I can't find this any cheaper than $330 in Australia (Sony Kiosk did this price). It is $349 at JB Hifi.
Although it is a grey import, I think this is the best price from a reputable seller. Tobydealsau has it for $239 but people do not seem to trust them (me neither).
If this is not considered a bargain, mods please delete this post.
There are other colours available besides gold:
Blue
Red, looks orange
Green
Everyone knows it takes Mini Disc 🙉
Not when I was younger. I
why do you need a walkman while you can listen to your phone ?
Hi-res = better sound quality. I doubt I could tell the difference but some people can.
iPod was never a hi-res product in any of its iterations.
@1101011100010101: Yeah, but "decent DAC" does not equal Hi-Res.
(whether you think Hi-Res is the absolute business, or pure snake oil, that is another matter entirely)
@caprimulgus: Actually, the DAC plays a significant part.
Other less significant but important parts are a clean power supply and good amp.
@virtual81: NO, IT DOESNT. (Not in relation to my comment.)
Hi-Res / HD Audio is a FORMAT (defined by sampling frequency and/or bit depth). The DAC doesn't just play a significant part, it is the ONLY part - whether the DAC supports that format or not. The amp and the power supply have absolutely no impact on whether a device is Hi-Res (that is, supports Hi-Res audio formats).
What you are talking about is "high quality" sound (output). The QUALITY of the sound output is affected by the quality of the DAC, the amplifier, the power supply, etc, etc, etc.
But for the Hi-Res FORMAT, support by a device is simply defined by whether the DAC (and the operating software) support the Hi-Res format or not. Not the QUALITY of the DAC - the FORMAT SUPPORT of the DAC.
You can have a high quality DAC, that produces great sound, but that does not support Hi-Res (eg. aforementioned ipod DAC) - the fact that it is high quality does not make it Hi-Res. And you could have a piece of crap DAC that that does support Hi-Res, but is a piece of crap and sounds like crap - the fact that it is Hi-Res does not make it high quality (although it probably is).
"Hi-Res" does not equal "high quality". We are talking about "Hi-Res" the SOUND QUALITY FORMAT, not "high quality" the RESULTING SOUND QUALITY.
In terms of end sound quality, yes of course, the quality of the DAC will affect the quality of the sound. That is NOT what I was talking about. (And as I said, I am not commenting on whether or not Hi-Res is all it's cracked up to be.)
@caprimulgus: Depends on weather you're talking about high res as a format or high res as a general term for quality sound.
A device with a premium DAC would still sound crap if the power supply is noisy or the amp is nasty.
Understand where you're coming from but prefer to use the term high res to describe the entire pipeline from the encoding and storage of the audio, all the way through to the headphones or speakers.
I guess this is not technically correct, but in my opinion it is practically correct.
@virtual81: But in the context of this chain of comments, we ARE talking about Hi-Res the format.
You may think “hi res” (high quality components and pipelines) is more important than “Hi-Res” (the format), and I wouldn’t disagree with you!! BUT, this thread of comments is discussing Hi-Res the format.
The original comment was that this player is Hi-Res (which JerryB suggests means higher quality - whether you agree with that or not). He is very clearly talking about Hi-Res the format.
Then someone responded to him by bringing up the iPod, to which it was responded that the iPod is not relevant because the iPod was not a Hi-Res product (following on from the context that the original comment is that this player is Hi-Res).
And then my original comment, which is what you yourself responded to, was very clearly about Hi-Res the format. The very thing I was clarifying is that Hi-Res the format is different to high quality. Because, again, this thread of comments is discussing Hi-Res the format.
Again, please do not misunderstand - I am not saying Hi-Res (the format) is more important than a high quality DAC. I am simply saying that this comment chain is discussing Hi-Res the format, so the quality of the DAC is not relevant to that.
FWIW, I personally don’t “believe” in Hi-Res audio (the format). I absolutely agree with you, in that I care more about high quality components and chains. (But that was not what was being discussed.)
They've decomissioned the headphone jack also.
LG v30 ftw
The Sony Xperia has hi res through the jack and LDAC
I am sick of my phone ringtones
Still haven't changed the cable.
lol. 16GB is this a joke?
A 16GB Hi-Res audio player walks into a bar…
Am I missing something? Why would this 16gb music player from 2002 be any better than your phone?
Not 2002. 2018.
There seems to be a bit of a run on these things. For comparison, these two deals popped up a couple of weeks ago:
highly doubt any iphone can beat this in terms of audio quality
16GB is a terribly small amount of storage capacity, especially when all the music is High Res which utilizes more storage space.
"Hi Res" audio player that's 16GB seriously?
Should at least be an extra 0 on the end.
Fits like 50-60 FLAC albums
60 FLAC albums? You are off your rocker. A FLAC album is roughly 600MB, so less than 27 on this.
Depends on the length of the album. I have several around 300MB.
@mateoka: Definitely can be, but you have to remember also that this is High Resolution Audio player, so that is above CD quality, so those Hi-Res FLAC files tend to be larger in size than a FLAC ripped from a CD. 16 bit audio (CD) has 65,536 possible levels, but with 24 bit there are 16,777,216 levels. A CD ripped FLAC of 16 bits at 44.1 kHz can use 30.3 MB for a 3 minute song, while that same song in FLAC using 24 bits at 96 kHz would be 99 MB in size, so 3 times larger in size. The sampling size of 96 kHz isn't the highest for Hi-Res, it goes up to 192 kHz and a shit ton more space.
Personally I can only hear a difference between Hi-Res and standard FLAC audio when I swap back and forth many times, with the song containing a large number of instruments playing. Then again, my headphones aren't the best either, so instead of worrying about Hi-Res, I should upgrade my headphones first if I want a better audio experience.
@mateoka: Getting downvoted when you're actually right… FabMan has had a 2 second google, saw 600MB, and run with it. The exact same paragraph even says they'll typically run closer to 300MB. I just checked a tracker, and most I'm seeing run anywhere from low 200's to 350MB.
@lj87: Did your Google search compare the size of a FLAC file ripped from a CD of 16 bit, 44 kHz audio against a Hi-Res audio source that this device is designed to use? Hi-Res audio typically is recorded / encoded at 24 bits, 96 kHz, using 3 x the storage space of a non Hi-Res FLAC file.
@lj87: FabMan is right.
Seems everyone is assuming that FLAC means high res… not necessarily the case.
Typically for audio to be high res you'd be looking at a 24bit samples at a minimum of 96kHz.
There are even DACs out there that do 32bit @ 384kHz, per this TI datasheet…
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm5252.pdf
A random example from my collection, Arctic Monkeys album 'AM' is 994MB in 24/96 FLAC.
How much Hi-Res files do you have?? Also looks like it has expandable storage anyway.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/410683
I will not be purchasing from DWI again.
They wasted a lot of my time with an AKG K712 headphone claim that arrived faulty.
What they have done to Taxi01 is disgusting.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/XDUOO-Nano-D3-8GB-Professional-L…
Been using Xduoo X3 for a while now.
There is a new model out that will take a 256 GB tf card.Currently ~ $142 on eBay.
Alternatively,there is the model with the link above.
Been very,very happy with mine.
No offense to OP.
Have been tempted to get one after coming across by accident.
How much of a difference, realistically, is the hi-resness going to be felt? Is it really mind blowing, or just a pinch?
And, is replacing your peasant MP3 collection difficult due to it being not as mainstream and many songs are not available on this quality?
"hi-res" music files not so much, but as for the player, people have forgotten what ground up music player can do.
There is a micro-sd card slot so it doesn't ramp up its price with extra GBs.
These can take a 256gig sd card
I got this recently and absolutely love it
https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/collections/astell-kern-end-o…
Is the screen lag bad and what is the battery life like?
Does this come with screen protectors?
WTF is this? Even if it has a better audio quality than your phone, but I mean, even, you won't hear the difference walking around on a noisy street, sitting on a train or bus.
If you actually care about sound quality you set up a studio set up in a soundproof room - but a portable device?!? What for?!?
How can you comment about what people can or can't do and you don't even know what this.
If you care about audio quality then you'd have a clue that these are very popular in Asia because people use them on the train.
Or is dedicating thousands of dollars for a studio more realistic for you?
How can you comment
It's pretty easy actually. Type it in, press "Post Comment", done.
very popular in Asia because people use them on the train
Is that somehow an evidence for being able to hear the difference? Not more than black frame glasses are evidence of the interesting personality of the wearer.
You are confusing popularity in a subculture with an audible difference in sound quality.
Or is dedicating thousands of dollars for a studio more realistic for you?
A studio set-up is not a studio. And yes, that's what I have, because there you can tell the difference. On a noisy train, street? You are just kidding yourself.
Not everyone listens to their DAPs on a train or street.
What if you're at home but want to listen in a different room to your studio?
yeah and I also don't know why people buy DSLR cameras when the mobile phones capture photos, if they care about image quality, they just need to buy a photo studio and take pictures there :/
I'm not sure whether you are this moronic or you were just joking. In either case, you made me laugh :D
I was just kinda paraphrasing your statement to show how stupid your logic is
P.s :/ means sarcasm :)
@otter-raptor: Then you need to seriously brush up your paraphrasing skills because you just sound plain stupid.
username checks out…just stick with your beats headphone
What for you comment?
I mean why do audiophiles buy $2000 headphones?
It wasn't intended for you. You're probably still listening to 128kbps mp3s.
Anyone know what the difference is between this one and the NW-A45?
bluetooth receiver, vinyl processor.
get a refurb v20 / used v20. The Es9018 dac sounds incredible + it's a phone which is handy
i run the V20 + campfire atlas with tidal hifi and the sound output is honestly amazing.
But I can't work out where to put the tape.