Sony Walkman NW-A306 Touchscreen MP3 Player – 32GB, Black
Sony Walkman NW-A306 Touchscreen MP3 Player – 32GB, Black
Big sound in a compact music player
Made for living
Fully portable device for on-the-go music
Enjoy music while living life to the max. The NW-A300 series is designed to make high-quality sound fully portable. The compact device includes a touch screen and physical button control, plus improved grip, so your Walkman adapts with you.
Do I need Hi-Res headphones to enjoy Hi-Res Audio/Hi-Res Audio Wireless?
Headphones must be compatible with Hi-Res to enjoy Hi-Res Audio and compatible with Hi-Res Audio Wireless to enjoy Hi-Res via Bluetooth.
Does the NW-A306 support 360 Reality Audio?
Yes, the NW-A306 supports 360 Reality Audio, meaning you feel like you’re listening to the artist perform live every time you listen.
What type of solder is used in the NW-A306?
The NW-A306 features a high-quality reflow solder containing gold, used extensively across the circuit board surface. This gives you improved sound localisation and a wider sound space.
What is the storage capacity of the NW-A306?
The NW-A306 has 32 GB of integrated storage, as well as an SD card slot, making sure you have enough space for even the biggest music collection.
| Dimensions: | 9.92 x 5.57 x 1.16 cm; 113 Grams |
| Model: | NW-A306 |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Sony |
| Dimensions: | 9.92 x 5.57 x 1.16 cm; 113 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
The sound quality of the A306 is incredible and is in a completely different league to the A45. This is because the A306 has high quality components inside which really shows in the sound quality. The A45 is the worst sounding Sony music player that I have ever heard. Even with fantastic headphones it is terrible.
I also have the Cowon Z2 player which is pretty good as it also has high quality components.
I would rate the A306 5 stars, the A45 1 star, and the Cowon Z2 4 stars.
All you need for sublime sound is the Sony NW-A306 and Hifiman 400S and you are set.
Brilliant device with excellent sound quality, brilliant battery life and quite and easy software library. Bought to replace a frozen iPod classic and I am not disappointed. Brings back the Walkman experience of the past.
I bought this because I wanted to listen to hi-res audio but didn’t want to pay an absolute fortune for a player. The audio quality (to me) is excellent, especially when paired with a pair of Sony wireless headphones (WF or WH1000XM5). Somehow the Sony to Sony connection just works brilliantly. There are many effects you can apply to the sound including an equaliser to tweak the frequency range, DSEE Ultimate to upscale lower res audio towards CD quality using AI, DC Linearisation to recreate analogue speaker characteristics and even a Vinyl Processor to recreate a vinyl sounding output. But I’ve found the best one (which disables all the others) is ClearAudio+; a one switch setting which seems to boost and enhance the clarity of every track.
Yes, it’s an Android 12 O/S and yes it is a bit on the slower side to boot and can be a bit laggy, but I can live with that because I bought it as a music player and not a tablet and that is where Sony have put the emphasis.
I see some reviews make references to loading files to the device as being “clunky” especially with a Mac. I’m not sure what the problem is here – I have a MacBook and file transfer is a doddle. Simply format the SD card on the A306 using the Android file formatting tool, take the card out and connect it to your computer and then simply cut and paste your music files and folders to the Music folder on the card that was created when it was formatted. Put the card back in and use the little icon at the top of the Walkman app to re-create the database and .bobs your uncle! You don’t need Sony Music Centre and you only need Android File Transfer to get music on to the internal storage and because only about 17 of the 32GB of this is available, it’s pretty pointless anyway.
The next great thing about this device is the wireless connectivity and the fact that it runs on Android means you have access to the Google Play store, and that means you can download anything you think useful, particularly streaming or content based apps like Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music and Audible. All of which I’ve found work great, just like an iPad but with better sound quality! I’ve even installed PlexAmp and set up a PlexAmp media server on my NAS so I can access my full music library from anywhere in the world – again this works great on the A306.
I’ve also read, but not yet tried, that you can use the A306 as an external DAC, which means I could swap out my SoundBlaster DAC if I wanted, although.actually having a dedicated hi-res music player like the A306 negates the need to listen to music from an iPad or iPhone using an external DAC and wired headphones. 0n the topic of wired headphones – the A306 is good but not as good (in my opinion) as with (Sony) wireless headphones – the power output from the A306 is apparently relatively low and therefore needs the volume turning up to pretty much maximum.
And finally.after the sound quality and the portability, the absolute next best feature on this device is the cassette screensaver which comes on after a few seconds, the colour/spec of the tape being shown matching the quality of the track being played!
Overall this is a powerful, feature packed device which produces superb sound quality. It does have a couple foibles but fortunately these aren’t in the space that matters and what the device’s primary function is – playing great sounding music.
The unit feels heavier and more solid than expected – this adds to the quality feel. The sound quality is great – I don’t use any of the provided filters. There have been many comments about the sound levels on this player, but putting the sound up at the maximum is loud enough for me, I don’t need it to go any highe
Bought this to listen to music without the need for my phone . Excellent product. Incredible sound quality for the price. Easy to use, transfer music onto etc. It only has 16GB of internal memory, which you would use up pretty quickly, but it does have expandable memory via an SD card so I have just transferred my music collection straight onto there. The only tiny gripe is that the bluetooth blips occasionally even with good quality earbuds (Bose) but I think that issue is more to do with Bluetooth technology in general as opposed to the player itself as I get the same issue with most Bluetooth tech. It never falters with wired earbuds.
In summary, I cannot rate this MP3 player highly enough and would recommend to anyone.
Even so, I find that I always come back to Sony because they are the closest that people without deep pockets are going to get to some pretty clever technology. It knows this and tempts just enough technology to keep us returning.
Sony is trying to juggle two types of users – those that stream and those that don’t. I belong to the latter camp and spent a good 30 minutes just deleting as much of Google as possible. It’s not entirely easy I can tell you. I nearly treated myself to the new Astell & Kern A35 (which is nearly three times as expensive) because I personally think it’s limited UI options are a strength not a weakness. However, if you’re okay with allowing Google/Sony access to everything (basically under 30) then this is all irrelevant. It’ll take you ten minutes and you’ll be flying.
It took a good 9 hours to transfer my existing 8,900 odd tracks to my 1tb SanDisk micro sd card using the Sony Music Centre. The latter is a bit clunky to use but you get used to it I guess. The UI is Android 12 and it takes some time to get used to the navigation process when using the actual music player. It’s not as convenient as the A45 in accessing bluetooth devices and working out what notification processes I need is going to be a steep learning curve.
A lot of the adverse comments of earlier users have been dealt with since the last update. Start up times are pretty quick and not annoying (even if you have to put a pin number to use it). Sound quality is excellent and the volume loud enough for me easily. In fact, I wondered whether my walkman was restricted or not. It works really well with the Sony WF-1000XM4s but that attention to detail does take a lot to get used to. I wish they had a decent wired hi-res alternative so I didn’t have to go down the Chi-Tec rabbit hole and all that IEM stuff. It’s bewildering when you consider that Sony is the main company behind Hi-Res!
Anyway, the main reason I am writing this is because this is not a 3.5/5 device. I believe some of the criticism is not really relevant unless you are exceptionally sensitive to audio. It deserves a bit of credit considering that these are not mainstream devices and the trend is for having everything in one place and all you’re data in Google’s lap. Once I get fully used to it, I am sure it’ll prove its worth longer term.
Update: I ordered the Japan-only official case (CKS-NWA300) from a well known auction site and, although way too expensive, I figured it was worth the one-off cost. It really brought out the blue colour of the Walkman, The only alternative case available in the UK at the moment is a plastic one that does the job but makes it slightly more difficult to press the buttons easily.
What they have done with this beast is basically used a phone cut out the phone and camera functions and used the stripped-down hardware as a basis for the mp3 player.
So, you have a an android operating system on top of the mp3 player
I installed VLC player so I can play videos on my tiny screen.
The sound is rich and with my Bluetooth headphones it sounds the best I’ve ever heard.
This is down to the premium D to A converters and associated hardware in the player.
I thought it was faulty at first as it got very warn while transferring songs to the device but now everything’s normal.
So far so good I have a 512md Samsung micro SD card in the player and I have it full it plays / searches with no noticeable lag with the amount of songs
If you love music and don’t want to pay 600+ for an Astell and Kerns MP3 player than this is the best option for you
The reason I got this is to listen to my vinyl & CD collection on the move. I don’t stream / download music, I upload everything to my PC & wanted a device I could download it all to. I tried a couple of other devices & my phone but they all seemed to quite unnecessarily overcomplicate matters so I gave up on them. Then I saw this is available & thought I’d give it a try.
It’s quite small (please see the attached photo comparing the size to my old Samsung Galaxy A21S & my hand (sorry about the fingernails, my manucurist is on holiday)). It comes with a simple ‘quick start’ guide and a ‘reference’ guide. There’s a more comprehensive manual available to view online, download in a PDF format or it’s on the device itself. Once you’ve turned it on for the first time on screen it guides you through a simple initial set up procedure (must be simple, I could follow it) and you’re away. It’s Wi-Fi enabled and you have all the various apps preloaded (please see the attached photo). I couldn’t tell you about using any of these as that’s not my intention.
There’s ‘Music Center For PC’ software suite that can be downloaded to a, yep, you’ve guessed it, PC (or laptop). This allows you to import files into the suite from your PC / laptop. Alternatively you can load CDs directly onto the suite via your PC / laptops DVD/CD drive. The suite allows you to make your own playlists. Everything you’ve transferred into the suite can then be uploaded onto the device via a USB ‘C’ cable that’s supplied with the device (it’s also used to charge the device via your PC / laptop). You can also create your own playlists on the device itself. Pressing the middle ‘button’ on the initial screen (see photo) brings you into the Library (see photos) which is pretty simple and self explanatory. It takes a variety of SD cards to expand the memory capacity if required.
Like I side I’m no tech expert but this lot (device & software) seem easy to use. As mentioned by another user the volume keeps setting itself to a low output which is a touch annoying but all designers / manufacturers these days seem intent on finding something or other that’ll annoy the end user by their one dimensional thinking that because they like a feature everyone will. WRONG !!! Notice to the manufacturer, ‘give the customer the choice, it’s their money that pays for your shopping’.
Battery life has been fine for me so far but I haven’t caned it over a long period. I haven’t used headphones but I have used the Bluetooth connection in my car, the 3.5mm cable connection in my van and the 3.5mm cable connection to my site radio. The volume level through all sound systems is fine.
I found the sound quality through all to be superb and there’s no ‘popping’ as experienced by another user, maybe his unit is naff and he should exchange it.
Overall, for my requirements this is almost perfect, there’s just the volume resetting itself issue that loses a star.
I hope this has helped within the limitations of what I’ll be using the device for. Right, I’m off as Madness ‘The Prince’ is calling because “Buster, he sold the heat………..with a rock steady beat-eat”…………………………..