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Sony NW-WM1A Review (Digital Audio Player)

Sukie

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Can anyone therefore please explain the point of a DAP. There must be a market otherwise companies such as Sony, who have been consumer savvy in the past, would not produce them. Who buys them and for what purpose when it means you will most likely be carrying two devices instead of one?
I have read many "defences" of DAPs on this site. For some people there seems to be an aversion to using their phone for audio purposes. There are lots of reasons given but, ultimately, it makes no sense to me. But, as with so many things, each to their own. Having said that, this particular DAP is way off the mark for $1000.
 

Frank Dernie

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I use some DAPs. They are solely for music. My phone is a beat up device and not really suitable for music listening and I don't carry 2 devices. When I go out, I only carry my phone. Don't really have time for music listening outside of house. At home I use DAP only when I'm doing chores around the house. :)
Wow. I only listen to music on earbuds on the bus, train or aeroplane.
At home I never have background music on and pretty well only listen to speakers, headphones very rarely, not because I don't like the SQ but I don't like having them on my head, or the in the head sound.

This is a hobby with a lot of different ways to enjoy it.
 

raif71

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Wow. I only listen to music on earbuds on the bus, train or aeroplane.
At home I never have background music on and pretty well only listen to speakers, headphones very rarely, not because I don't like the SQ but I don't like having them on my head, or the in the head sound.

This is a hobby with a lot of different ways to enjoy it.
I drive to work and play stereos with speakers. Not all places in the house have speakers for example in the kitchen, garden etc. This is where DAPs come in handy. My children will alert me of any incoming calls from the phone or I take them later. :)
 

TheWalkman

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“It is the Sony that I know (which I worked for years ago) which sadly lost that touch for years”

As did I and software was always their Achilles Heel. Sony‘s forté, imho, was taking someone else’s design and putting a nice polish on it. Unfortunately, when it came to the software and particularly the software user interface, it seemed they frequently missed - like the database rebuild issue on this device.

Though I occasionally buy a Sony product, it seems their glory days are over. I was happy to leave Sony in my rear view mirror.
 
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Sukie

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This is a hobby with a lot of different ways to enjoy it.
And for me, that's one of the best things about this forum. Yes we can parade our objectivists credentials all day long, but I really like finding out what people enjoy. I like finding out what people are listening to and how they're listening to it. I now have a vision of @raif71, resplendent in a pair of Marigold gloves, listening to his DAP:).
 

Purité Audio

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I m going to write a stiff letter to Sony reminding them of their heritage.
Keith
 

AudioSceptic

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Sony NW-WMA1A DAP (digital audio player). It is on kind loan from a member. The cost is -- are you sitting down? -- US $1,199. It is available on Amazon however for US $999 including Prime shipping.

For that money you get by far the best industrial design and feel I have seen in a DAP:

Overall, I can't recommend the Sony NW-WM1A. It gets a few things right but is far short of what a perfect DAP should be. And at $1000, I expect perfection.

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How much storage does this have, or does it rely entirely on SD or µSD? It's strange that you don't mention this at all (or did I miss it?).

But, as many others have said, what is the point anyway when most are already carrying a smartphone?

Edit: I see that it has 128 GB built-in, with no card slot. 128 GB for £1k makes this even more of a joke.
 
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julian_hughes

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On the database rebuilding issue: you're not expected to power off these devices but to let them sleep. They wake from sleep very fast, having consumed almost no power. However a more difficult issue is that when you do need a database rebuild (added or removed content for example) it only works speedily if none of your album art is progressive JPEG. Sony non-android players only understand baseline JPEG! If you have a large collection you'll need to batch or shell script the fix so as not to die of old age before your very unremarkable image files are acceptable to Sony's precious players
Very infuriating with Sony's non-android players: they rely on database but don't let the user easily search for albums, composers, artists etc. and queue up albums! They combined the inconveniences of database based players with the disadvantages of file system based players into one terrible implementation!

I briefly owned a NW-A55, similar software to this one. Its output impedance was clearly very high as my multi BA driver IEMs sounded horrible with it. Like others mention, the inconvenience of lack of DLNA etc was also a big deal. On a player very inconvenient to use with large, album based collections, I really missed the slickness of BubbleUPnP, Neutron Player, UAPP etc. I sent my Sony back and got refunded. Yes, beautifully made but hard to use and enjoy.
 

AudioSceptic

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Most of us carry some form of a smart phone. I use an iPhone and it sounds good to my ears considering the listening environment is usually noisy. If I need better sound for a car (say) I connect an Audioquest dragonfly red or an SMSL Idea (via a camera kit so I can also power it while playing music).

Can anyone therefore please explain the point of a DAP. There must be a market otherwise companies such as Sony, who have been consumer savvy in the past, would not produce them. Who buys them and for what purpose when it means you will most likely be carrying two devices instead of one?

Serious question.
How do the Dragonfly or Idea produce better sound? Is it just a matter of volume?
 

Francis Vaughan

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Serious question.
I tend to agree. I have never seen the utility in a dedicated device. once the phone took over. Only downsides.
At work I use a DX3-Pro connected to my phone for headphones.. Home desk a DX3-Pro connected to my Mac or phone drives desktop speakers. Working in the garden, Apple dongle connected to ER-4S. The nice thing is that the same music library is visible on all systems.

Downside is that Apple Music has become crap. But it works well enough. Going with a dedicated solution risks being saddled with abandonware. Even Sony are not immune from walking away from customers. I used to be a total Sony fanboy. Back in the glory days of Sony. One thing they are still a bit prone to is looking inwards and using only internally designed components. This is both a strength and weakness. They have significant strength in silicon design. They are clearly trying to regain an edge. But it takes a long time to build up the strength they had. It can be destroyed much faster. And they did.
 

YSC

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Most of us carry some form of a smart phone. I use an iPhone and it sounds good to my ears considering the listening environment is usually noisy. If I need better sound for a car (say) I connect an Audioquest dragonfly red or an SMSL Idea (via a camera kit so I can also power it while playing music).

Can anyone therefore please explain the point of a DAP. There must be a market otherwise companies such as Sony, who have been consumer savvy in the past, would not produce them. Who buys them and for what purpose when it means you will most likely be carrying two devices instead of one?

Serious question.
Coz my phone isn’t getting charging everywhere and if I keep using it as music it will kill battery so quick I can’t do much of other stuffs!
DAP is great for noisy urban areas like the MTR or in office where you don’t want to annoy your boss with good in ear type phones, so power isn’t a great concern as well as using open back stuffs are a big no

battery should last long enough so say in airport transit I can enjoy them and not pissing of the big guy next to me
 

AudioSceptic

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Coz my phone isn’t getting charging everywhere and if I keep using it as music it will kill battery so quick I can’t do much of other stuffs!
DAP is great for noisy urban areas like the MTR or in office where you don’t want to annoy your boss with good in ear type phones, so power isn’t a great concern as well as using open back stuffs are a big no

battery should last long enough so say in airport transit I can enjoy them and not pissing of the big guy next to me
That is strange. Playing music is just about the least power-hungry thing on my iPhone. Just about anything else uses more, even reading eBooks.
 

YSC

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That is strange. Playing music is just about the least power-hungry thing on my iPhone. Just about anything else uses more, even reading eBooks.
well, that's because a lot of other stuffs are a must use on phone, so one less thing to use one less thing to consume battery, and a phone can't sustain 5-6 hrs continuous music and with some other stuffs at the same time
 

maverickronin

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I tend to agree. I have never seen the utility in a dedicated device. once the phone took over. Only downsides.

Having real buttons pretty much trumps everything else.

Of course there's no reason to spend this much to get that. This particular DAP is mostly just audio jewelry.
 

AudioSceptic

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]
well, that's because a lot of other stuffs are a must use on phone, so one less thing to use one less thing to consume battery, and a phone can't sustain 5-6 hrs continuous music and with some other stuffs at the same time
Fair enough, but I'm still surprised it makes so much difference. If it did, I would use a battery-case or carry a separate charge bank.
 
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