[Mickice]

Just visit a thrift store and buy a bunch of CDs.

Or buy the 101 80s collection and others like it. No covers, all CD quality.

Use Spotify on your phone.

 

[ErgoParanoid]

Hi everyone! I have NWZ-A17 and MDR-1abt Headphones, I prefer to listen to them over the cable. Now I am thinking about buying amplifier for it, because I think my headphones can do more. I am thinking about getting Fiio E12a. What can you say about this amplifier paired with my setup? Will it give much difference to sound quality? Is it better to use HO or LO of my player?
And what can you say about Sony PHA-1a?

 

[ColonelBucket8]

I have tried pha 1. It doesn't wowed me. I much prefer ifi nano idsd. Really musical.

 

[doniethegreat]

Try JDS Lab C5. It got very good reviews.

 

[castleofargh]

keep in mind that different amps are best for different headphones/IEMs. some amps can be very good even if they don't have low noise floor or low impedance or 300W of power. it all depends on what you use it with.
for IEMs low impedance is a clear bonus. for sensitive IEMs, low noise floor is where the battle is at. for low sensitivity headphones, power is the main point, and low noise floor, low impedance most likely won't matter at all and you may have an amazing result with a 10ohm amp with pretty high noise floor, and a 0.1ohm amp could just sound like crap if it failed where it matters for you.
 
try to always think and talk in complete sound system(even the DAC part may matter as we've seen with the rather weak sony LO), it makes everything more understandable for others.

 

[fish1050]

No Sony DAP's at CES 2016,  Pono now available in stores!
 
So anyone wondering if we would ever see the A20 series or ZX100 available in North America I can say firmly, NO!. I just watched the Sony Press conference for CES2016 on You Tube (fast forwarded through it) and there are no DAP's being introduced in North America for 2016.  If Sony was ever going to release the A20 or ZX100 in North America this would have been the place to do it.  The recently released MDR100AAP headphones which we assumed were meant to be paired with the A20 series were on display but no A20 series or ZX100.  Given the lack of supply in Canada for the older A17 one has to wonder if Sony will eventually pull all their DAP's from North America once all the current stock is depleted.  Every store in Toronto now shows the A17 as "Out of Stock" or "Backordered"
 
So I guess once my current A17 ends it life I will be looking elsewhere for a replacement.  In an interesting twist the PONO music player has just now become available for sale at my favorite audio seller in Toronto, Bay Bloor Radio with no huge price markup (same price as in US).  Seems that as Sony has decided to give North America the finger when it comes to their DAP's others are looking to move into the market.
 
Although not expected it would have been nice of the Sony product hucksters to make a statement at CES regarding Sony's plans for the North American market regarding the future of their portable audio players.  Lots of mention of their new compact Bluetooth speakers (same colors available as the A26 and headphones) and some new Glass vibrating light/speaker and their new fangled 4K HDR televisions but portable players were completely absent. 
 
Hopefully some savvy tech reporter will corner Sony during CES and get them to give some kind of an explanation for their lack of a strategy for the North American DAP market
 
I turned my back on Sony for many years because of their poor customer relations and service. I decided to give them another chance with the A17 to see if they had got their act together.  Clearly Sony has not learned their lesson and still choose to disrespect their loyal customers.

 

[Mickice]

Most people in America are happy with their phones for music, it would be safe to say those looking for something better could easily get a Walkman. I'd rather a Walkman than a pono personally.

Considering how feature packed the A25 is, I don't see an A35 anytime soon. 

 

[xylin6]

  No Sony DAP's at CES 2016,  Pono now available in stores!
 
So anyone wondering if we would ever see the A20 series or ZX100 available in North America I can say firmly, NO!. I just watched the Sony Press conference for CES2016 on You Tube (fast forwarded through it) and there are no DAP's being introduced in North America for 2016.  If Sony was ever going to release the A20 or ZX100 in North America this would have been the place to do it.  The recently released MDR100AAP headphones which we assumed were meant to be paired with the A20 series were on display but no A20 series or ZX100....

There is a mention of the A20 series at CES here
 
but no mention of regional availability - and as its not on the USA Sony website yet i have a feeling that yes,we've been left behind here in North America as usual.
 
Personally if i wanted an A25/A26 I would just order it from AccessoryJack but as the ugrades from the A10 to the A20 series seem minimal (at least for my needs) I can't see the point especially when they're charging the same price for a 32gb A20 model (the A-26) as they did for the 64gb A10 model (the A-17).
 
Still, for others I can see how it would make sense (i.e. if you wanted to pair the new LDAC capable headphones with the A20 series Walkman) .how Sony fails time and again to take advantage of a market as massive as North America leaves me baffled. WHY? especially now that Apple have stopped making iPods and are rumored to be removing headphone jacks from their newer phones altogether...
 
that said I do love my A17 more with each passing day -had it for around 4 months now (maybe longer i have a lousy memory when it comes to those sort of things) and paired with quality cans its performance and sound quality is nothing short of incredible.

 

[fish1050]

  Most people in America are happy with their phones for music, it would be safe to say those looking for something better could easily get a Walkman. I'd rather a Walkman than a pono personally.

Considering how feature packed the A25 is, I don't see an A35 anytime soon. 

Like alot of people I am wary of purchasing product from other countries as they won't be covered by the warranty.  Also here in Canada it is very expensive to import product vs buying it locally.  What bothers me most is that Sony simply leaves the North American customers in the dark.  If they just came out and said sorry but sales aren't strong enough in North America to justify selling the A20 series here I would be satisfied and move on.  But to simply leave us hanging not knowing is what is going to happen bugs me. 
 
I am happy with my A17 but in the event it does fail outside of the warranty period I want to know what my options are for a replacement.  If the A17 is no longer going to be sold here and the A20 is not available then I have to go to another brand and the availability of other brands in Canada is limited and what is available has a huge markup.

 

[fish1050]

  There is a mention of the A20 series at CES here
 
but no mention of regional availability - and as its not on the USA Sony website yet i have a feeling that yes,we've been left behind here in North America as usual.
 
Personally if i wanted an A25/A26 I would just order it from AccessoryJack but as the ugrades from the A10 to the A20 series seem minimal (at least for my needs) I can't see the point especially when they're charging the same price for a 32gb A20 model (the A-26) as they did for the 64gb A10 model (the A-17).
 
Still, for others I can see how it would make sense (i.e. if you wanted to pair the new LDAC capable headphones with the A20 series Walkman) .how Sony fails time and again to take advantage of a market as massive as North America leaves me baffled. WHY? especially now that Apple have stopped making iPods and are rumored to be removing headphone jacks from their newer phones altogether...
 
that said I do love my A17 more with each passing day -had it for around 4 months now (maybe longer i have a lousy memory when it comes to those sort of things) and paired with quality cans its performance and sound quality is nothing short of incredible.

That is interesting because the press conference was like 90 minutes long and was suppose to cover all of Sony's new products for the North American market.  I would have assumed they would have had one of the A20 series on display at the news conference like they did with the MDR100AAP which was released last year around the same time as the A20 series.  Just illustrates Sony's lack of disclosure about their products in the North American market.   Of course there is no way of knowing where in North American it will be available and why North America has to wait so much longer than the rest of the world to get the product when and if it is available.

 

[fish1050]

  Most people in America are happy with their phones for music, it would be safe to say those looking for something better could easily get a Walkman. I'd rather a Walkman than a pono personally.

Considering how feature packed the A25 is, I don't see an A35 anytime soon. 

Not saying I am interested in the PONO but I just thought it was interesting that it would suddenly show up on store shelves in Toronto just as the Sony DAP's have become scarce.  Not saying it will happen but if PONO came out with a new player that addressed the shortcomings of the current unit and it was available locally I would have to consider it as an option.  To my ears the PONO is a great sounding player and offers a lot more power than the Walkman's.  The PONO does unfortunately fall short in a lot of other areas.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

But Pono is one of very few daps with Class A amp output, gotta respect that.

 

[gerelmx1986]

  But Pono is one of very few daps with Class A amp output, gotta respect that.

only wish the pono was shaped differently, perhaps a typical suare or box, or why not a cylinder

?

 

[castleofargh]

  But Pono is one of very few daps with Class A amp output, gotta respect that.

1/ are you sure?
2/ do you estimate that going class A is clever on a portable device given how it wastes energy?

 

[fish1050]

 
1/ are you sure?
2/ do you estimate that going class A is clever on a portable device given how it wastes energy?

Yeah I would be surprised if it is a Class A amp section.  But Ayre Audio the company that designed much of the internals for the PONO does make high end Class A monoblock amps and Neil Young has always maintained that the PONO was all about sound quality. 
 
But given the size of the player and the amount of heat Class A amps generate I am more inclined to believe it is either a Class AB amp or a hybrid design of some kind.