New Sony Walkman NW-A300 Series (Android 12)

[alex5908]

Your Walkman should see that as wifi.

It does not. My Hiby R6 Gen3 does see it. Thus, it's NW-A306 bug.
Does anybody have the email address for the subj tech sup?

 

[Mightygrey]

It does not. My Hiby R6 Gen3 does see it. Thus, it's NW-A306 bug.
Does anybody have the email address for the subj tech sup?

It's probably your phone. My NW-A306 connects to my Pixel's hotspot just fine and can see both 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi ok.

 

[RADI0HEAD]

The NW-A306 works well with my Samsung S24 Ultra in Hotspot mode too. I use it all the time.

 

[Vamp898]

I had a lot of Wifi Issues with my WM1ZM2 too. Not sure if they use the same Wifi chip, but it had lots of issues. Sometimes it did not see the Wifi, sometimes it did see it, but was unable to connect and sometimes it just worked.

For example the WiFi i have at home, the Walkman was unable to connect. No matter what i did.

Opening a WiFi on my Xperia 1 II also did not work. Unable to connect.

Opening a Wifi on my Sharp Aquos Sense 7 did work fine. Using my Pocket Wifi (i had for a few weeks) also did work just fine.

Opening a Hotspot on my new Moondrop MIAD01 worked only when i did not use WPA3

So there are a lot of rules on when and how it did work.

 

[sabjn]

Question for capped NW-A306 owners
(Sorry for the long message)

Hey everyone, I'm thinking about getting a NW-A306 for my birthday since I absolutely love IEM's and carrying them around wherever I go, a dedicated device is all I want just because a dongle attached to my phone is too much of a hassle.

I will only be using IEM's, no bluetooth devices.

So, I'm a simple guy, I like my music pretty loud, not ear-rape level, but a little louder than recommended, not really sure about the exact average dB level but my guess is about 80-90 dB. I currently own the Sony XBA-A3 and Sennheiser IE 200, planning on getting something like Blessing 3's in the future, will the A306 have enough power to drive these?

And my last question is the "Check volume" notification, if it's impossible to remove or block it in the system, I wouldn't go for the EU version, I just don't want my music to be interrupted by that stupid notification every time I switch the song or turn up the volume.

 

[Vamp898]

Question for capped NW-A306 owners
(Sorry for the long message)

Hey everyone, I'm thinking about getting a NW-A306 for my birthday since I absolutely love IEM's and carrying them around wherever I go, a dedicated device is all I want just because a dongle attached to my phone is too much of a hassle.

I will only be using IEM's, no bluetooth devices.

So, I'm a simple guy, I like my music pretty loud, not ear-rape level, but a little louder than recommended, not really sure about the exact average dB level but my guess is about 80-90 dB. I currently own the Sony XBA-A3 and Sennheiser IE 200, planning on getting something like Blessing 3's in the future, will the A306 have enough power to drive these?

And my last question is the "Check volume" notification, if it's impossible to remove or block it in the system, I wouldn't go for the EU version, I just don't want my music to be interrupted by that stupid notification every time I switch the song or turn up the volume.

The NW-A306 has more than enough power for all of these, but expect the Blessing 3 to produce an audible hiss in quiet parts (and even when no song is playing).

Sadly all Walkman are prone to this hiss. Depending on the Sensitivity of the earphone, this is an audible hiss.

I have for example the CHIKYU-SEKAI 5/COSMOS e-earphone Edition, and this one is almost unusable because the hiss is so loud, that when you listen at lower volumes, it can be louder than the music. Very annoying.

And the Blessing 3 is also an very sensitive IEM (120db/Vrms @ 15Ω) amongst a lot of others.

If you plan on getting this, or other sensitive IEM, i can not recommend any Walkman, no matter which.

But it will get them loud enough, there is no issue with power. There is also no notification about volume warning or stuff like that (at least not when you buy in Japan)

 

[thr4]

Do you hear the hiss even when wifi is off? I could hear it but only when wifi was actively transmitting.

 

[Vamp898]

Do you hear the hiss even when wifi is off? I could hear it but only when wifi was actively transmitting.

I never use Wifi except when downloading music, so yes, it was in Airplane mode and the Wifi/Bluetooth/everything was off

 

[Murgatroid]

I use my MEST Mk2 (12.3ohm, 112dB/mw) with my uncapped A306 and hear no hiss. The Blessing 3's 15ohm is almost 8x the OI of the A306, so should be ok?

 

[ttt123]

Question for capped NW-A306 owners
(Sorry for the long message)

Hey everyone, I'm thinking about getting a NW-A306 for my birthday since I absolutely love IEM's and carrying them around wherever I go, a dedicated device is all I want just because a dongle attached to my phone is too much of a hassle.

I will only be using IEM's, no bluetooth devices.

So, I'm a simple guy, I like my music pretty loud, not ear-rape level, but a little louder than recommended, not really sure about the exact average dB level but my guess is about 80-90 dB. I currently own the Sony XBA-A3 and Sennheiser IE 200, planning on getting something like Blessing 3's in the future, will the A306 have enough power to drive these?

And my last question is the "Check volume" notification, if it's impossible to remove or block it in the system, I wouldn't go for the EU version, I just don't want my music to be interrupted by that stupid notification every time I switch the song or turn up the volume.

AFAIK, the volume notification cannot be disabled. It is EU mandated, so illegal to disable.
Whether there is enough power for particular IEMs, somebody with actual experience for those models will be the best to answer that question. There has been feedback that the capped models have inadequate headroom for some harder to drive IEMs. So that is a weak point.

Do note that the A306 and ZX700 are volume capped in EU, US, Canada, and Singapore

 

[Murgatroid]

I would buy a Japanese version. I bought mine slightly used - it looked like an open box return to me, from this seller on ebay. He also has the grey and black versions.

It took about a week to get. I'm very happy with the seller and what I got, and even paid about $10 more than his current offer. I"m considering getting a used ZX707 from the same seller.

 

[SteC82]

The notification can be disabled via adb and disabling the correct sony apk. Info is in this thread already.

 

[Vamp898]

I use my MEST Mk2 (12.3ohm, 112dB/mw) with my uncapped A306 and hear no hiss. The Blessing 3's 15ohm is almost 8x the OI of the A306, so should be ok?

My Acoustune HS1300SS are 110dB@1mW and 32Ω@1KHz and i can hear the hiss with them. On the A300, the ZX700 and the WM1ZM2.

It is, of course, not as strong as with the 5/COSMOS or the Blessing 3, but even on the HS1300SS it is audible. I am very surprised that you are not hearing the hiss.

I hear the hiss by just plugging them in, there is no need to play audio. I plug them in, wait ~0.5-1s and the hiss starts. I am highly surprised that you're not hearing it as this is a common issue that was discussed several times and affects all Walkman due to the Nature of the S-Master HX.

The only S-Master HX that is not affected by this is the TA-ZH1ES

 

[Murgatroid]

My Acoustune HS1300SS are 110dB@1mW and 32Ω@1KHz and i can hear the hiss with them. On the A300, the ZX700 and the WM1ZM2.

It is, of course, not as strong as with the 5/COSMOS or the Blessing 3, but even on the HS1300SS it is audible. I am very surprised that you are not hearing the hiss.

I hear the hiss by just plugging them in, there is no need to play audio. I plug them in, wait ~0.5-1s and the hiss starts. I am highly surprised that you're not hearing it as this is a common issue that was discussed several times and affects all Walkman due to the Nature of the S-Master HX.

The only S-Master HX that is not affected by this is the TA-ZH1ES

I am not hearing it, but I am almost 60 and perhaps my tinnitus is louder than the hiss.

 

[captblaze]

I am not hearing it, but I am almost 60 and perhaps my tinnitus is louder than the hiss.

Old age brings some different and interesting things. Hiss filter being one of them