Actually I believe the A40 series is using some of the same capacitors found in the ZX300 just not as many. So it might be worth giving the A45 some time to burn in. If you have 14 days to return it for example then why not give a 10 or 11 day trial just to be sure. I have been fortunate enough to have access to salesman samples when auditioning DAP's. Being able to audition well used DAP's gives you a good idea how the DAP can sound given the time to burn in.
Looks like that volume cap is holding the the Sony dap back ...that’s why I will not buy a uk sourced Sony player .. my Hong Kong A45 sounds very dynamic and the music is loud and has a lot of weight to it ...the thinness in the sound is because of the volume cap they never do it right.. Send it back and get an uncapped one you will hear the difference trust me ..I had a cayin n3 the difference was the soundstage but it was a bit smooth and laid back for my liking ....
Hi guys, hope you can clarify. when one gets the volume warning at level 60 and then manually bypass the volume limiter to 120 is that the volume max?
Every user can remove the Volume cap on his/her own. No problems with warranty or anything. Its just there to follow eu regulations. Can be removed in 1 min.
The A40 series does not use capacitors for its audio output, so no. Then again if it did it wouldn't be so thin (although it would sound better and have higher power output), at some point depending on design and the bill of materials, compromises have to be made.
Also, the point most people here are missing is that both A30/A40 use a direct to digital amplifier. It is unlike any other amplifier in existence. There is no digital -> analog -> digital + low pass filter(AKA Class D). So, there isn't a traditional DAC inside. The advantage is supposed to be low distortion irrespective of the signal level (0dBFS or -60dBFS). So, it will sound different than other players that you have used. Sony also uses a similar amplifier in some of its bluetooth speakers.
Will there be less noise too because of this? Noise is the big problem I have since my Dita Answers are so sensitive
It should be. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate any objective reviews(measurements) of either players.
That’s for the blue. The black shows Feb 21. One would think they would be available off the same shipment.
To me this is great news! Clean, all digital audio path. Slap a DAC/Amp on the digital output and you have a nice little rig.
Actually Sony has been using this amp design since the A10 series. I got to read a sales brief on the A10 series when it came out which detailed the amp design and highlighted the absence of an actual DAC chip. If you are interested here is a link to a review of the A17 that mentions the internal design. https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/survey-digital-audio-players-part-1-sony-nwz-a17
I find that interesting because back when the A30 series was announced I sat in on sales briefing by a Sony sales rep. They specifically mentioned the use of more and higher quality capacitors on the output stage to increase the power handling over the A10/A20 series. To help boost output from 10 mW per channel on the A10/A20 series to the 35 mW per channel on the A30 series. I assumed the A40 would be using the same amplifier setup as the A30 since it has the same 35 mW per channel output. I have never seen the inside of an A35 so I can't confirm this but perhaps I was misinformed or misunderstood what was said.
bhphotovideo eta update So they now show an eta for the A45 of February 12th for the Moonlit Blue and February 21st for the Greyish Black.
