[Polar1]

I was ready to go for X1 until I read about Sony A-Series and now I'm a bit confused... 

 

What I really like about the Sony A15 is the convenient slim design as well as the significantly longer battery runtime (up to 30 hours of Hi-Res playback).

On the other hand it doesn't have a DAC and I'm pretty sure it's amp is weaker than X1's, which probably makes a difference in sound quality.

I'd be really interested to hear what you guys have to say regarding the efficiency of those players since they are more or less in the same league.

 

I'll use whichever I get with my Sennheiser IE60 and HD465 in order to listen to FLAC files.

 

 

 

[jmsaxon69]

I was going to buy an X3 and at the last minute went with the Sony.  I am happy I did! It's a great unit, easy to use and sounds fantastic!  I can't really compare to X1, but I can say I am happy with my A17 and have no real interest in the FiiO units any longer...

 

[Polar1]

Thanks for the input jmsaxon69! 

 
Have you felt the need to buy a separate amp or DAC in order to boost/improve A17's sound? 
Have you tested it with FLAC files and some quality IEM's?

 

[jmsaxon69]

  Thanks for the input jmsaxon69! 

 
Have you felt the need to buy a separate amp or DAC in order to boost/improve A17's sound? 
Have you tested it with FLAC files and some quality IEM's?

I use primarily 24/96 or 192 FLAC and the rest is 16/44 FLAC, no MP3 or AAC at all.  I use Sony XBA-A3 IEM and it sounds great! Sounded good with the MDR-1A Sony headphones too!
 
I use it with no amp or other DAC, it's a great sounding unit, no enhancements or EQ either...

 

[castleofargh]

the X1 is overall better as far as sound fidelity and driving power go. it's one of the best sound/$ you can hope for.
now the battery is just usual, around 10hours, the UI is very very limited and frustrating at times, the wheel isn't precise and it takes some getting used to it. and you do need to have your music tagged properly. you will pretty much browse only by folder because the rest sux and you need to scroll for too long for it to be nice.
 
the sony is pretty much a box made from ease of use. the UI works fine, all the browsing methods are good, it boots fast, it's clearly smaller.
but the output is weak. the impedance is 4ohm (2ohm for the X1).
 
 
so if you want to pay for sound and are ready to work a little on organizing your folders and tags, the X1 is really a great DAP.
if you want to pay for something practical before any other factor, then the A15 is like the son of a cowon J3 and you'll love using it.
 
I ended up keeping both ^_^.
 
 
I think there is still a limit on the number of tracks you can see on the X1, but I believe I've read somewhere that this limit would go away. maybe you'll want to check that if you plan on using a 128gb card.

 

[Polar1]

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinion guys. If the A15 can fully utilize the capabilities of my IE60's (which from what I understand it does), it seems like a pretty good option indeed. A difficult decision for me... 

 

 

[Mmet]

if you want to listen through iem and easy to drive headphones get the sony ...it has very sufficient power and very good sound tweaking options too..... 
the need of getting an amp not always related to the output power .. many guys have x3 and want ( like me ) to get an amp to just get a small amount of sound quality boost or more power ... you can see also many higher end daps too hooked with amps like A&K players ... long story short an only DAP was never enough to the headfie'rs

 .. there is always a room for development ! 
here the rule in most cases : if you want amp .. you need amp .. not the opposite 

 

[gerelmx1986]

I had a fiio x3 and now i have the sony A17
 
I can say i love my walkman A17 has better SQ than the fiio x3, the fiio kind sounds like congested in the upper registers and it has the annoying image problem of presenting boices (female ones and violins) as floating above you. Sony A has better imaging and thus get rids of this floating instrumens/voices problem

 

[batteraziiz]

My 2c: I have both an X1 and an A10, and I happen to prefer the A10.  They sound really similar (flat) to my ears, but the A10's battery life and other capabilities (Like Aptx BT) give it a slight edge (even though the cost is at least double)

 

[spatzi]

Stay away from fiio. I had both x3 and x5. Couldn't stand the large size, the poor battery, terrible UI, semi functional scroll wheel. The very definition of a half baked product, both of them. The Sony should have been my first purchase, not my third. Solved all these issues.

 

[Polar1]

Thanks again for your interesting posts guys, I didn't expect to read so many arguments in support of the A15... 

 
Quote:

  My 2c: I have both an X1 and an A10, and I happen to prefer the A10.  They sound really similar (flat) to my ears, but the A10's battery life and other capabilities (Like Aptx BT) give it a slight edge (even though the cost is at least double)

 
Are you referring to the monetary cost of each player? In my country that the A15 is 35€ more expensive than the X1. 

 

[gerelmx1986]

yes but the A17 has 64GB and considering a microSD of 128 you've got what the iPod classic used to be the king onew word Capcityt and yet two more Sound Quality is what you get in the sony

 

[emba4]

i picked up the a15 on a whim while in japan as it was cheap compared to home, until then my portable was usually my phone (initially a note 2 N7100 then a Oneplus One) both occasionally with my HRT microstreamer connected via OTG cables and used with my Etymotic ER4-PT with custom tips and Musical Fidelity MF100s (which were bought to tide me over while the cable was being replaced on my ER4s.)
 
ive never had the fiio so i cant really make a direct comparison there but as for the a15 i was pleasantly surprised, it comes reasonably close in clarity and detail to the HRT and thats no mean feat as i love the microstreamer, mostly ive used my own CD rips made with EAC (one day ill get dbpoweramp) all flac, i also have a few 24bit/96k albums too, sound quality is great all round even if there is only a little difference between the 24/96 and 16/44. ive even hooked it up to a bigger amp and speakers and it doesnt sound at all bad.
 
Pros:
 The sound quality is excellent for the price
 External SD card slot to swap out quickly and easily
 Really light but excellent build quality
 Nice controls and UI
 Great battery life
 
Cons:
 Proprietary cable rather than micro USB
 Cant connect via USB to internal storage and SD card, its one or the other
 Amplifier could be stronger
 
the only real problem ive got with it is the cable with everything else you know that even if you forget the charger you can always pick up a micro USB cable and youd be golden but the chances of finding a replacement cable in a pinch with this is annoying if you travel and forget the cable or something and although it provides lovely sound through my ER4Ps but with the S adapter on they are a bit quiet, however really aside from that the Pros far outweigh the Cons. of the other devices i tried with my headphones while i was looking this was the most impressive i heard for the money (there were no fiio players and the pono wasnt about then)
 
the other niggles are slight and im sure may be ironed out in future firmware releases, switching between internal storage and sd card is a bit of a clumsy process and its easier to just use a reader for the sd cards, on the plus side it worked perfectly under linux too, something that cant be said for most android phones (mtp and linux just dont play nice) and sometimes no matter what i do it just wont display album art for some albums no matter how many times i apply it, ive even used sonys own software and still nothing.
 
the problems are really just a few little niggles and sonically the A15 is a really nice sounding little device especially for the money, i really would like to try the fiio as ive always liked wolfson DACs generally but the A15 is an all round damn good little player for the price my only advice is dont turn on any of the "enhancing" features like "clearaudio" they just dont sound good

 

[gerelmx1986]

  i picked up the a15 on a whim while in japan as it was cheap compared to home, until then my portable was usually my phone (initially a note 2 N7100 then a Oneplus One) both occasionally with my HRT microstreamer connected via OTG cables and used with my Etymotic ER4-PT with custom tips and Musical Fidelity MF100s (which were bought to tide me over while the cable was being replaced on my ER4s.)
 
ive never had the fiio so i cant really make a direct comparison there but as for the a15 i was pleasantly surprised, it comes reasonably close in clarity and detail to the HRT and thats no mean feat as i love the microstreamer, mostly ive used my own CD rips made with EAC (one day ill get dbpoweramp) all flac, i also have a few 24bit/96k albums too, sound quality is great all round even if there is only a little difference between the 24/96 and 16/44. ive even hooked it up to a bigger amp and speakers and it doesnt sound at all bad.
 
Pros:
 The sound quality is excellent for the price
 External SD card slot to swap out quickly and easily
 Really light but excellent build quality
 Nice controls and UI
 Great battery life
 
Cons:
 Proprietary cable rather than micro USB
 Cant connect via USB to internal storage and SD card, its one or the other
 Amplifier could be stronger
 
the only real problem ive got with it is the cable with everything else you know that even if you forget the charger you can always pick up a micro USB cable and youd be golden but the chances of finding a replacement cable in a pinch with this is annoying if you travel and forget the cable or something and although it provides lovely sound through my ER4Ps but with the S adapter on they are a bit quiet, however really aside from that the Pros far outweigh the Cons. of the other devices i tried with my headphones while i was looking this was the most impressive i heard for the money (there were no fiio players and the pono wasnt about then)
 
the other niggles are slight and im sure may be ironed out in future firmware releases, switching between internal storage and sd card is a bit of a clumsy process and its easier to just use a reader for the sd cards, on the plus side it worked perfectly under linux too, something that cant be said for most android phones (mtp and linux just dont play nice) and sometimes no matter what i do it just wont display album art for some albums no matter how many times i apply it, ive even used sonys own software and still nothing.
 
the problems are really just a few little niggles and sonically the A15 is a really nice sounding little device especially for the money, i really would like to try the fiio as ive always liked wolfson DACs generally but the A15 is an all round damn good little player for the price my only advice is dont turn on any of the "enhancing" features like "clearaudio" they just dont sound good

Agree with you on every single word
 
and yes I've hooked it via Line-out cable and sound even better, despite bose SoundDocks were made for ipod so not the best SQ arround with this bose but still my A17 has a nice clean sound from the LO, the HO is clean too i would need to test using a headphones amp to hear it
 
yeah i have not moved the microSD settings, but yes i hate the selectóne or the other implementation, is rather prehistoric LOL, the cable i could careless unless sony dei¿cided to do like apple did with it's 30-pin dock to replace suddenly without warning for a 8 pin all digital cable

 

[erdie]

Hi - I have pretty much decided on the a15. Does anyone know if in-line headphone controls work at all? I have headphones that have in-line controls that work with iOS and some other devices