carsncars
100+ Head-Fier
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Hey,
Just got my hands on a Sony 'Aura' NW-A3000 a few days ago. No camera (my poor XT is in for warranty..), but I'm going to go ahead and post my impressions.
Aesthetically, it's wonderful. Looks much better than it does in pictures, especially with the illuminated buttons. The buttons can actually flip between white and orange, depending on the mode. The OLED screen is VERY nice, but utterly useless in the sun-- which is fine, if you're not planning to use it much outside, or plan on grabbing an LCD remote.
Contrary to what its dimensions would tell you, it actually feels very handy-- I guess it's sort of a 'Rio Carbon' effect, where the rounds make it feel smaller than it is. Feels very solid in the hand, a la Sony NW-E500 series. It is, however, quite a bit larger than the new 30Gb iPod 5G; looks like Sony designed it with the 4G iPod in mind, as it is closer in dimension to a 20Gb 4th Generation iPod. Gaps are small-- especially around the buttons, but not quite up to the iPod's standards around the top edges. Of course, the iPod's shape is much easier to manufacture.
That said, it IS a fingerprint magnet-- not as much as, say, the iPod's back, but you'll still want to wipe it off once in a while. Notably, Sony has opted not to include the pouch it had previously included with its Network Walkmans-- that pouch had served to clean off fingerprints and smudges by itself.
However, the A-3000 is very resilient to scratches, as much as the E-500 was. I've kept it in my pocket, without a case, and for a couple hours (by accident!) with a pair of keys-- no marks to be seen yet. Not as scratch resistant, of course, as say the casing on the HD5, but nevertheless this is the most scratch-resistant glossy electronic device I've ever seen. Many voiced their concern that the A-3000 wouldn't be as durable, but I disagree-- while it may scratch easier, it feels more solid, and now there is no LCD to crack-- the beauty of OLED!
The sound quality is identical to my HD5, for me-- which is to say, very good, and very nice to listen to. Slightly bass-heavy, so you can tell it has been tuned for the 'average consumer', but it has a very nice, warm, full sound. A couple friends swore it had a less audible background hiss, but it sounds identical to me. One negative is that to use all but one of the A3000's EQ options, you must encode in Sony's ATRAC format.
An interesting note is that the A3000 does gapless-- however, only with ATRAC. But, if you're a diehard for gapless and will put in the time to re-encode your music, this is one of the few options you have in HDD players today.
I really like the A3000's UI. Very well done-- I think it beats the iPod's, colour and all. While it may not be as easy to just pick up, once you've played with it for a minute or two it becomes really convenient.
The A3000's UI revolves around what Sony calls a 'Home Screen', a screen with nine icons arranged in a grid, like a mobile phone. It is, essentially, the main menu, but reconfigured-- it makes it very quick to navigate to a feature. As fast as the iPod, and more accurate. Another area where Sony has matched the iPod is in scrolling larger lists-- as they did with the HD5, Sony has incorporated an initials search in the A3000, although slightly reorganized. When selecting, say, and artist by their initial, the A3000 will display a row of letters across the top, and a list of artists with that initial in the remaining display below. You use the left and right button to navigate to an initial, and then use the up and down buttons to select the artist's name. The clickwheel may edge it out on gigantic lists, but I believe for most people's music collection this should be just as quick.
A new feature that Sony has added is their 'ARTIST LINK' feature-- that orange-lit button on the top left-hand corner of the player. Some might find it a novelty, but I find it's been really useful. This is how it works-- while playing a song, you can hit the Link button, and the A3000 will pull up a list of artists of the same genre and mood as the one you're currently listening to. Very useful, if you're the kind of person who listens to different artists depending on your mood. Works well-- it is good at selecting relevant artists for me, only once messing up when it pulled out ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' while I was listening to Tool's 'Lateralus' album!
The A3000's GUI also incorporates a dual-rating system. It uses two star-values, one that is assigned by the player based on the number of times you've selected the song, the number of time's you've listened to it, when the last time you've listened to it was, and the number of times you've skipped it. The other star rating is assigned by you, like iTunes. I leave it to the A3000 to rate my music, as it works quite well. For the first couple days, it was sort of lopsided (my moods again..), but it has started to even out and become more accurate.
The reason for this new rating system is the A3000's new shuffle; nothing special, really, like any other player's smart-shuffle.
The playlisting has been improved as well. Something significant that Sony has added are smart playlists-- songs recently added, etc.
The display. Unusual for a new player at this time, Sony's opted to keep the screen grayscale. While the new screen is now 4-shade, like the iPod mini, there is no colour. It's still an extremely nice screen to view, so if you're not in it for photo viewing or video viewing features anyhow, it shouldn't make a difference. Besides, how much does the iPod use colour to enhance its GUI? Not much. But, alas, there will be those who want a photo-viewing, video-playing, colour-screen toting device, so the A3000 is not for you.
Battery life is excellent, as always, but NOT up to the HD5's. I get about 25 hours using ATRAC (should be 15-20 on the 6Gb A1000). Something to note, is that contrary to previous claims, the A3000's battery IS replaceable! After taking that sort of silver grommet-looking stud on the back of the A3000, with a press of the bottom the cover will slide off.
Now, for the part everyone's been waiting for-- synchronization and the 'Connect Player'. First of all, the wonderfully standardized mini-USB port that appeared on the HD5 is gone, after a short appearance. Sony has returned to having a combined, proprietary sync-and-charge port.
SonicStage is gone! Sony's decided to wipe the slate clean with its new Connect Player. A much cleaner GUI, and it is reminiscent of.. iTunes? Anyhow, it is much better in concept (though I must say, I prefer iTunes to Sony's mauve-ish colour scheme)-- allowing drag and drop, easier playlist building, etc., but its execution lets it down. Again, Sony has managed to release a piece of software that feels like it's still in the beta-testing stage. I recommend sticking with SonicStage 3.3 for the time being, as the A3000 will work with it. Note, however, that the player's rating system, smart playlisting, and ARTIST LINK feature will not work when using SonicStage.
Transfer times are quick, and along with all the old MP3 and ATRAC support, Sony has added support for new ATRAC bitrates, and has stated that there will be WAV support in late December.
Value-for-dollar wise, the Sony NW-A3000 is at the pricey end of the range, especially for something black-and-white and with next to no extra features, but that's the way Sony's always been.
Overall, the A3000 is a very nice unit-- good hardware, great GUI. Still got the sound quality merits of the HD5, has a removable battery and above-average battery life. The GUI is quite a change from the typical iPod-like user interface we've gotten used to seeing on a hard-drive player, and it is a change for the better. However, the A3000 is let down on one major point-- Connect player. Just as with the HD1, Sony's managed to let down their hardware with its software again. Sony has promised an update in the 'near future', it's just a pain, because if you don't want to deal with Connect player then you'll have to wait for the new Connect Player update to use your A3000's new features.
If SonicStage is fine for you, and you're not set on a colour screen, the A3000 is an excellent option.
Feel free to ask me any more questions, while I have the unit in my hands. By the way-- I have the A1000 with me as well. Almost identical, just a different size.
Just got my hands on a Sony 'Aura' NW-A3000 a few days ago. No camera (my poor XT is in for warranty..), but I'm going to go ahead and post my impressions.
Aesthetically, it's wonderful. Looks much better than it does in pictures, especially with the illuminated buttons. The buttons can actually flip between white and orange, depending on the mode. The OLED screen is VERY nice, but utterly useless in the sun-- which is fine, if you're not planning to use it much outside, or plan on grabbing an LCD remote.
Contrary to what its dimensions would tell you, it actually feels very handy-- I guess it's sort of a 'Rio Carbon' effect, where the rounds make it feel smaller than it is. Feels very solid in the hand, a la Sony NW-E500 series. It is, however, quite a bit larger than the new 30Gb iPod 5G; looks like Sony designed it with the 4G iPod in mind, as it is closer in dimension to a 20Gb 4th Generation iPod. Gaps are small-- especially around the buttons, but not quite up to the iPod's standards around the top edges. Of course, the iPod's shape is much easier to manufacture.
That said, it IS a fingerprint magnet-- not as much as, say, the iPod's back, but you'll still want to wipe it off once in a while. Notably, Sony has opted not to include the pouch it had previously included with its Network Walkmans-- that pouch had served to clean off fingerprints and smudges by itself.
However, the A-3000 is very resilient to scratches, as much as the E-500 was. I've kept it in my pocket, without a case, and for a couple hours (by accident!) with a pair of keys-- no marks to be seen yet. Not as scratch resistant, of course, as say the casing on the HD5, but nevertheless this is the most scratch-resistant glossy electronic device I've ever seen. Many voiced their concern that the A-3000 wouldn't be as durable, but I disagree-- while it may scratch easier, it feels more solid, and now there is no LCD to crack-- the beauty of OLED!
The sound quality is identical to my HD5, for me-- which is to say, very good, and very nice to listen to. Slightly bass-heavy, so you can tell it has been tuned for the 'average consumer', but it has a very nice, warm, full sound. A couple friends swore it had a less audible background hiss, but it sounds identical to me. One negative is that to use all but one of the A3000's EQ options, you must encode in Sony's ATRAC format.
An interesting note is that the A3000 does gapless-- however, only with ATRAC. But, if you're a diehard for gapless and will put in the time to re-encode your music, this is one of the few options you have in HDD players today.
I really like the A3000's UI. Very well done-- I think it beats the iPod's, colour and all. While it may not be as easy to just pick up, once you've played with it for a minute or two it becomes really convenient.
The A3000's UI revolves around what Sony calls a 'Home Screen', a screen with nine icons arranged in a grid, like a mobile phone. It is, essentially, the main menu, but reconfigured-- it makes it very quick to navigate to a feature. As fast as the iPod, and more accurate. Another area where Sony has matched the iPod is in scrolling larger lists-- as they did with the HD5, Sony has incorporated an initials search in the A3000, although slightly reorganized. When selecting, say, and artist by their initial, the A3000 will display a row of letters across the top, and a list of artists with that initial in the remaining display below. You use the left and right button to navigate to an initial, and then use the up and down buttons to select the artist's name. The clickwheel may edge it out on gigantic lists, but I believe for most people's music collection this should be just as quick.
A new feature that Sony has added is their 'ARTIST LINK' feature-- that orange-lit button on the top left-hand corner of the player. Some might find it a novelty, but I find it's been really useful. This is how it works-- while playing a song, you can hit the Link button, and the A3000 will pull up a list of artists of the same genre and mood as the one you're currently listening to. Very useful, if you're the kind of person who listens to different artists depending on your mood. Works well-- it is good at selecting relevant artists for me, only once messing up when it pulled out ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' while I was listening to Tool's 'Lateralus' album!
The A3000's GUI also incorporates a dual-rating system. It uses two star-values, one that is assigned by the player based on the number of times you've selected the song, the number of time's you've listened to it, when the last time you've listened to it was, and the number of times you've skipped it. The other star rating is assigned by you, like iTunes. I leave it to the A3000 to rate my music, as it works quite well. For the first couple days, it was sort of lopsided (my moods again..), but it has started to even out and become more accurate.
The reason for this new rating system is the A3000's new shuffle; nothing special, really, like any other player's smart-shuffle.
The playlisting has been improved as well. Something significant that Sony has added are smart playlists-- songs recently added, etc.
The display. Unusual for a new player at this time, Sony's opted to keep the screen grayscale. While the new screen is now 4-shade, like the iPod mini, there is no colour. It's still an extremely nice screen to view, so if you're not in it for photo viewing or video viewing features anyhow, it shouldn't make a difference. Besides, how much does the iPod use colour to enhance its GUI? Not much. But, alas, there will be those who want a photo-viewing, video-playing, colour-screen toting device, so the A3000 is not for you.
Battery life is excellent, as always, but NOT up to the HD5's. I get about 25 hours using ATRAC (should be 15-20 on the 6Gb A1000). Something to note, is that contrary to previous claims, the A3000's battery IS replaceable! After taking that sort of silver grommet-looking stud on the back of the A3000, with a press of the bottom the cover will slide off.
Now, for the part everyone's been waiting for-- synchronization and the 'Connect Player'. First of all, the wonderfully standardized mini-USB port that appeared on the HD5 is gone, after a short appearance. Sony has returned to having a combined, proprietary sync-and-charge port.
SonicStage is gone! Sony's decided to wipe the slate clean with its new Connect Player. A much cleaner GUI, and it is reminiscent of.. iTunes? Anyhow, it is much better in concept (though I must say, I prefer iTunes to Sony's mauve-ish colour scheme)-- allowing drag and drop, easier playlist building, etc., but its execution lets it down. Again, Sony has managed to release a piece of software that feels like it's still in the beta-testing stage. I recommend sticking with SonicStage 3.3 for the time being, as the A3000 will work with it. Note, however, that the player's rating system, smart playlisting, and ARTIST LINK feature will not work when using SonicStage.
Transfer times are quick, and along with all the old MP3 and ATRAC support, Sony has added support for new ATRAC bitrates, and has stated that there will be WAV support in late December.
Value-for-dollar wise, the Sony NW-A3000 is at the pricey end of the range, especially for something black-and-white and with next to no extra features, but that's the way Sony's always been.
Overall, the A3000 is a very nice unit-- good hardware, great GUI. Still got the sound quality merits of the HD5, has a removable battery and above-average battery life. The GUI is quite a change from the typical iPod-like user interface we've gotten used to seeing on a hard-drive player, and it is a change for the better. However, the A3000 is let down on one major point-- Connect player. Just as with the HD1, Sony's managed to let down their hardware with its software again. Sony has promised an update in the 'near future', it's just a pain, because if you don't want to deal with Connect player then you'll have to wait for the new Connect Player update to use your A3000's new features.
If SonicStage is fine for you, and you're not set on a colour screen, the A3000 is an excellent option.
Feel free to ask me any more questions, while I have the unit in my hands. By the way-- I have the A1000 with me as well. Almost identical, just a different size.
