Had this one for a couple of months now. The sound is sooooo good. I have a pretty high end system in my living room, but I keep playing music on this instead.
All the measurments show the sound on this is equal to a samsung or Apple dongle that costs 10 bucks. These are underpowered unless you have really easy to drive headphones but then your smartphone will give you the same quality
The first thing I did was to purchase a mid capacity 128 GB microSD card. Keep everything off the internal memory and store all your music in the expansion slot. The capacity can go high to 2TB. I read a review where a user stored 20,000 songs in his A105.
@@richierich8334 I have 6 folders that are completely different genres, of course you can add additional songs to your playlists on the external SD card. Again, add all your songs to your SD card & don't bother with a internal memory. I have roughly 2000+ songs and they play without any problems.
@@richierich8334 I do it all the time. I connect my Walkman to my computer via USB cable & I copy my songs in with no issue. I have no idea what you're doing wrong.
Because sitting in small area on Amtrak etc.or bus on long trip, I may use both phone and this tiny quality player at the same time Phone for web, email, texting, other apps and phone calls. Especially not wanting to drain phone battery with music player apps (which do not play hi res files anwya).
Love your Review. I just went to Sony's site and ordered one. I've been using the NW-A45.for years. I also have FIIO units as well as others. There's something about the Sony Sound .... and who needs something else interfering with your phone ... I'm using my nw-45 bluetooth to a Klark Teknik Bluetooth device (beyone phenomenal) which allow we to stream all my devices (TV, Walkman, Internet radio, phone, ham radio) to my new JBL Studio speakers. This is the sound i spent a fortune on over the last 50 years and I finally got it. Thanks for a great vid.
Why they don't make it with stereo field microphones and audio interface support. It would tick a lot of boxes for professional and enthusiast musicians on the go. Polyend tracker already have minijacks. Just take a recording, plug it, in and sample right on the park bench or wherever you are.
Streaming? Is it as good for listening locally stored flac music? I dislike that corporate streaming licencing issues that can make certain songs unavailable.
Lots of things really. It won't drive difficult headphones like the Susvara, or the Stealth, or other high impedance/low sensitivity cans too well though.
Hi, I'd like to highlight your very good analysis of new NW A306 capabilities. I'm an owner of NW-A306 walkman. 1. Please let me know the required impedance range for the wired headphones connected directly to NW-A306. Could NW-A306 drive high impedance headphones ? I intend to use NW-A306 Walkman with the following headphones I already own: Sony WH-1000XM2 (wire connected), Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 32 Ohm, Sennheiser HD 660 S 150 Ohm, Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear (M2) 18 ohm, Fiio FH7 16 ohm, Campfire IO 26 Ohm ..... Which one of these headphones you recommend me to use together with NW-A306 Walkmans? 2. please let me know if I can use a third party USB power adaptor to charge the NW-A306 using the supplied USB cable. If yes please let me know the recommended specification. I have an USB charger with the following output: 5V, 1A. I already use it to charge an NW-A45 walkman. Should be better/faster a 2A Power Adaptor? Thankx
I think Sony should do something with the Sony Walkman NW-A105, it is supposed to be a high performance HI-RES DAP. Everything about connectivity with other devices, especially smartphones, needs to be reviewed, but especially the impedance and volume, It is abnormal that a normal device cannot drive headphones that require more power. It can't even move in-ear headphones like the Tripowin Mele that have almost normal OMS. Haber if they can do by an update, I can not believe a Chinese DAC of 50 dollars is more powerful than the Sony Walkman NW-A105.
I have a question about the the Sony A105 that I can't find the answer to anywhere else since it is unrelated to the specs. I DJ for a hobby and I use a Pioneer DDJ200 which connects to a smartphone through bluetooth and uses local mp3 files on a smartphone in the WeDJ app. Since the A105 is android based I was wondering if the WeDJ app is available for download on this device and if it actually works. If it does I will get it for sure. I hope you can help me out.
I'm happy to report that it works since it's Android, but you'll have to deal with the battery life because I've been getting around 3-4 hours of basic mixing and moderate usage, so what Gramophone said is correct, but the disadvantage of battery life does take it away
@kinkaid25 ahh g that's kinda bad. I'm planning to just use the walkman app with everything else off.but then when I'm home I'll use spotify. I herd someone got 15-18,20 hours. I don't know who to trust
Can you transfer mp3 files from your computer on it & can manage the files easily? I have been thinking of possibly upgrading from my old nine year old ipod classic.
I created several folders for different music genres without any issues. Make sure that you purchase a microSD card because internally, you only get 8GB and with a microSD card, it can go high to 2TB of storage space.
Help! I just re-formatted my player, and I cannot seem to find the setting that allows me to change the download location from the onboard memory to the SD card. In the past, I’ve been downloading all my music files via Wi-Fi to the SD card, and now I am either clueless, or it has disappeared. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
I found it simple to connect to my JBL 5. Once you enable the bluetooth on the walkman, there's a message stating which device you want to connect with, then you choose whatever it is. The cool thing is that once your walkman establishes a connection, every time you enable your bluetooth on your walkman, it automatically connects to your device.
How well does it perform as a line level source to a DSP and external amplifier? I'm concerned that with it having built-in amplification that this may be an issue when connecting it to something other than headphones.
thank you for the video. can i download hi-res songs from apple music on the SD Card. Can i play downloaded hi-resolution songs while offline without downgraded to lower resolution. thanks
Yes you can. That’s what I do. Download everything and turn on airplane mode. Note that sd cards support only 128gb, if you want more storage you need to buy the expensive sdxc cards
The capacity as stated on the official website: 128gb for regular micro sd 2tb for SDXC (Even though it's not out yet) As of now, the max that's out on the market is 1tb.
I was planning on getting this Sony model but wanted to ask…. I have about 800 albums in Apple lossless on my Mac mini - around 350gbs of music. I want to quickly get all these albums on a mobile device - would this Sony Walkman be a good choice?
I think this supports from 1 Tb to 2 Tb Micro SD, so yeah. No problem there. The bad thing about this model is the Battery, Android consumes too much power, so you will have like 24 hours of listening for Lossless music. With Mp3 125 - 256 kbps you will have at least 35 hours of music.
Hi Gramophone I buyed this SONY NW-A105 Walkman about 2,5 years ago. Honestly i think this is the best walkman what i can spend money for. BUT i made a mistake after 5 month of using this walkman. I setup a pattern password(you know the 9 circles), because my brothers always install stupid games on it. But beacuse sometimes i forgetting thinks fast i didnt remember to my pattern password anymore. Its the second year trying to do something with it.I dont want to put it in the trash.I HOPE that is possible the hard reset or factory reset the device without loggining in it. I still have warranty of it but beacuse i live in Hungary there are no Sony services so nobody can not help me. Can you help me please.?:) I find something:--- I find a method but without video tutorial i cant do it..IM STUPID i cant do a little thing like this without help: - Press and hold the skip forward button, and while continuing to hold that button, press and hold the Power button for several seconds. - When the WALKMAN logo appears, let go of both buttons. Then Android system recovery utility appears. - Use the Volume Down (-) button to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option. - Quickly press the Power button. - Use the Volume Down (-) button to highlight the YES -- delete all user data option. - Quickly press the Power button. Data will be wiped, and factory reset will be performed. - Quickly press the Power button when reboot system now is highlighted. Can i contact you in some way please.Maybe you can help me with my problem.IF you can please reply to my comment with some of your social media or anything else.
The instructions you posted are correct. You need only hold down forward and power and wait for the menu to appear. Volume keys will scroll up and down and tapping power works as an "enter" key. Don't throw it away! These are completely unavailable now!
Walkman products are basically in Limbo right now, everything has been out of stock at Sony for a while. I think with the chip shortage and supply chain issues these were one of the first things on Sony's chopping block. I haven't heard about anything new or starting back up yet.
@@GramophoneMD Ah then perhaps I should wait. Cause then that thing happens where you buy something then something newer and cooler replaces it right away. So as these things have Android though can you actually put apps on them? I'd need to put TalkBack the screen reader on it because I'm blind.
@@hamitcampos4989 yes you can. It’s just an android phone without the phone functionality. I have it only for streaming music. But they output power is only 35mw, even my final e3000 needs more than half volume to shine. I removed almost all of google bloat except for play store and the battery life is decent but not great
It’s not all aluminum it. It’s plastic on the back only aluminum on the sides. Buttons are plastic. It does NOT give you 26 hours playback only 4. Battery gets zapped SO quick. It’s good but battery sucks. I’ve had it for 3 months and got a 256 FB card in it. This dude is overselling
Will it play recognize and play all the songs on a 256gb card in full random shuffle mode? I have a hiby r3 that has a 20k song limit and a pioneer that also doesn't read all 38k-ish songs on my sound card. My 256gb ipod touch seems to read them all but it really does not have 256gb and I have basically hit full capacity.
Its a poor copy of a good dap the Hiby R5. Not great battery life, no class A internals, sony has not listed the THD numbers. Will not support the vast majority of google play apps. Only specific ones. I think at this point if it did not have usb c nobody would have bought it. They must give this a good review Gramo is selling it......
Had this one for a couple of months now. The sound is sooooo good. I have a pretty high end system in my living room, but I keep playing music on this instead.
hows battery life? i hear it is abysmal?
@@GrimYak Sony says up to 24 hours or something, in my experience it's more like 7 hours.
@@thegrimyeaper, how to you import songs to the player? There's itune for ipod but what about this one?
All the measurments show the sound on this is equal to a samsung or Apple dongle that costs 10 bucks.
These are underpowered unless you have really easy to drive headphones but then your smartphone will give you the same quality
The first thing I did was to purchase a mid capacity 128 GB microSD card. Keep everything off the internal memory and store all your music in the expansion slot. The capacity can go high to 2TB. I read a review where a user stored 20,000 songs in his A105.
Yes 2tb using sdxc cards and 128 with micro sd cards
That's great until you want to store playlist songs on it. You can't add songs to playlists unless they are on the internal memory.
@@richierich8334 I have 6 folders that are completely different genres, of course you can add additional songs to your playlists on the external SD card. Again, add all your songs to your SD card & don't bother with a internal memory. I have roughly 2000+ songs and they play without any problems.
@@AneudiD78 No you can't. You cannot add songs that are on the SD card onto a playlist which is on the internal hard drive. You're wrong.
@@richierich8334 I do it all the time. I connect my Walkman to my computer via USB cable & I copy my songs in with no issue. I have no idea what you're doing wrong.
I tried this one as my main audio source of a sound system. This is a portable beast. 1 thing I hate battery life
How many running hours does it play?
@@fernandomagdalenoviolinist4657 4 hours max on avion mode/battery save etc…:(
Because sitting in small area on Amtrak etc.or bus on long trip, I may use both phone and this tiny quality player at the same time Phone for web, email, texting, other apps and phone calls. Especially not wanting to drain phone battery with music player apps (which do not play hi res files anwya).
Sony is best electronic company in world. . Sony Japanese is mazing . Powerful. Good quality.to
Love your Review. I just went to Sony's site and ordered one. I've been using the NW-A45.for years. I also have FIIO units as well as others. There's something about the Sony Sound .... and who needs something else interfering with your phone ... I'm using my nw-45 bluetooth to a Klark Teknik Bluetooth device (beyone phenomenal) which allow we to stream all my devices (TV, Walkman, Internet radio, phone, ham radio) to my new JBL Studio speakers. This is the sound i spent a fortune on over the last 50 years and I finally got it. Thanks for a great vid.
Can i use this one's usb c port for audio out for a dac?
Why they don't make it with stereo field microphones and audio interface support. It would tick a lot of boxes for professional and enthusiast musicians on the go. Polyend tracker already have minijacks. Just take a recording, plug it, in and sample right on the park bench or wherever you are.
Streaming? Is it as good for listening locally stored flac music? I dislike that corporate streaming licencing issues that can make certain songs unavailable.
What apps can it download??? Most important
I downloaded music from iTunes to my MacBook, Can i listen to that music in this walkman by just connecting it to my MacBook?
What is a good headphone to pair it with?
Lots of things really. It won't drive difficult headphones like the Susvara, or the Stealth, or other high impedance/low sensitivity cans too well though.
Hi dear...what kind of headphones do you suggest me in order to exploit all the poker of triste walkman?
All kinds of thing really. Headphones and speakers are very preference focused.
Hi, which is a better buy sony 105a or astell and kern sr25?
Hi,
I'd like to highlight your very good analysis of new NW A306 capabilities.
I'm an owner of NW-A306 walkman.
1. Please let me know the required impedance range for the wired headphones connected directly to NW-A306.
Could NW-A306 drive high impedance headphones ?
I intend to use NW-A306 Walkman with the following headphones I already own:
Sony WH-1000XM2 (wire connected),
Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 32 Ohm,
Sennheiser HD 660 S 150 Ohm,
Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear (M2) 18 ohm,
Fiio FH7 16 ohm,
Campfire IO 26 Ohm .....
Which one of these headphones you recommend me to use together with NW-A306 Walkmans?
2. please let me know if I can use a third party USB power adaptor to charge the NW-A306 using the supplied USB cable.
If yes please let me know the recommended specification.
I have an USB charger with the following output: 5V, 1A. I already use it to charge an NW-A45 walkman. Should be better/faster a 2A Power Adaptor?
Thankx
I think Sony should do something with the Sony Walkman NW-A105, it is supposed to be a high performance HI-RES DAP. Everything about connectivity with other devices, especially smartphones, needs to be reviewed, but especially the impedance and volume,
It is abnormal that a normal device cannot drive headphones that require more power. It can't even move in-ear headphones like the Tripowin Mele that have almost normal OMS.
Haber if they can do by an update, I can not believe a Chinese DAC of 50 dollars is more powerful than the Sony Walkman NW-A105.
Is there still an option for Bluetooth? I would like to connect this to my car
Hello Edwardo, yes, Bluetooth is on board, and Sony employs what they call LDAC technology for best sound.
I have a question about the the Sony A105 that I can't find the answer to anywhere else since it is unrelated to the specs. I DJ for a hobby and I use a Pioneer DDJ200 which connects to a smartphone through bluetooth and uses local mp3 files on a smartphone in the WeDJ app. Since the A105 is android based I was wondering if the WeDJ app is available for download on this device and if it actually works. If it does I will get it for sure. I hope you can help me out.
Given that it is Android I imagine that it should work. The device otherwise behaves like a typical Android phone.
I'm happy to report that it works since it's Android, but you'll have to deal with the battery life because I've been getting around 3-4 hours of basic mixing and moderate usage, so what Gramophone said is correct, but the disadvantage of battery life does take it away
Definitely worth getting a decent power pack to keep with it if you’re using it in that setting but otherwise will work great
@Gramophone is the battery any good with playing flac files that are on the micro sd card ? And also with streaming like spotify ?
It supports FLAC, sounds pretty good. It's an Android device at heart so it will run Spotify.
@Gramophone how is the battery life? With Bluetooth and WiFi both on and off?
@kinkaid25 whats the battery life like when just using the walkman app ? And with wi-fi and Bluetooth off ?
@kinkaid25 ahh g that's kinda bad. I'm planning to just use the walkman app with everything else off.but then when I'm home I'll use spotify. I herd someone got 15-18,20 hours. I don't know who to trust
@kinkaid25 Thanks useful to know!
Can you transfer mp3 files from your computer on it & can manage the files easily? I have been thinking of possibly upgrading from my old nine year old ipod classic.
Yes, you can either transfer content using a iTunes like program from Sony or simply drag and drop from your computer it's your choice.
I created several folders for different music genres without any issues. Make sure that you purchase a microSD card because internally, you only get 8GB and with a microSD card, it can go high to 2TB of storage space.
Would I be able to transfer music from my Mac to this player without using additional software?
Yes, you'd just copy files to the appropriate directory using Finder.
Help! I just re-formatted my player, and I cannot seem to find the setting that allows me to change the download location from the onboard memory to the SD card. In the past, I’ve been downloading all my music files via Wi-Fi to the SD card, and now I am either clueless, or it has disappeared. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
Unable to bluetooth pairing with Bose speakers. Please advise how to pair. Thanks!
I found it simple to connect to my JBL 5. Once you enable the bluetooth on the walkman, there's a message stating which device you want to connect with, then you choose whatever it is. The cool thing is that once your walkman establishes a connection, every time you enable your bluetooth on your walkman, it automatically connects to your device.
How is the sound quality if we compare it with smartphone like S9 plus?
Better than a smartphone.
@@GramophoneMD even from Samsung S series?
@@simranbindra4369 Yes, phones concentrate on other features, not sound.
@@NuclearShot thanks!
@@NuclearShot S9 plus has dolby atmos. then also?
Awesome smart phone....
How well does it perform as a line level source to a DSP and external amplifier? I'm concerned that with it having built-in amplification that this may be an issue when connecting it to something other than headphones.
How big of a memory card can it take?
micro SD - 128GB, microSDXC - 2TB
you did not mention wifi. if the fm radio needs wifi. does it? I have no idea because you did not go in to detail about the product.
I have a question about this Sony Walkman NW-A105. Does it came with an AM/FM Radio App?
thank you for the video. can i download hi-res songs from apple music on the SD Card. Can i play downloaded hi-resolution songs while offline without downgraded to lower resolution. thanks
Yes you can. That’s what I do. Download everything and turn on airplane mode. Note that sd cards support only 128gb, if you want more storage you need to buy the expensive sdxc cards
Is there a size limit and/or card type limit for the Micro SD card?
256Gb
Got 512 GB in mine
This feels like an auction… 😄
The capacity as stated on the official website:
128gb for regular micro sd
2tb for SDXC (Even though it's not out yet)
As of now, the max that's out on the market is 1tb.
I was planning on getting this Sony model but wanted to ask….
I have about 800 albums in Apple lossless on my Mac mini - around 350gbs of music.
I want to quickly get all these albums on a mobile device - would this Sony Walkman be a good choice?
I think this supports from 1 Tb to 2 Tb Micro SD, so yeah. No problem there. The bad thing about this model is the Battery, Android consumes too much power, so you will have like 24 hours of listening for Lossless music. With Mp3 125 - 256 kbps you will have at least 35 hours of music.
is it possible to play youtube videos on sonny walkman A105?
Yes, but why would you on such a small screen?
New subscribers here👍
How many volume levels does it have?
I honestly cannot remember the exact count, but it certainly had a range that was plenty wide and precise.
120
where can i buy this product
It has since been discontinued.
Can you sideload android auto ?
Sd card of max strength could be used or compatible with nw A 105 .please answer.
I do not understand what you mean by "SD card of max strength." Are you referring to storage capacity, and how much the NW-A105 can recognize?
Bro just stick to a maximum of 256gb micro Sd card. The processor ain’t great and anything above could have lag issues.
I use 512GB on my ZX507 and also NW-a106 used by my son. ZX507 is more responsive but 106 is fine for music playback.
On bluetooth he iis very hot
Very btful.mp4 értors of heats..
get very hot when charging, the player is warm
2 TB capacity
Can i install spotify on it ?
absolutely, it's android
Please make a Review of Sony nw a 106
does it reproduce flac files?
Yup
Hi Gramophone
I buyed this SONY NW-A105 Walkman about 2,5 years ago.
Honestly i think this is the best walkman what i can spend money for.
BUT i made a mistake after 5 month of using this walkman. I setup a pattern password(you know the 9 circles), because my brothers always install stupid games on it. But beacuse sometimes i forgetting thinks fast i didnt remember to my pattern password anymore.
Its the second year trying to do something with it.I dont want to put it in the trash.I HOPE that is possible the hard reset or factory reset the device without loggining in it.
I still have warranty of it but beacuse i live in Hungary there are no Sony services so nobody can not help me.
Can you help me please.?:)
I find something:---
I find a method but without video tutorial i cant do it..IM STUPID i cant do a little thing like this without help:
- Press and hold the skip forward button, and while continuing to hold that button, press and hold the Power button for several seconds.
- When the WALKMAN logo appears, let go of both buttons. Then Android system recovery utility appears.
- Use the Volume Down (-) button to highlight the wipe data/factory reset option.
- Quickly press the Power button.
- Use the Volume Down (-) button to highlight the YES -- delete all user data option.
- Quickly press the Power button. Data will be wiped, and factory reset will be performed.
- Quickly press the Power button when reboot system now is highlighted.
Can i contact you in some way please.Maybe you can help me with my problem.IF you can please reply to my comment with some of your social media or anything else.
The instructions you posted are correct. You need only hold down forward and power and wait for the menu to appear. Volume keys will scroll up and down and tapping power works as an "enter" key. Don't throw it away! These are completely unavailable now!
@@GramophoneMD thanks but i find a service now too so they gonna try it to factory reset because the pattern option doesnt work
What replaced this in 2022? I mean Android 9. If 1 can't update the device that alone makes it outdated.
Walkman products are basically in Limbo right now, everything has been out of stock at Sony for a while. I think with the chip shortage and supply chain issues these were one of the first things on Sony's chopping block. I haven't heard about anything new or starting back up yet.
@@GramophoneMD Ah then perhaps I should wait. Cause then that thing happens where you buy something then something newer and cooler replaces it right away. So as these things have Android though can you actually put apps on them? I'd need to put TalkBack the screen reader on it because I'm blind.
@@hamitcampos4989 yes you can. It’s just an android phone without the phone functionality. I have it only for streaming music. But they output power is only 35mw, even my final e3000 needs more than half volume to shine. I removed almost all of google bloat except for play store and the battery life is decent but not great
@@gamergtx2602 Ah thanks. So I guess as long as the jestures are the same a blind person could use this then with Talk Back.
@@hamitcampos4989 yes. Although one thing to note is the android version is 9 and that’s the last version to be supported. Sony gave up on updates.
Can we download hi Res audio in it. If yes then how?
Transfer from computer to the walkman. It's super easy.
Can it run headphones with 300ohms?
All I wanted to see, even for a few seconds, was it being used to gauge how laggy or fluid the interface is. Oh well. Specs read-out.
Workable and otherwise not annoying, but a tad below average compared to say a mid grade smartphone from last year.
It’s not all aluminum it. It’s plastic on the back only aluminum on the sides. Buttons are plastic. It does NOT give you 26 hours playback only 4. Battery gets zapped SO quick. It’s good but battery sucks. I’ve had it for 3 months and got a 256 FB card in it. This dude is overselling
Will it play recognize and play all the songs on a 256gb card in full random shuffle mode?
I have a hiby r3 that has a 20k song limit and a pioneer that also doesn't read all 38k-ish songs on my sound card.
My 256gb ipod touch seems to read them all but it really does not have 256gb and I have basically hit full capacity.
A good DAP but overepriced
Thanks Stuart for your comment
Its a poor copy of a good dap the Hiby R5. Not great battery life, no class A internals, sony has not listed the THD numbers. Will not support the vast majority of google play apps. Only specific ones. I think at this point if it did not have usb c nobody would have bought it. They must give this a good review Gramo is selling it......
Wtf??? Who knows what the hell is inches????? TH-camrs make it in cm. The world is watching!!!
No
Bruh, we are an American company serving the American market exclusively. IDK what or why you are expecting otherwise...
Me.
"sucks to be the world "
-USA
Please check out System Audio speakers from Denmark, thanks.