Sony NW-A808 - sounds fantastic

[David Mackenzie]

I know there's already a thread about this player, but I believe this is the AV Forums' first end user report of the new Video Walkman so I thought it deserved another (mods feel free to merge, obviously!). My NW-A808B arrived from Japan on Friday and I'm pleased to report it's every bit as good as the reviews say.



Since I like to use the Equaliser on my music to make it sound a little more like it would from a better stereo system (I think un-processed music playing through headphones sounds really flat and unconvincing), good control and good results are very important to me (this is one of the reasons I got rid of my iPod all those years ago, it sounded like listening to an old radio to me!).

Also, the bundled headphones are of such good quality that I find it impossible to listen to the Sennheiser CX300s I've been using for the last 6 months. They're just so detailed and have no problems at all with bass either.

As I came to this player from my old Sony NW-HD5 (20gb) I'm already familiar with Sony's interface. It's a lot prettier now and has some common-sense improvements, for example, pressing OPTION while music is playing brings up a menu that lets you zoom in the cover art, access the Equaliser or the Gimmicky but fun "Surround" options (known on some other Sony players as "VPT Acoustic Eng"), add the track to the Trash (you can delete on the fly if you have a "what was I thinking" moment), bookmark, and see a cool looking clock. Browsing is also much improved.

The video and JPEG playback seem great as well, but I don't plan to use it for these.

My first night impressions are here and I also have pictures of the TINY packaging here.

[Maidenpriest]

Originally Posted by Lyris

I know there's already a thread about this player, but I believe this is the AV Forums' first end user report of the new Video Walkman so I thought it deserved another (mods feel free to merge, obviously!). My NW-A808B arrived from Japan on Friday and I'm pleased to report it's every bit as good as the reviews say.



Since I like to use the Equaliser on my music to make it sound a little more like it would from a better stereo system (I think un-processed music playing through headphones sounds really flat and unconvincing), good control and good results are very important to me (this is one of the reasons I got rid of my iPod all those years ago, it sounded like listening to an old radio to me!).

Also, the bundled headphones are of such good quality that I find it impossible to listen to the Sennheiser CX300s I've been using for the last 6 months. They're just so detailed and have no problems at all with bass either.

As I came to this player from my old Sony NW-HD5 (20gb) I'm already familiar with Sony's interface. It's a lot prettier now and has some common-sense improvements, for example, pressing OPTION while music is playing brings up a menu that lets you zoom in the cover art, access the Equaliser or the Gimmicky but fun "Surround" options (known on some other Sony players as "VPT Acoustic Eng"), add the track to the Trash (you can delete on the fly if you have a "what was I thinking" moment), bookmark, and see a cool looking clock. Browsing is also much improved.

The video and JPEG playback seem great as well, but I don't plan to use it for these.

My first night impressions are here and I also have pictures of the TINY packaging here.

Nice review, but i wont be getting one unless they can match or better my 30gig Hd5

[David Mackenzie]

Match in what sense? I need to have a comparison, but in all honesty it sounds better than my HD5 99% of the time

Or do you mean the capacity? I can understand if you're used to 30gb then 8gb would feel a bit cramped! I guess we have Apple Computer and SonicStage to thank that we can't buy disk-based Sony DAPs anymore?

[Maidenpriest]

Originally Posted by Lyris

Match in what sense? I need to have a comparison, but in all honesty it sounds better than my HD5 99% of the time

Or do you mean the capacity? I can understand if you're used to 30gb then 8gb would feel a bit cramped! I guess we have Apple Computer and SonicStage to thank that we can't buy disk-based Sony DAPs anymore?

Alright Lyris,
Match as in make it 30gig or better, sorry i am not very good with words, i am certain it sounds better than the hd5 its a sony? they like to constantly improve their sound

[shirleywhite]

A quick question for Lyris ( or anyone else who has got the nw-a808 ). My nw-hd5 has built into the case itself a "lanyard attachment point" ( a kind of ring/bar/hole etc which you can thread a lanyard through - and have the player dangling around your neck) A big thing for me would be to have such a point on the a808 case? Can anyone confirm either way please???

[David Mackenzie]

Yes, there is a lanyard attachment hole on the right side of the player, near the bottom.

And Maidenpriest: yes, overall it sounds better than the HD5, a little clearer and without the background hiss. The HD5 still sounds great to me though.

[Akasan]

Question: Has sony finally given us real on the go playlisting? Or is it the same old "bookmarks" as on the hd5?

[David Mackenzie]

Yes. If you hold down the middle button whilst hovering over a song title it will add to the first bookmark list. While you're playing a song you can also press "Option" and get a list to change Equalizer Settings, see Bigger Cover Art, and also select what Bookmark lists the song belongs to.

I think that's what you mean by On the go Playlisting?

[shirleywhite]

I'm beginning to like the sound of this more and more!! Wonder what "connections" it's got? What's the "24 pin" or WM connector some reviews have mentioned?? HD5 simply had the miniusb ( for transfer and charge) and the 3.5mm jack for headphone - ( which I also use to take a line out feed into a headphone amp etc )

Does 808 have a line out option? ( and if so - is a proprietry cable needed or is it switchable from headphone socket?)

[David Mackenzie]

Yeah, they've replaced the mini-USB connector with something proprietary (WM-PORT). I think the idea behind that (other than profit?) was so they could make a dock available, like the iPod.

I think the NWA-800 series can do line out via the dock. There's not an option for it in the menus like there was with the HD5 so I'm assuming you need to buy someting extra to get it.

I just got the "crystal" case for the NW-A808 this morning and I'm really pleased with it, it's great to be able to treat the thing rougher and know that any scratches will only be scratches to the case and not the player

[Joby]

Lyris, thanks for the review. I'm still waiting for Sony to bring out a decent DAP after my DGF-AP1L (obscure Vaio-branded player) finally annoyed me one time too many. It sounded good, and had a big capacity, but the hard-drive consumed power when the player was 'off', thus draining battery. Tried an i-Pod but really didn't like the (lifeless) sound, or the GUI.

I have a few questions:

1. Can you browse music by cover-art on the NW-A808?
2. Does the NW-A808 charge with a USB-WM-Port cable?
3. If you browse music e.g. by album, and then select e.g. Achtung Baby, could you then 'click through' to U2 and see other albums or songs by them, or would you need to navigate out through the menus and back down again by artist?
4. How good is Sonic Stage nowadays? I don't generally mind, as with a large-capacity player I just put the music on the player and never look at the software on my PC again... But with an 8GB capacity I would want to change the music on the player fairly often. How easy is transferring music to the player?
5. Is there a remote control available?
6. Is there a hold button to stop the player coming on by mistake?

I'm sorely tempted by the NW-A808, but at the same time, I am wondering if Sony have plans to start ramping-up capacity to 16GB or beyond using flash technology. That said, don't understand people who work out a price per GB for a DAP, totally ignoring performance... Would rather have fewer songs that sound good.

Thanks in advance for your help

[David Mackenzie]

1. Yes, you can choose 3 different modes for browsing albums (or photo galleries or videos), Title only, Thumbnail and Title, and "Thumbnail Only" (which actually shows a screen full of CD covers but with the title of the currently selected one at the bottom of the screen).

2. Yes, in fact it doesn't even come with a wall-charger (at least not in Japan).

3. Yes, you can "click through", the artist, album, genre and year information are displayed on the "Now Playing" screen, you can select either of those and press the middle button. For example selecting the album name shows the rest of the tracks from the album, selecting the artist or year works in the same way.

4) It's really not that bad. It has a few silly usability issues, but it's never crashed on me. The people at ATRACLife.com seem to think it's a lot more stable than it used to be.

5) I don't think there is. At least not yet. If there was it'd need to connect through the WM-PORT on the bottom so might be a bit clumsy.

6) Yes, on the back.

[Joby]

Now I just want one. All of my functionality requirements met except for the remote, but that's the least important anyway, with only capacity as a concern. I guess I could always buy two...

[KevG123]

HAs anyone seen these for sale in the UK yet ?

Sony style says early April

Play.com had them on their site for pre order but they have been removed recently

[elliothand]

Play have the top of the range one for sale at £180 and a release date of 07/05/07 but sony site says early April, any idea which is more likely to be right?

Also what is the black colour like? PS3 black? Even deciding colours is hard I think! he he.