and H801 can compete with the Sony without the use of external amplification.  You can read more about it here.  I have the Z1060 right now and its headphone output is a noticeable upgrade from my X1060.
 
http://www.docs.sony.com/release/ES_STR_05_Final.pdf
 

Enjoyed reading documentation. Has it been confirmed in any way that the S Master in X, Z and A series is based on the tech from those receivers? Is the A series really that good? 


Quote:

I have the A865 and have the Z for a week now.  The A865 is good,  the Z puts out the best sound I have ever heard from any portable source.  Every time I've bought (and returned) a cowon (the X5 and the S9 I couldn't shake the digital (not exactly sure if this is the right way to describe it) feeling of the sound, also poor UI compared to other players.  i have not used the J3 although have played with it at BH and I would say the UI is an upgrade.


 

I would probably go for the Z1070 as it seems to be the most logical upgrae from the X, but battery life on Android and its huge size (almost the same as my phone) is a bi no-go for me. If I were to get something huge I would get DX100. 
 
I am really torn between flac support, uSD and great battery life of the Cowon J3 and the A867/ Z1070/ DX100. 
 
 
 

 

[purk]

Quote:

 


Enjoyed reading documentation. Has it been confirmed in any way that the S Master in X, Z and A series is based on the tech from those receivers? Is the A series really that good? 


I would probably go for the Z1070 as it seems to be the most logical upgrae from the X, but battery life on Android and its huge size (almost the same as my phone) is a bi no-go for me. If I were to get something huge I would get DX100. 
 
I am really torn between flac support, uSD and great battery life of the Cowon J3 and the A867/ Z1070/ DX100. 
 
 
 

Well, the "S-Master Pro" was the code name for Sony Digital developed back in the early 2000's.  I'm quite sure it is likely the same technology otherwise, why using pretty much the same name.  My X & Z are really great sounding especially the Z.  The Z has no business sounding this good without any sound enhancement.  You can also use Poweramp app to play FLAC so I see that as non issue.  Sadly, Sony went conservative on us and decided not to export the 1070 w/ 64GB of on board memory to any where beside Japan.
 

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

Well, the "S-Master Pro" was the code name for Sony Digital developed back in the early 2000's.  I'm quite sure it is likely the same technology otherwise, why using pretty much the same name.  My X & Z are really great sounding especially the Z.  The Z has no business sounding this good without any sound enhancement.  You can also use Poweramp app to play FLAC so I see that as non issue.  Sadly, Sony went conservative on us and decided not to export the 1070 w/ 64GB of on board memory to any where beside Japan.
 

Yeah, well. The whole thing with limited memory because of no SD slot, not flac support on A series and the hugeness of the Z I am more and more thiking abotut DX100. It has its own issues though.
 

 

[purk]

Quote:

 


Yeah, well. The whole thing with limited memory because of no SD slot, not flac support on A series and the hugeness of the Z I am more and more thiking abotut DX100. It has its own issues though.
 

 
Honestly, the DX100 should and must sound quite a bit better than the Z given its form-factor.  Still, the Z1070 + Headamp Pico may still be smaller and cheaper as well as better sounding than the stand alone DX100.  I'm only speaking of headphones out via top flight IEM of course.  I personally would love to get the DX100, but it just too thick for me to be portable.

 

[Szadzik]

 
Quote:

 
Honestly, the DX100 should and must sound quite a bit better than the Z given its form-factor.  Still, the Z1070 + Headamp Pico may still be smaller and cheaper as well as better sounding than the stand alone DX100.  I'm only speaking of headphones out via top flight IEM of course.  I personally would love to get the DX100, but it just too thick for me to be portable.

 
No amps for me. I've already been there and with IEMs or earbuds I see no need for one in most cases. Thickness itself is not as big an issue as the fact that you cannot charge fit from a portable battery pack. 
 
Z1070 is a PMP and I do not really need such capabilities as I carry a tablet around just for movies anyway. 
 
Seems like J3 and A series should still be quite high on my list

 

[Bettarn]

Just signed up here to let UK residents know that Advanced MP3 Players have a limited time deal (about 35 hours left, as I write) on the 64GB A867 for £199. Unfortunately, they can't offer this deal to Europe (don't know about ROW).
 
Been looking to upgrade from my old S639F - which I dearly love - for a while now. This was too good to miss and has kept me from the clutches of the ubiquitous iPod......  
 
I'll follow up with my opinions when it arrives.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Just signed up here to let UK residents know that Advanced MP3 Players have a limited time deal (about 35 hours left, as I write) on the 64GB A867 for £199. Unfortunately, they can't offer this deal to Europe (don't know about ROW).
 
Been looking to upgrade from my old S639F - which I dearly love - for a while now. This was too good to miss and has kept me from the clutches of the ubiquitous iPod......  
 
I'll follow up with my opinions when it arrives.

Thanks for this.  Do you happen to know if they ship to USA?  I did place an order but not quite sure if they will be processed and ship here.