[kova4a]

I am curious as the what bit rate you use for you audio tracks with your unit? I ask because I read that DSEE HX requires bit rates of at least 241 kbps or higher to have any affect on sound quality. Below that the quality is to low for it to have any affect. I have had the A17 for over 3 years and played with DSEE HX several times. All of my tracks are either 16 bit flac or 320 kbps AAC or Mp3. With 16 bit flac files I can't hear any difference with DSEE HX on or off and only very minor differences with a few 320 kbps files so I leave it off. As a rule I listen to music with all sound enhancements turned off. Sony's engineers when describing the benefits of DSEE HX use alot of the same verbage describing the benefits of HiRes audio and typically use MP3's when talking about the benefits of using DSEE HX. Since I listen to mostly 16 bit flac I don't really find it makes a difference to me. The areas where we are suppose to hear a difference with DSEE HX are:

• Expansion and depth of the sound field, or in the size of the performance area (such as in large concert halls compared to studios) – you can feel it with the applause of an audience, afterglow of instruments or atmosphere.
• Clarity of the position and separation of each instrument
• Vividness or presence of the performance

Seems to me what Sony describes here could be attributed as much to your choice of headphones as to any real benefit of DSEE HX

Since I don't buy into the HiRes audio hype the idea of DSEE HX improving audio to 24 bit quality is pure marketing hype to me to further the HiRes audio myth. My Sony home receiver has DSEE HX as well and even on my much higher quality home system I find DSEE HX offers no audible benefits for me. I personally would much prefer an Audio Direct feature that bypasses all internal processing vs DSEE HX which supposedly colors the sound to make it sound artificially better.

My Sony receiver has an Audio Direct function as well and to my ears it improves sound quality more than any supposed benefits adding DSEE HX processing to the audio chain does. If Sony is serious about providing the best audio quality from its DAP's then Audio Direct should be an option

Well, I am on head-fi, so of course I have zero low quality files. I have a bunch of mp3s, which I use for burn-in as they use up less battery but all are 320 kbps. Aside from them everything else is in cd quality and above. The DSEE HX does the same thing for mp3 and lossless, so I don't care what the sony engineers say coz it doesn't really do that. As I said it is not a big difference overall but it definitely acts more as an fast roll-off filter rather than a magical hi-res feature. It is easier to hear with stuff like cymball crashes where with DSEE HX on the cymbals have a touch more energy but are cut off earlier while with DSEE HX off the are smoother and extend more. That't the problem - according to sony DSEE HX restores the delicate highs present in uncompressed audio, but with it off the highs are more delicate and extended. Instruments and female vocals just resonate and fade out a lot more naturally without it.

And yeah, I would have also prefered if they had implemented direct audio in the place of that atrocious clear audio+

 

[fish1050]

Well, I am on head-fi, so of course I have zero low quality files. I have a bunch of mp3s, which I use for burn-in as they use up less battery but all are 320 kbps. Aside from them everything else is in cd quality and above. The DSEE HX does the same thing for mp3 and lossless, so I don't care what the sony engineers say coz it doesn't really do that. As I said it is not a big difference overall but it definitely acts more as an fast roll-off filter rather than a magical hi-res feature. It is easier to hear with stuff like cymball crashes where with DSEE HX on the cymbals have a touch more energy but are cut off earlier while with DSEE HX off the are smoother and extend more. That't the problem - according to sony DSEE HX restores the delicate highs present in uncompressed audio, but with it off the highs are more delicate and extended. Instruments and female vocals just resonate and fade out a lot more naturally without it.

And yeah, I would have also prefered if they had implemented direct audio in the place of that atrocious clear audio+

I don't agree with Sony engineers either on DSEE HX benefits and I sold a ton of Sony products over the years. I got the whole DSEE HX sales pitch direct from a Sony rep back when it was introduced on their Xperia phones and later their DAP's. Being a head-fier doesn't preclude you from listening to lower bit rate files especially when it is your only option. I listen to alot of music from the 60's and 70's that I could only find at lower bit rates originally. Over the last few years I have slowly replaced these files with higher quality remasters and I am now 100% 320 kbps or higher. I have demoed several headphones with my A17 with and without DSEE HX active and I do hear the DSEE HX affect more on some headphones than others. So what you hear with your headphones may not be the same for all headphones. With my B&W P5S2 headphones I really don't hear much affect from DSEE HX on 90% of my tracks regardless of the bit rate.

 

[Artmuzz]

what do you mean by the recording settings?, can you take a picture with this settings and show us please.

When I used the EU volume cap removal tool to set my Sony NW-A35 to the Asian Australian (E2) model the DAP now has record settings for recording the radio or recording externally which I find rather mysterious because according to the Sony website none of the models around the world have that function.

 

[kova4a]

Yeah, of course it depends on the iems or cans used - if they don't have the upper treble extension and presence in the first place this won't be as apparent without very critical listening and comparison or probably not at all. And to clarify that's not a comment bashing the quality of anyone's gear - there are great iems and cans that just have been tuned with more laid back treble and it is about personal preference rather than "Oh, my gear extends so much better and so much clear than yours and that's why you don't hear it".

To be completely honest, I initially had played a bit with the setting and decided the sound is a touch more energetic with it and it's a waste to not use any of sony's "technological audio enhancements", but as I was going through my songs I started noticing its effect and decided to try to counter it with slight eq to the upper treble, but you can't really bring back something that is kinda cut off, so ended up with everything off. But I guess both DSEE HX and the DC phase linearizer are something that one can choose depending on personal preference and their gear. As far as the rest - sorry, but clear audio+ is a completely no-go probably for anything else but completely digitally created music, same goes for all the VPT pre-sets. The Dynamic Normalizer compresses the sounds and apparently for sony "normalize" means crush the dynamic range.

 

[docholliday]

When I used the EU volume cap removal tool to set my Sony NW-A35 to the Asian Australian (E2) model the DAP now has record settings for recording the radio or recording externally which I find rather mysterious because according to the Sony website none of the models around the world have that function.

Actually, some of the AP models had recording capability with the WMC-NWR1...I think it was J, E1, E2 that had it.

 

[dimitex]

Hey folks! I'm about to pull a trigger on this one.

But I have some doubts.

First is regarding the SD card, I've managed to check in online manual that it potentially could take 10 minutes to rebuild data base when you switch the SD cards. Do you folks have this kind of issue?

I'm thinking 128gb cards as they are cheaper.

The other question is quality so much superior?

I'm considering Galaxy S8 as it will have LDAC implemented with Android 8.0

I have WH-1000XM2 headphones

What do you folks think?

 

[pinkbecca]

thank you artmuzz for pointing this out, screw**g Sony with their lies to their customers and with the features on their Walkmans, all this time we were to believe Sony doesn't put those features for the rest of the world, turns out everything is there, why won't they just put the same features for all countries if its already built onto the devices??

 

[pinkbecca]

so probably there's a podcast and sending files via bluetooth as well but we need a hack

 

[goody]

When I used the EU volume cap removal tool to set my Sony NW-A35 to the Asian Australian (E2) model the DAP now has record settings for recording the radio or recording externally which I find rather mysterious because according to the Sony website none of the models around the world have that function.

will it allow you to record radio?

 

[fish1050]

thank you artmuzz for pointing this out, screw**g Sony with their lies to their customers and with the features on their Walkmans, all this time we were to believe Sony doesn't put those features for the rest of the world, turns out everything is there, why won't they just put the same features for all countries if its already built onto the devices??

Okey so you think that Sony has secret features that it is witholding from their customers on purpose? That makes no sense, why include a feature and then not allow people to use it? My guess is that certain features can't be implemented in all areas of the world due to restrictions. Different countries have different rules and restrictions like the EU volume cap and may not allow features like being able to record content so that feature has to be disabled on units sold in those countries.

My guess is if Sony could offer the feature to every customer without restrictions they would. They are in the market to make money not a alienate customers. It is also possible Sony was planning to implement the feature via a future firmware update like with AptX HD support on the A40.

 

[goody]

i am still baffled as to how u can record radio on the a40 ..i dont think that is possible

 

[goody]

ok its for in-line recording only

 

[robiceli]

Got my A35HNB and to my ears it does sound a little 'cleaner' (better vocals) compared to my A15.

Funny thing is, I can't figure out how to make the clock show up on the screen.

 

[davidcotton]

Got my A35HNB and to my ears it does sound a little 'cleaner' (better vocals) compared to my A15.

Funny thing is, I can't figure out how to make the clock show up on the screen.

It doesn't. The only way to find the time is to go back into settings.

 

[robiceli]

It doesn't. The only way to find the time is to go back into settings.

Oh ok.