Quick initial impressions of the NW-A307 including a comparison to the NW-WM1A. I used the recent 2022 192/24 hi-rez remaster of Journey's
Escape album. It's not one of the best sounding albums ever but that version is arguably the best it will get. I find it a good test since it's hard to make it sound reasonable in a lot of environments. Kick drum and such can get swallowed up easily.
- Using Android is definitely a bit of a different experience than the Sony Walkman OS. The Walkman app is similar yet different. One noteable, but understandable different: on the A307, EQ settings can apply to bluetooth connections. They do not on the WM1A (or at least I've never been able to get that to work). This is actually a plus for the A307.
- The sound is a bit different via bluetooth and the headphone jack. Again, not a shock here but how it was different surprised me a bit. The sound is less bright through the headphone jack and the soundstage is a bit smaller through the same headphones (I'm using the Technics EAH-A800 which have LDAC). Through bluetooth the soundstage is nice and wide what I would expect. Things like a kick drum sound more natural. Being honest, that is disappointing and says to me Sony prioritized bluetooth over the internal headphone jack. Being blunt: it sounds better via bluetooth to me.
- Volume is no issue on the Japanese A307. Through the headphone jack, I had mine ~50 and it seemed to be similar to that of the WM1A which is also from Japan.
- Given that bluetooth sounds better than the headphone jack, it's not a straightforward comparison with the WM1A. The soundstage of the bluetooth connection on the A307 is pretty much the same as I used the WM1A with a cable. I would say the A307 is a touch wider (but similar to the WM1A) but the WM1A sounds more "natural" for lack of a better word. The A307 does not sound bad at all; it's a more relaxed sound (also not the best word but you get the idea). Things like kick drum and toms sound open and natural via bluetooth on the A307. Vocals sound good. No complaints. All the instruments are easily discernable. The A307 is a touch brighter but not in a bad way. That can be EQ'd to your taste since EQ applies to the bluetooth connection. With the soundstage being smaller through the headphone jack, while it's not bad, the WM1A definitely sounds better. It's also a more open and natural. I would also expect that given the difference in electronics.
- EDIT: For grins and yucks, I tried Apple Music. You can enable lossless but you cannot enable Spatial Audio. Spatial Audio is also not an option in the Android Settings under Sound, either.
I will try it with more music later since I have other things to do, but that's the initial reaction. Since my use case is for travel (trains, planes), the A307 should be good enough. The WM1A is and always was overkill. I don't use headphones at home or a Walkman so I do not need a super duper expensive portable rig. I need good sounding but "good enough"; there's no critical listening on a plane.
That said, in my opinion, if your main use case is wired, while I've never heard it, the new NW-ZX707 (or the older WM1A or the newer WM1AM2) may be the better choice ... or it may not.