[cehowardNote3]

RockStar2005, got all that.. Even went to look at the Sony PHA-2 amp/DAC, I assume you be using your smartphone with that?
 
Anyway, I am going to take my time and learn these gadgets. When I copied and pasted, it took the all the album covers and info too. I copied it straight from my smart phone.. It was just one folder with a bunch of albums in it. No problem in removing it for the update, and then put it back.
 
Let me know what you are doing with that PHA-2 thing, sheesh, I want to be on the front line too.. 

 

[RockStar2005]

howard, 
 
That's cool. And yes, you assumed correctly. 
 
Ok cool. You got lucky then. Lately I had issues with it working via copy & paste, so I went back to using Media Go (this after I did the update the correct way) and now it always works. So logic tells me that before when I'd done the update the wrong way, that is what caused the album covers to eventually not work via Media Go. Apparently the PHA-2 does need to be updated as well, but no files need to be removed obviously to do it correctly. 
 
Well for you the PHA-2 may not be ideal b/c you said you prefer wireless over wired connections. For me, I only do wired. I would only ever switch to wireless if both my player and headphones had LDAC, but I need to hear what you say about 1ABTs before I'd even consider that. But in reality, it's not that important to me. The one con using my phone and PHA-2 (which stands for Portable/Personal Headphone Amp by the way) is that I would no longer have LDAC, but again, the only time I'd use it if I didn't do the wireless headphone thing is if I was at a party where they were using a bluetooth speaker and I wanted to make it sound cooler (by enabling LDAC). So it'd be a rarity. 
 
I decided to buy the PHA-2 last night actually off Amazon and it will come tomorrow. I will test it out and compare it's sound quality to the Walkman's. If it's AS good (or better), I will prob keep it. If not, I'll return it and end of story. But not having to put the songs on 2 devices, having the option to hear music in Hi-Def while I drive, and not having to worry about storage for 2 devices are pretty good pros. We'll see. It's built like a tank too and not a bad size either. One con is battery life is not too great (though it IS replaceable, unlike Walkman's), and it takes like 7 hours to charge (ok that's only if it's at 0% lol), so I'd do overnight charging for that. They said 17 hours if not Hi-Res & 4-6 hours if Hi-Res, but since I downsample my Hi-Res to CD-Quality (because it doesn't affect the sound quality despite what Sony and Pono say lol), I will be much closer to 17 hours. The Walkman gets like 30 hours though but still, 17 hours is damn good. I only listen for maybe an hour or two at a time anyway, so I'd prob get a few listens in before a charge would be needed. 

 

[djphaze]

Can anyone tell me from the pics if this is the English or Japanese version.

 

[RockStar2005]

phaze, 
 
From the looks of it, I'd say that's the Japanese version. I have the American version, and there isn't one spot on the entire box that is written in Japanese........... ALL English. Plus it has a picture of the Walkman on the front where the one in your pics does not. 
 
 
 

 

[djphaze]

Ok thanks. Just wanted to make sure I didn't the Japanese version.

 

[RockStar2005]

YW. But the thing is, I think you did? lol Re-read my last post. 
 
I did check my A17 Walkman just now, and under "Common Settings" in the Settings menu, there is an option to change the language. So you'll prob be ok. But make sure before the return period ends from wherever you bought it from. 

 

[djphaze]

So then the one I posted won't have English right?

 

[RockStar2005]

It might. Mine is English but it had the option as I'd mentioned to change the language. It might be tough to get to it though b/c if it's a Japanese model, you will have to figure out how to get to that screen to change it to English. 
 
I'd just return it and get the U.S./English version off of Amazon. 

 

[djphaze]

Ok I bought it off ebay.

 

[dsouza]

I got mine from South Korea via eBay. All menus are multi-language (including English) and I believe without volume cap.

BTW, is there any indication about volume cap? While my A15 volume is lower than my Fiio X1, it drives a Fidelio L2 (16 Ohm@105 Av) at a very reasonable volume.

 

[RockStar2005]

Ok. If you can figure out how to get through a menu written in Japanese to find the screen that lets you change the language, then go for it! 
 
No idea. I find that my A17 Walkman drives my Sony MDR-1A headphones QUITE well. Sometimes for the Hi-Res albums I have I have to put the volume up to or close to the max (30), but 30 is always plenty on my 1As. 

 

[highfidelity69]

When I play my high-res audio I select ClearAudio+, it's just gives everything a fuller cleaner more linear sound, when I stream music I choose DSEE HX and Dynamic normalized with EQ settings according to the type of music played.
That is of course with my ZX2.

 

[RockStar2005]

Everyone's listening preferences are different. And you're playing off the $1200 NWZ-ZX2. Here we're talkin' about the $300 NWZ-A17 Walkman. Maybe on the ZX2 those features sound great, but on my Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone and my A17 Walkman, DSEE HX, Dynamic Normalizer and ESP ClearAudio+ do nothing to improve the sound, but instead make it sound worse. Dynamic Normalizer simply makes the volume stay at one "level" I believe, so it's not bad. But ClearAudio+ makes my stomach sick. lol Maybe if I heard it on the ZX2 I'd have a different stance on it, but that's not happened as of yet. 

 

[highfidelity69]

Everyone's listening preferences are different. And you're playing off the $1200 NWZ-ZX2. Here we're talkin' about the $300 NWZ-A17 Walkman. Maybe on the ZX2 those features sound great, but on my Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone and my A17 Walkman, DSEE HX, Dynamic Normalizer and ESP ClearAudio+ do nothing to improve the sound, but instead make it sound worse. Dynamic Normalizer simply makes the volume stay at one "level" I believe, so it's not bad. But ClearAudio+ makes my stomach sick. lol Maybe if I heard it on the ZX2 I'd have a different stance on it, but that's not happened as of yet. 

There is a discernable difference, especially with quality high-res audio,listened thru quality head gear. I also got my unit for $1,000 at www.crutchfield.com, it makes no sense why these features don't work on the A17.

 

[RockStar2005]

There is a discernable difference, especially with quality high-res audio,listened thru quality head gear. I also got my unit for $1,000 at www.crutchfield.com, it makes no sense why these features don't work on the A17.
 
high, 
 
Are you saying they sound good to you on the ZX2 too? If you got it for under $1000, then you got a very good deal. 
 
I wouldn't say they don't work on the A17. They DO work, they just don't sound very good. 
 
On my Sony Xperia Z3 phone, it has some of the same sound features that my Walkman has, like DSEE HX, ClearAudio+, Surround Sound, etc. ClearAudio+ still sounds god-awful on my Z3, but DSEE HX does help, though I can barely notice a difference with it on. Surround Sound though, primarily the "Studio" option, actually makes the sound quality better. But I tried all of these on my A17 and in every case, the sound quality was degraded. Even "Studio". So yeah, I just leave all that stuff off. The ONLY thing I really do involves the EQ. I use the custom EQ option, and leave everything at 0 EXCEPT for the 2.5 kHz band (the middle one). For that one, I found that bumping it up 2 notches gives the drums and vocals more weight. An EQ preset on my Z3's Walkman app entitled "Soul" is what gave me that idea.