Sony’s CRAZY EXPENSIVE Walkman WM1AM2! Is it WORTH the insane price!?

[@deanecalcagni]

This is a much safer midlife crisis than a motorcycle.

[@dorfus]

Great, thanks, now I want a motorcycle.

[@deanecalcagni]

Not saying I support this...but what would you get?@@dorfus

[@dorfus]

@@deanecalcagni Probably a KLR650.

[@TheCowboyCasanova]

Glad to see I’m not the only one exploring those options 😂

[@vincentlimja]

As someone who used to ride a motorcycle during his first mid life crisis, I totally understand the allure. Now I throw money at audio gear instead of doctor bills from my rides 😂

[@kwicksandz]

you appeared in my reccomendations a few months ago with the hi vision video but this is right up my alley. subbed as soon as i saw your schiit gear and cd collection. you are a man of culture

[@dorfus]

Ha! Thanks! I do love Schiit stuff.

[@guxt65]

People pay a lot for a phone. Why can't we buy a marvelous music device like this one?

[@dorfus]

I think most phones these days are more expensive than a Walkman like this. The issue is most people aren’t buying it all at once, they’re rolling it into their phone plan.

[@Erik-kj2kp]

WOW great video , was entertained for the whole 10 minutes. thought you had like at least 100k , and then i see u got 1,2k wow great quality video keep it up .

[@dorfus]

Hey, thanks! I mean, feel free to subscribe 98k more times- can't hurt.

[@sensoryexpanse]

Also to add, Tidal Max and YT Music is what I run on this and it has all and every music I listen to covered. I did the OS optimizations listed on Head-fi and NP Audio, I friggin love this DAP, S Master is a treat, compared to all the other totl daps I have tried. There's also a cool DDHifi accessory for this dap, idk if its snake oil yet but will take the plunge.

[@dorfus]

What’s the thread title or link to the OS optimization bit on Head-Fi? I’ve been meaning to do more of that but I think it’s buried.

[@RetroPlus]

10:02 "I just really enjoy spending" You got that right 💀

[@HughJanus81]

Great video man. Been real conflicted on getting one of these and you definitely helped me out. Also, what's the song at the end of the video? I'm gonna be embarrassed if it's just stock music but I was vibing hard with it

[@dorfus]

I’ll have to check which song- it’s from the Saturn Bomberman soundtrack I think! And hey if you do get one- do yourself a favor and turn off the android system animations. Speeds things up a ton!

[@HughJanus81]

@@dorfus I went ahead and bit the bullet and I couldn't be happier man thanks again for your review, You are literally the only person that's gone in depth with reviewing it and set a real bar of expectations rather than just saying "yeah it's great go buy it".

[@dorfus]

@@HughJanus81 honestly there was a little bit at the start when I felt like it wasn’t worthwhile- just using it for streaming service isn’t all that great. But the built in player is awesome and I use it more than anything else I have right now. I cannot recommend the case through- I’m planning on getting the actual Sony one at some point.

[@HughJanus81]

Yeah I can definitely understand that. Even if you're a music lover it's still hard to justify something like this at first but once I realized exactly how much better it made literally anything that I plugged into it, I was sold. What really did it was how good it made my car sound. I have a 2023 Nissan but don't have the Bose speakers so they're some cheap stuff that Nissan slapped in.

[@dorfus]

@@HughJanus81 I use it with the Bluetooth in my Toyota all the time, and honestly it gets a lot of play there!

[@GhostRyder2008]

Where is the best way to legally download high quality audio for things like this Walkman? Thanks!

[@mshoneyy]

I think this looks perfect for long flights. So it has apps like Spotify on it too? Thinking this could be nice for audiobooks too

[@dorfus]

Yup! Anything that works on a normal android device.

[@thomasa.2572]

Totally feel your enthusiasm about that case. Wish I had this for my NWA306.

[@bibsama]

great vid but i gotta know the song from 8:05 😭

[@dorfus]

I think that’s the credits to Saturn Bomberman!

[@waitingforrender]

please share the link or where you buy this crazy expensive case. jeje i want one

[@ronaldcabrejo8125]

I love that walkman, the sound is amazing. VERY NICE

[@capitanlevi203]

Can I connect the Sony WM1AM2 with an external DAC like phones do through the USB input with the C to C OTG cable using the same cable plus a C adapter?

[@tuomas9024]

You think this is expensive? Try the 3800€ NW-WM1ZM2

[@wyw201]

Both are expensive lol

[@TelemachAmanatidis]

What a wonderful Review... Thanks

[@joseluishernandezseptien]

Thank you for sharing your experience in this nice format! :) I have one NW-WM1AM2 too, I love it for what it is. I wish it were water proof at the asking price but that’s about it. The tone color is the best I have heard and the Sony DSP, whether it is accurate or not, it is enjoyable to listen to for sure.

[@dorfus]

My take at this point is- I wish it didn’t use android. I really think that’s a hindering factor for what it could be.

[@superdaver4903]

Curious how it performs in summertime. Does lagging occur due to extreme heat?

[@dorfus]

I’ve never had an issue and have used it in the summer. The whole body is aluminum, so I’d imagine there’s some heat-sync property there.

[@superdaver4903]

@@dorfus money well spent, thank you.

[@davidmthekidd]

Is this the American version? Not volume cap?

[@dorfus]

No volume cap on this USA model, correct. Things like the D8000 do not max it out- but I do not believe the European model would be able to drive them properly.

[@davidmthekidd]

@@dorfus ok, so those letters UC next to the barcode label and model number probably indicate the North American version I am guessing?

[@dorfus]

@@davidmthekidd I think there’s an extensive set of images on head-fi now that document things like that- I did get mine from a USA Sony authorized dealer, so I would assume. The serial number is weirdly low though- so I dunno how many of these things were just sitting around in warehouses or how the packaging changed.

[@davidmthekidd]

Thanks!!!

[@mr.timebombman2230]

I had an all metal Sansui that was almost as thin as the cassette. It was the best "walkman" I've ever had.

[@jmohd]

For the price, how does it compare with AK dap at a similar price point? Thx

[@dorfus]

Unfortunately I haven’t compared them directly with the same headphones! Hopefully I’ll be able to someday.

[@MrTomservo85]

Does it play mini discs

[@dorfus]

Oh man I wish. I was a huge Net MD person before getting the first iPod.

[@sweetbabygirl13]

That case is perfection! I have the NW A306

[@sunderark]

I think it's crazy that you paid as much for the case that goes around the device as I did a TPS-L2 haha.

[@dorfus]

And at the end of the day, they look pretty similar from a distance!

[@ronaldcabrejo8125]

The best walkman, I love it

[@nooneinpart]

Great video, although the NW-A306 seems far more up my alley (in terms of price) lmao What I'm really wishing for is something like an updated NW-A25. It doesn't run Android so Google services isn't constantly doing maintenance in the background draining battery, the proprietary OS that it does have seems to be very stable and responsive, it has an FM radio in case I feel like doing a bit of exploring (when I have every single radio station or song available from the internet I lose this sense of magic I get from using an actual radio, also most stations stream at like 64kbps HE-AAC), and it can even play video so I can squint my way through a concert film or music video at 240p (the audio can go up to 288kbps/channel AAC so it should still sound really good if it's encoded from a lossless source). I'll probably hunt one down on eBay one of these days, just wish a new USB-C version would randomly pop into existence.

[@dorfus]

Yeah, it's all funky tradeoffs- I feel like I wouldn't have bought the device if it didn't have Android, since I was initially pretty concerned about access to streaming services. Now that I've experienced them as being kind of lackluster on this thing but have curated a lot of music files for the player itself, I think I'd really want a version of it that is JUST a music player on Sony's old OS, but still retaining that USB-C. These days any proprietary cable is just too much to bear.

[@Jacob1451_Kapnobatai]

I love my A306 so far

[@sunderark]

We have a bunch of the same aesthetics. Eames chairs, Model M, Gilmore Girl autumn backdrops.

[@dorfus]

Well spoiler- the Model M is legit, but the Eames chair isn't. Hahah.

[@roakey8167]

I am deffo buying one, and like you I will be ripping vinyl and cd's etc. and also playing my own beats.

[@dorfus]

@@roakey8167 I’m actually working on a video about ripping CDs directly to the unit with an accessory I found. I drove around Japan this summer and bought CDs at various second hand shops, and ripped them to the player. It was great.

[@michaelkanger1355]

@@dorfus good idea. Do you still enjoy the Sony player?

[@capitanlevi203]

Hello... I am using a 5v 1a charger to charge the walkman and I noticed that it takes 2 hours and 30 minutes from zero unlike the computer where it took the 4 hours advertised. Is it normal that it lasts less or is the charger inadequate?

[@dorfus]

@@capitanlevi203 it is capable of faster charging with better chargers.

[@capitanlevi203]

@@dorfus The 4 and a half hours announced by Sony were connected to the PC, I suppose... so I'm not doing anything bad to the device?

[@dorfus]

@@capitanlevi203 I mean I don’t really know what your PC offers in the way of charging capabilities. It really depends on the port. But theoretically it should be totally fine.

[@joncruz]

I had to return mine, sound is incredible BUT it lags like crazy and super slow (4 gb ram) at this price point it’s completely unacceptable.

[@dorfus]

Yeah, the process of making it operate as intended was really longer than I wanted. I also keep it plugged in at all times (with battery care on) so that I don't have to deal with the boot cycle. It really is a shame that Sony didn't put a more capable chip in this thing.

[@joncruz]

@@dorfus I ended up going with the nw-zx707 (Japanese Version) I’m losing a little power but with much better performance.

[@dorfus]

@@joncruz Interesting! I feel like the only things I've really heard about that model were complaints regarding the gain in most markets- I should try to hear a JDM version one of these days! The Android performance is far better?

[@joncruz]

@@dorfus I would say android performance is like a midrange phone with 6gb ram so the 4gb ram of this unit have a much better implementation probably due to android 13 but again, (Japanese version) got it on eBay for $585.00 in 3 days.

[@12DreamsFull]

Will it play from my spotify account?

[@dorfus]

@@12DreamsFull yup! Anything that runs on Android.

[@12DreamsFull]

@@dorfus Can i connect it to my car just as if it was my iphone via Bluetooth

[@dorfus]

@@12DreamsFull Yep, bluetooth works the same as it does with a phone. It cannot do Android Auto though.

[@12DreamsFull]

@@dorfus Thank you. When you said that Spotify didn't sound good on this device, I was concerned but then I also realize that everyone doesn't hear the same.

[@dorfus]

@@12DreamsFull Oh, yeah, sorry. It sounds fine, but it's not going to be the full potential of what the device can do.

[@jasonschubert6828]

The Achilles heel of this player, of course, is Android. I have an old F-series Walkman that simply doesn't work anymore because the Android version is too low, slow and battery hungry. Replaced it with an NW-A55 which removes Android and all of these problems, although it doesn't have the pseudo tape player the old one had. 😥

[@dorfus]

I’d trade the tape animation for usb c on the older players.

[@blitzer25blitz62]

Somehow i prefer Android due to streaming capabilities, but i wouldn't pay that much for a WM1AM2. A306 or ZX707 is on my watchlist

[@Solitaire001]

@@blitzer25blitz62 I think this player is more of a proof-of-concept rather than a player that only the richest audiophiles will purchase. Sony has done this before (released an insanely expensive player costing over $1000), and followed it with a more affordable players later. Android is the reason I purchased a second A55, I didn't want Android on my digital audio player because with Android on it it becomes a device that happens to have an app for digital audio playback (one of many functions) rather than a digital audio player with a focus on that function. One of the reasons I purchased an A55 is that it has the Sony UI which as been developing for over 25 years, and is basically perfected now.

[@istanbul-Tr]

I Love my Sony WM1AM2 saund incredible

[@koureywheeler]

I own this i love it and its an absolute massive upgrade from my ipod touch

[@michaelkanger1355]

Sorry to bother, is it made in Japan or China?

[@koureywheeler]

@ I think Japan I could be wrong

[@maxidrivemaxidrive4330]

Any truth to complaints about its sluggishness to load and terrible batters life?

[@dorfus]

It’s not a fast OS on this, but I removed transition animations and it feels fine. The battery life isn’t really an issue for me- it’s better than my iPhone but that wouldn’t take much.

[@maxidrivemaxidrive4330]

@@dorfus Thank you for your reply! I can opt for the more responsive Sony UI, right? Also, does it work with AirPods at all?

[@dorfus]

@@maxidrivemaxidrive4330 I would imagine it would work with any Apple headphone in Bluetooth, but you wouldn’t be getting the Apple wireless codec that makes those sound decent on Apple devices. So yeah- it would work, but I don’t know if it’d be worth it.

[@maxidrivemaxidrive4330]

@@dorfus Good point! I just wanna use what I already have and not buy new earbuds.

[@dorfus]

@@maxidrivemaxidrive4330 I dunno if this would do more for you than what your phone does now, though. If you plan on getting hard to drive earphones later, it’s probably worth a look?

[@ninnutts5670]

It's 2024. All manufactures should give us at least a USB-C to USB-C Cable.

[@hulmemane.t.1108]

As far as mid life crises go, this is a win.

[@angelinatucci7374]

great vid! thank you.

[@dorfus]

Thanks for watching!

[@Sylykyn]

I consider zx-300 but still its quite expensive!

[@thelastrhino2581]

If you think it sounds the same as your phone, you are lucky enough to have rather poor hearing, so you will save a lot of money not always chasing small improvements in sound quality. Lucky you!

[@dorfus]

Interesting- are you suggesting the bluetooth headphones sound better on the Walkman vs an iPhone?

[@thelastrhino2581]

:) Please don't tell me you bought the AM2 to listen to bluetooth headphones.

[@dorfus]

@@thelastrhino2581 Hahaha wouldn't that be amazing? Nah I use a Final D8000 and A8000 with it. The A8000 more often.

[@MrGobo]

@@dorfuswouldn’t it sound better on the Walkman? I mean, I have the Sony xm5 Bluetooth headphones and the iPhone doesn’t support the ldac codec, but the Walkman does. Wouldn’t it be an improvement to listen on the Walkman?

[@dorfus]

@@MrGobo truth be told- I’ve never really had a pair of Bluetooth headphones I’ve liked enough to compare multiple sources with. I remember seeing that Audio Technica had a pair of like, $4k limited edition ones, but I haven’t heard them. The Bluetooth on this Walkman really just serves to play music in my car which has no aux port. Interestingly, the Walkman says it needs to update Android Car Play when you connect it, but then informs you that Android Car Play isn’t available for this device. Or maybe that isn’t interesting at all. Ah well.

[@deanagoes2791]

Kalau tidak memutar kaset pita itu bukan walkman.

[@davidmthekidd]

Subscribed!! I had the older WM1Z, I sold it because it was getting a bit old 'battery worry' and I wanted most of my money back. The price on this walkman is much lower; got me thinking :).

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

Great video! I love the player but I hate android and streaming.

[@dorfus]

I don’t stream at all with it anymore. I got a small cd ripper with android specific software, and rip music directly to it. Even gets gracenote data and album art

[@JohnSmith-zl8rz]

@@dorfus android specific software? on the Sony? I mean I like this player but I hate that they add android and streaming. I'll go to the get an older model.

[@dorfus]

@@JohnSmith-zl8rz yeah, you can get a Hitachi / LG drive and rip in flac to the Walkman. It’s amazing, honestly. I wasn’t super psyched about Android until I realized I could do that- cuts a ton of annoying process out of file prep. Feels like a natural extension of the mini disc days? But I understand a lot of people won’t have the nostalgia for that I do.

[@fjzingo]

Expensive toy…being spammed by these videos since I digged out my old ipod. Works just fine with a pair of silent bose headphones. The reason to have an mp3 player (yeah I know people say DAP these days) instead of the phone is for me not to have access to internet, facebook, …distractions. Seems this luxuary machine is more of a toy, a fun toy….

[@natevirtual]

Crazy expensive? Wait til you see what Cayin and Astell&Kern charge for a DAP

[@dorfus]

Oh I’ve seen them- that clickbait title and tone was more geared at the average consumer.

[@kurt120032002]

no it is not worth the money just like Hugo 2 plus streamer is not worth the money, or Luxury & Precision P6 Pro is not worth the money, and ALL of these and far more have the same exact reason for not being worth the money: for anything more then $500, it is not consumable, so having 100% fail point baked in, is unacceptable. Sure you pay 1500$ for a phone but that thing can be used 7 years every single day 24h a day. 4k dap, with 2k iEM, will be used 2-3h a week in a busy week. for the same time usage should last all my life. So how can they fix it? 1st. remove the screen and make it headless with web interface via LAN with automatically hotspot if not connected to lan. 2nd. put a USB-C power in so when the battery dies, we can open it up, pull out battery an provide power via USB, and here sky is the limit for every user... phone battery bank, ultra capacitor power bank, cheap 5v power supply, 3000E linear PSU... you got the port, go crazy.

[@joncruz]

So 720P, no case, no screen protector.......Apple and Samsung really changed the game about giving you any extras.

[@dorfus]

I mean you get that garbage usb c cable please don’t forget that

[@gagodeaqp7078]

It's a walkman

[@indrakumarc73]

Made in China ?, also i bought older WM1Z for a good price. I guess older 1Z is still better?

[@istanbul-Tr]

Bu older WM1Z no have android also all apple product madein china

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

What’s next? Review on pancake syrup? Also mid life? I’ve seen that grey in your hair. Trying to pass off 69 years old as “mid life” 😂

[@dorfus]

Syrup has been shown to unnaturally extend life sir

[@mshoneyy]

First!

[@masterazlan6999]

Naa noobs wm1zm2 the most expensive not this..yup the 24k gold plated for reason.. With kimber kable inside..n so much mo . Ha4.. Peace!