[John 90125]

   
 
The volume level of the A35 is very similar to the volume of my older A845, which is to say extremely low.  I hacked the volume level on the A35 on the first day and now it's fantastic, no volume problem at all.  The same hack can be applied to the A845, which I did, but the A845 has a weedy amp which simply isn't capable of higher volume and it made no difference.  In contrast, the amp in the A35 is much more powerful and the difference when you "let it off the leash" is huge.
 
The hack is quite easy to do and I would recommend it for everyone who buys an EU player, I think it's a better option than buying a non-EU player and having either no guarantee or a guarantee that requires expensive shipping back to Asia or the US.

Regarding the hack, when you run scsitool-nwz-vX.exe do you specify Western Europe as the destination code with the sound pressure off or do you need to use a non EU destination (i.e. USA) as the destination to have the sound pressure off? also do you need to run the command prompt as an administrator?
 
The instructions keep stating "You will need to reset the settings after the change to get the modification applied", but were not clear about what settings (i.e. settings through the tool or the Walkman settings), I assume that means going into the a35 setup and setting the language and location to the destination specified in the hack, is this correct?
 
Sorry if these questions seem stupid, I have never attempted this before (bought my last two Walkmans when I was in Hong Kong so no EU volume cap), I have one on order and want to know what to do before it arrives and I also don't want to brick the a35 by doing anything stupid.
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[Jonathan-Mac]

  Regarding the hack, when you run scsitool-nwz-vX.exe do you specify Western Europe as the destination code with the sound pressure off or do you need to use a non EU destination (i.e. USA) as the destination to have the sound pressure off? also do you need to run the command prompt as an administrator?
 
The instructions keep stating "You will need to reset the settings after the change to get the modification applied", but were not clear about what settings (i.e. settings through the tool or the Walkman settings), I assume that means going into the a35 setup and setting the language and location to the destination specified in the hack, is this correct?
 
Sorry if these questions seem stupid, I have never attempted this before (bought my last two Walkmans when I was in Hong Kong so no EU volume cap), I have one on order and want to know what to do before it arrives and I also don't want to brick the a35 by doing anything stupid.
 
Thanks in advance.

 
If you have a look at my previous post (#1025 on p69 of this thread) you can see what I did, which was based on what was done by a member who posted a few days before.
 
The sound pressure setting, as far as I can tell, does nothing.  What's important is the region setting.  I changed mine to the first of the US options listed on the Rockbox page.
 
Reseting the settings refers to a menu option on the player: Settings -> Device Settings -> Rest/Format -> Reset All Settings.  You need to do that after the hack in order for it to take effect.

 

[Vitor Valeri]

   
That's why I think its really dependent on what IEM you test it with. Even on flat as you tested the players, the sony sounded better with my hybrid CIEMs. On the plenue D, bass-impact and sub-bass rumble was almost non-existant without EQ tweaking, and with tweaking alot of the detail is lost and it goes all over the place. It does sound fantastic with BAs, I would agree. Its been my mainstay player for a while when it was paired with my BA customs.

 
I understand now. Funny that in my case, with my CIEM, I did not miss bass in any moment (even without EQ).

 

[Stereodude]

So I finally got a working "200GB" microSDXC card, a Sandisk Ultra. I loaded it completely full of M4A files (encoded with QAAC @ 73). The nominal bitrate of the tracks is ~140kbit/sec. It took about 95 minutes to build the database after inserting the card and mounting it. I then filled the internal memory (~12GB) with M4A file of similar properties. The unit now has just under 45k songs on it. The menus are little bit more sluggish now, but it seems to work okay with all that music on there. Boot time from power off (changing no file contents) is not fast. I timed it at ~212 seconds.

 

[gerelmx1986]

When we eventually get off the sinking ship (EU) could we have the higher volume models in the UK please Sony???

The volumen hack now ecists yay
 
BTW i updated my WM1A to 1.10 and the software is faster

 

[god-bluff]

The volumen hack now ecists yay

BTW i updated my WM1A to 1.10 and the software is faster

I know but it's beyond my understanding. Gobbledegook to me. Why can't they make easy for an old technophobe like me.

Something along 'Click hear to change region of your walkman' and then just drag the file to the player whatever

PS I'm still with A15 and I dont know whether the potential of noticeably increased volume is as great as A30. Don't think it's amp is inherently as powerful.

 

[304608377]

That was part of the reason why I went for the AK70 instead of the A30 as a transport for my Mojo since it was too bulky.

The other reason being it doesn't sound that good as a transport as compared to the AK70.

I went for AK100II was about to get the a36hn but then damn chinese seller cancelled my order. And I got lucky found a brand new deal for $500.... little bit over my budget but i still paid for it.. no regret so far

 

[Wiz33]

If all I want to do is LDAC wireless playback. How big a difference will I see between a A30 series and a ZX2 or WM1A? I just got in a MUC-M2BT1 and it's so much better in ease of use and battery life than the MUC-M1BT1 that it looks like I'll be using my XBAs a lot more often while out and about (previously mostly wired to DAC/AMP). Since the MUC-M2BT1 supports LDAC, I figure I should give that try over just using BT. I just wonder if there is a quality difference between using LDAC on a A30 vs the highend Sony player that would warrant the extra cost?

 

[goody]

Afraid not, and that is what I am most irritated by! Everything else just works (well aside from not having a clock on display apart the settings!). Looks like android will win for my next purchase after all..

Damn looks like I won't be buying it then

 

[davidcotton]

Damn looks like I won't be buying it then

Even more annoying for me was the fact that I bought from somewhere that doesn't have the returns option that amazon does!  So I'm stuck with it really.  It's a pita because otherwise it's not a bad little player.

 

[fish1050]

  If all I want to do is LDAC wireless playback. How big a difference will I see between a A30 series and a ZX2 or WM1A? I just got in a MUC-M2BT1 and it's so much better in ease of use and battery life than the MUC-M1BT1 that it looks like I'll be using my XBAs a lot more often while out and about (previously mostly wired to DAC/AMP). Since the MUC-M2BT1 supports LDAC, I figure I should give that try over just using BT. I just wonder if there is a quality difference between using LDAC on a A30 vs the highend Sony player that would warrant the extra cost?

If you only want LDAC then stick with the A30 series.  They all use the same LDAC bluetooth version and all you are doing is transmitting the data to the receiving device for playback.  Save your money and buy a good Sony LDAC bluetooth playback device.  LDAC does suck up battery life fairly quickly so the Sony DAP with the longest battery life should be the best choice.  I might even suggest you consider the A20 series if you can find one.  It has slightly better battery life than the A30 series and you can probably find it for less.  The A20 series also still supports AptX for non Sony devices while the A30 series doesn't.
 
I have my A17 paired with my Sony STRDN860 receiver using LDAC and it sounds amazing.  My advice save your money and get either the A30 series or the A20 series if all you want is LDAC.

 

[fish1050]

  Even more annoying for me was the fact that I bought from somewhere that doesn't have the returns option that amazon does!  So I'm stuck with it really.  It's a pita because otherwise it's not a bad little player.

You could cut your losses and sell it couldn't you?  If it doesn't have the volume cap I am sure you could sell it easily.

 

[fish1050]

Damn looks like I won't be buying it then

Yeah I started looking for other options as well when I saw the features Sony has eliminated from the A10/A20 series.  Maybe Sony will put them on next years A40 series to try and convince us to upgrade yet again. 

 
As much as I like having LDAC bluetooth, man cannot live on bluetooth alone. 

 

[slimcha0s]

The volumen hack now ecists yay

BTW i updated my WM1A to 1.10 and the software is faster

I updated my A35 to v1.10, the touch screen response is much better. And the sounds is a little slightly clear? I'm not sure. And haven't checked the battery life , it was only 20 hours playback before. I hope Sony improves battery life in this version

 

[fish1050]

I updated my A35 to v1.10, the touch screen response is much better. And the sounds is a little slightly clear? I'm not sure. And haven't checked the battery life , it was only 20 hours playback before. I hope Sony improves battery life in this version

When you say 20 hours is that on standby or do you turn it off when you are not using it?