Sony Walkman NW-A306 High Res MP3 Player

[@gabix7488]

Love your collection of players man, including the walkman cassette player. I have 6 portable cassette players as well. Got my 306 player yesterday, took forever but hey.... Thanks for the video

[@shaktastik]

Thank you 😊

[@karlooo79]

Any review update on your item? Its bedn a year since you had it

[@BR-pm6hy]

I had the bad battery issue with the zx707. I used to get MAYBE 8 hours and that was with WiFi turned off, Bluetooth off and in airplane mode. After about a week I shut down the device one night and once it restarted again the battery issue went away and haven’t had issues since then. Now it lasts me around 17-20 hours as advertised for the ZX707

[@shaktastik]

Easy fix thanks for the tip ☺️ how much did you pay for that beast?

[@BR-pm6hy]

@@shaktastik I got it for 808 USD from an ebay vendor with no VAT it was a great deal for a new device

[@Keepingthefaith72]

Can you drag and drop music files to the player, Also what file formats does it play . These are basic things you should mention ....

[@jagansm6009]

From what I saw in other videos, if you choose the Sony interface instead of the Android one, it should give you the old school cassette tape player interface.

[@karlooo79]

Can you select sony instead android ? How?

[@javier77th]

Looks nice. I'm just not fond of the ridiculous prices for them.

[@kevinhernandezarango5005]

Agree, they are too expensive, considering that their lifetime is about 4-5 years

[@javier77th]

@@kevinhernandezarango5005 the fact that its sold out boggles my mind.

[@diana-cy4kj]

@@javier77th Apple needs to bring back iPod Classic!

[@javier77th]

@@diana-cy4kj I prefer one that doesn’t need to be regulated to a set company. I prefer one more like this one I had around 2002 called the iriver. It was basically a hard drive I could connect to my PC as an external drive and I could add any music via drag n drop without any software or dedicated app. I have over 60,000 songs and would be easier. 😊

[@diana-cy4kj]

@@javier77th I am a big iPod fan, I have a huge collection of them. I also learned how to refurbish them, replace batteries, flash mod, change other bits. Nothing will ever come close to iPod, in my opinion.

[@ahphodg260]

Any comment on the problems with low bass that many are reporting?

[@fabimesizae]

Firmware update to version 1.01.04

[@ahphodg260]

@@fabimesizae fixed!

[@BOOBLA69]

Have you ran Spotify on it yet. And is it possible?

[@matshermans2968]

its possible!

[@alvinsongabilmomin5046]

Love that older one

[@davidhacala8030]

I Imported My NW-A306 From Hong Kong No Audio Cap And Hi Gain same with Japanese A306 Thanks For the Review

[@shaktastik]

Hi, what headphones or earphones do you use? I'm thinking how many ohms and at what volume out of 120?

[@MidnyteDree]

Long awaited? I have the previous model(NW-A105) and that has USB-c

[@shaktastik]

Sorry someone else mentioned it, I wasn't aware, I was just excited 😊

[@jean-marccoolen6417]

Merci et belle vidéo bien détaillé je pense que ça va être mon cadeau de Noël. J'ai une petite question est-ce qu'il y a une grande différence de son quand on le fait fonctionner en bluetooth sur un casque équipé en Hi-Res, pour écouter de la musique en streaming avec Qobuz Je suis désolé d'écrire le commentaire en Français. Je te remercie pour ta réponse que tu peux m'apporter. Cordialement JM-C 13

[@EARBANG]

The Default eq of Walkman works over another apps? Or just in Sony player?

[@henrysamuels1989]

I was asking can I use KZbin music on that one

[@shaktastik]

Yes you can.

[@edmonpedong4279]

Nice review! Planning to get one, please make a video on how to put songs from mac to nw a306. Thanks!

[@chungang7037]

Your a55 is superior, the battery actually lasted. THese android versions have horrific battery life, the 105 lasts only a couple hours of playback. I doubt this will be much better, it is like a 500mah battery in there.

[@DinodogJr]

My A55 just death months ago. I hold it on my palm when doing running. The sweats got into the screen and it killed the unit eventually. Now, it can’t be turn on. Anyone managed to exchange the battery pack in A55?

[@BrominatedVegetableOil]

I have a NW-a55 and the NW-306A. I was nervous the Android op sys would be a drain but the battery is beefy enough to more than compensate and then some. I listen on medium to higher volumes and its going for days before I need a charge. Plus, with it being USBC its much easier to get back up to a charge with any one of my many cables.

[@paulroach2538]

You are right I have a 105 5hrs 30 mins tops 'if you are pissing about with it you can watch the power go down after a few minutes !

[@chungang7037]

@@paulroach2538 lol...yea with flac and using LDAC code I get maybe 3 hours, tops. With an IEM maybe a bit longer, it needs a portable battery pack with it.

[@dtz1000]

The sound quality of the A55 is horrible compared to the A306. It's not even close.

[@vontaejordan6182]

There was a usb-c port on the a-105 that was released over 2 years ago this isn't a new addition.

[@shaktastik]

I didn't know this thanks for the information 👍

[@carmstrong6507]

The last Sony Walkman DAP that used the old proprietary cable was the Sony A55 Walkman released in 2018.

[@johnnysim1985]

How is the mp3 tag management and file transfer experience? Sony releases these beautful devices but when you add 20 years worth of MP3s to them the tags are all over the place

[@sergiopereira388]

An 512 gb or 1tb SD Card works on it?

[@mariusarhire7463]

Hi, great review! Does the player have two-way Bluetooth? Thank you

[@RM-lj8bv]

Does it have similar functions to an Apple iPod touch and can I put my itunes music on it, please?

[@matshermans2968]

it runs on android… so apple apps probable can’t be installed on this device

[@lingzajrs]

thanks for your review it very helpful to guide me

[@uruharakimsuke1092]

Better than nw zx300?

[@RM-lj8bv]

I was hoping for all the functions on it to be shown.

[@nathanielngosy]

Greetings Shak. Thanks for this comprehensive review. Unless I missed these inquiries from your upload, hoping to hear your responses to them: • How much microSD storage capacity does it accept (and just to be sure, would it play music from it)? • Does the A306 support GAPLESS playback where it plays albums that doesn't have gaps in-between tracks? • Is it compatible with MacOSX and does it recognize ExFat formatted files? Thank you so much!!!

[@aman_t]

How would it work with Apple Music HiRes playback??

[@Annshul]

Hi there, I'm more inclined towards earphones. So the Sony WF-1000XM4, will be a better choice for NW-A306 Or Should I go for the hi-res wired earphones? If so then kindly suggest few good ones, that would do the justice with this DAP.🙏🏻

[@shaktastik]

Hi mate, I think you already have the best earphones 👍🏼

[@Annshul]

​@@shaktastik Thanks a lot 🙏

[@sebastianreyes2792]

I think you should always go wired otherwise you wouldn't be using the walkman as the audio dac.

[@Annshul]

@@sebastianreyes2792 You're right, Thanks a lot for your advice 🙏 👍

[@fazzxides8429]

@@sebastianreyes2792Exactly..

[@MobileDecay]

What cpu is it using?

[@shaktastik]

Interesting question but I can't find any information about which CPU it uses.

[@MobileDecay]

@@shaktastik I actually asked Sony and they didn't know either. Someone on Reddit linked me to page where someone benchmarked the device and apparently it's running a cpu that's on par with a snap dragon 450 or something like that.

[@dtz1000]

The CPU is not that important. It is responsive enough. What's more important is that it has high quality components that make a huge difference to the sound quality. The A306 is awesome.

[@ThibautMahringer]

It does use a Snapdragon QCS2290, 4 Cortex A53 (efficiency) cores at 2ghz, Adreno 702 GPU, 11nm chip. It also have 4GB of RAM. The device is fairly slow, it can’t even run a 2D game constantly at 60 fps (I tried both Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey on mine, just too see how powerful it was). Android 13 update helped a bit with the smoothness of the system, using the device normally. For listening to music, it’s powerful enough.

[@rodrigoshaving]

The Sony Walkman has the surround sound function (VPT) like the NW A55?

[@wirelessdj]

How much memory does it have?

[@shaktastik]

32GB

[@diana-cy4kj]

Would it work with iTunes?

[@ozanaktas8064]

Do you think this is a good pair with Denon Perl Pro? I am looking for a nice Hi-res player supports APTX.

[@Dom_Uchihaa]

What’s your go to mp3 player?

[@shaktastik]

I used to like my Activo CT10 but maybe this one is gonna replace it. Im gonna use it more and decide soon.

[@DanielGuzman83]

I had the Nw-A105 and loved it but the 16gb of internal didn't not let me install apps. I bought an NW-A307 with 64gb internal and can install all the music apps. I have a 1TB micro SD card but the read and write speeds are ridiculously slower compared to the NW-A105. Maybe mine is defective? I purchased from Japan

[@xstensl8823]

will it stream Tidal MQA over wifi?

[@stevenj2380]

B&H site said preorder for NY June 6. I have the previous model NW A105 sitting not used much - it has poor battery life. Apr.8 just saw J. Darko review from EU. Said battery life after firmware update put back bass it was off before, but cut battery life down to 15 hrs.Which is better than prior model though. Sound was reviewed as detailed but not warm Need more sensitive IEM to get volume he said not powerful for his Campfire IEM without turning it way up. I expect no matter what, new model will still present the SONY difficult way of making and syncing playlists thru app on PC, or adding one by one as on device into so-called bookmarks. Loading a and managing tens of thousands of cut on 500Gb card (or even more difficult to manage 1 TB) requires good device software. Also, device cannot hod many apps, maybe it is a device memory 'mgmt. issue as there is room, but it 'reports' problems updating and low space issues every time I start

[@CarlesLópezSagués]

Have radio fm integrate in the display?

[@shaktastik]

No but you can download radio apps

[@miltonfulks7702]

Hello everyone! With streaming services can users download songs or podcasts to the mini-card for offline listening? Thanks!

[@DD-uq8qg]

Question - how big is it’s battery drain, when it is off?

[@Rejuve92]

can you tell me what walkman apk version is it?

[@ArmadaPejuang]

If they add camera might asweel add a speaker and flashlight, you need a good iem for this device

[@NishchalSharma5728]

Does is sound better than an iphone ?

[@dtz1000]

I don't have an iPhone but it has high end components that an iPhone can only dream about, so I am very confident it will easily sound better than an iPhone. Best sounding player I ever owned.

[@arunkumaran7141]

I have a Walkman nwz-s544, how ever I lost the cable, and how i transfer songs without using the Walkman cable, and it doesn't have SD Card slot.

[@shaktastik]

Is this the cable? global.m.11st.co.kr/MW/glb/glb/Product/productBasicInfo.tmall?prdNo=294969700

[@DilanThimira]

Great video! 💯🙂 Anyway, please don't call it an MP3 player. because it does more advanced things than playing MP3s.🙌😉 keep up the great work! Greetings from Romania!✊🙂🖤

[@ritamsaha1900]

how do u set the screensaver of the cassette playing?

[@drifter4training]

Tried some music player apps on the Google play store but its still horrible due to its UI.. Samsung music app have best UI interface...

[@MsLukhach]

Do you know any Walkman Android have a loudspeaker? Tell me please. ( I know NwZx1)

[@asotomayor]

Nope, no loudspeakers on any Walkman.

[@Jiglo71]

It's unable to drive my HD660S headphones to a loud enough volume when cranked up to 120, so I have to use my Airpods Pro 2, which defeats the object of it as a player for high definition listening. I'm going to buy something else.

[@aman_t]

They have removed NFC it seems.

[@berzerk428]

has anyone tried playing ogg or opus on one of these? I would imagine that the stock player can't play them but maybe a player from the google apps store can?

[@afonsoalbuquerque3293]

Lost the keyword now i cant resource it

[@christianbacay2359]

Not a fan of Android based Walkman. It's like a cellphone without a sim. The only advantage of that Walkman is, you can install an apps that has Hi-Res streaming. That's why I choose A55

[@dtz1000]

You chose badly. The A55 sounds horrible compared to the A306. What's more important than whether it has android is that the A306 has high quality components. The A55 has rubbish, low quality components. That is what is important and it makes a huge difference to the quality of the sound.

[@18yearsoldnot]

It’s perfect for me. I can install WhatsApp on it so when I want to leave my phone behind I can. That’s what makes it more portable than the sandisk

[@juanmarquez9988]

Does it have internet op pod ROM get me Sony mp 3 player products for free pop asap

[@soumyadipbera3269]

From this player if you want absolute best output you have to use wired connection.

[@kjererrrt2381]

i tried to purchase sony walkmans twice. every time i had to refuse because i didn't like their sound for some reason.

[@shaktastik]

Can you tell us what you don't like about the sound please!

[@kjererrrt2381]

@@shaktastik i bought and took home one of them and couldn't adjust the equalizer to a satisfactory result. it was the same with the other one in the store. the phones i used were koss portapro which i like very much. one of the walkman models was A15 i think. there was something wrong with bass i believe. i already had a fiio x1 which i didn't like too much either.

[@dtz1000]

​@@kjererrrt2381This one is different as it has high quality components inside. The a15 is cheap crap. Get the A306 if you have not done so already. You won't be disappointed.

[@pikkon899]

The biggest I have with all of these Sony Walkman players is that they all have terrible battery life, terrible user interfaces, are overpriced and despite claiming that they have excellent sound quality, if you've actually used one/own one, you'd know that it isn't true. These Walkman's have MANY filters that you can turn on to supposedly enhance the sound and there are filters specific to certain Sony headphones. Placing filters on audio is not "high quality sound" I've turned off all of the filters on my NW-A305 and it sounds decent. Not excellent, just decent, which is not worth the price tag. Even when these things run Android, it's horrifically slow and choppy.

[@dtz1000]

Well, I actually own this device and it's the best sounding player I ever heard.

[@NoBodyO2TheG]

I got it recently and my battery was the same, switch wifi off and leave it off for a day or two and the battery seems to have "burned in". Most I can get out of it is 15-16 hours flac, with heavy eqs and near full vol. after disabling all apps lol. I never understood why all companies say x amount of hours but if you turn everything off and have it quiet as a mouse more or less lol. Anyone like that can say a million hours battery life lmfao, its frigging stupid. I have the Cowon Plenue D and only reason I got this was because my PD is not lasting as long as it used to now (100 hours) and needed that 1tb space as I have 3 going up to 4 x 128gb sd cards lmfao, music junkie lol. Poweramp is the way to go but disappointed its not as frequently updated and no A-B repeat mode, as i use that. I use jetaudio on my phone but that wasn't "as loud" on the Sony dap so had to get poweramp.

[@biggiesmol]

Fiio M3 pro would be a cheaper alternative to this.

[@18yearsoldnot]

The Sony eq features are surprisingly good. They even make my Bluetooth AirPods Pro better than on iPhone - it’s more than just a parametric eq

[@jacksontan4352]

I wont buy that i can used my spotify in my iphone 😢

[@asotomayor]

This and the NWA105 are priced $200 too high. Anemic power and no balanced output, mediocre battery life, etc.

[@dtz1000]

The price is worth it. Best I've ever heard.

[@stevejt76]

I really wanted this device to be good, but I was extremely disappointed with it. I have a large collection of MP3 albums from different decades and was hoping all the AI sound normalisation technology was going to ensure they would play at the same volume. It doesn’t.....the sound normalisation is absolutely rubbish. Sony seems to have exaggerated the capability of this device. On my ipod nano 7th gen from 2011 I have the ability to manually set the volume for each track (via i tunes). Although this is time consuming and annoying, it is better than not being able to do it. I have returned the walkman and will stick with my i pod nano.

[@wirelessdj]

HERE IS THE PROBLEM WITH THE NW-A306: Android does not allow you to plug a cable in and copy files to the SD card without taking the card out. The old NW-A55 mounted the internal card and the SD card as a drive. There is software but it is clunky

[@shaktastik]

Odd, I haven't tried that, I wonder if it's fixable with a firmware update.

[@bak-unin]

Are you talking about plugging the 306 into a laptop? If so then yes you can plug it in and copy files to the SD. I do it almost everyday. When you plug the 306 you need to turn the screen on. And then make sure the 306 says file transfer (if you don't see a pop up then use the pull down menu). As long as you copy everything into the music folder it's good to go after youve refreshed the database (in the walkman music app it's the circle symbol top right). If you want the SD card to be read as internal memory them format it in the 306.

[@zalkamgamer6819]

The first

[@themythic2251]

The battery 😢

[@andrzejzelechowicz8934]

pity it has volume limit i Europe , Astell&Kern SR 35 is better in any way. This Sony is a joke with all this "enchancements" in music, it only distorts original music albums

[@BrenttttttMCMXC]

not worth for the price🤮 that's must be only 200$

[@jacksontan4352]

I wont buy japan made😢

[@markwillentdion]

KZbin katiyem pojok grudo. KZbin Taufan andriansah. Mp4