I have had the Sony F806 for about 2 weeks now and got few weeks to listen to it and do some A-B comparison with Sony X. What i am writing is just how i find the F806 and i don't claim be an audiophile or with golden ears. I love the sound of Sony X and i am expecting Sony F to be better .. Let's see if that really is the case . .
The gear : Sony F806/Sony X - ALO Audio LOD - Pico Slim - Westone ES5
Sound :
Test Cases :
1) Sony X Vs Sony F806 - Headphone out : At first glance Sony F seems to blow Sony X out of the water with the sound clarity , depth and soundstage ..Sony F sound definitely louder than Sony X. However after listening for a while then difference becomes just subtle .. The Sony X seems bit warm and Sony F seems more digital . Not sure which sound i prefer. I love Sony X so just with headphone out i would not pick Sony F .. It gets fatiguing after a while .. Also ES5 hiss like crazy on Sony F806.. Another issue i found that with Sony F is that sound levels change album to album was way noticeable .. I was adjusting volume control all the time..
2) Sony X with Pico slim Vs Sony F 806 Headphone out : This is unfair comparison but wanted to test it as many said headphone out is way better .. IMO Sony X with an amp is much better than Sony F806 with headphone out. The soundstage, depth and clarity is wider on Sony X with amp than Sony F806. So if i was upgrading to Sony F without amp i would stick with Sony X
3) Sony X and Sony F with Pico slim : This is where Sony F really shines .. There is a transformation of sound.. The soundstage is wide, clarity is awesome and bass is deep without being muddy .. It is not heavy but sufficient for me .. Better than Sony X. Also hiss is gone with the amp . Also with third party software like Poweramp it takes sound to another level .. With an amp i will definitely pick Sony F over Sony X .. No question
Size and Features:
1) Sony X has an ideal size for a music player .. Not too small not too big. Also it blends really well with pico slim .. bit thicker than pack of cigarettes . Sony F is larger and size but it is no use for me as i will not use it to watch movies, play games or browse web. This is just personal preference YMMV.
2) Love the physical buttons for player control on Sony X. I can pause , FF or Rewind music without looking .. This is very helpful when listening in dark or when sleeping on planes .. Also i love the indexed search feature on X and Sony X is not that touch sensitive. Sony F lack the physical controls and screen is sensitive everytime i grip it either it changes the song or FF it. Really frustrating . Also Hold feature is lacking. I guess toggling power switch is a kind of hold function.. . Also the walkman button on side is a gimmick .. You can only go to next song or previous song but not FF or RR ..
3) Love the simplicity of the GUI on Sony X.. It looks like Sony F has few too many steps just to get to music functions like albums artists or playlists .. This has nothing to do with it being a touch screen UI .. It is badly implemented.
4) Transfer software : With Sony X i could use WMP for everything Album art, transfer and playlists . With Sony F i can transfer playlist using media go application only not WMP .. Also some album art didn't get transferred and i had to redo it . So it is a step backwards.
5) Battery Life : Battery life on Sony F is bad .. It is not closer to what i get on Sony X. If i keep wireless on it get drained very fast.. With Wireless off i am getting about 12 hrs max .. With SonyX i have managed to get about 20Hrs ..
Music player software
1) Stock player : It is decent and sounds good .. Playlists need to be transferred using Media go player but it lacks the Oomph .. User navigation is bit cumbersome and some ID tags needs re configuring . No gapless, No on the go playlist or crossfade
2) Cubed : It is good replacement to the stock player. Very simple and player sounds better than stock player. The equalizer is pretty decent .. But it lacks features . Also the "on the go"playlist feature is basic
3) Poweramp: This is my favorite player so far .. It has numerous cutsomizable options to tune the sound to your needs. Playlists and album art transfer correctly and it sounds so good with the amp .. I am hearing sounds i never heard before on Sony X with amp .. It is that good. Also it supports gapless .. Listening to Pink Floyd "Animals" after longtime gapless brought back the chills
. It also supports "On the go" Playlists which i like and cross fade is well implemented . I would definitely recommend this. However i have the free version and it crashes a lot .. But it is a small price to pay for good sound
Conclusion: Sony F is definitely a better replacement to Sony X when amped with a decent amp. If using just the headphone they both are equal in thier own rights . Sony F provides rich detail , extended soundstage and deep bass . It is definite upgrade over Sony X with amp .. I would highly recommend it
Few questions: Poweramp: I have the free version.. What does the paid version provide.. can someone help ?
Once again i have to reiterate this is just my opinion on Sony F and your views may vary ..
Thanks for reading
PC