Fiio M9 or Sony NW A55L

WSM

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Hi,

I am thinking of getting an MP3 player and have narrowed down to 2 models within my budget.

I like Fiio M9 as it comes with very good features (wireless download, streaming etc.) but I trust Sony more as a brand in terms of build quality and reputation.

Any advice opinions welcomed

Many thanks!
 
I have a NWA55L what do you want to know?
I also looked at FiiO when I bought mine. I didn’t want streaming services, I did want good battery life and the ability to use it as a BT Receiver.
I used to travel a lot so the 55 worked for me as I could do an entire journey in a single charge. Paired with either my Sony XM3s or TinHifi T2s it sounds wonderful.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I know the Sony is going to be a solid product and where it fails in comparisons with FiiO in the feature set it made up for with its reputation. FiiO for me is more the gamble, so what made you chose Sony in the end as I believe FiiO also has a BT receiver if I am not wrong.
 
I guess you need to look and see what your priorities are for a DAP and go from there. Once I had decided that given that SQ would most likely be similar on both brands, it was down to what was really important. I regularly fly long-haul so wanted something that would last the flight plus the sitting round at airports and the transport at either end. The Sony offered close to 30 hours battery life on a single charge (wired) all of the reviews that I read said that the FiiO struggled to deliver 9 hours (wired) and that for me was a killer. I actually really wanted the FiiO over the Sony but when I evaluated what I really needed out of my DAP I realised that I wouldnt use streaming services much and that I travel with 2 iphones if I really needed streaming.
I spent a lot of time ripping my CD collection to FLAC and most of the music that I really like to listen to, plus my HiRez music collection and over 100 audio books all fit on my DAP nicely.
I think that you need to think about what is a nice to have vs what is a must have and that will drive your decision ultimately.
 
Worth looking at Shanling offerings too. I've been hugely impressed with my M0.
 
Android based DAPs in general, tend to be battery eaters. If battery life is not your major concern they offer a great feature set and great SQ. The NW-A55 is quite limited in what it offers compared to many other DAPs but what it does offer is quality in spades at its price point.
If you just want a music player and no other bells and whistles the Sony wins hands down (IMHO). If you want a feature rich player the NW-A55 is not for you and I would look at one of the many Chinese offerings which offer great value.

For me the three things that I would like to see on the next iteration is USB-C, I hate the stupid Sony connector and 2.5mm TRRS Balanced support and EQ support for their XM3s / new XM4s
 
@mushii Sony put usb c on the A105 and zx507, which are their latest Daps

On most personal audio forums and discords the consensus is 4.4mm balanced is a better and more reliable plug than 2.5mm balanced. This is not an issue given how many are adapting 4.4mm balanced except for iRiver holding onto 2.5mm for the A&K line
 
@Steven they should have put USB-C on the NW-A55 as well but because they weren't an android device they werent obliged to and cut corners I agree the 4.4mm is a better plug, just because of its size. I think what I should have said is I would have liked a balanced output. I looked at the 105 but its paltry battery life was a complete roadblock for me. Sony made a total mess of what should have been an excellent DAP.
 
Thank you all for the reply, great advice here, I don't use it for travel much but to enjoy nice quality music at my own time and for my runs. Also I have an old Sugden amp I would like to plug this to while I save up for a streaming DAC , hence I was thinking the 2.5mm balanced would come in handy. Not impressed with the 2GB, and from what I am hearing the battery life, if it can give me 8 hours play I think I can live with recharging often.

@Grumpyrocker , which model from Shanling is comparable to the M9 or A55L?
 
Thank you all for the reply, great advice here, I don't use it for travel much but to enjoy nice quality music at my own time and for my runs. Also I have an old Sugden amp I would like to plug this to while I save up for a streaming DAC , hence I was thinking the 2.5mm balanced would come in handy. Not impressed with the 2GB, and from what I am hearing the battery life, if it can give me 8 hours play I think I can live with recharging often.

@Grumpyrocker , which model from Shanling is comparable to the M9 or A55L?
Just another plug for the Sonys . The 45 and 55 are designed as DACs as well as music players. Basically any usb computer can output into the DAC and hence into any line input amp!ifier. .. but since the player can take 200GB of memory with the microsd card, why that matters is moot.
Sony continue to use their special USB port thing, and they are unlikely to change.DMPort It is fitted on loads of their devices going back decades..I have it on TVs as well as Blu-ray players and Home Cinema. I cannot understand why Mushii has a problem with it, as the other end is very bog standard USB, and Apple used a very similar proprietary connection ..still does. At least Sony keeps to a standard.
 
Because on their most recent cables the plug itself feels like it is made from old coke cans. Very thin and flimsy. My Sony one bent within a month even with careful use. Then I had to buy a third party one, because even Sony stores don’t carry genuine Sony ones (they are apparently Special Order from Japan) at £40. So now I keep a spare (non Sony) which ironically is better quality than the Sony at 1/4 the price. In this day and age we shouldn’t be making devices with proprietary connectors. There is no reason that they couldn’t have put a USB-C socket on it. All their other devices now use USB-C.
 
The A55 Walkman was released in 2018. The A105 and ZX507 most recent releases have usb C. Just have to wait whether the next models retain usb C and then suddenly it's all :cool:
 
I've just got a Sony Nw-A105 I need the small size and physical buttons for when I'm jogging the Fiio M11 is too big but I was close to getting it. both do APTX and APTX HD so wireless capabilities are beyond most receivers and wireless headphones, even my Rotel 1592 and £120 AKG wireless headphones I got a year ago.

The Nw-A105 battery time isn't too bad when listening at home it can be extended by downloading music and then turning off wifi, also changing android to dark mode and dimming the brightness. It takes 90mins to fully charge using a powered USB socket, a year from my computers USB socket.


I've tried Tidal and Amazon HD on it I'm prefairing Amazon HD, Tidals MQA is capped at 24bit 96khz but Amazon HD uses FLAC so I get whatever it is upto 24bit 192khz and costs less. I have also bought 24bit music from HDTracks they use Sony's player app and pop up the cassette gui wish it also did that over other apps.

Both Tidal and Amazon Music HD allow one to download to the SD card the Nw-A105 can take a 2TB microSDXC.
 
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I've just got a Sony Nw-A105 I need the small size and physical buttons for when I'm jogging the Fiio M11 is too big but I was close to getting it. both do APTX and APTX HD so wireless capabilities are beyond most receivers and wireless headphones, even my Rotel 1592 and £120 AKG wireless headphones I got a year ago.

The Nw-A105 battery time isn't too bad when listening at home it can be extended by downloading music and then turning off wifi, also changing android to dark mode and dimming the brightness. It takes 90mins to fully charge using a powered USB socket, a year from my computers USB socket.


I've tried Tidal and Amazon HD on it I'm prefairing Amazon HD, Tidals MQA is capped at 24bit 96khz but Amazon HD uses FLAC so I get whatever it is upto 24bit 192khz and costs less.

Tidal isn't capped but you need a device that does full MQA. My Hiby R3 Pro does play the 24/192 tracks but not as many tracks as those at 24/96.

The A105 is also MQA certified but not sure if it does both unfolds or just the one like the Tidal App.

Until recently it would then scale down to 16/48 but with latest firmware all music outside of Walkman App itself can now be upscaled to 32/192 (Walkman app is bit-perfect).

So if a Tidal MQA was at 24/96 the A105/ZX507 would down scale to 16/48 to earphones but now can upscale to 32/192 so your basically getting the MQA without degradation.
 
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Full MQA unfolding is very hard to come by even the Fiio M11 pro cant do it but they say they will add it in the future. Sony A105 cant do it so just relies on the Tidal app doing the first fold. Point is Amazons Flac is full sample rate on a wider variety of devices, all my devices but Tidal full MQA isn't on any that I own. 24bit 96khz is still as good as I want it though.
 
"I spent a lot of time ripping my CD collection to FLAC and most of the music that I really like to listen to, plus my HiRez music collection and over 100 audio books all fit on my DAP nicely.
I think that you need to think about what is a nice to have vs what is a must have and that will drive your decision ultimately."
I also wish to listen to (mp3) audio books on my sony a55. But I cannot figure out how to bookmark where I leave off in the book. Is this indeed possible? I really would like to be able to do this.
Are you able to bookmark your place?
 

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