OK - I had a pretty good listening session this afternoon with the Sony NW-A55 running the non-R version with my Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10's. Here's some of my thoughts.
The sound quality on some of my favourite and familiar tracks sounded somewhat flat and boring to start with. The music was kind of flowing over me rather than being absorbed - hope that sort of makes sense. However, as time went on I realised that this 'flat' sound was super detailed and the imagery was rock solid - this stability greatly helped me follow specific instruments all the way through tracks without them getting lost in the mix - and without you having to concentrate. You can drift in and out (in your mind) but when you want that focus, it's there instantly and effortlessly.
It was nice to get back the NFC functionality - I use it when pairing my Sony WH1000XM2's and it works really well. Bluetooth performance and sound quality appears to be the same (which was expected considering that it's not really using any of the cool features of the player - rather just transmitting the data). Nice solid connection with the Sony's - I haven't tried any others as I tend to use my phone with my other bluetooth headphones.
When I can be bothered, I shall change the region code from 'J' to some of the others to see if I like the possible changes to the sound characteristic. I shall keep you all posted.
