Sony NW-A45 - Hi-Res-Audio on the go. ​

[r_a_n_i]

Some say it's just an MP3 player, others - especially in various YouTube videos - that the Walkman is back. Did it ever really leave?
I don't agree with these points and I'll explain why.

I've been using this player since June. Presented in 2017, the Walkman features a minimalist design typical of Sony. It is packed with the latest technology - and all for a very good price.
The NW-A45 is definitely not just an MP3 player! If you want to listen to MP3's, you'd better download the music to your mobile and leave this Walkman alone. (Even if it makes very compressed formats sound good again thanks to DSEE HX.)

Sony is known for the latest technology and besides LDAC, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC for an uncomplicated connection with headphones, the Walkman offers much more. In addition, noise cancelling suppresses external noise, in some cases this technology is now also integrated into Sony wireless headphones. But if you don't want to buy new headphones or have one with a cable, you will find a big advantage here.
The Walkman is sold in different colour combinations and in two versions. Both have an integrated 16GB memory, one comes with headphones, the other without.
The storage space can be easily expanded with a microSD card.

I think the NW-A45 can play all audio formats currently available on the market. Therefore DSD or MQA files are not a problem - you can find more about MQA here http://www.mqa.co.uk/customer/how-it-works This is more or less the most important thing, from the data sheet - but what does it look like in everyday life?

When I compare this Walkman with the NW-A25, which I also have, I can say the new one is a big step forward. Much better processing, touch screen and buttons are much better to use, so it is possible to control the most important functions without taking the device out of the case, plus a battery that never runs out and a very discreet, but also practical menu.

The operation itself is very simple. Once the audio files have been imported to the Walkman, it is as usual to sort by title, album, or artist. There is also a direct option to view all Hi-Res audio songs, and play only those.
There is another important point that speaks for this Walkman. Often when I want to listen to music from a laptop, for example, I get anything but good sound via the audio output. Since often only very cheap audio components are used. With the A45 I have the possibility to use it as a DAC (digital-to-analog converter), no matter if on a Windows or Mac computer, I can connect the Walkman via the USB cable and switch on the DAC function accordingly. The music signal is now processed and significantly improved in the Walkman. Honestly, I didn't think the difference could be that big. And this partly with music that is played for example from YouTube.
There are a few ways to import music, either by installing software from Sony or without software simply with Drag&Drop whereby then not always the files are indexed correctly, and e.g. the SensMe function does not recognize all songs. This Sony software works well, I have had no problems with it yet. It is also possible to simply connect the microSD cards to the computer and copy the data directly to the card. It is important to mention that the Walkman has its own Sony interface and an extra cable.
It is not possible to connect this Walkman to my PC via a miniUSB. That makes it inflexible.

 

As said the import is not problem, just charging is a problem, because I have to reach for the Sony cable, because the Walkman neither has a "normal" USB connection nor does the device support wireless charging with the help of induction. But as mentioned before, the Walkman is rarely on the cable because the battery really lasts a long time.
Furthermore, the possibility to use Deezer or other streaming services - even if only via WiFi - is missing here. Sony probably assumes that Walkman users do not use streaming service providers. So I still have a cell phone for streaming and a Walkman for HiRes audio.

Whether for cycling, office, on a plane or wherever my music has to come with me, the Walkman is perfect. I think an integration of the players with online services will also come, until then I'd rather listen to my Walkman than online music from iPhone.
Also the Walkman gives me an end-to-end solution for my records, which I can digitize at home and then listen to directly from the player as FLAC or DSD.

The NW-A45 it's not a normal MP3 player or just a Walkman, it's so much more!

Feel free to ask questions. 

Cheers

r_a_n_i

[IamNic]

Hi @r_a_n_i,

I really like your article.

I myself own this player as well and I was happy to see, that I can re-download my music I purchased on bandcamp.com over the past years again as .flac files.

Though I noticed, that even for .flac files there are differences in the bitrate and therefore in the playback quality as well.

Since you mentioned, that you digitalized vinyls, I imagine, that the files you got this way are top notch.

- Nic