NW-A805B review

[dura_]

Thanks!!

[spann]

Streuth.

I can't believe you are all getting Image Converter three to work "smoothly"!

I have tried various xVid files and different settings, and yet *every* time the conversion is upside down and reflected left to right - which is hopeless as any text is mirrored and things are simply in the wrong place.

Searching various forums results in noone else apparently having this problem.

It is a really bizarre problem. I know it's not going to convert correctly as even the preview pic is upside down! Are any of you guys running on Vista?

Cheers,

spann

[LG1_]

I live in australia so that dock is like $80 for me and the nwa800 isnt even out yet for us

[kerfuffle]

I live in australia so that dock is like $80 for me and the nwa800 isnt even out yet for us

On a related note, the NW-A800 series will be out in Australia on June 18, with the 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions costing AUD$299, $399 and $499 respectively. The 2GB version is $80 more than the 2GB Apple iPod nano.

By the way DSP, I like your review!

[Guest Stuge]

''But it's usable for what it was aimed for.''

With this I mean that DSEE actually works for the purpose it was designed for. So overall it's a gimmick (since many people have High quality trakcs) but it works.

The screen is very sharp. The brightnes is very good, but could be better. Note that this would eat up battery time. I think it's a good balance between brightness/battery time. I;ve compared to PSP and Creative Zen vision:M and both are much brighter. But since the image quality is superb (76.800 pixels on a 2'' screen surface) I can get over this. colours are very vivid and the display gives a very juicy image.

greetz

Thanks .That means I can Easily see a movie or Songs ..

[Old skool D]

yeasterday Lunch time, I made the trip up to Tottenham Court Road, in the West End of London. I had my sehessier CX300s with me, and I had a demo with the NW-a806(4G). I was BLOWN AWAY. Before yesterday the best SQ I had heard was on my mini-disc recorder. But after listening to a REDMAN song( & watching a little bit of the spider trailer, but not a lot as I was watchibg it later that day!) I knew I had to have one. I got a black one, ( last one in the shop , but no carrying case, as they had one spiderman ones left. The guy in the shop told me that the headphoves alone are worth 45 GBP. Was an expensive day, as I got a two year warranty, and an external amp. Can't wait to charge it up. I do have a question. I already have SS( 4.3/4.4, the latest version) To download the image converter, do I have to down load from the CD-Rom, and how will that effect my already installed SS?

[markey]

yeasterday Lunch time, I made the trip up to Tottenham Court Road, in the West End of London. I had my sehessier CX300s with me, and I had a demo with the NW-a806(4G). I was BLOWN AWAY. Before yesterday the best SQ I had heard was on my mini-disc recorder. But after listening to a REDMAN song( & watching a little bit of the spider trailer, but not a lot as I was watchibg it later that day!) I knew I had to have one. I got a black one, ( last one in the shop , but no carrying case, as they had one spiderman ones left. The guy in the shop told me that the headphoves alone are worth 45 GBP. Was an expensive day, as I got a two year warranty, and an external amp. Can't wait to charge it up. I do have a question. I already have SS( 4.3/4.4, the latest version) To download the image converter, do I have to down load from the CD-Rom, and how will that effect my already installed SS?

Congratulations on your purchase. What external amp did you buy and is it for use with the A806?

[Old skool D]

Congratulations on your purchase. What external amp did you buy and is it for use with the A806?

It's the Sony AC-U50A, USB charger. I asked if the only way to power the unit was from the USB connected to the computer, and was offered this as an alternative.

[Shinji Ikeda]

yeasterday Lunch time, I made the trip up to Tottenham Court Road, in the West End of London. I had my sehessier CX300s with me, and I had a demo with the NW-a806(4G). I was BLOWN AWAY. Before yesterday the best SQ I had heard was on my mini-disc recorder. But after listening to a REDMAN song( & watching a little bit of the spider trailer, but not a lot as I was watchibg it later that day!) I knew I had to have one. I got a black one, ( last one in the shop , but no carrying case, as they had one spiderman ones left. The guy in the shop told me that the headphoves alone are worth 45 GBP. Was an expensive day, as I got a two year warranty, and an external amp. Can't wait to charge it up. I do have a question. I already have SS( 4.3/4.4, the latest version) To download the image converter, do I have to down load from the CD-Rom, and how will that effect my already installed SS?

GQ Smooth Congrats on your purchase. I really what to hear your impression about the player.

About the included software.

You should use the installation CD. The installation CD will install SonicStage 4.3 (if not installed), Image Converter, and the NW-A800 series operation Manual. The installation process should not effect anything. My system when from SonicStage 4.2 to 4.3 with no problem. Only the files that need to be updated are. It will not effect your libraries.

Nice story, we are waiting to hear more.

[markey]

It's the Sony AC-U50A, USB charger. I asked if the only way to power the unit was from the USB connected to the computer, and was offered this as an alternative.

Oh, you mean a mains charger. I thought you were taking things really serious there and had got your self a headphone amp. Yep, the mains chargers are good. I got one included with my A1200, handy when going away and there is no pc to plug in to. How much did they charge you for the mains charger?

[Old skool D]

Oh, you mean a mains charger. I thought you were taking things really serious there and had got your self a headphone amp. Yep, the mains chargers are good. I got one included with my A1200, handy when going away and there is no pc to plug in to. How much did they charge you for the mains charger?

Sorry, my bad . The mains charger was 14.99. Think that they should include it with the player, but Apple and others do the same.

[markey]

Sorry, my bad . The mains charger was 14.99. Think that they should include it with the player, but Apple and others do the same.

Yep, they really should include it seeing as it is a high end model and in the past included the chargers with the HD5 and A3000/A1000/A1200.

[Zizone_]

Hey DSP, did you find out SNR for NW-A800 and NW-S700 series (just curious)?

MZ-RH1 seems to beat any DAPs in this department.

[DSP]

In general minidisc has way better SNR then any other DAP in th market.

I didn't find out the SNR for S700 and A800. But I think S700 s somewere around 85 Db.

I thought NW-A800 to have the same, but since FW 1.02 I'm not shure anymore.... It's very quiet nowadays..

greetz

[dura_]

I thought NW-A800 to have the same, but since FW 1.02 I'm not shure anymore.... It's very quiet nowadays..

I do not hear hiss (probably age-related) but it seems the sharpness that I found annoying is gone since 1.02. Still not sure if I simply got used to it or that SQ has improved by the upgrade....

[kevio]

Quick question guys (i'm drooling to get one after reading this thread). How good is the battery? How long can the battery last just playing music? What about for video? Also, how is the quality for ATRAC vs mp3?

[pomj]

Quick question guys (i'm drooling to get one after reading this thread). How good is the battery? How long can the battery last just playing music? What about for video? Also, how is the quality for ATRAC vs mp3?

I've had mine for sometime now. I use it commuting everyday. I load the player with books, music and a selection of sitcoms to have during the day. Sofar the charge indicator on my player have always showed full. I do load the player each and every day and that seems to be enough to keep it fully loaded. I use the video alot and that is said to use quite alot of battery but as I said still no indication on the indicator.

I just have to say that during my limited experience of mp3's (creative zen, nano, A1000, U3) I have never been more satisfied with a player. I simply love this little device. As chandler in friends said... I couldn't *be* more satisfied

[dura_]

I just use it for music. never timed battery life but I would estimate in 20+hrs in real life.

[kevio]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Any comments on Atrac SQ vs mp3 SQ

[juli_]

I load the player with books, music and a selection of sitcoms to have during the day.

Can I ask what format your sitcoms are in? Are they on disc, and you just load them after converting? I have some 'Will and Grace' and 'Seinfeld', it might be fun to put on an episode of each and see what it's like. But I have no idea how to copy the disc to my laptop and then convert and transfer to the 808. In fact I've never been able to put a DVD on the laptop because of the copyright issues. How do you get round that? Or are the sitcoms you transferred from somewhere else?

I simply love this little device. As chandler in friends said... I couldn't *be* more satisfied

No no no no no! He would say: "Could I *be* any more satisfied"? Edited August 13, 2007 by juli

[pomj]

Can I ask what format your sitcoms are in? Are they on disc, and you just load them after converting?

They are in ordinary xvid format. I use Image converter with avc baseline 16:9. The 16:9 together with zoom (on the player) cuts off the sides of an widescreen filling the entire screen. I prefer it like that but YMMW. Some times the conversion fails, image converter complaining about problem with the file streams. Sofar I've always fixed that by loading the movie in avidemux making it rebuild the index and then just save it. Now it will convert without any problems.

It is possible to use other converters (PSP compatible) but I've never got as good results as with image converter.

No no no no no! He would say: "Could I *be* any more satisfied"

Yeah you're right about that

[juli_]

They are in ordinary xvid format. I use Image converter with avc baseline 16:9.

So they're not from an original DVD then. I have some DVDs in xvid format but they're not sitcoms and I made them through some atrocious movie-maker software on the laptop. Are your sitcoms downloads?

[pomj]

Are your sitcoms downloads?

Most of them. It takes longer to convert from your dvd's than to download

[DSP]

Well guys,

I've been absent for a while, but in the meantime I've bought a Cown D2.

I'm just wondering, since I thought some people enjoyed my comparison review between Sony Walkmen and Creative's Zen V:M, If you guys would be interested in a comparison review between NW-S703, NW-A805 and Cowon D2.

I'm just asking, because if nobody is interested It would be a waste of time.

For people who never heard of Cowon: Cowon is a Korean manufacturer of DAP's. They are the creator of the very well received Cowon A2 PMP. In general, Cowon players are considered as very high-quality DAP's with an outstanding soundquality. Most of the Cowon Devices have BBE technologies implemented (www.bbesound.com) and afaik they all run on Telechips (wich is also korean) SoC's. A downside on many Cowon players is the sloppy User Interface. They could do way better in that department. SQ is top notch, but the UI is not that good.

For more information check www.cowon.com

Why did I bought this player? Because I switched to mac a few weeks ago and Sonicstage doesn't work on Mac OS X.

This player is UMS.

I even could try to take PSP too in my review.

Just let me know If you guys would be interested.

greetz

Edited September 5, 2007 by DSP

[pomj]

well I would be interested in a comparison between A800 and the D2.

I did compare these when I got my A808 (my friend has a D2) but it would be fun to see what you think.

[Rens]

I'm interested too...

I've had a cowon U2 for several years. I was looking for a new DAP with more memory and because of its great SQ I initially wanted a cowon again. Then I saw some other interesting DAP's and after some more research the Cowon Iaudio D2, Iriver Clix 2 and the Sony NW-A808 came out as the best options for me. I compared them in several shops and for me the Sony sounded the best, second was the D2. For about the same price the D2 has much more features than the sony (Radio/Games/Text-viewer/more supported musicformats/memoryslot etc). Why did I choose the sony then? The SQ and the interface (searching by genre/artist/songalbum (MP3-tags) instead of folders!) were my main reasons. I only want to use my DAP for listening to music. I have my cellhone if I want to play games, listen to the radio and stuff

I would like to know your thoughts, maybe you totally disagree with me

[DSP]

allright,

thanks for the replies guys!!!!

I'll be doing a comparison review between NW-A808 and D2 then. If any-one is interested in other competitors (PSP or NW-S703) let me know!

somewhere this week (before sunday I guess) I'll have it finished.

If you have specific questions feel free to ask and I'll try to take them in my review.

Greetz!!

[socom1]

I wouldn't mind a NW-S70X vs, A8XX review myself, I'm wondering if I should return my NW-S706FV for a A818.

[veggiemusician]

I wouldn't mind a NW-S70X vs, A8XX review myself, I'm wondering if I should return my NW-S706FV for a A818.

I think the A8XX has better sound than the S70X.

The S70x seems to have a muddled sound... too soft. If I use high end headphones like my UM2's it really shows this off. The A8xx has a much crisper exsiting sound, the bass extends deeper and has more punch. However the defalt EQ is a bit off as it boosts midrange too much which some users think is harshness.

If I set eq to CB +5 -2 0 -2 -1 +2 It has a sound simlar to S70x but with more bass punch and crisper treble.

[2 old 4 this]

I'm expecting to go on a long haul flight to NZ next year. Are there any 'powerpack' devices to extend the playback of the NW-A806 whislt travelling? Or as mentioned a mains charger of some description? Any suggestion as to best place to buy one of these without it blowing up 'cause it's a cheap/nasty unit?

thanks.

ps Still highly unimpressed with the Atrac avi to video transfer times, 4 hours+ for a 50 minute program- its a joke!

[markey]

I'm expecting to go on a long haul flight to NZ next year. Are there any 'powerpack' devices to extend the playback of the NW-A806 whislt travelling? Or as mentioned a mains charger of some description? Any suggestion as to best place to buy one of these without it blowing up 'cause it's a cheap/nasty unit?

thanks.

ps Still highly unimpressed with the Atrac avi to video transfer times, 4 hours+ for a 50 minute program- its a joke!

The A806 a cheap/nasty unit??? I think not!

[juli_]

Any suggestion as to best place to buy one of these without it blowing up 'cause it's a cheap/nasty unit?

Which part of the unit is 'cheap and nasty'??? First time I ever heard anyone say that. Sure you haven't got a fake plastic one??? The last things these units are, is 'cheap and nasty'. What a strange comment to make with nothing to explain why!

EDIT: Oh, maybe Shinji was right, were you referring to the powerpack??? That would make more sense!!

Edited November 5, 2007 by juli

[Shinji Ikeda]

I'm expecting to go on a long haul flight to NZ next year. Are there any 'powerpack' devices to extend the playback of the NW-A806 whislt travelling? Or as mentioned a mains charger of some description? Any suggestion as to best place to buy one of these without it blowing up 'cause it's a cheap/nasty unit?

thanks.

ps Still highly unimpressed with the Atrac avi to video transfer times, 4 hours+ for a 50 minute program- its a joke!

I think he is referring to the 'powerpack' going boom or damaging his NW-A806. One of the many reason that I dislike English.