SONY NW-808 : DISAPPOINTED.

[ROADRUNNER]

I've just bought a Sony NW-808 in the States to replace my I-River, and I'm afraid I have to say I'm really disappointed.

Quite apart from a distinct lack of bass & 'punch', I'm astonished at the lack of volume in the unit - its permanently on 30, ie max, with lots of experimentation with EQ settings.

My question is this - in the absence of an available 'volume hack', should I upgrade from my existing Shure E2Cs to the E500s, and should I consider a small headphone amp. If so, any recommendations for the amp ?

Looking forward to replies / help - I love the interface and 'feel' of the unit, so I'm reluctant to give up just yet !

www.fluidimages.co.uk

[dura_]

I don't care where its made. My A808 has the highest buildquality I ever saw in a DAP, and that includes even my former Sony players like the NW-HD1 & A3000.

as for the sound, try this:

DSEE on (makes treble slightly smoother, even on my ATRAC 3+ 256kbs tracks) at the expensive of reduced sparkle

Clear bass off (adds punch without warmth), normaliser off (only use this if you really need it, why mutilate audio information),

clear stereo off (unless you use the supplied headphones, as per advice in the manual)

EQ +1,+1,0,-1,0 (a slight bassraise for warmth, and a small midtreble dip).

I mainly use Shure E4s with this setting, works good for other earphones too, but not for the already bassy Px100.

Edited August 4, 2007 by dura

[MiG]

The NW-A808 is the bassiest player i've heard, it has an amazing warm, punchy sound.

Your I-River never had more Bass, just admit it..

[dura_]

The NW-A808 is the bassiest player i've heard, it has an amazing warm, punchy sound.

Your I-River never had more Bass, just admit it..

ehm, I really like my A808, but "basiest" or "warm" are not the terms I woukl use to describe the A80x sound. "Detailed" and "lean" springs to mind far earlier.

[akasan]

A friend picked them up for me in New York three months ago.

Where in nyc? Around for how much?

[Shinigami]

I think the 808s made in Japan stay in Japan, and the rest are made in China and shipped off elsewhere

I believe the point I was making was, that none are made in Japan. The ones I have seen sold in Japan are made in China. Like, seemingly, just about everything else- excepting Swiss watches.

[fugusushi]

There is clearly something wrong with this unit. Having the volume set at 30 is ear splittingly dangerous on the NW-80* series. Either the unit is faulty or the sound data has been ripped with poor normaliser settings.

i would have to agree - i don't go above 15 in central London and it still sounds loud! i use Shure SE530's and they're exceptional - you should get some anyway... as for amps, check these out: http://www.headphone.com/products/headphon...tal-airhead.php

but, don't use it with the player and headphones (i should say 'earphones') - you'll deffen yourself!!

Edited August 19, 2007 by fugusushi

[tonyjaa]

i would have to agree - i don't go above 15 in central London and it still sounds loud! i use Shure SE530's and they're exceptional - you should get some anyway... as for amps, check these out: http://www.headphone.com/products/headphon...tal-airhead.php

but, don't use it with the player and headphones - you'll deffen yourself!!

True at volume 15 is more than enough. Listening at vol. 30 is definitely ear damaging. The only way to find out if the player is defective or not is to get someone else listen the A808 at 30 and see if he or she can tolerate that volume?

[narsaksaskak1]

Are all of you audiophiles? Because I have my bitrate to 64k and I still think its better sounding than the Ipod by far...

[narsaksaskak1]

Well its in Atrac3plus. Whatever that is I dont understand...

[tonyjaa]

Well its in Atrac3plus. Whatever that is I dont understand...

I don't think I'm an audiophile but I do appreciate good sound quality that's why I picked up the A808 rather than the iPod. Song's encode at 64kbps Atrac+ are roughly 1.2MB at I think the SQ is still good.