Zizone_

Glad to hear you like NWZ-810 seires. Sony seems to be moving toward right direction by allowing drag-n-drop and ability to use many different softwares to manage musics. Also, the price is very competitive. One thing that I don't get is that... they don't advertise... also, they don't advertise the supplied headphone... Sony has some of the best engineers and designers... But, where are their marketing people? orz

Yes, Sony is aware of this issue and they said there will be an update for SonicStage.

I don't know... My player works fine to risk it too...

One thing that I don't understand is... What's this contributing artist in WMP11? When I search under artist via NWZ-A818, it actually shows list of contributing artist set by WMP11 not artist set by WMP11, which I need to correct it by either delting contributing artist or typing artist under contributing artist... Kinda annoying part of WMP11 for me... Other then few annoying things, WMP11 is working out alright for me.

One thing that I don't like about the WMP 11 is that... it can't really get any CD information right. I find frequent miss spelling of band, and songs and giving wrong information about the genre. I end up doing all manually. Also, it gives one bad album art, if it does at all. In this respect, SonicStage is a lot better. But, WMP11 does indeed have better look, but I feel like I am more restricted to WMA and WAV only. Although I can drag-n-drop but... that's not really WMP11. Also, I am not quite sure how the files are being converted, I am sure I will figure it out, but I thought SS was more clear about it or gave me more control. WMP11 is faster and has nicer look. But I certainly miss some features from SonicStage for sure. In the end, WMP11 is not bad at all. By the way, nice pics!!!

MDR-EX90 seems to be more clear in high-range but MDR-EX700 sounds more clear in low and mid-range and MDR-EX700 does add more detail which is pretty noticeable depending on songs.

Sound section Edit: 2007/10/25 (YYYY/MM/DD) Noise-isolation.

Yes, this year's NWZ-A and NW-A is much better than last year's NW-S. So, they are improving but I'd love to see major reduction in white noise. So, I am 100% with you on this issue.

I am sorry if I have miss-led anyone. I just realized the hiss was from the NWZ-A818. When I use MDR-EX700 on my laptop, VAIO TX, I don't get hiss anymore. So, I would like to say, MDR-EX700 picks up hiss on NWZ-A818 more than MDR-EX90 but the headphone itself does not generate hiss; the hiss is dependent on the player not the headphone. Thanks. I will continue to edit as I continue to test the MDR-EX700. Yes, the price is high, but after trying it on my laptop without hiss, it sounds great.

Yes, I can assure you that MDR-EX700 does not leak sound, which was the problem for MDR-EX90, and creates very tight seal that helps to prevent sound leak and noise-isolation from surrouding. In fact, I am very very pleased with MDR-EX700's clear bass. The sound does not seem colored, to me it is natural. But, MDR-EX90 seems a tiny bit more clear at high ranges. I recommend MDR-EX90 over MDR-EX700 if you were to listen classical music. Anyways, my only complain would be this minor hiss I am hearing from NWZ-A818, which can get annoying with classical songs...

oh, and it fits tightly and seems to block noise better than MDR-EX90. You can think of it as... what was that headphone prior to MDR-EX90? one that has 9mm... I forgot the name but it feels like that one.

Hi Juli, This is how it fits: from watch.impress.co.jp Actually, this isn't the Sony first high end headphones, but it is their first high end ear-canal headphones. Anyways, it is true that I do hear some hiss; when the song isn't playing it is noticeable. But, to be honest, without considering the price between MDR-EX90 and MDR-EX700, I prefer MDR-EX700 sound quality because of it's better separation and ability to produce much more fine detail without loss due to other sounds, such as bass. There is one song called, 悲劇ã?¯ç›®è“‹ã‚’下ã‚?ã?—ã?Ÿå„ªã?—ã??鬱 by DIR EN GREY, and I noticed a very light chorus which I did not know it existed until I used MDR-EX700! However, I haven't try other high-end headphones and I believe others will pick up at this price range. I am quite satisfied with the investment, and since I listen mostly rock, the hiss is not much of a problem, though it can be sometimes when the music is soft side of rock. But I can tell you that the hiss is not as bad as NW-S700series with MDR-NC022. I believe this would be ideal headphone if the price were lower. But, if you are willing to buy new set, definitely give this a try along with trying out other headphones prior to purchase, since the price is high. But, if you have a nice headphone and satisfied with its sound quality, I say stick with it; unless you like MDR-EX700's unique design and willing to buy new headphone for other reasons. If you ask me to rate this product, I would give 8/10. But design and comfort is certainly 10/10. By the way, when I wear MDR-EX700, people tell me I am stylish.

MDR-EX700SL MDR-EX700SL happens to be my first ¥30,000 (300USD) range ear-canal headphones. So, I will try to compare this nice pair of headphones to MDR-EX90SL. Specifications： Type: Closed, Dynamic Driver Unit: 16mm Power Handling Capacity: 200mW (IEC) Impedance: 16Ω(1kHz) Sensitivity: 108dB/mW Frequency Response: 4-28,000Hz Cord: OFC, 0.5m; extension cord approx. 1m Weight: approx. 7g Plug: gold plated mini plug; extension cord plug - L shaped gold plated stereo mini plug from ATRACLIFE.COM Design: beautiful... Sound: Having tried MDR-EX700SL on SONY NWZ-A818, I noticed that it picks up much more detail on many songs (linear PCM) compared to MDR-EX90SL. MDR-EX700SL especially has much better response on low and mid-range where high range is considered to be ok. From many past reviews on MDR-EX90SL, many gave good score for its clarity yet weak on bass. MDR-EX700SL fixed this issue; it has very good bass yet not disturbing mid and high ranges. The sounds are even better separated and enhacement of bass does not distort other ranges as I mentioned before. One down side that I noticed is that since it tends to pick up even minor detail, it seems to be produce bit more hiss on SONY NWZ-A818; probably, this will be better if the player has better SNR (Please look at edited comment below). Sound section Edit: 2007/10/23 (YYYY/MM/DD) I just realized the hiss I mentioned is from the NWZ-A818 not necessarily from the MDR-EX700. Because when I use the headphone on my VAIO TX, I don't notice hiss anymore. So, I would like to say, MDR-EX700 picks up hiss on NWZ-A818 more than MDR-EX90 but the headphone itself does not generate hiss; the hiss is dependent on the player not the headphone. Just wanted to note that the sound does not leak with MDR-EX700, which was a problem for MDR-EX90. Sound section Edit: 2007/10/25 (YYYY/MM/DD) I had a chance to use MDR-EX700 in a bus, and realized it does very good job in isolating noise, although it is not good as active noise-canceling. The sound level on my NWZ-A818 was 7 in a bus, which was sufficient to enjoy music with hearing lots of detail. Comfort: I'd say, it is definitely more confortable than MDR-EX90SL and it fits perfectly. You will have to choose right ear-piece ranges: S, SS, MS, MM, ML, L, and LL. One down side of having SL version is the extension cord, which is very useful if you use remote e.g. MD player, can add little bit of weight on your left ear. This is not a huge problem, but I wish SONY provided extension cord clip. I have to say that I like the extension cord built quality though and the cord itself too. As for now, I only have used for a day and I will need to try more to find things out. Hopefully, this helps potential buyers from choosing MDR-EX700SL. Comfort section Edit: 2007/10/23 (YYYY/MM/DD) As I mentioned on sound section, MDR-EX700 creates tight seal, which was a problem for MDR-EX90. I also just wanted to stress that the MDR-EX700 is very confortable. Bottom line: The headphone that covers low, mid and high in very effective manner with VERY good separation between ranges. Note: Most pictures are taken from jp.sonystyle.com and atraclife.com Sound and Comfort section have been edited on 2007/10/23 (YYYY/MM/DD). Sound section has been edited on 2007/10/25 (YYYY/MM/DD).

ahh Samsung. yeah their players are pretty good too but somehow no linear PCM support...which is a must have codec for me.

I am not sure if someone mentioned it already but NWZ-A818 (8GB) is now 180USD. I'd say, it's pretty competitive price, considering supplied MDR-EX85LP.

True true... But lately, Sony USA has answered some important issues such as moving away from SS and now thus supporting most Kanji.

You are the most negative person I have ever seen... going around various sites and criticizing for many years. Anyways, it seems like droping SS and allowing others programs and drag-n-drop to manage NWZ-A810 is proving successful. One thing that site doesn't mention is linear PCM support.

True, but I never had flahsed based Walkman battery died on me yet, which includes first NW-E series and NW-S706F.

Yes, I know that NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610 series supports WMP11. That's why I said Media Manager for Walkman will be yet another option in addition to WMP11 and drag-n-drop.

Oh, I totally missed your post ^^;

It seems like the new Media Manager will be out soon which supports Sony's mobile electronics: Walkman, SE phones, and PSP, according to following link. link SE link The screen shot shows SE Media Manager but the site says "that there will be a point where all devices - Sony Ericsson Walkman, Sony Playstation Portable and Sony Network Walkman - use this software." I wonder if this is the software that Sony was talking about (Media Manager for Walkman) in NWZ-810 series in US. At least there will be one software for all (free software) in addition to WMP11 and drag-n-drop.

Maybe when "the Media Manager for Walkman" is released, they might support gapless (the software is supposed to come out soon and free with RSS (podcast), video, picture and of course audio files support).

Well, NW-S700 series in US was criticized for a high price without considering NC feature. So, I assume SONY USA dropped NC in US and kept low price as consumers demanded.

Critically analyzing problems is one thing and crticizing with some attitude without manner is another.