[RedHarlow]

Package arrived last Wednesday (I was out of town). No customs or additional charges. Ordered on 1/29, shipped on 2/6 (package consolidation took 1 day) and delivered on 2/8.

As expected the JP A306 is clearly uncapped based on volume levels compared to the US version that I returned to Sony.

So from where can I buy an A306 with uncaped Volume?? Amazon jp?? What about shipping costs and tax??

I guess there is no case included right??

 

[rlw6534]

So from where can I buy an A306 with uncaped Volume?? Amazon jp?? What about shipping costs and tax??

I guess there is no case included right??

I purchased from Amazon.co.jp via buyee.jp. The price included the official silicon case as well (sold as a bundle). Total price was $396.65 delivered (to USA via DHL).

 

[dstaley]

Alright so I think I figured out REW enough to do this correctly, and it definitely looks like my A306 is having trouble with lower frequencies.



The orange line is from the Apple USB C Headphone Adapter plugged into the A306, and the blue line is from the A306 in direct mode without any DSP filters applied.

If anyone has experience with REW and wouldn't mind reproducing the results I'd really appreciate it! I have about a month to return it, but I'm considering buying another from a different seller just to have a direct comparison.

 

[RedHarlow]

I purchased from Amazon.co.jp via buyee.jp. The price included the official silicon case as well (sold as a bundle). Total price was $396.65 delivered (to USA via DHL).

So how does it work?? My european
account doesn't work on Amazonjp and buyee.jp only links you to other auctions and not to Amazon.

 

[AtomicUK]

Out of curiosity, to the few that have reported the issue with lower frequencies.
1) What was your place of purchase?
2) What is the unit's serial number?

Just wondering if there is common denominator?

 

[cfc7]

Only seen this one on ebay in quick search

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234099830764?hash=item36816fefec:g:JWwAAOSwKb1bLf~J&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoMQ36swLPzEhoX2xLN5iNdM440P8aJkKOlIRJugc3iT+lpOvFuARzmc4Z88KR+Sn8j3khywfLuT09R3q5ZCKzO6Fc+IpwhYhVP/eyAcfi9gDNDhL/dS+WYbe5spvSs77mIc9FH0IVnqw9VAyr7K8Oz4m/hwP9y6ia9KapYXOdDIW/ztqBs9vqQlyhfohs6ikUNJeNMyIa5ba/hZyQeDXIds=|tkp:Bk9SR6C_vfzJYQ

At that price, you can find a good alternative here, just ask for customization with a 3.5mm 4 pole balanced plug, because is not in the list to choose, when adding to cart: https://forzaaudioworks.com/en/category.php?id_category=36

Also, you can find very good balanced cables at significant lower prices at XINHS store on AliExpress.
Again, send them a message and ask for the 3.5mm 4 pole balanced plug.

 

[rlw6534]

So how does it work?? My european
account doesn't work on Amazonjp and buyee.jp only links you to other auctions and not to Amazon.

I used the Chrome extension. You do not need an account on Amazon.jp as Buyee is buying the item for you. Use zip 100-0000 for Tokyo on Amazon in order to see JP only products.

https://buyee.jp/amazon/index

 

[Toad King]

Alright so I think I figured out REW enough to do this correctly, and it definitely looks like my A306 is having trouble with lower frequencies.



The orange line is from the Apple USB C Headphone Adapter plugged into the A306, and the blue line is from the A306 in direct mode without any DSP filters applied.

If anyone has experience with REW and wouldn't mind reproducing the results I'd really appreciate it! I have about a month to return it, but I'm considering buying another from a different seller just to have a direct comparison.

I'm not good enough with DAW tools but I've tested my A306 with a quick sweep soundfile and I don't seem to see any difference in volume between low and high frequencies.

I've attached the sweep file I generated and the playback of it recorded from my A306. (Excuse the extreme noisiness in the recording, the line in on my computer is not very good.) This is at full 120 volume, direct source on, and the peak stays at -6 dBTP through the sweep.

Japan unit, serial is S01-1003###-#.

 

[abitdeef]

Out of curiosity, to the few that have reported the issue with lower frequencies.
1) What was your place of purchase?
2) What is the unit's serial number?

Just wondering if there is common denominator?

Out of curiosity, to the few that have reported the issue with lower frequencies.
1) What was your place of purchase?
2) What is the unit's serial number?

Just wondering if there is common denominator?

The common denominator might be output impedance which is vastly different lower through the apple dongle. Sorry not vastly different I thought sony was 4.1 ohms. It's 2.1 ohms I think. So I don't know if that could cause a swing in measurements. I know Apple dongle is less than an ohm.

It's the only difference I can think of. But just a guess.

Of course that wouldn't account for the transistor radio sound. Especially emilsoft as that Sony M7 should be easy to drive and have plenty of bass.

 

[steakikan]

So 2 user has problem so far with A306, and one is confirmed purchase from Japan. This is worrying

 

[Exorcyst]

It appears that the cue sheet is already embedded. I attempted to "remove embedded cue sheet" and got the following:

Could not process file:
\\Album\CDImage.cue
Reason:
Unsupported format or corrupted file

I am not that familiar with Windows FB2K (MAC user) so I may have done something wrong. I don't have any other files to test.

Thank you so very much for looking into this for me and getting back to me. I greatly appreciate it.

 

[big joe]

So 2 user has problem so far with A306, and one is confirmed purchase from Japan. This is worrying

Yeah I hope there isn't some sort of pseudo-lottery. It'd really suck to be spending $400+ on importing an electronic just to get what are seemingly defective units. I feel for those already affected.

 

[superuser1]

I hope @emilsoft and @dstaley figure out what the hell is going on with their players. This is indeed worrying.

 

[abitdeef]

Puzzling indeed, in direct mode no filters or dsp should be activated. Yet I wouldn't think it would be a hardware problem indenticle in 2 players- although I guess it could be in the same batch. Hopefully Sony can fix it fast, and it's just a software snafu.

 

[emilsoft]

I hope @emilsoft and @dstaley figure out what the hell is going on with their players. This is indeed worrying.

I’m still waiting on Sony to tell me what next step is - hopefully a replacement unit so I can validate. I might just ask for my money back if this gets prolonged, it was defective on arrival and I don’t like being faffed about