New Sony Walkman NW-A300 Series (Android 12) | Page 141 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

turboaudio · Mar 12, 2023 at 11:32 AM

psikey said:
Not this time, but with the A100 series I had an A105 from UK first then sent back and got the A105 from Japan, and apart from volume I swear the Japanese one was more musical, richer sounding too, as if the capping added a veil somehow.

It was similar with the ZX2 in a way. With the capped UK one there was a hidden app that did the capping and if you disabled it (only last until next rerestart) not only the volume back but the veil lifted too.

Didn't notice the "veil" with a UK WM1Zm2 vs a Japanese WM1AM2 so may not apply with the latest Sony capped DAP's.

It will sound stupid of me, but seeing and reading so much of these problems with the Sony Walkman NW-A360 and other DAPs that also have lagging performance with their own UI-operating system, sometimes I get the crazy idea of acquiring a 5th generation iPod (rebuilt-refurbished or revamped) with SSD hard drive storage up to 1TB and see how it goes. I have a couple of friends with 512GB iPods (refurbished-revamped) and I don't hear them complaining about anything related to the sound, it's amazing how those iPod models still have validity and can work without volume capping problems, without audio problems with low or medium frequencies. It seems that the evolution of DAPs has not been as perfect as it was thought after all. Have you tried any of these iPod models that are rebuilt-refurbished or upgraded with SSD format?

abitdeef · Mar 12, 2023 at 2:17 PM

cliffjnr said:
im not upset dont worry my comment was meant to be jokey

No problem mate, as psikey said I'm just miffed that US version is now capped.

abitdeef · Mar 12, 2023

turboaudio said:
It will sound stupid of me, but seeing and reading so much of these problems with the Sony Walkman NW-A360 and other DAPs that also have lagging performance with their own UI-operating system, sometimes I get the crazy idea of acquiring a 5th generation iPod (rebuilt-refurbished or revamped) with SSD hard drive storage up to 1TB and see how it goes. I have a couple of friends with 512GB iPods (refurbished-revamped) and I don't hear them complaining about anything related to the sound, it's amazing how those iPod models still have validity and can work without volume capping problems, without audio problems with low or medium frequencies. It seems that the evolution of DAPs has not been as perfect as it was thought after all. Have you tried any of these iPod models that are rebuilt-refurbished or upgraded with SSD format?

Sony will do some firmware upgrades to iron stuff out. Ipods were nice, still got Wolfson nano. But you forget the good sounding ones were hiss monsters if you had sensitive iems.

The later cirrus models had less hiss but flatter sound.

abitdeef · Mar 12, 2023 at 2:26 PM

Ok I've reset my 306 and the volume is back up but don't call me crazy but the bass sounds weaker..... I've just turned up the 31 hz band almost all the way up. I'm going to try another factory reset.

I was messing with 2 dongles on Android and hiby usb exclusive mode- bit perfect and then when I tried 3.5 out there was low volume.

Mini HI Fi setup

Will report back, very weird.

rlw6534 · Mar 12, 2023 at 3:05 PM

supersonic395 · Mar 12, 2023 at 4:06 PM

Does the volume cap or bass issues affect the sound if using this solely as a transport out to an external (Schiit) DAC please?

cliffjnr · Mar 12, 2023 at 4:22 PM

supersonic395 said:
Does the volume cap or bass issues affect the sound if using this solely as a transport out to an external (Schiit) DAC please?

i get the impressions thats the only thing it effects? but i dont know mine is ok

dedero · Mar 12, 2023 at 4:54 PM

rlw6534 said:
1000095: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | EU | Amazon | REW Graphed : issue
1000287: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Philippines | Sony Authorized shop | REW Graphed: No issue
1000443: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | US | Best buy | REW Graphed : issue
100054X: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | EU | Amazon | REW Graphed : no issue
1000613: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | US | sony.com | REW Graphed : issue
1000992: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Germany | Amazon | REW graphed : no issue
1001026: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Sony Store | Vietnam | REW Graphed : issue
1001126: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Germany | Amazon | REW graphed : issue
1001704: a307 | ? | ? | Japan | eBay | REW Graphed: no issue
10033xx: a306 | ? | ? | Japan | eBay | REW Graphed : no issue
1003647: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Japan | Amazon.jp | REW Graphed : no issue
1005860: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Japan | Amazon.jp | REW Graphed : issue
1006471: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Japan | Amazon.jp | REW Graphed : no issue
1100033: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | UAE | Sony Store | Graphed: issue
2000112: a306 | YY1301B1 | Blue | UK | Amazon | REW graphed : no issue
2000246: a306 | YY1301B1 | Blue | Japan | eBay | REW Graphed : issue
2001129: a306 | YY1301B1 | Blue | Japan | Bic Camera | REW Graphed : no issue
20037XX: a306 | ? | Blue | Japan | ? | REW Graphed: no issue
2004288: a306 | YY1301B1 | Blue | Japan | Japanese Elec. store | REW Graphed : issue
3000045: a306 | ? | ? | HK | DMA Store | issue
3000108: a306 | YY1301B1 | Gray | Japan | Masterteamhk : issue
3000172: A306 | YY1301B1 | Grey | HK uncapped | REW Graphed : issue
3000840: a307 | YY1301B2 | Grey | Japan | Amazon.jp | REW Graphed : no issue
30039xx: a306 | YY1301B1 | Gray | Japan | eBay | REW Graphed: issue
3003915: a306 | YY1301B1 | Gray | Japan | Amazon.jp | REW Graphed : issue
4000003: a306 | YY1301B1 | ? | India | Concept Kart | REW Graphed: no issue
5000078: a306 | YY1301B1 | Black | Singapore | REW Graphed : no issue

supersonic395 · Mar 12, 2023 at 4:59 PM

cliffjnr said:
i get the impressions thats the only thing it effects? but i dont know mine is ok

Do you mean that's the only thing it doesn't affect?

abitdeef · Mar 12, 2023

supersonic395 said:
Does the volume cap or bass issues affect the sound if using this solely as a transport out to an external (Schiit) DAC please?

Nope the digital out is fine and your schit dac will process it anyways. I use my dongle, and used it on the capped one I had, what's affected is the 3.5 out.

psikey · Mar 12, 2023 at 5:48 PM

turboaudio said:
It will sound stupid of me, but seeing and reading so much of these problems with the Sony Walkman NW-A360 and other DAPs that also have lagging performance with their own UI-operating system, sometimes I get the crazy idea of acquiring a 5th generation iPod (rebuilt-refurbished or revamped) with SSD hard drive storage up to 1TB and see how it goes. I have a couple of friends with 512GB iPods (refurbished-revamped) and I don't hear them complaining about anything related to the sound, it's amazing how those iPod models still have validity and can work without volume capping problems, without audio problems with low or medium frequencies. It seems that the evolution of DAPs has not been as perfect as it was thought after all. Have you tried any of these iPod models that are rebuilt-refurbished or upgraded with SSD format?

Not me, but I've had a couple Hiby and worked perfect for me. I sometimes regret selling the R5GII even though only Android 8.1.

francerex · Mar 12, 2023 at 6:05 PM

No problems with my capped one that I got from amazon.de.

I am impressed at how small it is and how long the battery lasts. Cannot really find a significant difference in SQ as compared with my qudelix 5k, but I could not find a difference with more powerful daps such as fiio m11s or hiby r5g2 either.

As per the power output, it drives my u12t just fine and my focal clear og kind of ok. I would say that it is perfect for IEMs and bluetooth headphones. I love the versability of using it to drive the focal bathys, either with bluetooth or with the dac cabled connection.

I returned the previously mentioned daps cause they were way too big and clunky for my liking. This one might be a keeper.

Mmet · Mar 12, 2023

turboaudio said:
It will sound stupid of me, but seeing and reading so much of these problems with the Sony Walkman NW-A360 and other DAPs that also have lagging performance with their own UI-operating system, sometimes I get the crazy idea of acquiring a 5th generation iPod (rebuilt-refurbished or revamped) with SSD hard drive storage up to 1TB and see how it goes. I have a couple of friends with 512GB iPods (refurbished-revamped) and I don't hear them complaining about anything related to the sound, it's amazing how those iPod models still have validity and can work without volume capping problems, without audio problems with low or medium frequencies. It seems that the evolution of DAPs has not been as perfect as it was thought after all. Have you tried any of these iPod models that are rebuilt-refurbished or upgraded with SSD format?

Funny thing is .. i am reading this thread daily with my 10 years old Fiio X3 and very satisfied with it ( 200mw - hardware BASS and treble- low &high gain ) but looking for upgrade and wished if it is a sony one

..
Sony has its own unique musicality .. bass.. depth and layering into the soundstage . But considering what is happening here i am thinking of getting a second hand ZX300 only for Sense me channels which I can't find till now an alternative for it

BTW : i have ipod 5.5 .. while sounds good but its very high output impedance makes my SE535 nearly unlistenable without an amp on its tail .

abitdeef · Mar 12, 2023

Mmet said:
Funny thing is .. i am reading this thread daily with my 10 years old Fiio X3 and very satisfied with it ( 200mw - hardware BASS and treble- low &high gain ) but looking for upgrade and wished if it is a sony one ..
Sony has its own unique musicality .. bass.. depth and layering into the soundstage . But considering what is happening here i am thinking of getting a second hand ZX300 only for Sense me channels which I can't find till now an alternative for it

BTW : i have ipod 5.5 .. while sounds good but its very high output impedance makes my SE535 nearly unlistenable without an amp on its tail .

Did the ZX300 still have Sense me? I don't remember, even though I had one, ha ha. Loved that feature. I don't know why Sony did away with it.

BTW I fondly remember the X3 and it's funky looking button layout. It wasn't a brick either. The a306 is really nice dap, but like you said, with the bass problem popping up it's a gamble.

MacroOrganisim · Mar 13, 2023 at 12:08 AM

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