[cliffjnr]

Recently discovered Quobuz as a platform to buy FLACs from. Experience was pretty solid. I just love CDs and I'm gonna be honest, I have a hard time differentiating between 16bit/44,1kHz and 24bit/92kHz sometimes, so the added cost and storage is not worth it for me most of the time.

I just discovered for example that there is Box Sets of Aretha Franklin Albums for 12,99 on Amazon. That's 5 albums for a price you wouldn't get a high Res album for normally. + I can rip the CD as often as I want

boomkat is good for flac and wav

and cassettes

 

[cliffjnr]

hi ive been having a problem with tidal were its volume is really low, much lower than the walkman app. i was starting to worry about the cap or something was wrong.

anyway by chance i noticed when i clicked on the chromecast button, its volume was only half way on "this device". i slid it back up and now volume is loud again and matches the walkman app. phew.

i must have lowered it when listening to chromecast by accident and then didnt realise.

thought it might help someone else. screen below:

 

[cliffjnr]

and btw i hate fleet foxes! they are in a tidal daily mix

 

[Qualitas]

Yes walkman app outputs bit perfect, so yes it outputs hI res to dongles.

That is great then I will keep my eyes open for a USB-C dongle that tickles my fancy

Does using a dongle DAC bypass the volume cap AND the volume warning, as well as the bass issue? (Sorry if already answered somewhere in this thread. I've been following it, but it's hard to keep up!)

I already have an iBasso DC05 that I'm decently happy with in terms of both sound quality and power consumption. Since the A307 seems to best meet my needs in terms of form factor/size, battery capacity, OS, etc. I may still end up purchasing one despite all the issues, if I can get around them by using a dongle. Although I would probably buy used or at least open box as I'm not willing to pay MSRP given all of these issues...

 

[abitdeef]

Does using a dongle DAC bypass the volume cap AND the volume warning, as well as the bass issue? (Sorry if already answered somewhere in this thread. I've been following it, but it's hard to keep up!)

I already have an iBasso DC05 that I'm decently happy with in terms of both sound quality and power consumption. Since the A307 seems to best meet my needs in terms of form factor/size, battery capacity, OS, etc. I may still end up purchasing one despite all the issues, if I can get around them by using a dongle. Although I would probably buy used or at least open box as I'm not willing to pay MSRP given all of these issues...

Yes, to the bass problem, yes to the volume cap. Um I'm honestly not sure about the warning, I don't remember getting it using a dongle but I can't guarantee it doesn't show up. The other 2 problems are bypassed though Your dongle will provide the power and it's dac will provide the sound. You can't use sony sound effects but if the app has sound settings you can use that through the app- like hiby, uapp, Amazon music.

Some have bit perfect modes like Sony app, hiby app, and uaap. Amazon runs through the Android block, so you can set it to hi res streaming or not. I think it's 96 kHz or 192 I'm not sure. My dongle show 96 kHz on the hiby app when not in exclusive mode. It sounds a little livelier than usb mode to me.

But yes it makes a nice little transport. I think my first unit had both problems. Cap AND low bass and it sounded great through my dc03 pro btw if you want to upgrade I'm selling my dco3 for 45 shipped, like new- haven't even opened the accessory compartment. Pm if interested, only ship to US

Just thought I'd through that out there, it's one of the better dongles I've heard. Super clean, sips juice, runs cool.

Hiby fc6- uses a lot of juice, runs very warm, but analog sound.

 

[Mmet]

Does using a dongle DAC bypass the volume cap AND the volume warning, as well as the bass issue? (Sorry if already answered somewhere in this thread. I've been following it, but it's hard to keep up!)

I already have an iBasso DC05 that I'm decently happy with in terms of both sound quality and power consumption. Since the A307 seems to best meet my needs in terms of form factor/size, battery capacity, OS, etc. I may still end up purchasing one despite all the issues, if I can get around them by using a dongle. Although I would probably buy used or at least open box as I'm not willing to pay MSRP given all of these issues...

Why Not hiby r3 pro saber 2022 for these reasons ? At least you will get a proper dap with proper sound quality and you will get balanced out too for lesser price... Personally i don't find buying a Walkman now with these issues justified for any reason but its your choice after all ..

 

[rlw6534]

I just got off the phone with Sony and can confirm that the low bass issue has been identified as software and a firmware update to resolve is being developed. I'm afraid I don't have any information on the timeline. I'm sure it's a priority for them. Let's hope it comes soon.

 

[gh0sty]

Hi all,

I tried running a test to see if the model I have is presenting the issue but did I do it correctly? how can I tell? what experienced audiophile-eyes can see here?

thank you

 

[rlw6534]

Hi all,

I tried running a test to see if the model I have is presenting the issue but did I do it correctly? how can I tell? what experienced audiophile-eyes can see here?

thank you

Your curve is not as flat as most are above 1 kHz but there is clearly a 10 dB reduction at 20 Hz which would indicate you have the issue. Did you turn off all sound enhancements (i.e. use Direct Mode)?

 

[AtomicUK]

I just got off the phone with Sony and can confirm that the low bass issue has been identified as software and a firmware update to resolve is being developed. I'm afraid I don't have any information on the timeline. Let's hope it comes soon.

Fabolous news!
Thanks for chasing that down and letting us know.

I'm still not 100% sure either way about mine, so it will interesting to hear once applied.

 

[glward]

Yes, to the bass problem, yes to the volume cap. Um I'm honestly not sure about the warning, I don't remember getting it using a dongle but I can't guarantee it doesn't show up. The other 2 problems are bypassed though Your dongle will provide the power and it's dac will provide the sound. You can't use sony sound effects but if the app has sound settings you can use that through the app- like hiby, uapp, Amazon music.

Some have bit perfect modes like Sony app, hiby app, and uaap. Amazon runs through the Android block, so you can set it to hi res streaming or not. I think it's 96 kHz or 192 I'm not sure. My dongle show 96 kHz on the hiby app when not in exclusive mode. It sounds a little livelier than usb mode to me.

But yes it makes a nice little transport. I think my first unit had both problems. Cap AND low bass and it sounded great through my dc03 pro btw if you want to upgrade I'm selling my dco3 for 45 shipped, like new- haven't even opened the accessory compartment. Pm if interested, only ship to US

Just thought I'd through that out there, it's one of the better dongles I've heard. Super clean, sips juice, runs cool.

Hiby fc6- uses a lot of juice, runs very warm, but analog sound.

The warning definitely shows up with a USB DAC if you're not using direct access. Not sure if it would have been bypassed by an app going directly to USB -- I was using poweramp at the time on my old unit, but I've mostly just stuck to the Walkman app on my uncapped import.

 

[UselessInf0]

I just got off the phone with Sony and can confirm that the low bass issue has been identified as software and a firmware update to resolve is being developed. I'm afraid I don't have any information on the timeline. I'm sure it's a priority for them. Let's hope it comes soon.

Great news!! I'm happy for everyone. But W-T-F I just mailed mine for return 2 hours ago.

 

[gh0sty]

Your curve is not as flat as most are above 1 kHz but there is clearly a 10 dB reduction at 20 Hz which would indicate you have the issue. Did you turn off all sound enhancements (i.e. use Direct Mode)?

I think I had some of those sound enhancement enabled. I ran the test again with all of them switched off. I don't think it looks great :

There's no high gain either as it is the UK model, any thoughts?

 

[abitdeef]

Why Not hiby r3 pro saber 2022 for these reasons ? At least you will get a proper dap with proper sound quality and you will get balanced out too for lesser price... Personally i don't find buying a Walkman now with these issues justified for any reason but its your choice after all ..

Well lots of reasons, first it's full Android, second it's going to be fixed, third the sound is different than r3, it's Sony. And I personally like they styling and build much better.

 

[gh0sty]

I just got off the phone with Sony and can confirm that the low bass issue has been identified as software and a firmware update to resolve is being developed. I'm afraid I don't have any information on the timeline. I'm sure it's a priority for them. Let's hope it comes soon.

Thanks for this update