[UselessInf0]

So my cousin and I are grabbing lunch later this upcoming weekend and we both have NW-A306's from Japan. Mine has tested to have the 10db bass issue and his has tested to not have the issue. We plan to do some comparative listening between both devices. In preparation we have shared some normal and Hi-Res FLAC files to do direct comparisons. Should be interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing him and also looking forward to listening to a unit which tested OK to see what I'm missing.

So my cousin and I did a listening comparisons of my faulty 10db bass lacking NW-A306 and his normal NW-A306 and it only took seconds to notice the stark difference in audio fidelity. The conclusion, my faulty NW-A306 sounds like a tin can compared to his unit. Our intentions were to do a full blown comparison of 7 FLAC audio tracks, some normal and some HiRES using wired ATH-M50's and TIN HiFi T4's but we only listened to seconds of one track and called it a day. That was enough torture for both of us. Any more listening would be beating a

 

[abitdeef]

That's a good description of my capped US unit- 'tin can' before I overdrove it with hiby app.

 

[Ryokan]

That's a good description of my capped US unit- 'tin can' before I overdrove it with my Ford Ranger.

 

[abitdeef]

Felt like it No ford's sadly yes I made that word up.Why Sony, why? Not only did you ruin more regions with the capped nonsense but then some randomly have no bass.
What the f** k

Jesus I feel like I'm posting on a site for pre schoolers, they're censoring initials.

 

[abitdeef]

Anybody else get an email response from Sony regarding the thread rlw6534 started? Basically says, check for updates, use the eq, and the info has been forwarded to the appropriate team. The response was from a mod.

Um ok.

 

[AtomicUK]

Anybody else get an email response from Sony regarding the thread rlw6534 started? Basically says, check for updates, use the eq, and the info has been forwarded to the appropriate team. The response was from a mod.

Um ok.

Yes, I got that.
At least its been read, let's see if anything happens...

 

[rlw6534]

Anybody else get an email response from Sony regarding the thread rlw6534 started? Basically says, check for updates, use the eq, and the info has been forwarded to the appropriate team. The response was from a mod.

Um ok.

Not a helpful response, but at least it's on the radar for them to look at... assuming they didn't already know.

 

[UselessInf0]

Felt like it No ford's sadly yes I made that word up.Why Sony, why? Not only did you ruin more regions with the capped nonsense but then some randomly have no bass.
What the f** k

Jesus I feel like I'm posting on a site for pre schoolers, they're censoring initials.

Yeah, so my cousin's theory is this is a software issue and the root cause of the software issue is the volume cap.

Somehow Sony screwed up during the mass production process of this model by cross pollinating "software" and/or "software configuration settings".

Consider these examples:

* Units with No Cap & No bass issue - these units received 100% intended correct versions of software and configuration settings.

* Units with No Cap but with bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There are no user visible volume warnings or notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for capped units that end up Fingup frequency response

* Units with a Cap & No bass issue - these units received the 100% intended software and configuration to cap volume and provide the complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications.

* Units with a Cap & bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There is a cap and are there are complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for non-capped units that end up Fingup frequency response.

I'm trying to buy into this theory of a software and configuration issue. This is the easiest fix for everyone. What do you all think?

FYI, on the Sony forum I also received the message from the moderator "JessieP".

 

[abitdeef]

Yeah, so my cousin's theory is this is a software issue and the root cause of the software issue is the volume cap.

Somehow Sony screwed up during the mass production process of this model by cross pollinating "software" or "software configuration settings".

Consider these examples:

* Units with No Cap & No bass issue - these units received 100% intended correct versions of software and configuration settings.

* Units with No Cap but with bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There are no user visible volume warnings or notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for capped units that end up Fingup frequency response

* Units with a Cap & No bass issue - these units received the 100% intended software and configuration to cap volume and provide the complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications.

* Units with a Cap & bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There is a cap and are there are complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for non-capped units that end up Fingup frequency response.

I'm trying to buy into this theory of a software and configuration issue. This is the easiest fix for everyone. What do you all think?

FYI, on the Sony forum I also received the message from the moderator "JessieP".

Actually going by how my US version sounded capped and bass muted it's as good as theory as anything. Especially since there are new regions that weren't capped before. Doesn't explain Japanese units, but hey maybe it was just some of the unit's that had the software snafu. Let's hope and I can't imagine Sony isn't aware of this problem already.

 

[halolegend226]

Seems the only solution to the issue at the moment is to just turn up the bass eq 100%

 

[KlaudiusR]

Hello guys. It's my first post on this forum and actually, I've just signed up so that I can ask a few things regarding the bass issues I've been seeing you guys discuss about.

Is the bass issue happening on all of the products within the same region, or it's just randomly? Like, I did see you guys had a list to list all of the tested models and serial numbers with regions, but have you guys seen 2 devices with the same origin? Like, one is normal and the other one is a defective one bought in the same region?

Because if the issue is only region-based, then I think I can check whether the ones which are selling in my region (I'm in Vietnam) are having the issue or not. But if it's not then I wouldn't want to risk it. I did try the demo model they are setting up in the store, pairing with MDR-7506 (Actually, they are having a promotion to have a bundle of an A306 and the MDR-7506 for just 420USD) I simply think the sound was good, I'm just a casual listener, not really an expert to notice whether there was a bass issue or not. I wouldn't know how to test it even if I was to actually buy one. And even If I actually got one, and then turns out mine is a defective one, then I don't think their warranty policy allows me to return the device, cause the device is still running normally. So just want to clear some doubts here. The demo one in the store was like this

Spoiler

Assuming the ones I was to buy also came from the same region of the demo.

I've been waiting for buying this A300 since I heard the release news. But when I try to look for some reviews, I found out about this thread and have been reading to find out more about this bass issue you guys have been discussing. But since I don't know much about audio graphs and stuff, there's still a lot I don't get.

I was about to get one when I found out about this thread, wanted to have a DAP other my phone to stream from Apple Music.

 

[psikey]

A couple from Amazon Japan and mine fine while other not, same with a couple buyers from US stores. Seems totally random at the moment. I'd hold off until Sony responds or you can test & easily return.

Get one without the volume capping or bass issue and its a superb little Android DAP (loving mine).

 

[rlw6534]

Seems the only solution to the issue at the moment is to just turn up the bass eq 100%

This was the best that I could do with the built-in graphic equalizer:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/new...eries-android-12.966467/page-74#post-17409710

 

[rlw6534]

Yeah, so my cousin's theory is this is a software issue and the root cause of the software issue is the volume cap.

Somehow Sony screwed up during the mass production process of this model by cross pollinating "software" and/or "software configuration settings".

Consider these examples:

* Units with No Cap & No bass issue - these units received 100% intended correct versions of software and configuration settings.

* Units with No Cap but with bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There are no user visible volume warnings or notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for capped units that end up Fingup frequency response

* Units with a Cap & No bass issue - these units received the 100% intended software and configuration to cap volume and provide the complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications.

* Units with a Cap & bass issue - these units received a Frankenstein build of the software and configuration settings. There is a cap and are there are complimentary user visible volume warnings and notifications however they received incorrect software and/or configuration settings that were potentially meant for non-capped units that end up Fingup frequency response.

I'm trying to buy into this theory of a software and configuration issue. This is the easiest fix for everyone. What do you all think?

FYI, on the Sony forum I also received the message from the moderator "JessieP".

Because the defect is a textbook 6 dB Low Shelf at 100 Hz and -10 dB gain, I would like to think that it was inadvertently applied somehow and can be fixed. Obviously there are several versions of the firmware for different regions (capped/uncapped, memory size, etc) so maybe a bad or incorrect build was loaded on some devices during production. All guesses, of course.

 

[andrewski]

The A306 and ZX707 finally show on Sony.ca after selling their first batch on thesonyshop.ca. But they provide no specs sheet. With still no communication from Sony, I'm beginning to wonder if capping three new regions was unintended.