[bandario]

I'm really torn with this unit, love the sound. I run it wired and wireless with my sony wh-1000xm2 and vmoda wireless 2 with aptx, both sound wonderfully but I'm kind of having more fun with the vmodas for the bass response. The a45 battery last for ever! The things I wish it had, USB charging and data transfer and wifi, android apps.

You'd lose all of that battery life if it had android. Most of the DAPs that run android well only manage 8 hours of playback; just a result of the hardware required to run android smoothly and the battery consumption of that hardware + good DAC/AMP consumption. I'll take the linux flavour as I'm not interested in streaming.

As far as the USB, I went ahead and bought the USB to Walkman dongle. Yes I'm at risk of losing it, but I keep it in a tiny pocket of my bag and it saves me carrying an extra cable + a little bit of peace of mind should I lose or damage the original cable.

 

[david8613]

I'm learning alot here, you are right there is a big trade off of battery to get the android and wifi. I returned the sony today and ordered the pioneer xdp-02u, it ticks my boxes, small, wifi. Bluetooth, android, 15 hours battery life. We will see if it's good or not, not much information or reviews for it.
https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Digital+Audio+Players/XDP-02U-L

Unboxing

 

[Koolpep]

I'm learning alot here, you are right there is a big trade off of battery to get the android and wifi. I returned the sony today and ordered the pioneer xdp-02u, it ticks my boxes, small, wifi. Bluetooth, android, 15 hours battery life. We will see if it's good or not, not much information or reviews for it.
https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Digital+Audio+Players/XDP-02U-L

Unboxing

This player doesn’t run on android afaik. I have the XDP-30R (bigger brother of 02u) and love it’s sound quality and pocket ability. The small display is really small and the UI doesn’t hold a candle to the Sony ui - I would be surprised if you get 15 hours play time out of that player.

 

[georgelai57]

The best thing about the A40 (or most Sony DAPs including previously owned A15, ZX-1 and ZX-2), besides phenomenal battery life, is that they just work. No bugs or glitches whatsoever. At least in my experience.

So much so I picked up a second one

 

[bandario]

I returned the sony today and ordered the pioneer xdp-02u, it ticks my boxes, small, wifi. Bluetooth, android, 15 hours battery life.

Since you will have used both, I'd love to hear your impressions of sound quality and general enjoyability of the Sony vs the Pioneer when you get it.

I've been using my wired IEMs today and honestly this little Sony is rocking my socks off. I obtained a few of my favourite Gomez albums in FLAC and whilst the files aren't hi-res, I've only ever had MP3 copies of these albums that I bought online years ago. The FLAC is a sensible choice given that they are ripped from CD so no point going over and above what the CD was pressed at but holy hell, it just sounds so damn good! So much warmth and body to the sound, without losing any of the detail whatsoever. I haven't had this type of satisfaction in my portable music since the days I used to take a discman on the school bus only this is so much better because the earbud tech has come such a long way.

Absolutely loving it. I also managed to get a copy of OK Computer ripped from Vinyl @ 24/96 (approx 3237kbps). The level of detail is spectacular, and I can't pretend to understand the full breadth of the technicalities behind a conversion like this but aside from the slightly audible hiss, the sound itself is beyond any copy I've heard before and I've owned it on quite a few formats. That hiss is pretty annoying though.

This is probably not the thread to educate myself but I'm going to do some digging around alternate sources of properly hi-res content. I suspect that unless the studio has pressed direct from the master reel-to-reels or hard drive to SACD, DVD audio, HDCD or straight to digital hi-res format then it isn't really worth the extra space. Perhaps I'm sourcing my hi-res content poorly but anything I've got that has come from LP seems to have some audible hiss. If it's going to be almost 1gb per album I don't really want to pay for the hiss sound and I'll probably just stick with CD--> FLAC rips unless there's a proper digital master --> Hi-Res available for purchase.

 

[Eighty8]

The best thing about the A40 (or most Sony DAPs including previously owned A15, ZX-1 and ZX-2), besides phenomenal battery life, is that they just work. No bugs or glitches whatsoever. At least in my experience.

So much so I picked up a second one

That's the reason I picked one up myself. I was getting very tired of Fiio's buggy UI and constant updates that would regularly break features. Sony's UI is so streamlined in comparison.

 

[david8613]

That's the reason I picked one up myself. I was getting very tired of Fiio's buggy UI and constant updates that would regularly break features. Sony's UI is so streamlined in comparison.

I agree 100% Sony does make some nice products, that's why I had a hard time returning it, small, long battery life, great ui, great sound. the only real problem I had is the cable, lost it at one point, I went crazy but i found it. I know cables are cheap but in this day and age I am not used to lugging around a so many cables, bad enough I am carrying regular usb and now usb c, I didn't want to worry about another cable, that's not available everywhere. I could have lived without wifi or android, if it wasn't for that special cable I would have stayed with it. I am gonna try the pioneer xdp 02u, but I keep looking at the hiby r3 also, I am thinking this might fit me better.

 

[Tagheuer]

Hi there, anybody try or use A-45 with SONY PHA1-A?I know this amplifier has less hours for battery, but for me important for performance in sound.I use my Sennheiser HD-598, and Audiotechnica ATH IM-01. Thanks in advance.

 

[puppyfi]

The best thing about the A40 (or most Sony DAPs including previously owned A15, ZX-1 and ZX-2), besides phenomenal battery life, is that they just work. No bugs or glitches whatsoever. At least in my experience.

So much so I picked up a second one

Would like to try a Sony (like A45 or ZX300) for the reasons you had mentioned. But what has been holding me back is the Sony proprietary charging cable.
I owned a Hifiman HM650 that too uses proprietary charging which I find is a pain.

 

[georgelai57]

Would like to try a Sony (like A45 or ZX300) for the reasons you had mentioned. But what has been holding me back is the Sony proprietary charging cable.
I owned a Hifiman HM650 that too uses proprietary charging which I find is a pain.

It’s not that much of a pain when you can get spare ones at AliExpress for only a couple of dollars. After all most people will have had gone through the same transition from mini USB to micro USB and now/soon USB-C

 

[chinerino]

Hi there, anybody try or use A-45 with SONY PHA1-A?I know this amplifier has less hours for battery, but for me important for performance in sound.I use my Sennheiser HD-598, and Audiotechnica ATH IM-01. Thanks in advance.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/201...hi-res-dac-headphone-amplifier.749970/page-28

 

[david8613]

I have a little plastic case protector and screen protector for the sony a45 I wont be using. first person to drop me a p.m. gets it, only residents of the U.S.A. I will drop it in U.S. postal service for you to enjoy!

 

[david8613]

Kismetsky
got it first! enjoy my friend...

 

[kismetsky]

Kismetsky
got it first! enjoy my friend...

Thanks David. Very generous of you - they'll be put to good use!

 

[bruce1967]

It’s not that much of a pain when you can get spare ones at AliExpress for only a couple of dollars. After all most people will have had gone through the same transition from mini USB to micro USB and now/soon USB-C

I can't believe some of the comments about the cable for the Walkman. Like you said they are cheap and easy to get. Now I really understand the meaning of "first world problems".