[rlw6534]

The A300 has a balance port?

The 3.5 mm is a 4 pole plug with separate grounds, but it's not a differential balanced amp design.

 

[ttt123]

I’m gonna be modding an iem cable to take full advantage of the a306’s balanced output. Can anyone out there using balanced verify that this is the layout for the a306? Should be able with a multimeter.

Your diagram is correct.

The Sony TRRS separated Ground (pseudo balanced) uses the same pinout as the HifiMan HM-801/Oppo PM-3
I rewired a cable for the Sony ZX2, and the same TRRS 3.5mm separated Ground output is on the WM1A/Z, ZX300, ZX507, A105

The 4.4mm balanced out has a different pinout, as you can see below.

 

[karloil]

now I don't know which one to follow

 

[bcarr112281]

I’ve done blind ab test with poweramp on my Fiio m11 plus and dx170 and couldn’t tell any difference in sound. As long as you use the hi res settings and have it running correctly it should be the exact same sound wise as the Walkman player. I haven’t double checked on my Sony but I will.

As far as battery life… I’ve been conducting tests with all the daps I’ve had and used poweramp for all of them. From what I saw poweramp battery drain was about on par with native players. Although the dx170 in general performed awfully and fell short of its listed specs by a few hours. Very disappointed in that dap and the battery life was unusable for me. A little over 4 hours listening with iems and moderate screen time. 10 hours with zero screen time.

Fiio was moderately better at 12.5 hours. No screen time.

My Lg v60 did 62 hours no screen time.

My modded ipod classic with a 1tb and custom installed aptx hd Bluetooth did a whopping 126 hours no screen time. And on that one, screen time and Bluetooth both barely change the outcome. It easily does 100+ hours with heavy screen use and Bluetooth running. Which is just insane. And that’s using a 3000 mah battery. They actually make a 3800 mah battery too. It went 6 whole ass days. Wild.

But yea basically from my experience any battery loss difference is minimal using poweramp, and there is no sound difference I can tell.

Very helpful insights--thanks!

 

[countryboyhk]

now I don't know which one to follow

Someone call it 3.5 balance, someone say its "fake" balance. I have a 3.5 4-pole to 4.4 adaptor for my A306, it sounds darker and cleaner, maybe some better soundstage, thats most of it can do, it wont give you better separation and output power as the "true" balance 4.4 can do.

 

[karloil]

Someone call it 3.5 balance, someone say its "fake" balance. I have a 3.5 4-pole to 4.4 adaptor for my A306, it sounds darker and cleaner, maybe some better soundstage, thats most of it can do, it wont give you better separation and output power as the "true" balance 4.4 can do.

Yep, I'm aware of the concept, aware that it's also not true balanced - I'm pretty much concerned with the correct pin/polarity assignment as I plan to DIY my own adapter. (I'm a bit of OC.)

 

[Jrod33084]

I think the only type of hardware/device/machine I ever cared about the Boot-Up time would be my personal car. Phones, computers, tablets, Daps, Tvs etc etc, never cared about the time it takes to turn on.

 

[ttt123]

now I don't know which one to follow

??? For wiring the 3.5mm separated ground, the correct pinout is as in the chart below.

The Sony 3.5mm TRRS separated Ground (pseudo balanced) uses the same pinout as the HifiMan HM-801/Oppo PM-3 in this chart.

 

[karloil]

??? For wiring the 3.5mm separated ground, the correct pinout is as in the chart below.

The Sony 3.5mm TRRS separated Ground (pseudo balanced) uses the same pinout as the HifiMan HM-801/Oppo PM-3 in this chart.

Ok then, thanks for the supporting photo. Good thing the parts haven't arrived yet.

@abitdeef where did you get the pin out that you mentioned to me earlier?

 

[ttt123]

Ok then, thanks for the supporting photo. Good thing the parts haven't arrived yet.

@abitdeef where did you get the pin out that you mentioned to me earlier?

Just to add some background, I rewired a Whiplash V3 cable with a TRRS 3.5mm plug for the ZX2. ( did the soldering myself) That was many years ago, but I still have that cable.
I recently took it out to verify that it worked on the recent Walkman DAPs, including the A105, A55, and it worked fine.
I have not tried it yet on the A306, but am confident that Sony did not change their pinout.

Just to double confirm, I will try my old cable on the A306 tonight, and let you know the result.

 

[burialcloud]

Just to add some background, I rewired a Whiplash V3 cable with a TRRS 3.5mm plug for the ZX2. ( did the soldering myself) That was many years ago, but I still have that cable.
I recently took it out to verify that it worked on the recent Walkman DAPs, including the A105, A55, and it worked fine.
I have not tried it yet on the A306, but am confident that Sony did not change their pinout.

Just to double confirm, I will try my old cable on the A306 tonight, and let you know the result.

Awesome thanks for backing it up and testing.

I assumed the pinout couldn’t be that divergent from a standard 3.5 as it’s a single jack. Also I saw the pic you shared with a previous Sony iteration mentioned. It would make sense that it’s essentially the same pin out but adding dual grounds at the bottom, which simply get shared on a standard 3.5 cable.

I’m replacing the end on a cable I have coming from ali and appreciate the insight and confirmation. Not sure if there will be any real world SQ benefit but I figured I might as well. Also I wanted a right angle termination.

I’ll do a listen before and after and see if I can hear any difference at all. Sorta doubtful but who knows!

 

[berzerk428]

does anybody know if the Sony Walkmann App supports .ogg-files?
I used the search function for this thread to look it up but it did not turn out an answer on this particular subject..

 

[ttt123]

does anybody know if the Sony Walkmann App supports .ogg-files?
I used the search function for this thread to look it up but it did not turn out an answer on this particular subject..

Looks like .ogg is not supported.
NW-A306
Supported formats
Music
MP3 (.mp3)
32 kbps - 320 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
WMA (.wma)
32 kbps - 320 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 44.1 kHz (STEREO)
32 kbps - 48 kbps / 44.1 kHz (MONO)
FLAC (.flac)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
WAV (.wav)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit (Float/Integer) / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
16 kbps - 320 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz
HE-AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
32 kbps - 144 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz
Apple Lossless (.mp4, .m4a)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .afc, .aifc)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
DSD (.dsf, .dff) (*1)
1 bit / 2.8224 MHz, 5.6448 MHz, 11.2896 MHz
APE (.ape)
8 bit, 16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 192 kHz (Fast, Normal, High)
MQA (.mqa.flac)
Supported
Note
Sampling frequency may not correspond to all encoders.
Copyright protected files cannot be played back.
Non-standard bit rates or non-guaranteed bit rates are included depending on the Sampling frequency.
Files that are 4 GB (APE is 2 GB) or larger cannot be played back.
This product recognizes audio sources exceeding CD quality (44.1 kHz/16 bit quantization) and DAT quality (48 kHz/16 bitquantization) as High-Resolution Audio. The “HR” symbol is displayed for High-Resolution Audio.
For sampling frequency over 352.8 kHz, it will be down convert playback.

 

[berzerk428]

Looks like .ogg is not supported.
NW-A306
Supported formats
Music
MP3 (.mp3)
32 kbps - 320 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
WMA (.wma)
32 kbps - 320 kbps (Supports variable bit rate (VBR)) / 44.1 kHz (STEREO)
32 kbps - 48 kbps / 44.1 kHz (MONO)
FLAC (.flac)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
WAV (.wav)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit (Float/Integer) / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
16 kbps - 320 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz
HE-AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp)
32 kbps - 144 kbps / 8 kHz - 48 kHz
Apple Lossless (.mp4, .m4a)
16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .afc, .aifc)
16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit / 8 kHz - 384 kHz
DSD (.dsf, .dff) (*1)
1 bit / 2.8224 MHz, 5.6448 MHz, 11.2896 MHz
APE (.ape)
8 bit, 16 bit, 24 bit / 8 kHz - 192 kHz (Fast, Normal, High)
MQA (.mqa.flac)
Supported
Note
Sampling frequency may not correspond to all encoders.
Copyright protected files cannot be played back.
Non-standard bit rates or non-guaranteed bit rates are included depending on the Sampling frequency.
Files that are 4 GB (APE is 2 GB) or larger cannot be played back.
This product recognizes audio sources exceeding CD quality (44.1 kHz/16 bit quantization) and DAT quality (48 kHz/16 bitquantization) as High-Resolution Audio. The “HR” symbol is displayed for High-Resolution Audio.
For sampling frequency over 352.8 kHz, it will be down convert playback.

kind of hard for me to understand how they could just leave that one out, I mean it's by no means some kind of obscure audio format or something.. anyways, thank you for providing an answer to my question.

 

[0rangutan]

kind of hard for me to understand how they could just leave that one out, I mean it's by no means some kind of obscure audio format or something..

I think it is exactly that!