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Sony NW-WM1A Review (Digital Audio Player)

wasnotwasnotwas

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I would love to hang out here and talk but I've made my point. Testing aside both subjective and objectively, If you were using the equipment I'm using it's the 1A is fabulous and still unique. I'm not talking about power, I'm taking about detail retrieval and soundstage. Realistic instrument timbre, positioning, transient character response and over all tone. This has nothing to do with a phone dangle? lol

"I'm taking about detail retrieval and soundstage. Realistic instrument timbre, positioning, transient character response and over all tone."

If I had a penny....
 

Redcarmoose

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This is more of an objectivist or technically minded forum if you will. You might be more at home in a subjectivist forum. Try headfi or super best audio friends (they do sometimes measure stuff, but then disregard that just as fast).
Have you ever watched a master guitar builder pick out a piece of wood for a $7000 jazz guitar? I have. They don't use science they use their ears.

They knock on the wood and listen for tone.
 

BDWoody

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I probably sound like a lunatic here. This madman shows up out of no where and is drooling..........foaming from the mouth?

Not really... We're used to it.

Some take it quite personally when their favorite little gadget isn't viewed in the way they think it should be, then defend it like it's one of their children.
 

Redcarmoose

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Not really... We're used to it.

Some take it quite personally when their favorite little gadget isn't viewed in the way they think it should be, then defend it like it's one of their children.


I simply wound not want a person to pass up the 1A over simple phone listening that's all.
 

MerlinGS

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Have you ever watched a master guitar builder pick out a piece of wood for a $7000 jazz guitar? I have. They don't use science they use their ears.

They knock on the wood and listen for tone.
This is absolutely absurd and captures much of the mythology that enraptures many audiophiles. When you create an instrument, be it a Stradivarius, or as you noted, a guitar made by a master guitar builder, the artisan is trying to create an instrument with a particular sonic signature. The last thing any person trying to reproduce a sonic signal should use as a speaker is 1 million dollar violin, it will fail miserably compared to a 500 dollar audio setup if your goal is accurate reproduction. So no, we don't want engineers designing reproduction equipment to pursue some audiophile/mythological sonic signature...that being said I do like the warmth of a some tube amps, but it has nothing to do with accuracy and everything to do with euphony. If our goal is the pursuit of accurate reproduction, then stop referencing $7000 pieces of wood and instead reference electronic engineering practices that are geared to transparent reproduction.

PS If you like euphonics is your audio reproduction that is fine, but then don't claim that such gear is more accurate, and don't take offense when others rightly state that said system is poor at reproducing the original signal in a transparent fashion.
 

Redcarmoose

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This is absolutely absurd and captures much of the mythology that enraptures many audiophiles. When you create an instrument, be it a Stradivarius, or as you noted, a guitar made by a master guitar builder, the artisan is trying to create an instrument with a particular sonic signature. The last thing any person trying to reproduce a sonic signal should use as a speaker is 1 million dollar violin, it will fail miserably compared to a 500 dollar audio setup if your goal is accurate reproduction. So no, we don't want engineers designing reproduction equipment to pursue some audiophile/mythological sonic signature...that being said I do like the warmth of a some tube amps, but it has nothing to do with accuracy and everything to do with euphony. If our goal is the pursuit of accurate reproduction, then stop referencing $7000 pieces of wood and instead reference electronic engineering practices that are geared to transparent reproduction.

PS If you like euphonics is your audio reproduction that is fine, but then don't claim that such gear is more accurate, and don't take offense when others rightly state that said system is poor at reproducing the original signal in a transparent fashion.

No the phone could absolutely be more accurate at reproducing music. But whatever is contained in the playback of the 1A has a difference in comparison to the phone. It could very much be distortion and a failure on a multitude of levels. The response he made was purely arguing the phone dongle was better just based on power output; if you reference the post. I'm simply suggesting that there is more.
 

BDWoody

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I simply wound not want a person to pass up the 1A over simple phone listening that's all.

You've made your point, over and over. Please don't find yourself turning into a troll.
 
D

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The only use case I can think of for a device like this off the top of my head....is for privacy absolutists who resist carying mic'ed 'smart devices' on their person. Even then, one could find a much more cost effective solution than this over priced device.
 

M00ndancer

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Embarrassing. Just embarrassing.

At this point you'd better off buying some cheap android phone, a cheap dongle and 3d print some makeshift case to put two together and get far better performance + modern UI and features. Will still cost you far less than these 'audiophile' DAPs.
My case: A cheap Morola G8 Pro (My daily used phone) with an Apple USB-C Dongle and the USB Audio player Pro
At home: A Google ChromeCast Audio with a small powerbank connected to my headphones using my Google Assistent to play the music. (but I'm probably a bit crazy)
 

Billy Budapest

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No just a humble person with a product I truly love. Redcarmoose on Head-Fi. You could tell if you read my posts I'm not a Sony Dealer.
Your post above makes it seem like you joined the forum for the sole purpose of “defending” the Sony NW-WM1A. Cheerleading for your favorite audio gear is not what this forum is about. If you joined to honestly participate and learn, that’s wonderful. You don’t seem to be off to a good start, though.

There is a lot of gear that I enjoy that does not measure particularly well. I didn’t join this forum to talk about it, however. I joined this forum because I got sick of “audiophile” preconceptions about what is good, and I wanted to learn which manufacturers are doing their homework, testing their products, and giving their customers good value vs. the performance achieved.
 

q3cpma

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The only use case I can think of for a device like this off the top of my head....is for privacy absolutists who resist carying mic'ed 'smart devices' on their person. Even then, one could find a much more cost effective solution than this over priced device.
"Absolutist" is a strong word for people not wanting a badly programmed and expensive toy straight out of 1984. Unless you're talking quantitatively and not qualitatively.
 

Robbo99999

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An expensive trap for the unsuspecting audiophile that likes "shinies"!
 

Mike-48

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With noise canceling headphones maybe?

I have two pair of headphones I use regularly. I prefer the Sennheiser 650 when I am in a quiet environment. I used them to master a few live recordings I made. I use them when I want a "second opinion" on something that seems odd through my speakers. Occasionally, I just use them to listen to music, though I prefer speakers.

I also have a pair of Sony noise cancelers (WH1000XM2). They are great in the gym, airplane, coffee shop -- all the places I don't go anymore!:( And they are nice to listen to. Usually, I use them through Bluetooth, because in those places, the cord is a nuisance.

My impression is, I can really hear fine differences using the Senns. Not so much using the Sonys. So even with ANC headphones, I don't understand the value in ultra-fidelity portable players. Obviously, that's a subjective conclusion, and obviously, other people disagree. Everyone spends their audio money the way that they see fit.
 

threni

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I have two pair of headphones I use regularly. I prefer the Sennheiser 650 when I am in a quiet environment. I used them to master a few live recordings I made. I use them when I want a "second opinion" on something that seems odd through my speakers. Occasionally, I just use them to listen to music, though I prefer speakers.

I also have a pair of Sony noise cancelers (WH1000XM2). They are great in the gym, airplane, coffee shop -- all the places I don't go anymore!:( And they are nice to listen to. Usually, I use them through Bluetooth, because in those places, the cord is a nuisance.

My impression is, I can really hear fine differences using the Senns. Not so much using the Sonys. So even with ANC headphones, I don't understand the value in ultra-fidelity portable players. Obviously, that's a subjective conclusion, and obviously, other people disagree. Everyone spends their audio money the way that they see fit.

No, that's entirely objective. I'm in exactly the same position. In my case I spent more on the wired and less on the wireless than you (HD 660S and WH-CH700N respectively). There's no comparison between them in terms of sound quality. There's no way I'm going for a 2 hour walk in what could turn out to be the rain with my good headphones, getting the earpieces all sweaty, chucking them in a bag when I get to the shops or fly somewhere, or leaving them on the table by the tv all day in a cheap hotel when abroad etc. In some situations the sound quality is not the most important aspect. The noise cancelling isn't as good on mine as either yours or the XM3 model (which is often cheaper these days) but it's better than nothing.

On a side note, I notice that Aptx-HD has been dropped from the more recent Sony headphones (the XM4 and the model which replaces the WH-CH700N. Some battle between protocols/licensing perhaps? Not all devices support LDAC and I'm not buying any wireless headphones without some decent way of getting music onto the headphones. (I'm not sure why they don't just add an sd card slot directly into the headphone and be done with it).
 

misterdog

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I have

Quad 989 ESL's modded and tweaked to the max. Fed from SMSL M400 with super tweeters and sub woofers.
Sennheiser 650
Some random no name DAB radio

Listed in order of preference, though the DAB with BBC 6 music probably gets most use.
As a cabinet maker options 1 and 2 have little use during the day..

My preference is option 1 though Obvs.
 
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