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My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

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Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#91

Post by creakingstairs »

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.

Do you listen to your recordings as you walk? Or does the mere fact that you are recording change your thinking?

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#92

Post by at_a_remove »

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...

Honestly, I have trouble finding out if these devices even do playlists, and if so, what format?

I have a sneaking suspicion that, while I have some "musts," I probably don't even know the right questions to ask, and I guess forums for this kind of thing stopped existing.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#94

Post by blep-arsh »

cm2187 wrote: post #83
blep-arsh wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony specifically might not be the best option for a modern audio player. I've tried using A55 but exchanged it for a Shanling M0 eventually.

Why is that? The thing that terrifies me with less known brands is the quality of the DAC. I had so many shitty mp3 players before settling on ipods in 2003. Even today most laptops motherboard DAC are useless.

M0 is much lighter and cheaper and uses USB-C instead of a proprietary cable. The feature set is roughly similar (audio formats, USB audio, BT source/sink, etc.). It doesn't offer any media sync software, though. DAC should be good ("ESS Sabre ES9218P") but honestly I can't tell the difference between Apple's own 3.5mm-Lightning dongles and fancy audio equipment. At least it's not obviously noisy.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#95

Post by thirdsun »

ozzythecat wrote: post #79
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”.

While Spotify covers most popular stuff there's a huge amount of music that isn't available on any streaming service. Plus, your content might disappear any day.

I use Spotify for previewing, exploring and making some buying decisions but my actual collection is mine. It's lossless, DRM-free and I plan to have it for ages to come.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#96

Post by fortran77 »

UkrainianJew wrote: post #45

Curiosity question: has anyone done any work on reverse-engineering the Sony Mega Bass feature they used to have on old analog players (and ported to some early MP3 ones)? It sounded so much deeper than any phone/sound card would give. I'm wondering if it's some purely analog schenanigans (some tricky extra capacitors?) or if it can be replicated in pure software.

There’s a Wikipedia page on how these techniques work. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_fundamental

I’ve played pipe organs that do the same thing with “resultant” stops to fake 32’ or 64’ stops.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#97

Post by loser777 »

jwmoz wrote: post #89

It's nerdy. Pointless though imo when you have a phone and Spotify. The days of hoarding mp3s are gone, thankfully.

Pointless until you veer even the slightest bit from what Spotify is able (cares?) to license.

City pop listeners in the states will back me up on this one (it's not even an esoteric genre!) but where's Yamashita, Kadomatsu, or Sato? The Spotify US catalog is black hole here. Ironically the best legal way for listeners to buy this music is to fly to Japan to buy vinyl.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#98

Post by rramadass »

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.

The Fiio M5 is that and more : https://www.fiio.com/m5

Bag one if you can get it since it has been discontinued.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#99

Post by rramadass »

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…

Checkout the Fiio M5 : https://www.fiio.com/m5

Bag one if you can get it since it has been discontinued.

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