[fish1050]

  Comparison: Cowon Plenue D Vs Sony NW-A35
http://www.head-fi.org/t/832786/comparison-cowon-plenue-d-vs-sony-nw-a35

Interesting because the professional reviews of the Plenue D I have read say it is artificial sounding and not accurate.  The consensus being that the vast eq options are needed to get a more natural sound.  The Plenue D and A35 are both on my list of DAP's to be considered to replace my A17.  Since I can't demo the Plenue D I may have to take a pass on it as it is not available in Canada.  I prefer a pure sound and don't like to use an eq.

 

[DaNkO7]

I wonder if there's a big difference between the A25 and the A35 besides the touchscreen. Anybody has both to compare them?

 

[xylin6]

I just visited the Sony USA site and they list the A35 and A37 on there http://www.sony.com/electronics/walkman/nw-a30-series
though no prices as of yet -
 
though I see on Amazon BuyWiseCorp are selling the A35 for $239 here
https://www.amazon.com/SONY-Walkman-NW-A35-charcoal-black/dp/B01LYFB9QR
and $309 here  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M114IMJ/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=
 
the most noticeable difference being that the $309 player (NW-A35HN) includes noise cancelling Sony earbuds the $239 player (NW-A35) does not  - I'm wondering if the $309 is the U.S. version and the $239 is the Hong Kong version (as they have been selling that model  for some time now long before Sony even announced they were releasing the A30 series stateside) just a guess mind you. I've been tempted to buy one just for the collection (an A-35) but can't justify it as all my Walkmans work just fine (and sound fantastic) still tempting though

 

 

[DrGonzo]

I definitely think the A30 series sounds better than the A20 series. The A36 sounds extremely similar and just as good as the ZX100, IMO. The A36 easily drives the Shure SE215 (volume 65-70/120), as well as the UE 900S (volume 70-75/120). For around $300 I don't think you can find a better player that sounds amazing, has incredible battery life and awesome UI, I used to use DAP's that cost near $1000 and it finally dawned on me that I'm wasting all this money on a piece of audio equipment that only lasts about 12 hours on a single charge and in a few years it is just going to be a useless brick. I don't think the A36 is that inferior to some of the pricier DAP's. I'm much happier, as well as my wallet, since I've simplified my setup.

 

[candy287]

So what is your opinion about sound quality between a35 and iphone 6? Does a35 really worth the price? I'm able to get 32gb a35 from HONGKONG. Let me know, I'm planing to make purchase next week. 

in my opinion you should get the A35. for me anyways, the tonality and the separation of it is worth it. GL on your decision.

 

[Aevum]

A question i have about it,
 
Has anyone tested how much does the speed of the SD card affect the boot up time ?

 

[Vitor Valeri]

  Interesting because the professional reviews of the Plenue D I have read say it is artificial sounding and not accurate.  The consensus being that the vast eq options are needed to get a more natural sound.  The Plenue D and A35 are both on my list of DAP's to be considered to replace my A17.  Since I can't demo the Plenue D I may have to take a pass on it as it is not available in Canada.  I prefer a pure sound and don't like to use an eq.

 
Perhaps as impressions of the professional comments were different because of the earphones used and the volume level. Furthermore, I am based on the Sony A35, the Cowon Plenue D and FiiO X3 II, while the reviewers have access to more expensive players (US$ 500.00 ~ US$ 1000.00). Well, anyway, keep my opinion within the experience I have and compare it to the live sound at shows.

 

[Stereodude]

  I just visited the Sony USA site and they list the A35 and A37 on there http://www.sony.com/electronics/walkman/nw-a30-series
though no prices as of yet -
 
though I see on Amazon BuyWiseCorp are selling the A35 for $239 here
https://www.amazon.com/SONY-Walkman-NW-A35-charcoal-black/dp/B01LYFB9QR
and $309 here  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M114IMJ/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=
 
the most noticeable difference being that the $309 player (NW-A35HN) includes noise cancelling Sony earbuds the $239 player (NW-A35) does not  - I'm wondering if the $309 is the U.S. version and the $239 is the Hong Kong version (as they have been selling that model  for some time now long before Sony even announced they were releasing the A30 series stateside) just a guess mind you. I've been tempted to buy one just for the collection (an A-35) but can't justify it as all my Walkmans work just fine (and sound fantastic) still tempting though

 

 
None of the listings on Amazon are the US version.  It's not been released yet.  FWIW, you can get the English Menu'd Asian (HK?) version without the noise cancelling HPs cheaper on eBay ~$200 shipped (I'm trying to confirm with the seller that it's the international version with English menus).  I don't care about the noise cancelling HPs at all, but I really want as much storage as possible, but it seems like the 64gB model with noise cancelling HPs will probably be about $400 vs. the $250 the basic 16gB one costs.  Paying almost double for an extra 48gB seems stupid, but if you really need that extra 48gB you've got no choice but to pay...

 

 

[candy287]

A question i have about it,

Has anyone tested how much does the speed of the SD card affect the boot up time ?

sad to say mine takes about 1-2min and i have 128gig sd card, roughly 110g songs with all type of format.

 

[WilcoRoger]

   
None of the listings on Amazon are the US version.  It's not been released yet.  FWIW, you can get the English Menu'd Asian (HK?) version without the noise cancelling HPs cheaper on eBay ~$200 shipped (I'm trying to confirm with the seller that it's the international version with English menus).  I don't care about the noise cancelling HPs at all, but I really want as much storage as possible, but it seems like the 64gB model with noise cancelling HPs will probably be about $400 vs. the $250 the basic 16gB one costs.  Paying almost double for an extra 48gB seems stupid, but if you really need that extra 48gB you've got no choice but to pay...

 

 
The version sold in Malaysia is also "English capable" - it has traditional and simplified Chinese, Japanese, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish, Russian.
 
I agree, that if you don't need the NC headphones, the extra 48GB is just ridiculously expensive.

 

[WilcoRoger]

  A question i have about it,
 
Has anyone tested how much does the speed of the SD card affect the boot up time ?

In my experience it's more effected by the amount of songs that changed - when I add/remove only a few songs, the bootup is rather fast. When I replace a large amount (or stick in another SD card with 64 or 128 GB) the "creating database" phase is really long.

 

[304608377]

in my opinion you should get the A35. for me anyways, the tonality and the separation of it is worth it. GL on your decision.

After reading all the new posts. I've decided to get the A36 32GB with NC headphone for like around 285USD not sure how much the international shipping costs but I think still is cheaper than on amazon.

 

[fish1050]

   
Perhaps as impressions of the professional comments were different because of the earphones used and the volume level. Furthermore, I am based on the Sony A35, the Cowon Plenue D and FiiO X3 II, while the reviewers have access to more expensive players (US$ 500.00 ~ US$ 1000.00). Well, anyway, keep my opinion within the experience I have and compare it to the live sound at shows.

 I realize there are several factors involved in evaluating products but as I can't audition myself I rely on professional views to help guide me.  It really is unfortunate that the two Canadian dealers that did carry Cowon products both dropped them years ago.  It is funny but Cowon still has them listed on their global site as dealers,  I keep checking back with both of them to see if they changed their minds but so far no go.

 

[Stereodude]

I agree, that if you don't need the NC headphones, the extra 48GB is just ridiculously expensive.

 
I decided to go bang for the buck and went with a 16gB for $199 to save money after the seller confirmed it could be set to English.  I'm going with a 200gB uSD also since the 256gB ones are stupidly priced comparatively.  I'm not sure which 200gB card to get though.  Oddly, the Lexar seems to be a few gB larger than the Sandisk (187GiB vs. 183GiB), but only has a 1yr warranty (vs. 10yrs for Sandisk).  There's conflicting information in reviews whether the Lexar 200gB writes at 40MB/sec or 20MB/sec.  I found a few reviews where it did ~40MB/sec, and one where it did just over 20MB/sec.

 
 
Edit: I figured the write speed out.  The site with the odd numbers only use a 50MiB data set whereas the others used 1000MiB in CDM.
 
Edit 2: I figured out the apparent size difference too.  The Sandisk Ultra "200GB" microSDXC card isn't 200GB.  It's 196GB with only 196,865,949,696 bytes.  The Lexar 633x 200GB microSDXC is 200GB with 200,788,672,512 bytes.

 

[Stereodude]

I gotten a A35 together with the original flip case today. The flip is kept closed by small magnets. No screen sleep function thought. All buttons and ports ex are accessible when the flip is closed.

 
The CKS-NWA30 case is nice.  I got to touch it on the NW-A35's at CES.  Unfortunately, it looks to be expensive to get one in the US.  Amazon Japan seems to be the cheapest for one that I could find at ~$30 shipped, but they're current out of stock / not expecting to ship for 2-3 weeks.