[Luis Mad]

I have a plan to refrash my DAP usage. I'm about to buy the new Astell and Kern SR 25. I'm using now the Sony NWA-105, with the fantastic Sennheiser IE 800 S in-ears. What do you think guys, will I have have get some significant development in any segments (for first in sound quality)?

I have the sony nwa-55L, I had briefly the nwa-105, I returned it because of the volume cap of European models and the poor battery life. Otherwise I liked very much the 105. I then bought the SR25. It is an excellent product, amazing sound, excellent battery life and premium look and feel. It is in a different league to the 105. I believe it is in the same level of the 507 but I have not heard that one myself. I was thinking of buying a Japanese 507 because of the volume cap but was afraid of being without warranty. The weak points of the SR25 are Bluetooth (for others, I did not have issues apart from taking some time with the first connection) and weak wifi ( nothing serious for me but some complain of serious problems). Also you have to consider than it is a limited Android that only allows a few selected apps to be installed. The trade off is the good battery life and quite good, in my opinion, integration of the approved apps.
as to the Ibasso I also considered it. I have not heard it but in its thread most praise the sound but there are many serious complaints of Bluetooth and wifi issues from last years version and also from the last one. I cannot compare with the 507or the Ibasso since I have not heard them but compared to the 105, the SR25 is even better I would say. Also consider that you have the balanced output which is amazing. My iems, Final E4000 sound so much better out of the balanced output. If you can find a balanced cable for your Sennheiser it would make a big difference in sound quality in my opinion.

 

[Philo]

I have the sony nwa-55L, I had briefly the nwa-105, I returned it because of the volume cap of European models and the poor battery life. Otherwise I liked very much the 105. I then bought the SR25. It is an excellent product, amazing sound, excellent battery life and premium look and feel. It is in a different league to the 105. I believe it is in the same level of the 507 but I have not heard that one myself. I was thinking of buying a Japanese 507 because of the volume cap but was afraid of being without warranty. The weak points of the SR25 are Bluetooth (for others, I did not have issues apart from taking some time with the first connection) and weak wifi ( nothing serious for me but some complain of serious problems). Also you have to consider than it is a limited Android that only allows a few selected apps to be installed. The trade off is the good battery life and quite good, in my opinion, integration of the approved apps.
as to the Ibasso I also considered it. I have not heard it but in its thread most praise the sound but there are many serious complaints of Bluetooth and wifi issues from last years version and also from the last one. I cannot compare with the 507or the Ibasso since I have not heard them but compared to the 105, the SR25 is even better I would say. Also consider that you have the balanced output which is amazing. My iems, Final E4000 sound so much better out of the balanced output. If you can find a balanced cable for your Sennheiser it would make a big difference in sound quality in my opinion.

Thank you very much for your answer.

 

[DJ Core]

Can you please share those reviews?

I'm seeing DX160 rated very poorly vs SR25.

For example,
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/ibasso-dx160
https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/astell-and-kern-aandnorma-sr25

Read some owner reviews here on head-fi and the one below but get what makes you happy sonically.

Also, many owners of the $1499 A&K KANN CUBE agree the Sony ZX505/507 sounds better.

https://twister6.com/2020/05/27/astell-kern-anorma-ak-sr25/4/

 

[fish1050]

Is that going to happen with Covid-19 ?

Doesn't look like it. https://b2b.ifa-berlin.com/ExtraPages/COVID-19/

From the IFA 2020 site:

In view of the necessary requirements to protect the health of our guests, we focus in the concept of IFA 2020 on the core functions: brands, manufacturers, retailers, innovators and media.

As a result, and with great regret, IFA 2020 will not be open to the public or private audience, but will be held as a purely specialist event.

Look forward to a digital experience! We plan to make the IFA virtually accessible to everyone in September 2020.
More information will follow shortly.

So yes the show will take place but will available to the public online only.

 

[rlw6534]

After some of the discussions on manual firmware flashing, I decided to investigate the different versions/regions by playing around with the download url.

It appears that there are 7 versions of each firmware update, NW-A100_0000_V2_01_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG through NW-A100_0006_V2_01_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG

Does anyone have a "magic decoder ring" to determine which version is which?

My device is NW-A105HN (16GB with noise cancelling headphones), which is, I believe, JDM.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

 

[DJ Core]

After some of the discussions on manual firmware flashing, I decided to investigate the different versions/regions by playing around with the download url.

It appears that there are 7 versions of each firmware update, NW-A100_0000_V2_01_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG through NW-A100_0006_V2_01_00_NW_WM_FW.UPG

Does anyone have a "magic decoder ring" to determine which version is which?

My device is NW-A105HN (16GB with noise cancelling headphones), which is, I believe, JDM.

0000 should be Japan Region. China is 0003 I think,it's half the size due to no Google services.

You can download all of them and install one by one and report back lol

 

[rlw6534]

0000 should be Japan Region. China is 0003 I think,it's half the size due to no Google services.

You can download all of them and install one by one and report back lol

Hehe.... Too chicken in case I break something I can't undo...

 

[bachankas]

Got mine NW-A105 bought on eBay. Love the form factor, perfect in terms of usage comfort.
I got nice sound using it with Earsonics ES3. I think my SHanling Q1 provides more power, but it's not important as long as I don't plug in bigger headphones or IEMs like MEE P1.

Which music player app do you recommend? I need flawless gapless playback on FLAC and ReplayGain support.
Right now I installed foobar2000 which has both. Is there some alternatives?

 

[lucifero13]

Good day! Has anyone compared the a105 to the Fiio m6? Im looking out for an small Android dap

 

[raif71]

Good day! Has anyone compared the a105 to the Fiio m6? Im looking out for an small Android dap

I have both players. Actually imo, they can't really be compared coz in the price category, a105 is far pricier than the m6. Sound wise, I prefer the Sony but both suffer from not enough power to run Senn 6 series. Due to the power issues, I have paired the a105 with Fiio A5 amp and Fiio m6 I pair it with Topping nx4 dsd and Ifi Hip Dac. So, if you see, the m6 is being used only as a transport utilizing the DAC from nx4 and hipdac whereas the a105 retain its sound signature with just amp applied to increase drive-ability. Now, if I was to use an iem, then the use case might be different but you can be sure I prefer the Sony sound. YMMV.

Edit: There is no playstore in m6 while there is one in a105 but I think you might know this already

 

[lucifero13]

delete

 

[lucifero13]

I have both players. Actually imo, they can't really be compared coz in the price category, a105 is far pricier than the m6. Sound wise, I prefer the Sony but both suffer from not enough power to run Senn 6 series. Due to the power issues, I have paired the a105 with Fiio A5 amp and Fiio m6 I pair it with Topping nx4 dsd and Ifi Hip Dac. So, if you see, the m6 is being used only as a transport utilizing the DAC from nx4 and hipdac whereas the a105 retain its sound signature with just amp applied to increase drive-ability. Now, if I was to use an iem, then the use case might be different but you can be sure I prefer the Sony sound. YMMV.

Edit: There is no playstore in m6 while there is one in a105 but I think you might know this already

Many thanks! How about the battery>?

 

[raif71]

Many thanks! How about the battery>?

The m6 win hands down. When I listen, I don't listen that long... for sure not 2 hours straight and I charge both players/dac/amps whenever I have the time so never run out of battery for both devices