My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman • Hacker News Board

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#71

Post by jazzyjackson » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 5:51 AM UTC

aquova wrote: post #20

I too assumed that dedicated MP3 players were relegated to very low-budget devices, and I didn't realize that Sony was still producing the Walkman line. I decided to take a look at their line up to what was happening in the space - https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders... Boy... what a massive range of prices. There's a touchscreen-less device for $75, one resembling the one described by the au…

One thing to factor in is the longevity of these devices, they aren’t an 18month affair like the typical smartphone. Battery aside, I have an original Zune that boots right up, and an unmodified iPod Mini with 4GB of spinning metal that doesn’t skip a beat, that’s about 17 or 18 years gone by, people also offer them on eBay spec’d out with upgraded battery, memory, and DACs

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#72

Post by evanrelf » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 5:54 AM UTC

urlwolf wrote: post #70

I use a dedicated voice recorder to think while I walk. It has made a world of difference in my thinking. And no, a phone with an app is not the same. A button you can press anytime that just records is a godsent. No notifications, no chats, no Trillion dollar companies giving you dopamine shots. Your attention is too valuable. We are squandering it on devices that are designed so you can't think clearly.

What device do you use?

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#73

Post by IlPeach » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 5:55 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #59

If sound quality + local music + non-android is the goal there are plenty of lossless audiophile dedicated devices with DACs and amps built in on Amazon, with some nice designs: https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-M11Plus-Resolution-Portable-Blue... https://www.amazon.com/Surfans-F35-Resolution-Music-Player/d... https://www.amazon.com/iRULU-F20-Bluetooth-Lossless-Resoluti...

Cool... But will they last?

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#74

Post by cm2187 » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 5:55 AM UTC

It's crazy that we have come there, but reading this I am actually entertaining buying one.

It is shocking how bad the experience of listening to my own music has become on iphones. Dongles (different for ipads and iphone of course), itunes for windows is barely usable, there is a bug they never fixed where the music player on iOS randomly mismatch the album artwork, and there are so many conflicting gestures that I always end up messing what I am trying to do. And like a year ago an OS update auto-decreases the volume if it deems I am listening too loud. Android isn't an option for me because Google.

But it's a pain to have to carry two devices, manage two batteries.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#75

Post by hitekker » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 5:56 AM UTC

urlwolf wrote: post #70

I use a dedicated voice recorder to think while I walk. It has made a world of difference in my thinking. And no, a phone with an app is not the same. A button you can press anytime that just records is a godsent. No notifications, no chats, no Trillion dollar companies giving you dopamine shots. Your attention is too valuable. We are squandering it on devices that are designed so you can't think clearly.

hear, hear!

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#76

Post by rocketbop » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 6:01 AM UTC

hitekker wrote: post #75

urlwolf wrote: post #70

I use a dedicated voice recorder to think while I walk. It has made a world of difference in my thinking. And no, a phone with an app is not the same. A button you can press anytime that just records is a godsent. No notifications, no chats, no Trillion dollar companies giving you dopamine shots. Your attention is too valuable. We are squandering it on devices that are designed so you can't think clearly.

hear, hear!

As a public information aside, the phrase is actually "hear, hear".

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#77

Post by subhro » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 6:03 AM UTC

evanrelf wrote: post #72

urlwolf wrote: post #70

I use a dedicated voice recorder to think while I walk. It has made a world of difference in my thinking. And no, a phone with an app is not the same. A button you can press anytime that just records is a godsent. No notifications, no chats, no Trillion dollar companies giving you dopamine shots. Your attention is too valuable. We are squandering it on devices that are designed so you can't think clearly.

What device do you use?

Not the OP but I use a Zoom H1N. Terrific device and runs on 2 NiMH AAA cells

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#78

Post by waiseristy » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 6:06 AM UTC

Hottest of takes : A shitty music app on my phone like Spotify is 1000x more convenient than a dedicated music device will ever be.

As a society we already processed and answered this question in the late 00's. PMP's (heh, remember that term?) suck. All-in-one devices are better

Hot-take over.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#79

Post by ozzythecat » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 6:08 AM UTC

cm2187 wrote: post #74

It's crazy that we have come there, but reading this I am actually entertaining buying one. It is shocking how bad the experience of listening to my own music has become on iphones. Dongles (different for ipads and iphone of course), itunes for windows is barely usable, there is a bug they never fixed where the music player on iOS randomly mismatch the album artwork, and there are so many conflicting gestures that I…

I religiously use Spotify for music on my iPhone. Are you against the subscription payment model, or are you considering this device because it’s better than Spotify on an iPhone? If it is better, how so? Genuinely curious if there are better music options than my current “setup”.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#80

Post by subhro » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 6:09 AM UTC

urlwolf wrote: post #70

I use a dedicated voice recorder to think while I walk. It has made a world of difference in my thinking. And no, a phone with an app is not the same. A button you can press anytime that just records is a godsent. No notifications, no chats, no Trillion dollar companies giving you dopamine shots. Your attention is too valuable. We are squandering it on devices that are designed so you can't think clearly.

This is so true. I avoid using my phone other than to receive phone calls and sometimes text people. I find most of the dedicated devices like voice recorders, GPS, flashlight has a far more intuitive, faster and more functional interface than the apps that mimic them on a phone.

Also, my GPS can (and has) jumped out of my backpack and dropped over 100ft and worked (and still works) just fine. Not sure I would like to bet my life hoping the same outcome with my phone while I am in the middle of nowhere.