[cliffjnr]

maybe a silly question but... i have a pair of headphones koss porta pro that has a nice small L shaped jack. i dont feel uncomfortable putting it in my pocket with the player.

i also have a pair of iems that has quite a big straight jack.

the straight jack im more worried about in my pocket with the player in case it messes up the 3.5 connector on the player (considering it wobbles a bit already)

am i being irrational? should it make no difference?

i want to use the iems for the bus journey to work for isolation etc fyi

 

[babarrun]

the screen saver is really nice but I never get to see it - one with the moving cassette tapes. Is it possible to see it when streaming tidal or Apple Music after a few minutes of not pressing a button?

 

[hansenhans99]

I own the NWA-A307, that I imported directly from Japan, using a proxy. It’s in my opinion a very good usable audio device with beautiful sound, using good earphones.

Here is a funny thing, that I recently tried :

I never used in the past MiniDiscs. Always had only cassettes, vinyl and CD’s. But my son found a MiniDisc player on a flea market and brought it home because for him it looked cool. Additionally, he got also some used MD’s.

So, I studied, how to use such device. It’s amazing, that there are still people that develop software to use such things with modern PC’s. There is a web-based software available, that makes it easy to fill so called NetMD players with music from PC – Web MiniDisc Pro.

Furthermore it is even possible to load music files directly from an Android smartphone to such an MD Player.

As the NW-A307 is Android based, I tried if it is possible to load music files to the MD player. And – yes, it is.

Of course it actually makes no sense to load Hi-Res 24 bit FLAC’s to the MD Player, the sound on the NW-A307 is much better. But a t the end it is fun to walk outside with this retro MD Player.

 

[LL81]

Did you try turning "Bluetooth Absolute Volume" in developer settings? That might be worth a shot.

Recently started using a european nw-a306 using a wired headphone. Because of my disapointment with the maximum volume, which I find too low, I stumbled upon this forum. Inspired by what I read I started messing arround and was able to crank up the volume quite a bit.
These are the steps that increased my volume, not sure if the first two stept are are realy needed:
-activate developer mode by clicking multiple time on the firmware version under settings
-reset sound adjustment settings, (in my case version 3.0.0)
-activate equalizer
Maybe it can be of help for others as well.

 

[Livingformusic]

maybe a silly question but... i have a pair of headphones koss porta pro that has a nice small L shaped jack. i dont feel uncomfortable putting it in my pocket with the player.

i also have a pair of iems that has quite a big straight jack.

the straight jack im more worried about in my pocket with the player in case it messes up the 3.5 connector on the player (considering it wobbles a bit already)

am i being irrational? should it make no difference?

i want to use the iems for the bus journey to work for isolation etc fyi

Hi cliffjnr,

Back in May of this year, I have used the Sony A306 with an inexpensive set of chi-fi iems (while my Legend X is used for listening at home after work) and a cable that is terminated in a straight metal barrel 3.5 plug at work almost daily. I haven’t used the A306 with a set of headphones yet, but I’ve been looking to purchase a set of Sony MDR-1AM2 headphones (due to its fairly lightweight form factor and ear cups that can fold flat to be stored in a low profile carrying case) to pair with my A306 (when my repaired A306 arrives sometime next week) in the next month or so for on the go use.

For about 18 days since the start of May, this setup has worked fairly well for the most part. However, I noticed that the straight barrel termination plug (in 3.5) got disconnected from the headphone jack almost every time the dangling portion of the cable got caught on to the corner edge or lid of a box/container whenever I passed through a narrow aisle of boxed items at work.


In worst case scenario, there were few times when the cable got caught along a peeled edge of a box, and with a quick tug, the termination plug disconnected with enough abrupt force to the point where I noticed the exterior plated sides of the A306 to be slightly spaced apart. The 3.5 jack also had a slight amount of give, but not loosened out of place for any major signs of wiggling from a brief shake of the A306 when held in hand.

With a fair amount of pressure applied to both exterior sides by hand, the exterior plates snapped back in place with a slight loss of firmness that it initially had before.


Use case in different environments and conditions will always vary, but for moderately active/physical work environments, I would go for a dap with a more robust build (sturdier construction with more solid materials, or of metal shelled exterior). But, if you’re using the A306 for listening to music on public modes of transportation, the A306 should do just fine for daily commuting and light-moderate on-the-go use.

As for cable termination plugs (L-shaped or straight plug) for listening with iems (or compact headphones) and dap on the go, I would go with a cable terminated to a low profile compact L-shaped plug. This allows the plug to stay more firmly connected in place with less give in losing connectivity from abrupt tug/pull movements and such.

Hope this helps.

 

[babarrun]

I'm using the A306 with the Hifi-Man Svanar Wireless in LDAC and it is an excellent pairing in my experience. When I switch to ANC mode the headset automatically disconnects and I have to go back and reconnect. Anyone know why this may happen?
Also, when I go into ANC mode I am able to control the volume with the keys. However when in it's hifi mode the keys don't work and I have to use the slider on the medial volume to adjust it.

 

[JerryHead]

Can anyone tell me if this DAP would drive the Sennheiser HD800 S pretty well? Or, would the impedance be off?

 

[Daniel Johnston]

Can anyone tell me if this DAP would drive the Sennheiser HD800 S pretty well? Or, would the impedance be off?

No.

I have the US version and doubt you'll get enough volume to drive anything besides efficient iems. My current setup uses the Sony ier-z1r. I'm often at 100/120 volume. You can import the more powerful A307 or a non capped A306. Even then, those will be marginal.

 

[JerryHead]

No.

I have the US version and doubt you'll get enough volume to drive anything besides efficient iems. My current setup uses the Sony ier-z1r. I'm often at 100/120 volume. You can import the more powerful A307 or a non capped A306. Even then, those will be marginal.

I thought the only difference between the A306 and A307 was the internal storage, no? Ah, you must've meant the ZX707. So, even the ZX-707 won't have enough power to drive these?

 

[Livingformusic]

I thought the only difference between the A306 and A307 was the internal storage, no? Ah, you must've meant the ZX707. So, even the ZX-707 won't have enough power to drive these?

Hi JerryHead,

I haven't tried Sennheiser HD800S on A306 nor ZX707, but the HD800S is 300ohms, which is fairly high in impedance.

If you're looking to use high impedance headphones on a portable dap such as the A306 (with a maximum power output of 45mW on the Japanese uncapped model), I think it will sound alright for casual listening on the go, but you may find it lacking in headroom, body, layering and stage.

I have tried several closed back headphones (from 32 ohms to 60 ohms impedance) with the ZX-707 (Japanese uncapped model, at 230mW maximum power output in high gain balanced in 4.4), and I found all of them to sound somewhat 'closed in,' noticeably toned down in resolution and clarity, and lacking some spatial body and detailed imaging.

When my repaired A306 arrives sometime this week (or the week after), I'll try out the HD800S with A306 and also with ZX-707 (with XLR to 4.4 interconnect to 4.4 to 3.5 interconnect), and I'll follow up with some thoughts and impressions on this pairing in my next post.

 

[psikey]

No.

I have the US version and doubt you'll get enough volume to drive anything besides efficient iems. My current setup uses the Sony ier-z1r. I'm often at 100/120 volume. You can import the more powerful A307 or a non capped A306. Even then, those will be marginal.

As comparrison with my Japanese uncapped A307 I listen at 75-85 with my IER-Z1R.

 

[JerryHead]

Hi JerryHead,

I haven't tried Sennheiser HD800S on A306 nor ZX707, but the HD800S is 300ohms, which is fairly high in impedance.

If you're looking to use high impedance headphones on a portable dap such as the A306 (with a maximum power output of 45mW on the Japanese uncapped model), I think it will sound alright for casual listening on the go, but you may find it lacking in headroom, body, layering and stage.

I have tried several closed back headphones (from 32 ohms to 60 ohms impedance) with the ZX-707 (Japanese uncapped model, at 230mW maximum power output in high gain balanced in 4.4), and I found all of them to sound somewhat 'closed in,' noticeably toned down in resolution and clarity, and lacking some spatial body and detailed imaging.

When my repaired A306 arrives sometime this week (or the week after), I'll try out the HD800S with A306 and also with ZX-707 (with XLR to 4.4 interconnect to 4.4 to 3.5 interconnect), and I'll follow up with some thoughts and impressions on this pairing in my next post.

That would be fantastic, and much appreciated. If anyone has had any good luck with other open-backed cans to use with either DAP, please let me know.

 

[DarkEchoes]

the screen saver is really nice but I never get to see it - one with the moving cassette tapes. Is it possible to see it when streaming tidal or Apple Music after a few minutes of not pressing a button?

Looks like nobody answered this for you yet. The cassette tape animation is only possible when using the built-in Walkman Music Player app.

 

[Daniel Johnston]

I thought the only difference between the A306 and A307 was the internal storage, no? Ah, you must've meant the ZX707. So, even the ZX-707 won't have enough power to drive these?

No.

The non US, UK, European, and Singapore A306 have more power due to not being capped. There is a huge discussion about this earlier in the thread. The US A306 has 35mw max output. The A307 and non capped A306 have IIRC 200mw+. With the HD800, 35mw is not going to give you acceptable volume. I tried my Diana V2 for kicks and it they produced sound, but at a very low volume.

There is a japan only NW A307 which some have imported that has more storage and is uncapped. It's also more expensive.

Unless you are using the NW A306 as a digital transport to a DAC/amp like the Mojo2, I can't see any avenue which the HD800 will work well with the US version A306. YMMV

 

[babarrun]

No.

The non US, UK, European, and Singapore A306 have more power due to not being capped. There is a huge discussion about this earlier in the thread. The US A306 has 35mw max output. The A307 and non capped A306 have IIRC 200mw+. With the HD800, 35mw is not going to give you acceptable volume. I tried my Diana V2 for kicks and it they produced sound, but at a very low volume.

There is a japan only NW A307 which some have imported that has more storage and is uncapped. It's also more expensive.

Unless you are using the NW A306 as a digital transport to a DAC/amp like the Mojo2, I can't see any avenue which the HD800 will work well with the US version A306. YMMV

Thanks for the detailed explanation. The Jaoanese variant 307 is very expensive or what they are going for in eBay just for the extra 32gb of storage. It's kike 350 vs 520.
I'm thinking of getting the uncapped