When Sony introduced a brand new Walkman earlier this 12 months, we rejoiced. The Sony NW-A306 mannequin packs in hi-res audio playback and a number of extra options that in essence marks it as a scaled-down model of the flagship, high-end Sony NW-WM1ZM2 participant (£3299 / $3699 / AU$4999).
After which there’s the tantalisingly inexpensive price ticket. At £349 / $350 / AU$499, the A306 is among the extra inexpensive hi-res gamers we’ve come throughout in recent times, and undercuts by a big margin the stellar Astell & Kern fashions which have dominated this class of late.
In actual fact, it was a less expensive mannequin, the Sony NW-A55L (£160 / $220 / AU$339 in 2020), that final set our transportable music participant world on hearth on the inexpensive aspect with a 2020 What Hello-Fi? Awards win, so we’re eager to see if this feature-packed new Sony Walkman can ship an identical successful efficiency.
Construct & design
As a conveyable music participant, the NW-A306 suits the transient completely. The participant is compact and suits in palms and pockets alike with no fuss. We love the scalloped textured again that provides us an excellent grip, and the way it doesn’t really feel too costly to really feel like we should be dealing with it with white gloves. It looks like a music participant that’s meant for use greater than admired.
We spent an excellent month or so with the A306 sharing area with our keys, cables and mints in our luggage and in our pockets, and the Walkman didn’t choose up any scratches or knocks. We might nonetheless take care to not drop it or dunk it in water, however this Walkman feels fairly sturdy in on a regular basis use.
Whereas the extra premium Astell & Kern gamers can want a little bit of cautious dealing with because of their fashionably sharp edges, the Sony’s curved edges and light-weight really feel are way more forgiving and extra pleasant. The three.6-inch touchscreen that dominates the entrance is crisp and sharp and exhibits album art work in full color, with a decent-enough distinction even in shiny daylight.
The connections are minimal: you get the usual 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port for charging and transferring information (a brief USB-C cable is offered), a microSD card slot, and a slot for including a lanyard loop. We just like the simplicity.
There are a number of buttons on the aspect for energy, quantity adjustments and playback choices (play/pause and skips). All buttons work responsively, though it does take us some time to get used to urgent the best buttons intuitively with out trying each time.
Options
Thus far, so sensible. However flip the Sony NW-A306 on and it all of a sudden turns into a bit extra difficult. As a result of whenever you first flip the Sony music participant on, you’re greeted with the somewhat cumbersome technique of organising an Android machine. This NW-A306 runs on an Android 12 working software program, and very like in our evaluate of its flagship sibling NW-WM1ZM2, we nonetheless don’t see the worth in providing the total Android expertise in a devoted music participant. You may, in the event you take the time, flip off each notification and alert that may distract you from having fun with your music on the Sony Walkman, however we want that Sony had stored to a purer method right here. It feels at odds with the preliminary, stunning simplicity of the A306 participant.
The inclusion of a full Android OS and its Google apps has two real-world negative effects on the A306, although. One, it makes the interface somewhat sluggish to make use of. There are intermittent stutters and delays when switching between apps, menus and choosing songs – it’s nowhere close to the buttery smoothness we expertise in present Android smartphones. As compared, the extra centered Astell & Kern gamers are way more seamless in use, responding extra shortly and slickly to faucets on the display screen.
Sony NW-A306 tech specs
Max file help 32-bit/384kHz, DSD256, MQA
Storage 32GB (expandable by 2TB by way of microSDXC)
MicroSD slot? Sure
Battery life 32 hours approx.
Headphone outputs 3.5mm
Dimensions (hwd) 9.8 x 5.7 x 1.2cm
Weight 113g
Finishes x2 (blue, black)
Secondly, the Sony NW-A306 claims 32GB of onboard storage. However a more in-depth take a look at the technical specs states “precise accessible reminiscence 18GB”. When requested about this, Sony advised us that the “Android OS system and pre-installed Google apps together with Sony authentic music app occupy round 18GB”. Meaning greater than half of the accessible space for storing is given as much as software program that’s not solely crucial.
Earlier than we load up any music we examine the participant’s settings and see it’s largely true: 14GB out of the supposed 32GB is already used up, with 12GB occupied by “System”. Contemplating we usually discover gamers with even a full 32GB storage not sufficient to retailer a good hi-res music library (we estimate that 32GB will maintain roughly 1,000 CD-quality songs), the 18GB of inside storage on supply right here is disappointingly measly.
After we’ve loaded up the participant with about 20 albums and a dozen extra tracks (the bulk in hi-res 24-bit FLAC and 16-bit CD high quality, a handful of MP3s, two DSD tracks) we’re left with simply 4GB remaining. That’s somewhat poor. There’s a microSD card slot for increasing this storage (by as much as 2TB because of SDXC card help), however that is an extra value.
Now that we’ve gotten all that out of the best way, there may be an upside in the event you take heed to music from a wide range of sources. Entry to wi-fi and the Google Play Retailer on the A306 does imply you’ll be able to obtain any music app – Tidal, Apple Music, Qobuz – to stream your favorite tunes alongside your hi-res information. You may also use the participant as a DAC in your system, and join it to your laptop computer. Hello-res file help is intensive for a participant at this stage: the Sony can deal with playback of as much as 32-bit/384kHz PCM, DSD256 and MQA file codecs.
Elsewhere, it has Bluetooth 5.0, with aptX HD and LDAC codecs supported alongside the usual SBC and AAC codecs. This allows you to join wi-fi earbuds equivalent to Sony’s WF-C700N or Apple’s AirPods Professional 2 to the A306, though be warned that any hi-res file can be downsampled significantly utilizing Bluetooth.
Battery life varies relying on the file kind and which app you’re utilizing to play, however as commonplace you must stand up to 32 hours in the event you’re enjoying 24-bit hi-res FLAC information (this plummets to 14 hours in the event you’re enjoying DSD256 information completely). We discover this to be true in actual life use, with the A306 lasting an excellent few days with out us having to succeed in for the charging cable.
You even get the exact same sound modes because the flagship NW-WM1ZM2 mannequin, together with the Vinyl Processor (which tries to emulate the ‘heat’ analogue sound), DSEE Final (which upscales and enhances low-res compressed information to hi-res high quality) and a Direct mode, which disables any additional processing and retains the unique file playback as pure as potential. We find yourself utilizing this mode for almost all of our testing, but it surely’s value attempting every mode to see which you favor, alongside tweaking the 10-band equaliser, to fit your tastes.
Sound
So how does the Sony NW-A306 truly sound? With the superb Grado SR325x headphones plugged into the three.5mm jack, we’re handled to a efficiency that’s admirably clear and composed with edges of notes neatly drawn. Elliott Smith’s guitar strums and tender vocals on Both/Or sound delicate but stark in opposition to a low-noise background. Frances Quinlan’s uncooked, shimmering vocals rip by means of in Hop Alongside’s breezy, jangly indie-pop tunes equivalent to How Easy.
There’s a good steadiness throughout the frequencies, with no spikey edges or flabby bottoms in sight. It’s a simple pay attention. We might do with a bit extra wallop to the brooding undertones in The Darkish Knight Rises soundtrack to maintain us on tenterhooks, although.
Play songs with a extra complicated association (Radiohead’s In Rainbows album) or that might simply grow to be too aggressive (Disturbed’s epic Down With The Illness), and we discover the Sony participant doesn’t get confused in any respect. It’s simple to comply with every instrument’s path and interaction with one another, and the shortage of any hardness means it’s snug to take heed to over lengthy intervals of time.
The Sony is adept sufficient to show its hand to numerous genres and even discern the variations in file qualities, but it surely doesn’t make a meal out of it in any respect. In actual fact, there’s a familial throughline from the high-end NW-WM1ZM2 to the A306 when it comes to simply how mature and succesful it’s capable of sound. We are able to spot the identical sound signature, even when the element decision is at vastly totally different ranges. The place the A306 differs (and has the higher hand) is with quantity: it had no drawback driving the Grados, and we discovered it performed greater than loud sufficient for our wants.
As with the NW-WM1ZM2, although, we discover ourselves craving for an oz extra dynamic punch and drive. We predict the Sony A306 might sound an entire lot extra enjoyable and immersive if it let its metaphorical hair down and stayed up previous its metaphorical bedtime. It’s a well mannered, undemanding pay attention that might grow to be an absolute barnstormer with only a bit extra chunk, fluidity and perception.
Verdict
On the entire, there aren’t too many viable choices at this finish of the market in the event you’re after an inexpensive however respectable transportable music participant. So it’s nice to see that Sony has stepped up with a likeable participant that may deal with hi-res audio (even DSD).
Finally it stops in need of getting the total 5 stars as a result of a fruits of usability points and an absence of sonic verve, however general the Sony NW-A306 is value contemplating in case your funds doesn’t stretch to the extra premium Astell & Kern SR35.
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