[rjlawson]

I picked one of these up from the Sony Centre to work wirelessly (LDAC) with my h800 headphones. Thought it would also replace my Meridian Explorer 2 DAC, but quite disappointed to find that despite supporting MQA files played from the memory, it doesn't seem to do MQA Decoding when in USB-DAC mode. Also seem to have an issue with Audirvana/BitPerfect not being able to grab exclusive control of the DAC and it constantly connecting/disconnecting, so will try the same with Tidal on the laptop. Hope it's not the cable as I only have one, and it seems to work fine for USB file transfers.

Edit: It was Integer Mode, as soon as I disabled that everything started working. Tidal seems to need Exclusive Mode disabling.

 

[mhitchcock]

Hi all, great site by the way

Sorry for my rambling , but here goes.

I've spent ages looking through the various posts on the Sony media players like the Nw-a45 and zx300. On a whim I ordered a zx300 on Amazon warehouse for 350uk and have just been questioning my own sense. Reason being I have seen the Wn-a45 for 200 less and was wondering if I should get that instead.

Basically my music collection is cds that I am aiming to put on my media player. It's all started because my lovely wife bought me a pair of B&W PX for my 50th.

So I suppose my question is will I gain anything by keeping the Nz300 for playing my music by Bluetooth to my PX 's?

I understand bluetooth is not the best way to listen, but the px headphones are aptx hd compatible. I could connect my PX by wire if that would make any difference or not. I'm not sure.

I don't think I will go down the balanced route yet as I don't fully understand it and also the cost of headphones is not an option at the moment.
I don't mind paying extra for things if they are worth it.

Also what is the best way to rip a cd to the player? Would the standard ripping software i.e media player be any good to rip the cd and which format to use? Is flax the one to use?
Or do you think I would be better off with a different brand?

That's about it I guess. Hope you guys don't mind me piling in with such a confused question straight away.

Thanks in advanva for your help

 

[kismetsky]

Hi all, great site by the way

Sorry for my rambling , but here goes.

I've spent ages looking through the various posts on the Sony media players like the Nw-a45 and zx300. On a whim I ordered a zx300 on Amazon warehouse for 350uk and have just been questioning my own sense. Reason being I have seen the Wn-a45 for 200 less and was wondering if I should get that instead.

Basically my music collection is cds that I am aiming to put on my media player. It's all started because my lovely wife bought me a pair of B&W PX for my 50th.

So I suppose my question is will I gain anything by keeping the Nz300 for playing my music by Bluetooth to my PX 's?

I understand bluetooth is not the best way to listen, but the px headphones are aptx hd compatible. I could connect my PX by wire if that would make any difference or not. I'm not sure.

I don't think I will go down the balanced route yet as I don't fully understand it and also the cost of headphones is not an option at the moment.
I don't mind paying extra for things if they are worth it.

Also what is the best way to rip a cd to the player? Would the standard ripping software i.e media player be any good to rip the cd and which format to use? Is flax the one to use?
Or do you think I would be better off with a different brand?

That's about it I guess. Hope you guys don't mind me piling in with such a confused question straight away.

Thanks in advanva for your help

I have the A45 and the BW PX. APTX-HD is the absolutely the best way to listen to the PX. Using the analog headphone jack on the PX with any device introduces a very annoying and audible background hiss. Also they are driven by an internal amp so you won't gain any advantage with the zx300. If you're set on keeping the PX (as you should since your wife gifted them to you), I would go for the A45 or a smartphone with APTX-HD.

 

[mhitchcock]

Hi thank you,

I am pretty certain i will keep them as I do like them. I don't really have any others to compare them to apart from some old Audio technica ath 500x.
My phone is a Moto z play that I listen to spotify, but I don't have any downloaded for better quality playback.
The zx300 has 64gb of storage the Nw-a45 only 16. I know I can expand with as cards.

Would I not get any better audio with the zx300 then?

It seems like a good price

 

[kismetsky]

Hi thank you,

I am pretty certain i will keep them as I do like them. I don't really have any others to compare them to apart from some old Audio technica ath 500x.
My phone is a Moto z play that I listen to spotify, but I don't have any downloaded for better quality playback.
The zx300 has 64gb of storage the Nw-a45 only 16. I know I can expand with as cards.

Would I not get any better audio with the zx300 then?

It seems like a good price

Some others can chime in but APTX-HD with the ZX300 and the A45 should be identical. The ZX300 is definitely worth keeping if you plan on adding some wired headphones in the future.

 

[mhitchcock]

Ok thank you. I may keep it then. I may possibly pick some good wired ones up in the future. That will be an interesting bit of research I guess.

Oh by the way have you tried Bluetooth from your PX to TV because I have tried from our lg TV that does have Bluetooth built-in but I can't get them to connect. The TV shows the px's and tries to connect, but they just wont connect for some reason.

The TV connects to my son's Plantronics backbeat and also to my wife's Sony 700 headphones as well. It's rather frustrating really.

Anyway I must get to sleep now as I am up early tomorrow.

Thanks again

 

[funkymartyn]

Ok thank you. I may keep it then. I may possibly pick some good wired ones up in the future. That will be an interesting bit of research I guess.

Oh by the way have you tried Bluetooth from your PX to TV because I have tried from our lg TV that does have Bluetooth built-in but I can't get them to connect. The TV shows the px's and tries to connect, but they just wont connect for some reason.

The TV connects to my son's Plantronics backbeat and also to my wife's Sony 700 headphones as well. It's rather frustrating really.

Anyway I must get to sleep now as I am up early tomorrow.

Thanks again

Hi there, been reading your new thread, I nearly bought the A45 from Amazon for £114. Finished now back up in price. Reckon that would have been a good one for you. That is if you could have returned your other more expensive one..Did you read the Sony thread, it says that you only get one sound out via Bluetooth, the e.q settings don't work. Would that be a problem ?
I use grado ( got a few ) and Senn HD 580. On my mp3 Audio players. Not really got any hi end bluetooth headphones.. Do use Bluetooth speakers.
And I stick my cds onto lap top , Windows 10, Windows Media . In the highest quality position . Not really sure what this is called, flac .???... it's WMA.......sounds good to me...☺

 

[mhitchcock]

Hi thank you for that. I'm not really decided what to do as yet.part of me says to keep the zx300 in case I get decent wired ones or I might try my audio technica A500x on the zx300 and then compare with my PX on bluetooth. See if I notice any difference.

Also I was wondering how many CDs I am likely to be able to fit on the Sony nw A45?
I would like to store them for best quality is that flax?

Thanks

 

[funkymartyn]

Hi thank you for that. I'm not really decided what to do as yet.part of me says to keep the zx300 in case I get decent wired ones or I might try my audio technica A500x on the zx300 and then compare with my PX on bluetooth. See if I notice any difference.

Also I was wondering how many CDs I am likely to be able to fit on the Sony nw A45?
I would like to store them for best quality is that flax?

Thanks

Hi I get about 270 cds onto 16gb buy mine are windows media at 192 kbs.

 

[Eighty8]

Also I was wondering how many CDs I am likely to be able to fit on the Sony nw A45?
I would like to store them for best quality is that flax?

Thanks

If you're planning on loading FLAC, I'd suggest purchasing a micro SD card. Large capacity cards are getting very cheap. I've seen 200gb cards as low as $30 on Amazon.

 

[BadReligionPunk]

I just paid $40 for 256gb. Was tempted to buy 400gb for $80, but don't really need it yet. Next year 400gb will be $40

 

[mhitchcock]

Thanks for your posts re storage. I have at least 200 cds and would like to copy them full size. I think I would need at least 128gb.
I was just thinking dangerous I know, but as I will be doing most of my listening at home I may just pop an SD card in my card slot on my laptop and rip CDs to that. That way I have access to all my music, i just need to find out if my laptop has aptx bluetooth.
Also as I will generally be listening via bluetooth I guess I won't notice much difference in audio quality so won't benefit from a high end audio player.
Not quite sure if I have just confused things or make sense.

I

 

[funkymartyn]

Thanks for your posts re storage. I have at least 200 cds and would like to copy them full size. I think I would need at least 128gb.
I was just thinking dangerous I know, but as I will be doing most of my listening at home I may just pop an SD card in my card slot on my laptop and rip CDs to that. That way I have access to all my music, i just need to find out if my laptop has aptx bluetooth.
Also as I will generally be listening via bluetooth I guess I won't notice much difference in audio quality so won't benefit from a high end audio player.
Not quite sure if I have just confused things or make sense.

I

Hi can you let me know about how you get your cds onto sd card..What quality, size, etc....As I have always loaded my cds onto lap top via media player highest quality 192 kbs... And then I just drop them from lap top music file onto mp3 players and as cards.....But I get 200 + CD onto 16gb.

 

[HeadphonesRock]

I rip my CDs to FLAC using Sony's Music Centre for PC. So far I have 50 albums taking up around 18GB.

 

[funkymartyn]

I rip my CDs to FLAC using Sony's Music Centre for PC. So far I have 50 albums taking up around 18GB.

Does this mean you Don t use the pc windows media player , Library, etc. Take it the highest files I use at 192 kbs are way down the quality of flac ?
If always used media player. And got far to many cds on pc and back ups to change now... They don't sound to bad to be honest...using speakers , or headphones...home or on the move.