Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

rubenerd.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 272 posts

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#231

Post by otikik »

otikik wrote: post #202

> you mount the Walkman as a USB storage device and transfer files. Wait… that’s it? Yes! Ahh yes that is a Premium feature not even Apple or Android flagship phones are able to provide. For some reason.

In case it was not clear: connecting a mobile phone to a computer and using it as a usb storage devices is simply not possible, doubly so if you are looking for platform independence (windows/Mac/Linux). At the very least you will have to use external specialized apps, or jailbreak your device, or a combination of both, if it's at all possible.

This was a basic feature that all phones used to have. It was quietly removed, I suspect in an effort to push users towards iTunes/Google Play Music, both of which are dead now.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#232

Post by lambic »

jstummbillig wrote: post #114

I am mostly confused by what the author thinks the selling point is. > I can’t describe what a breath of fresh air this is compared to how bad modern smartphone music and streaming apps have become. Well, I was hoping they would try to describe it, because personally, I would have to wear my most deeply shaded nostalgia glasses to think that MP3 player UX has ever been comparable to what Spotify offers nowadays. And…

I want to listen to my music, the music I've bought, not what spotify throws at me. I'm currently using Youtube Music because it at least lets me store and play my music collection, even though it tries to push me toward the streaming options.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#233

Post by Reason077 »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #213
Reason077 wrote: post #175

It’s not a real “Walkman” unless it can play cassette tapes. I’m sure anyone who grew up in the 1980s/90s would agree. How else am I going to listen to my Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys collection?

Same way I listen to my collection of 80s dance/club 12" vinyl, which I sold 3 years ago: find them all on YT and download the audio.

But it just doesn't sound the same as on classic, analog cassette!

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#234

Post by leeoniya »

INTPenis wrote: post #206
roboyoshi wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had one for a week and returned it. IIRC there was no sleep/standby feature. You either lock it like an iphone screen or turn it off. But it starts pretty quickly when you turn it off, so that's not the problem. For me it was just too slow and instable. There is a github repo with all the issues ( https://github.com/vext01/hiby-issues ) - check that before you buy one.

When I say sleep I mean that you listen until a timer runs out and it pauses whatever you're listening to automatically.

that sounds like a very niche feature, does it exist outside of ultra-tweakable firmware/OS like rockbox?

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#236

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

Reason077 wrote: post #233
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same way I listen to my collection of 80s dance/club 12" vinyl, which I sold 3 years ago: find them all on YT and download the audio.

But it just doesn't sound the same as on classic, analog cassette!

that depends on whether or not it was a Sony MDR or a TDR TDX

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#237

Post by csdvrx »

nicoburns wrote: post #123
csdvrx wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was vaguely interested in such a product but even $350 seemed too much, let alone the other ranges of products with, for the general audience, not much in the way of obvious differing benefits. I was also skeptical, but after hearing the difference, I'm not coming back. I'm rediscovering my favorite tracks! I'm hearing instruments in the background that I couldn't hear before!! > even $3600 (!!!) which is apparen…

> 40h battery life You’ll be happy to hear that you also get that on the cheap low-end devices!

> You’ll be happy to hear that you also get that on the cheap low-end devices!

It won't matter much if their quality is so poor I don't want to bother listening, or if the interface doesn't provide hardware buttons meaning I won't be able to skip tracks in my car.

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#238

Post by csdvrx »

gbraad wrote: post #200
csdvrx wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure it will help on a Sony? It seems to be for USB OTG DAC.

No... Not just externally USB attached. You can try about a trial version from the author. I use it on my fiio, phone, tablet, usb dac, etc.

I'll try it then! It's the ideal thing to do on a 4th of July :)

Re: My New Sony NW-A55 Walkman

#239

Post by hnlmorg »

rchaud wrote: post #229
hnlmorg wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've encountered plenty of bugs with portable music players. I've had CD walkman scratch disks, cassette players eat tapes and I've had SD and compact flash storage fail on me too. No technology is beyond failure.

A CD getting scratched isn't really a bug, it's a limitation of that technology and form factor. Is there anybody on earth that didn't scratch up at least a few accidentally?

It is a bug when the battery compartment is inside CD tray so if the battery flap isn’t shut flush you end up with damaged discs. This isnt normal operation of CD players, it’s a problem with the design of the unit.

That said, it was still one of my favourite portable music players because it sounded amazing and supported MP3 CDs too.

Post reply on HN