[Inertia1611]

Compare the Sony with the new Fiio? The products are not at all intended for the same public. You just have to see the price and the specs to understand it...
To read you everywhere on Sony forums, we know that you had your Fiio during Black Friday, that the power and the price displease you, that you do not have access to it yet, etc, etc.

The A105 is really cool and sounds great. I am really happy with this little product. There is no problem with the OS being reactive and no crashes to be reported. It is not perfect but is there a player that is?

If you like your Fiio, this is great for you. But it is not the only brand on the market, hopefully.

 

[fish1050]

What elements are people glossing over?? The power things been mentioned tons of times, and is on par for the A series, as well as the battery life using wifi- which actually gets better with tweaking and the battery life with the Sony app is very good. And of course with the small screen it's not going to be like a phone, I don't think anyone really expects that, and I can read everything even with my myopic vision Keyboards tiny with my big fingers but just to search for music or the PS it's fine.

I got a phone for everything else

Everything else is really good, including the sound. It almost sounds like you're trying to convince yourself the m9 is better. People are gushing about the sound because it sounds excellent, that's all there is to it. Not perfect but a really nice tiny dap.

That was the first post I read that commented on the full android implementation not being great for a DAP with such a small screen. I saw the tweak lists that were posted on these forums, to "optimize" performance. I have shopping lists shorter then that, by the time you turn off all these features to improve performance can you still call it a full Android implementation. I don't want to buy a DAP and then have to plow through a mountain of settings to get the best performance, this isn't a smartphone or a Windows 10 computer, it's a DAP. Some people love doing this stuff and that is fine for them but I have better things to do with my time. I don't need a calender app or a browser on my DAP, I already have a laptop and smartphone for that with screens big enough to actually read.

 

[nanaholic]

by the time you turn off all these features to improve performance can you still call it a full Android implementation.

Yes, yes you can.

The full Android experience means having access to the Play Store, this is where the fully certified Walkmans beats all the other Chinese implementations. The down side to having a fully certified version of Android is that all other Google apps must be included as mandated by Google, that's the strings that are attached to it being this way, because afterall that's how Google makes money.

Having full access to Google Play Store though means streaming apps will have a higher probability of being compatible and up to date. This can't be said of players like Fiio and its whitelisting method or side loading APKs, which are much more difficult for non-technical users. Doubly ironic when you say a DAP isn't a smartphone or a PC, but when you use a player like Fiio, you are jumping through way more hoops to be installing those APKs which includes downloading APKs using a brower and then using a file manager to execute those APKs which is exactly what smartphones and PCs would involve.

You keep trying to say people don't look for faults, but it seems that you really should take some of your own advice when it comes to Fiio or other Chinese DAPs.

 

[tredders]

That was the first post I read that commented on the full android implementation not being great for a DAP with such a small screen. I saw the tweak lists that were posted on these forums, to "optimize" performance. I have shopping lists shorter then that, by the time you turn off all these features to improve performance can you still call it a full Android implementation. I don't want to buy a DAP and then have to plow through a mountain of settings to get the best performance, this isn't a smartphone or a Windows 10 computer, it's a DAP. Some people love doing this stuff and that is fine for them but I have better things to do with my time. I don't need a calender app or a browser on my DAP, I already have a laptop and smartphone for that with screens big enough to actually read.

It took me about a minute to turn off some of the features recommended to maximise battery life. I didn't have to do that, but as I'm not going to use my Walkman as a video player / web browser / whatever, it was worth the small amount of time it took. Now that those options are set, that's it - it's not as though it's a daily task. And it's obviously still a full Android implementation, whichever way you look at it. Now that those settings are changed, I use 4 apps - the native Walkman app, Tidal, Audible and Spotify. The size of the screen is irrelevant since all I'm doing is tapping on one of the icons for those apps. Would I want to browse the internet on it, or watch a movie? Of course not, but that's not what I bought this thing for. Does the form factor work for a portable / personal music player? Yeah, it's pretty much perfect for that, and the design (i.e. hardware buttons on the side) work well. The selling point for me was to be able to stream music, and not just play local files. The sound quality has been a very nice surprise.

I've got a Fiio X5 sitting in a drawer somewhere. Nice sounding player, but the UI was garbage and made playing music hard work. The Walkman is the polar opposite.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

It's not as if the Sony walkman isn't functional without the tweaks.

The tweaks is just so that the non-audio related apps is disabled and the walkman has less background apps running thus a more responsive UI.

Battery life improvement are pretty minor but every bit of improvement is good for everyone.

Don't think the tweaks is compuslory for the walkman users to have a good experience on the player.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Let's compare this two videos and make your own judgement:

 

[abitdeef]

That was the first post I read that commented on the full android implementation not being great for a DAP with such a small screen. I saw the tweak lists that were posted on these forums, to "optimize" performance. I have shopping lists shorter then that, by the time you turn off all these features to improve performance can you still call it a full Android implementation. I don't want to buy a DAP and then have to plow through a mountain of settings to get the best performance, this isn't a smartphone or a Windows 10 computer, it's a DAP. Some people love doing this stuff and that is fine for them but I have better things to do with my time. I don't need a calender app or a browser on my DAP, I already have a laptop and smartphone for that with screens big enough to actually read.

The 'tweaks' I was referring to really have nothing to do with the android experience at all. They're for eliminating redundant stuff and basically disabling apps you won't use and location based stuff etc.

Actually they're recommended for all android devices. It takes like 5 minutes literally and isn't neccessary at all. Performance is fine without them, and the 'android' side of things is fine.

 

[abitdeef]

Hi peeps, I got my black official silicone case today and with all my dogs and my compulsive disorder it's not going to work because of hair sticking to it.. So I'm going to keep my flip case for now- I really want a nice low profile plu or leather case.

Anyhoo, anyone in the USA interested to talk to me about this case please pm me.

Freedom isn't free but Sony official silicone cases may be

 

[ponpon]

NW-A105 and ZX507 along with A55 now on sony.ca

Price for the A105 is very high at $480 CDN. A55 is $299 so might give it a listen when it comes to town.

I bought mine (A105HN) directly from Amazon Japan for $265 total, which is about 100 USD less. Create an Amazon Japan account, change the language to EN if you need to, look for the Global/International Shopping option which will filter products that can be shipped to your country. Your options will increase if you sign up for a Prime trial.

It was shipped on the 24th and arrived yesterday, the 27th.
______
Let me preface this little review by stating that I'm not an audiophile. I listen to music and podcasts for most of the day, so I prefer to have a dedicated audio player. I'd been a loyal ipod user since gen 1, but switched over to Pioneer and eventually Hiby (ugh) after I swore off Apple.

At first I was disappointed with the sound. It wasn't terrible, just a bit tinny. However, I was pleasantly surprised after switching to a pair of IEMs and turning on Clear Audio. For me, it was comparable to the Hiby R6, which was the only thing I liked about that device.

Anyway, this is a bit of a bummer considering I use mostly BT headphones, but I'm sure I can find a workaround after perusing the thread.

 

[abitdeef]

I bought mine (A105HN) directly from Amazon Japan for $265 total, which is about 100 USD less. Create an Amazon Japan account, change the language to EN if you need to, look for the Global/International Shopping option which will filter products that can be shipped to your country. Your options will increase if you sign up for a Prime trial.

It was shipped on the 24th and arrived yesterday, the 27th.
______
Let me preface this little review by stating that I'm not an audiophile. I listen to music and podcasts for most of the day, so I prefer to have a dedicated audio player. I'd been a loyal ipod user since gen 1, but switched over to Pioneer and eventually Hiby (ugh) after I swore off Apple.

At first I was disappointed with the sound. It wasn't terrible, just a bit tinny. However, I was pleasantly surprised after switching to a pair of IEMs and turning on Clear Audio. For me, it was comparable to the Hiby R6, which was the only thing I liked about that device.

Anyway, this is a bit of a bummer considering I use mostly BT headphones, but I'm sure I can find a workaround after perusing the thread.

You don't need to worry about BT headphones they have their own amp and dac built in. So they will sound fine no matter the source, and Sony works great with LDAC.

Also the Sony eq is very good with wired stuff.

 

[robiceli]

Even worse, using the player while charging it results in significant electrical noise that I can hear with a couple different IEMs. It's loud and obvious enough to be distracting. Okay, so sensitive IEMs aren't the way to go with this player, right?

I didn't notice any electrical noise on my A55 listening to music while wall charging. The A105 shouldn't suffer from this either.

Maybe you're using a bad charger?

 

[beanxinh]

Just a quick question. Can this player connect to a DAC via USB? In the specification Sony leave it blank.

 

[abitdeef]

Just a quick question. Can this player connect to a DAC via USB? In the specification Sony leave it blank.

Yes

 

[raif71]

I bought mine (A105HN) directly from Amazon Japan for $265 total, which is about 100 USD less. Create an Amazon Japan account, change the language to EN if you need to, look for the Global/International Shopping option which will filter products that can be shipped to your country. Your options will increase if you sign up for a Prime trial.

It was shipped on the 24th and arrived yesterday, the 27th.
______
Let me preface this little review by stating that I'm not an audiophile. I listen to music and podcasts for most of the day, so I prefer to have a dedicated audio player. I'd been a loyal ipod user since gen 1, but switched over to Pioneer and eventually Hiby (ugh) after I swore off Apple.

At first I was disappointed with the sound. It wasn't terrible, just a bit tinny. However, I was pleasantly surprised after switching to a pair of IEMs and turning on Clear Audio. For me, it was comparable to the Hiby R6, which was the only thing I liked about that device.

Anyway, this is a bit of a bummer considering I use mostly BT headphones, but I'm sure I can find a workaround after perusing the thread.

Clear Audio is fine but I prefer tweaking the other audio stuff and using eq as "excitable"... That did it for me

 

[djselbeck]

I didn't notice any electrical noise on my A55 listening to music while wall charging. The A105 shouldn't suffer from this either.

Maybe you're using a bad charger?

I also reported this before. I can confirm this when the Walkman is connected to my Thinkpad x260 as well as high quality anker chargers.