[soundblast75]

That 20 hours is only for MP3. Does anyone pay £800 for a DAP to play MP3 files?

It slips to 16 hours single-ended or 15 hours balanced when playing FLACs. This is still way ahead of the competition but mean for the price.


So far it appears they have only changed a few caps and resistors and added a blob of gold-laced solder (marketing ploy???). I'm not expecting greatness from this but it might be good enough for some given the extra battery life. I baulk at paying £800 for it though (or even the opening £750). It's a £400 DAP at twice the price.

Absolutely agree, but itll become 500quid quickly and if it sounds better wider,cleaner , as a fan boy I'm in

 

[graphidz]

That 20 hours is only for MP3. Does anyone pay £800 for a DAP to play MP3 files?

It slips to 16 hours single-ended or 15 hours balanced when playing FLACs. This is still way ahead of the competition but mean for the price.


So far it appears they have only changed a few caps and resistors and added a blob of gold-laced solder (marketing ploy???). I'm not expecting greatness from this but it might be good enough for some given the extra battery life. I baulk at paying £800 for it though (or even the opening £750). It's a £400 DAP at twice the price.

https://www.sony.com.my/electronics/walkman/nw-zx500-series/specifications

If you look at the specs sheet, you'll see it lists balanced FLAC at 19hrs. Your quoted hours is in DSD which realistically only a handful of people would have a huge collection of DSD only files.

Now how this is possible on a format that usually requires more computational power at more power output? I don't know. Maybe or maybe not that it's a typo. There's another rated balanced at 15hrs. Even if it's Sony rated it'll only be off by 2-3hrs. Which is still more than 10hrs. Will have to wait for a real review on the battery life to confirm.

I'm just gonna stay optimistic at this point in time until more info comes out

 

[technobear]

https://www.sony.com.my/electronics/walkman/nw-zx500-series/specifications

If you look at the specs sheet, you'll see it lists balanced FLAC at 19hrs. Your quoted hours is in DSD which realistically only a handful of people would have a huge collection of DSD only files.

On the first page of this thread:

BATTERY LIFE - CONTINUOUS PLAYBACK MUSIC
MP3 (128kbps) / Stereo mini-jack: 20 hours,MP3 (128kbps) / Balanced standard-jack: 19 hours,
AAC (256kbps) / Stereo mini-jack: 20 hours,AAC (256kbps) / Balanced standard-jack: 19 hours,
FLAC (192kHz / 24bit) / Stereo mini-jack: 16 hours,FLAC (192kHz / 24bit) / Balanced standard-jack: 15 hours,
DSD (2.8224MHz / 1bit) / Stereo mini-jack: 10 hours,DSD (2.8224MHz / 1bit) / Balanced standard-jack: 9 hours

I checked the Sony website and this is word for word.

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-zx500-series/specifications

 

[graphidz]

On the first page of this thread:


I checked the Sony website and this is word for word.

https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/walkman/nw-zx500-series/specifications

I think I've been reading it wrongly this whole time lol. So it's actually :
<codec> / <unbal> : hrs, <bal> : hrs

I've been reading the thing where the "/" is the separator for the next format. Hence I've been reading FLAC as 19hrs all this time when it should be 15hrs

Truly my bad and I apologize. Stupid Sony. Anyway, 10+ hrs of FLAC isn't a slouch. My view on battery life is a bit worse now but I'm still looking forward to try and maybe own one

 

[BurritoJustice]

I'm probably one of the 5 people actually looking forward to this.

No usb dac isn't a problem since Sony's non-android usb dac wasn't good anyway. Too big of a latency. Plus if you can get this dap you are more likely to have a better dac/amp combo somewhere anyway

The android will be sweet with the possible customization (maybe even viper4android!) that can be done to make it even more personalized. 20hrs is pretty long compared to other android-based dap so no problem there personally.

Release date just can't come soon enough!

I agree with you too, but my decision is a bit more predicated on viper4android. If a root option is created by the android community I'll buy in, otherwise I'll probably give it a miss.

Hopefully more android players get rooted to allow flexibility like this, does anyone know of recent android DAPs with working root options?

 

[joshnor713]

Unless the impressions on this are particularly notable, think I'll wait out to see if there's an Android WM1A successor coming

 

[davidmolliere]

Unless the impressions on this are particularly notable, think I'll wait out to see if there's an Android WM1A successor coming

Not sure Sony will go back to Android full fledge... my bet is rather on WM1A / Z successors but with no Android... I might be wrong though.

 

[Raketen]

Not sure Sony will go back to Android full fledge... my bet is rather on WM1A / Z successors but with no Android... I might be wrong though.

They have such a great music specific UI, wish that any Android DAP in the future they at least incorporate dual boot or 'pure music' option (though maybe wishful thinking w/ Sony). New models are so frustrating, 55/300/wm1 IMO are only a few tweaks away from ideal all-purpose audio gadgets- +1 hopefully some future iterations can co-exist with the Android models.

 

[musicday]

Hurry up Sony, Fiio M11 Pro is coming on 25 September.

 

[gazzington]

I doubt this will sound anywhere near as good as a wm1a

 

[NewEve]

I love my ZX300 and reached a personal audio bliss when I pair it with my Campfire Audio Andromeda Special Edition Gold—I’m afraid changing the source will alter my experience and, anyway, ignorance is bliss and cheaper.

I also love the idea of curating my music until it lands on my ZX300 to be enjoyed, not to mention it is more environmentally-friendly

Streaming? My phone does it well but I can appreciate that some would like to have everything in one place.

Unrelated though, I love that they brought the cassette feature to the lower-end models, I truly hope it works well for Sony, they deserve it.

 

[imparanoic]

I love my ZX300 and reached a personal audio bliss when I pair it with my Campfire Audio Andromeda Special Edition Gold—I’m afraid changing the source will alter my experience and, anyway, ignorance is bliss and cheaper.

I also love the idea of curating my music until it lands on my ZX300 to be enjoyed, not to mention it is more environmentally-friendly

Streaming? My phone does it well but I can appreciate that some would like to have everything in one place.

Unrelated though, I love that they brought the cassette feature to the lower-end models, I truly hope it works well for Sony, they deserve it.

seem like Nw-zx500 also has the cassette tape UI, but will sony or their licenced leather manfacturers create a cassette walkman leather case is another thing, maybe dignis of south korean will create one, they once created one for NW-WM1a/z

"Cassette Tape UI
The NW-ZX500 features a special Cassette Tape user interface and screensaver. The cassette tape visual that appears on your Walkman® display varies depending on the codec of the music you’re listening to."

 

[maira]

I doubt this will sound anywhere near as good as a wm1a

Somewhere between wm1a and ZX300 is my expectation. Maybe closer to ZX300.

 

[gazzington]

Somewhere between wm1a and ZX300 is my expectation. Maybe closer to ZX300.

I agree

 

[technobear]

Somewhere between wm1a and ZX300 is my expectation. Maybe closer to ZX300.

Some folks are already saying that DX220 is better than WM1A. I'm not giving much for Sony's chances here. Will the extra battery life be their saviour?