Dynamic Normaliser and NW-A805

[aob9]

I nearly panicked yesterday when I played the new album from NINE INCH NAILS ( free download from their site) on my NW-A805. The first track is a a basically a piano tune. I was horrified at the distortion through my Seinnheiser CX 300 headphones, especially when a particular note on the piano came through. It turns out that the Dynamic Normaliser was switched on and this was the major cause of the distortion.Switching DN off reduced the noise by about 80% but there is still a 'little rattle' at particular points during the tune. I have tried using my SONY MDR-V300's also and they detect the same slight distortion but no way near what it would be with DN switched on. Has anybody experienced anything similar and have I found a 'flaw' in the NW-A80* soundstage?

BTW the bitrate is 320Kb in MP3 format and no such 'distortion' is generated through my Pioneer sound system using the same headphones.

[cauldron]

Dynamic normaliser has been observed as having a few side effects for its ability to even out volume across different tracks, so it wouldn't surprise me that it's got adverse effects on sound quality.

Despite being tweaked to sound very attractive, a lot of Sony players are known to have relatively weak output, and they will suffer from this deficit in a variety of ways. And even though all players are rated as 4+4mW@16ohms, the actual output you perceive could vary when tested with demanding headphones or material. That's my best educated guess - despite the A800 being a complete redesign that claimed to wipe out hiss and sound better than previous walkmans, NIN might just happen to be difficult for it to handle, like classical music. I've seen cases where hi-end reviewers dump Sony for iPod because the walkmans were subpar for classical music.

In fact I'm baffled over how people who claim to have great ears and use hi-end canal phones reacted to the A610/810's sound quality like they're the greatest thing since sliced bread. (yes certain enthusiast website reviewers, I'm talking about youse) It's also great fun to see they never did describe Sony players as such when SonicStage was still a mandatory thing.

(NB - not an anti-sony post, I'm very much a fanboi!)

Edited March 27, 2008 by cauldron

[aob9]

Interesting points, which have halted me in my tracks for my search for audiophile headphones (for my NW-A805). It seems there is little point in spending large amounts of money on headphones if the playback device cannot drive them. It's amazing to learn that such an excellent device can show limitations in this area. So, where to now????Bang and Olufsen Beosound 6 for approx.€700

[shirleywhite_]

Hi aob9

Very quick thought - has your 805 got latest firmware?? From memory I think there's been a couple of updates - and I think one of those was something to do with "sound" problems ??????

Regards.

[juli_]

And even though all players are rated as 4+4mW@16ohms, the actual output you perceive could vary when tested with demanding headphones or material.

Actually, they're 5+5mW. Might not seem much, but it's 20% more power than you stated. And, unlike other brands, (Creative Zen etc, 16+16mW) I'm pretty sure Sony doesn't publish peak output figures, which is more accurate, since peak output tells you nothing in terms of what you're going to hear! The amp can't sustain peak output for prolonged periods of time anyway, (which is why the figures are meaningless) but most people will think 16+16mW HAS to be more powerful than the puny 5+5mW Sony, when this isn't the case at all!

And to prove this, my b/f's Zen, 16+16mW has a much lower overall volume threshold than my 808, on ALL the headphones /earphones we've tried it with. To get equal volume levels on both units with the same track - we have to set the Zen to 20/25 (80%) - and the 808 to 18/30, (around 60%), and that's with the dynamic normaliser off.

So you can't judge a player based purely on specs. There are several people over at Head-Fi who are stunned by how powerful the humble little 808/818 is, and many of them are using them with higher-impedance headphones with no problems. I used it (briefly) with the Klipsch Image, rated at 50ohms, and the 808 needed no more than 12/30 for an acceptable listening level. Companies quote peak outputs because they sound better, as in 'bigger' - but you can generally get an approximate idea by dividing peak output by 4 to get sustained output, so the Zen would (in theory) have only 4+4mW - which would explain why it's not as powerful as the Sony!!!

[cauldron]

Interesting points, which have halted me in my tracks for my search for audiophile headphones (for my NW-A805). It seems there is little point in spending large amounts of money on headphones if the playback device cannot drive them. It's amazing to learn that such an excellent device can show limitations in this area. So, where to now????Bang and Olufsen Beosound 6 for approx.€700

1. As you can see, juli doesn't agree with me.

2. As long as you don't use the EQ, the iPod is a very safe choice in my opinion. But one caveat here - I don't listen to anything very demanding. I don't really have any "rock" records in my collection, nevermind dance, classical or metal.

off-topic:

3. I'm a B&O fan, but I would avoid the BeoSound 6, because it's very obviously a Samsung clone (god knows whose amp they put in there?), and B&O did not spend much of an effort properly creating a design. I think it's a bit of an insult for people like myself who have fended off superficial criticism and appreciate their products.

[Guest Stuge]

I haven't experiance anything like that with Dynamic Normalizer enabled