[crog65]

Hi Tenlow,
                I am new here, this is my first post. I have a Galaxy A3 with Neutron and a Sony A15. I have just had a quick blast with the A3 connected to a pair of B+W P7 which sounds pretty much the same as when I listen to my A15 with B+O H6 phones. There will of course be slight differences, I would say mostly with different phones, but we, for me, are not talking major differences here, not for my ears anyway. If I could be so bold I would suggest your money may be better spent with a DAC which could then connect to your MacBook and maybe your phone if you buy the right one. Please don't think I am against the A15, I am not, it is a great little piece of kit, has 32gb onboard memory along with micro sd up to 128gb I think, and about 30 hours of battery life. The question I would be asking myself is; Am I getting much more than I already have for shelling out for the Sony?    

 

[Tenlow]

  Hi Tenlow,
                I am new here, this is my first post. I have a Galaxy A3 with Neutron and a Sony A15. I have just had a quick blast with the A3 connected to a pair of B+W P7 which sounds pretty much the same as when I listen to my A15 with B+O H6 phones. There will of course be slight differences, I would say mostly with different phones, but we, for me, are not talking major differences here, not for my ears anyway. If I could be so bold I would suggest your money may be better spent with a DAC which could then connect to your MacBook and maybe your phone if you buy the right one. Please don't think I am against the A15, I am not, it is a great little piece of kit, has 32gb onboard memory along with micro sd up to 128gb I think, and about 30 hours of battery life. The question I would be asking myself is; Am I getting much more than I already have for shelling out for the Sony?    

 
Thanks for your reply, Crog. Much appreciated. I also thought about a DAC/Amp but the thing is the MacBook Pro with the right software like Audirvana or Bitperfect does sound really good - I am very happy with that sound. The sound on the Galaxy is also not bad but lacks a bit of richness/depth for my ears in comparison (hard to describe I know). Also the sound of the Macbook is significantly louder than the sound of the S6 (40-50% on the Mac is absolutely enough for me, while I need 75-85% on the S6 to have a comparable loudness). The thing is, if I have to add a device of any kind to the S6, it wouldn't be really portable for me any more - it is already quite big on its own. The A15, however, is pretty small in comparison, so it would probably be a perfect on the go device for me and if it sounded better than the S6 that would obviously be a nice bonus Seems like it doesn't though as far as the answers so far suggest :/ decisions, decisions  

 

[Mmet]

   
Thanks for your reply, Crog. Much appreciated. I also thought about a DAC/Amp but the thing is the MacBook Pro with the right software like Audirvana or Bitperfect does sound really good - I am very happy with that sound. The sound on the Galaxy is also not bad but lacks a bit of richness/depth for my ears in comparison (hard to describe I know). Also the sound of the Macbook is significantly louder than the sound of the S6 (40-50% on the Mac is absolutely enough for me, while I need 75-85% on the S6 to have a comparable loudness). The thing is, if I have to add a device of any kind to the S6, it wouldn't be really portable for me any more - it is already quite big on its own. The A15, however, is pretty small in comparison, so it would probably be a perfect on the go device for me and if it sounded better than the S6 that would obviously be a nice bonus Seems like it doesn't though as far as the answers so far suggest :/ decisions, decisions  

what is the headphone you will use with it ?

 

[Tenlow]

  what is the headphone you will use with it ?

Well, as I said in my first post, mostly the Sennheiser IE80 and the V-Moda M100. 

 

[Mmet]

 
Well, as I said in my first post, mostly the Sennheiser IE80 and the V-Moda M100. 

Sony A15 is the best portable player i,ve ever had ... it sounds better than many iPod .. latest iPhone 6 ( it is a fine sounding device BTW) .. Samsung SIII ... even when S3 coupled with the predator DAC/AMP it can best it in airiness aspect ... BUT....i don't know about galaxy S6 to be honest ...
 i know that the walkman will fare well with your headphones and you can get better quality sound with the ZX series .. and may be you consider Cowon Plenue D .. it is a nice one too and may be it is better sounding than A series walkmans 

 

[god-bluff]

  Hey people, 
 
I'm not really new here since I've been reading for a long time but I now have a question of my own  
 
I listen to music mostly via my MacBook Pro (Mid 2014, Audirvana Plus or iTunes + Bitperfect) at home and via my Galaxy S6 when I'm on the go (Neutron player, at least 320kbs, mostly Flac/Alac though). At the moment I'm using either my V-Moda Crossfade M100 or my Audio-technica MSR7 or my Sennheiser IE80 InEars depending on my mood or the music I want to listen to. 
 
For quite some time now I wanted to buy a dedicated portable music player mostly for the longer battery life and higher storage capacity than I do have available on my phone. The Sony NWZ-A15 is quite cheap these days and I'm tempted to give it a go but I always wondered whether the Walkman would sound (significantly) better than the Galaxy S6 for the S6 can also play Flac/Alac files and generally seems to be one of the better sounding smartphones. Some internet reviews claim the A15 does sound better than your average smartphone others say they could barely hear a difference at all.
 
Maybe someone owns a (good sounding) smartphone and a Sony NWZ-A15 and could tell me if it really does sound better than the phone because I guess I could still live with the phone being my main daily driver on the go but there is this temptation, so... please help me out  
 
Thanks. 

Pains me to say it, as I am a longterm  fan of Walkmans and the A15. but I could not find much discernible difference between the A15 and my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. If anything I would give the edge in clarity and feeling of openess to the phone.
 
I repurchased the A15 but was disappointed; it just didn't sound as good as I remembered. Warmer and duller, maybe its due to subsequent firmware updates (Sony never needed to do those things in the old days, they got it so right first time) or maybe  the Xperia is just so good. I returned it.
 
Some mobile phones are getting seriously good now and I didn't ever think I would use one as a serious source of music. As Polar1 said the biggest improvements you will find (EDIT at least at this level) is due to headphones and not the source IMHO.

 

[Tenlow]

  Pains me to say it, as I am a longterm  fan of Walkmans and the A15. but I could not find much discernible difference between the A15 and my Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. If anything I would give the edge in clarity and feeling of openess to the phone.
 
I repurchased the A15 but was disappointed; it just didn't sound as good as I remembered. Warmer and duller, maybe its due to subsequent firmware updates (Sony never needed to do those things in the old days, they got it so right first time) or maybe  the Xperia is just so good. I returned it.
 
Some mobile phones are getting seriously good now and I didn't ever think I would use one as a serious source of music. As Polar1 said the biggest improvements you will find (EDIT at least at this level) is due to headphones and not the source IMHO.

Yeah, that's pretty much what can be read on the internet quite often concerning the A15. Basically that it is a very good player for Hi-Res audio but not seriously better than a good/high end smartphone if at all. Also there is the issue with the European loudness limitation. Many people claim that the A15 does not get loud enough for their personal taste. Don't know if they just try to use it with a high(er) impedance headphone or if this is really an issue with the device. I think I will try to have a listen in a shop if that's possible or maybe even wait for a cheap used one or something like that. My S6 has 64GB internal storage, so that's not really a big issue, the only advantages left for the A15 would be that it's smaller, lighter and has obviously a better battery life. Not sure if that's worth the money (although a brand new unit here in Germany only costs around 145€ nowadays). 

 

[Tenlow]

   .. and may be you consider Cowon Plenue D .. it is a nice one too and may be it is better sounding than A series walkmans 

It also is much more expensive than the A15 (almost twice as expensive here) but thanks for the suggestion anyway. Seems to be a good player. 

 

[god-bluff]

If you so wished a good phone in terms of battery life, such as my Z3 Compact (this is one phone you don't need to charge every bl**dy night), would easily beat the A15's playtime in 'Airplane' mode. Plus you have option of steaming, internet radio and easy use of a USB DAC for a questionable increase in sound quality/ big increase in volume.

 
, the only advantages left for the A15 would be that it's smaller, lighter and has obviously a better battery life. 

 

[crog65]

   
Thanks for your reply, Crog. Much appreciated. I also thought about a DAC/Amp but the thing is the MacBook Pro with the right software like Audirvana or Bitperfect does sound really good - I am very happy with that sound. The sound on the Galaxy is also not bad but lacks a bit of richness/depth for my ears in comparison (hard to describe I know). Also the sound of the Macbook is significantly louder than the sound of the S6 (40-50% on the Mac is absolutely enough for me, while I need 75-85% on the S6 to have a comparable loudness). The thing is, if I have to add a device of any kind to the S6, it wouldn't be really portable for me any more - it is already quite big on its own. The A15, however, is pretty small in comparison, so it would probably be a perfect on the go device for me and if it sounded better than the S6 that would obviously be a nice bonus Seems like it doesn't though as far as the answers so far suggest :/ decisions, decisions

You are most welcome Tenlow, It would seem that you are looking for a good Hi Res player, I have been and continue on a similar journey to you. I would suggest looking at the Fiio X5, if your budget will accept it, I have one of those and would recommend that, as it, for me, is better than the Sony and has an inbuilt DAC which, i believe, can be operated independently of the player, so will work, and more importantly, will probably improve the sound of your MacBook too. You mentioned you get a louder sound from your Macbook, this may be due to the DAC fitted to your Macbook, which will probably be better than your phone. You can get the Fiio X5 for about £280 which of course is more expensive than the Sony, but for me, it is worth it,

 

[Mmet]

as said above i use now my Fiio X3 first gen as a DAC for my laptop to feed my sony sound system and it is way better than the laptop output 

 

[Tenlow]

  as said above i use now my Fiio X3 first gen as a DAC for my laptop to feed my sony sound system and it is way better than the laptop output 

The MacBook Pro(s) however, especially the newer models, do output excellent sound quality. The difference was night and day compared to the sound of my girlfriend's laptop. The fact that it even sounds better (for me) than my Galaxy S6 really says something as well. 

 

[Tenlow]

  You are most welcome Tenlow, It would seem that you are looking for a good Hi Res player, I have been and continue on a similar journey to you. I would suggest looking at the Fiio X5, if your budget will accept it, I have one of those and would recommend that, as it, for me, is better than the Sony and has an inbuilt DAC which, i believe, can be operated independently of the player, so will work, and more importantly, will probably improve the sound of your MacBook too. You mentioned you get a louder sound from your Macbook, this may be due to the DAC fitted to your Macbook, which will probably be better than your phone. You can get the Fiio X5 for about £280 which of course is more expensive than the Sony, but for me, it is worth it,

The budget is not so much the main problem. My issue is that the S6 does have hi-res audio and Flac playback capabilities, a Wolfson DAC, has a much better display than any audio player obviously, is also way faster, does have a touchscreen and is highly customizable (the Neutron player really is fantastic). So I already paid about 700€ a year ago for a pretty capable player. There is no actual need to own a dedicated music player but if there was a player in the range of the A15 or slightly above that would have sounded significantly better than the S6, I might have given it a shot because I'd like to have a smaller device that excels the S6 as far as sound quality is concerned and has a better battery life. So far, it seems, there is no such thing without spending several hundreds of Euros extra. I don't doubt the Fiio X5 one bit but it costs around 400€ and I'm not sure that the result for me will be 400€ better than the S6 if you know what I mean. 

 

[castleofargh]

  The budget is not so much the main problem. My issue is that the S6 does have hi-res audio and Flac playback capabilities, a Wolfson DAC, has a much better display than any audio player obviously, is also way faster, does have a touchscreen and is highly customizable (the Neutron player really is fantastic). So I already paid about 700€ a year ago for a pretty capable player. There is no actual need to own a dedicated music player but if there was a player in the range of the A15 or slightly above that would have sounded significantly better than the S6, I might have given it a shot because I'd like to have a smaller device that excels the S6 as far as sound quality is concerned and has a better battery life. So far, it seems, there is no such thing without spending several hundreds of Euros extra. I don't doubt the Fiio X5 one bit but it costs around 400€ and I'm not sure that the result for me will be 400€ better than the S6 if you know what I mean. 

 there is only rarely something better at everything. even when that everything is sound alone. variables like taste, and the headphone used can result in very different conclusions when judging a source. most people run away from cellphones as DAP because they already have a hard time keeping it alive for a full day. or because the output is several ohms and it changes the signature of some multidriver IEMs too much(or has audible noise on sensitive IEMs). some because the cellphone output is simply crap, but that really depends on the phone. and a few of course because "I'm an audiophile, I can't use the stuff that the pleb is using"...
if you're actually fine with your phone, looking for something else is really just asking to be disappointed IMO.

 

[Jackson 6]

Two years in I'm still very happy with the A15. It struggles with olde classical, and a little bit with new, but for all other genres with quality iem's it's the biz. I'm no fan of the X3, but might consider an upgrade to the AK Jnr if classical became predominant in my thinking.