[thr4]

Hi all - long time lurker, first time poster here.
I bought the (uncapped) NW-A306 a little over a week ago to replace (or complement) a first gen HiBy R2. Immediately upgraded to Android 13.

A couple of initial observations and compares to the HiBy R2:

• Beware that volume is rather low on uncapped version, too. With my Porta Pros I am usually around 80-90 indoors, but had to dial to 100-105 outdoors. Other headphones/earphones require volume in the same range +/-10. Taking into account that volume goes to 120, listening at 90 effecively means 75% of volume range, which is similar to my usual listening levels on the HiBy; however that one had an additional high-gain setting.
• There's no significant sluggishness of the UI during normal usage. I am using Walkman app, Tidal, Plexamp, Bandcamp.
• One reason why I decided to "demote" the HiBy R2 was that it struggled with gapless playback on Bluetooth (and with DSD). I haven't observed any issues with gapless on the NW-A306, which is great.
• Sound quality appears comparable to the HiBy, at least with the rather average headphones I own (Koss PortaPro, Meze Classic 99 Noir, HiBy Thor IEM - not counting bluetooth headphones which use their own DAC), and without comprehensive testing. I strongly recommend to keep ClearAudio off on NW-A306, it converted the sound to a muddy, over-emphasised mess, especially with headphones that are already bass-heavy.
• Battery Care doesn't seem to work - battery charges to 100% (DAP turned on, screen off) even when it's turned on. Not sure if this is a newly introduced Android 13 issue, if anyone could confirm/check it would be appreciated. Edit: Plugged my walkman to charge now and it stopped at 94%, indicating "Charged" on home screen. Looks like Battery Care works - perhaps it required a few battery charge cycles or the functionality varies depending on other factors.
• Minor annoyances of the NW-A306:
  • Walkman app requires cover images to be embedded in the audio file. HiBy could read and display standalone JPG files.
  • SD card seems to be rescanned after every power on. All music needs to be in the "Music" folder, which, if you want to use the PC companion app, is case-sensitive.
  • Walkman app doesn't seem to support playing from UPnP/DLNA network sources.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase - the form factor, build quality and (despite my initial skepticism) the Android experience are very good. I am hoping that with the upgrade to Android 13 the NW-A306 should be future-proof for several years at least, in terms of app support.

 

[Hinomotocho]

I've owned an A15, ZX100, ZX300, WM1A, WM1Z and now the A306 and never had any movement. From the WM1A/1Z threads I've read Sony uses a design that allows for this movement rather than the jack soldered to the mothboard, this could possibly be the same design feature.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-nw-wm1z-wm1a.815841/page-1202#post-13983221

Post 18,024 (massive thread!)

 

[cliffjnr]

I've owned an A15, ZX100, ZX300, WM1A, WM1Z and now the A306 and never had any movement. From the WM1A/1Z threads I've read Sony uses a design that allows for this movement rather than the jack soldered to the mothboard, this could possibly be the same design feature.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-nw-wm1z-wm1a.815841/page-1202#post-13983221

Post 18,024 (massive thread!)

thank for that its interesting. weirdly i do think the jack play will actually make it less likely to damage the port due to a sudden knock etc.

 

[Livingformusic]

i would be interested to know if others are like this? my warranty runs till march and ill replace if its unusual. like i say it doesnt effect the sound even when wobbled but as a long term thing im not sure.

Hi cliffjnr,

For the past 7 months, I've used my A306 (with Fatbear rubber case & rotation with tws or chi-fi iems) mostly for streaming/listening to music at work, due to its smaller/lightweight form factor, compact size and easy portability on the go.

One downside I found in the A306 is the way the front and back panels are mounted and joined. I noticed some flex along the plastic front panel piece and wobbling feel with some slight give on the cable's termination barrel alongside the headphone jack. After having my cable caught and tugged multiple times between torn flaps of boxes while going through inventory/boxes of merchandise at work, I found a short quick turn/mild pull of the cable's termination barrel to stop music playback.

Since my A306 had its battery replaced and was returned from Sony repair center in Japan back in June of last year, the issue with abrupt pause in music playback seems to have been resolved for the most part. However, the flex and wobble of the front & back panels and the termination barrel & headphone jack remain about the same. These issues could also be due to how the internal chassis and mainboard are mounted as well.

So far this week though, it's been working just fine with streaming music on Tidal and some occasional local music playback (with Walkman app) at work, while averaging about 8-9 hours of battery life (with wi-fi on and battery care & battery saver mode on).


Sony NW-A306 (Japan model, with Fatbear case)


Recently this week, I've spent some time with Kiwi Ears Quintet and A306, yet I felt the upper mids and treble from the Quintet to be a bit forward and energetic for my preferences. Although the Quintet is a very decent well performing set, curiosity got the best of me again and I read through some posts and threads on some of the 'older' releases of iems that seem to pair well with A306. I narrowed them down to Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 and Sony IER-M9, as these sets seem to be decent 'all-rounders' with different kinds of music and use cases.

As much as I wanted to go for Andromeda (since I never tried/heard Andromeda iems before, and also the fact that Andromeda 2020 is similarly priced, yet discontinued), there was just something about the Sony IER line-up that I couldn't pass up (after having tried/listened to IER-Z1R for some time) with its presentation/performance and synergy with Walkman daps.



Really looking forward to the IER-M9. I'll post a follow-up with some thoughts and impressions next week.

 

[karloil]

hows your 3.5mm port with all that plugged in? mine, is wobbly as anything. it doesnt effect the sound but its quite alarming how much i can move my headphone jack back and forwards. ive mentioned it before but someone said the sony port floats so its normal, but im not convinced mine should move this much haha. i might post a video of it

Still tight as the day I got it. Yours is definitely not ideal. Maybe have it checked with Sony Service Center.

 

[Lillie]

Hi, can someone confirm that the Japanese version does have the google play store.

Thanks

 

[DagsJT]

Just had one delivered today, any tips or tricks? Already updated to Android 13, and decreased the text and display settings.

 

[Lillie]

Just had one delivered today, any tips or tricks? Already updated to Android 13, and decreased the text and display settings.

Is that the Japanese version from the Neetex seller on EBay?

 

[DagsJT]

Is that the Japanese version from the Neetex seller on EBay?

Managed to get a UK one for a good price, which was lucky as I was going to buy one from Neetex!

 

[Lillie]

Managed to get a UK one for a good price, which was lucky as I was going to buy one from Neetex!

Ahh ok , was that used or new?
How are you finding the volume , can I ask what you’re listening with .
I’m still in two minds . Want to use my Sennheiser 599 with it but not sure about volume. So toss up whether to get Japanese version and forgo the warranty or UK version from Amazon. Also wanted confirmation that Japanese version does have Google play store installed.

 

[DagsJT]

Ahh ok , was that used or new?
How are you finding the volume , can I ask what you’re listening with .
I’m still in two minds . Want to use my Sennheiser 599 with it but not sure about volume. So toss up whether to get Japanese version and forgo the warranty or UK version from Amazon. Also wanted confirmation that Japanese version does have Google play store installed.

Used but is in absolute mint condition and was listed for £200 buy now, would be crazy not to have got it for that price.

I’ve not had much of a listen yet, I’m still copying files over to my SD card (should’ve had this done before now in hindsight) but I listened to a bit of PlexAmp on my Ikko OH10’s and got to something like 90/120 on volume and it was the highest I’d want to go.

 

[Lillie]

Used but is in absolute mint condition and was listed for £200 buy now, would be crazy not to have got it for that price.

I’ve not had much of a listen yet, I’m still copying files over to my SD card (should’ve had this done before now in hindsight) but I listened to a bit of PlexAmp on my Ikko OH10’s and got to something like 90/120 on volume and it was the highest I’d want to go.

Wow good price . Well enjoy .

 

[TomKure]

I have the Japanese version, bought from a Japanese seller on ebay. It does have the play store and it drives my HD660S2 to what I consider quite loud listening levels at volume set to 100 out of 120, so it should drive your 599's quite well.

 

[Lillie]

I have the Japanese version, bought from a Japanese seller on ebay. It does have the play store and it drives my HD660S2 to what I consider quite loud listening levels at volume set to 100 out of 120, so it should drive your 599's quite well.

Ahh thank you, that’s good to hear.

 

[psikey]

Hi, can someone confirm that the Japanese version does have the google play store.

Thanks

Confirm my Japanese A307 has Playstore