[dacari]

It's a strange approach that Sony have with regard to line out, having to rely on third parties is crazy .when I sent them messages they really seemed confused as to why I'd want line out, and just would commit to any answer about cabling for it, really unusual

Unless you talk with technician staff, I doubt you will get a clear answer, with the answer you describe I bet he must be some commercial.

Since we can get the FiiO L27 and a pure digital out (I guess) the analog out, even if it was well implemented, it's not really necessary.

Just a quick question: with screen off, the change of track and volume wakes the screen?

 

[James McGregor]

Unless you talk with technician staff, I doubt you will get a clear answer, with the answer you describe I bet he must be some commercial.

Since we can get the FiiO L27 and a pure digital out (I guess) the analog out, even if it was well implemented, it's not really necessary.

Just a quick question: with screen off, the change of track and volume wakes the screen?

The problem with digital out is that the Sony then isn't processing the audio, so you've got a very expensive transport. Which is ok if that's what's wanted, but lineout let's you have a pure signal from the DAC, which you can then amplify or alter as you wish

 

[fish1050]

The problem with digital out is that the Sony then isn't processing the audio, so you've got a very expensive transport. Which is ok if that's what's wanted, but lineout let's you have a pure signal from the DAC, which you can then amplify or alter as you wish

I have spoken to someone who repairs Sony products and he speculated that because of the way Sony's DAP's are designed proper LO isn't possible. Technically because Sony DAP's don't have an actual separate DAC chip it may not be possible to implement LO out the way other manufacturers do. Also, Sony's DAP's have a very clean signal compared to alot of other DAP's. Therefore you can still get a very clean signal using HO to an external amp. I can certainly attest to this as I don't hear any real difference between listening straight from my A17 vs going HO to my Q1 in terms of noise or sound degradation. Mind you I don't use iem's so it may be different when using sensitive iem's but it certainly works great for me.

 

[derkpans]

Oh I understand foobar2000 and Windows Media player as I currently use Sony MediaGo to create my playlists and it works perfectly. My issue will be when I switch to Linux and being able to create new playlists as foobar2000 does not exist for Linux. I can copy my existing playlists off of my A17 and make changes to existing playlists easily enough. But starting from scratch will be a different story. I have created Bookmark Lists but I create alot of playlists for various situations so 10 would be to limiting for me. I am sure I can find something serviceable for Linux when the time comes. It's just nice to know if I had to I could do it manually easily enough.

Finally got the playlist to work. I copied a working playlist and copied to the MUSIC folder. I previously copied it to a PLAYLIST folder and it wouldn't work. It looks like I just needed to copy it to the right folder. I also copied the playlist file to create different playlists.

On another note, listening to old schools Jazz like Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck using a 1More Triple Driver opened my eyes, or more appropriate, ears, to a whole new listening experience. Way better than any of the iPods I've used before .

 

[Drew2388]

Ok I'm stuck between the nw-a45 the fiio x3 iii and the cayin n3. Leaning toward Sony but I have no idea what to think of all the issues with fiio or the good things I see about cayin. Bluetooth is important to me so I really want to know if the a45 is worth the extra $30-$70 over the other two. Thanks in advance. Any help is appreciated

 

[James McGregor]

Ok I'm stuck between the nw-a45 the fiio x3 iii and the cayin n3. Leaning toward Sony but I have no idea what to think of all the issues with fiio or the good things I see about cayin. Bluetooth is important to me so I really want to know if the a45 is worth the extra $30-$70 over the other two. Thanks in advance. Any help is appreciated

I'm having the exact same dilemma lol I agree fiio has some problems, but these tend to be firmware related, and I'm confident they'll fix them, they often do- and many are fixed. The Sony looks nice, but their proprietary cable and lack of line out is unacceptable for me for a more expensive device. The cayin seems great, but the capacitive buttons really seem poor and I think would become annoying very quickly. Also the cayin doesn't have a true line out, that may not be an issue but for myself it's critical. So Im leaning more towards the fiio, because I know they sound great, and firmware issues from past experience do at least tend to get resolved

 

[chinerino]

Ok I'm stuck between the nw-a45 the fiio x3 iii and the cayin n3. Leaning toward Sony but I have no idea what to think of all the issues with fiio or the good things I see about cayin. Bluetooth is important to me so I really want to know if the a45 is worth the extra $30-$70 over the other two. Thanks in advance. Any help is appreciated

like what james said, the WM port is really quite annoying which i also dislike and another thing is the lack of ports, honestly if NW A45 had LO/BAL in that devicem hands down no competitiion sony wins but if its gotta do with bluetooth, sony has it better

 

[kismetsky]

like what james said, the WM port is really quite annoying which i also dislike and another thing is the lack of ports, honestly if NW A45 had LO/BAL in that devicem hands down no competitiion sony wins but if its gotta do with bluetooth, sony has it better

Here's something to look at: Fiio M7
http://fiio.cn/products/115
https://www.samma3a.com/tech/en/fiio-introduces-latest-player-m7/

Battery life for the M7 is rated at 20 hours via headphone out BUT it's rated for 30 hours via bluetooth! AND it supports APTX, APTX HD, and LDAC.

On the flipside, the Sony NW-A45 is rated at 30-45 hours via headphone out but only 13-20 hours via bluetooth. Sony via bluetooth actually has a shorter battery life!
Source here: http://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwa40/v1/en/contents/TP0001449070.html

Don't forget it will be using the new standard USB-C port! It also has an FM tuner, USB DAC, and external DAC support.
I was on board with getting an A45 but may have to wait for the M7 at this point. My primary on the go headphones are the Bowers PX and having one cable to charge both devices would make it so much easier.

 

[max111]

issue resolved

 

[Drew2388]

Here's something to look at: Fiio M7
http://fiio.cn/products/115
https://www.samma3a.com/tech/en/fiio-introduces-latest-player-m7/

Battery life for the M7 is rated at 20 hours via headphone out BUT it's rated for 30 hours via bluetooth! AND it supports APTX, APTX HD, and LDAC.

On the flipside, the Sony NW-A45 is rated at 30-45 hours via headphone out but only 13-20 hours via bluetooth. Sony via bluetooth actually has a shorter battery life!
Source here: http://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwa40/v1/en/contents/TP0001449070.html

Don't forget it will be using the new standard USB-C port! It also has an FM tuner, USB DAC, and external DAC support.
I was on board with getting an A45 but may have to wait for the M7 at this point. My primary on the go headphones are the Bowers PX and having one cable to charge both devices would make it so much easier.

That's something I had not seen yet. I wonder when it comes out? I'm still leaning towards the a45 because of Bluetooth but am interested to hear more about the m7 and when it comes out. I'm new to these type of audio devices and am not sure what they are all capable of with the different ports and what not so in need to learn a little before I make a decision

 

[phower]

I'm still leaning towards the a45 because of Bluetooth

You should buy the A45 for its sound quality, especially the S-Master digital amplifier and not for BT. A smartphone is sufficient since the BT codecs are standards and there should be little difference in PCM->SBC conversion between devices.

Also, Sony has contributed LDAC support to Android Oreo. Once you upgrade your headphone and smartphone, you can enjoy LDAC quality which is supposed to be superior to AptX.

 

[Drew2388]

You should buy the A45 for its sound quality, especially the S-Master digital amplifier and not for BT. A smartphone is sufficient since the BT codecs are standards and there should be little difference in PCM->SBC conversion between devices.

Also, Sony has contributed LDAC support to Android Oreo. Once you upgrade your headphone and smartphone, you can enjoy LDAC quality which is supposed to be superior to AptX.

Yeah I definitely want good sound and whatever I get I will use in my truck and at home with a cable but I want reliable Bluetooth for exercise and when I'm out and about. If the a45 is all around a better player then others in the general price range then that's what I'm going to get. I'd be worried to guinea pig a new player from Fiio

 

[James McGregor]

Yeah I definitely want good sound and whatever I get I will use in my truck and at home with a cable but I want reliable Bluetooth for exercise and when I'm out and about. If the a45 is all around a better player then others in the general price range then that's what I'm going to get. I'd be worried to guinea pig a new player from Fiio

If your going to use cable at home then the a45 will limit you to using their proprietary cable for digital out. Your then bypassing the DAC, and the unit you plug in to will be processing the audio. If that's the case you'd be as well buying any cheap phone or dap that has digital out. If you want the a45 to process the audio ,- which is the point of buying it - you need a good line out, and the a45 doesn't have that unless you buy a third party Chinese cable, which Sony don't support and deny is true line out. Nothing guinea pig about fiio, they are well established and work hard to bring out a range of devices, all of which sound very good indeed

 

[Drew2388]

If your going to use cable at home then the a45 will limit you to using their proprietary cable for digital out. Your then bypassing the DAC, and the unit you plug in to will be processing the audio. If that's the case you'd be as well buying any cheap phone or dap that has digital out. If you want the a45 to process the audio ,- which is the point of buying it - you need a good line out, and the a45 doesn't have that unless you buy a third party Chinese cable, which Sony don't support and deny is true line out. Nothing guinea pig about fiio, they are well established and work hard to bring out a range of devices, all of which sound very good indeed

I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know much about these devices. So the wm cable doesn't work as a line out but a third party cable would? What the point of having DAC in it if you can't use it? And the 3.5 jack also not a line out?

 

[James McGregor]

I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know much about these devices. So the wm cable doesn't work as a line out but a third party cable would? What the point of having DAC in it if you can't use it? And the 3.5 jack also not a line out?

The main purpose of these devices remember is to use with headphones, additionaly now many of them now allow outputting digitally to allow home higher end equipment to do the audio processing if you wish. That means essentially the dap just is hosting the files and outputting externally for processing. It's common to most of the good players. If you want to hear how the actual device sounds with its own processing of audio, then the options are headphones or use the line out. In the range your talking about the fiio is the only one with true line out, there's discussions about the cayin line out on other threads, and the problems with the Sony line out, it all just depends on how you want to use the device