Sony NW-A35 microsd question

just wondering what microsd card I can get with to work this? is there a limit on the size I can use? I have looked for the answer everywhere and I can't find anything on it? any help would be great and thank you in advance.

 

The maximum size isn't listed in the manual. Until Sony says otherwise, the largest safe MicroSD would be 32gb. You could try a 64gb or higher, and if it won't work, it just won't work, no harm will be done to the unit or the card.

 

But it is listed on Sony’s website - as 2TB! (see: What is the maximum storage capacity of micro SD cards compatible with my NW-A3x series Walkman? | Sony UK )

Obviously 2TB microSD cards don’t exist at the moment (at least in the wild), so I assume what they mean is that this is the largest size the device firmware will theoretically support.

I use a 200Gb card in mine with no problems; plenty of reports from others who are using 256Gb cards trouble-free.

Worth checking out the NW-A35 thread on headfi, which covers just about everything you’ll ever need to know this player: NEW! SONY NW-A30 SERIES

Congrats on the purchase, btw. Had mine since late last year and couldn’t be happier with it - feel like it’s the iPod classic replacement I’ve been after for so long!

 

I have an NWZ-A17 and I've been using a 64gb memory card in it with no problems. Something to mention since it applies to my player and it might apply to your player too: Although I've inserted a 64gb memory card into my player, I only have access to 59.4gb of storage, the player's system takes up 4.6gb of the storage space.

 

That’s not really anything to do with Sony players - while they may put some small system files on the memory card, the OS (on the NW-A35, at least) is stored on the internal memory.

Capacity disparities like this are usually down to the (slightly misleading) way memory cards are advertised. The claimed capacity is calculated using SI units (where 1kb=1,000 bytes) - but of course, the actual devices they’re inserted into calculate capacity using the binary system (1kb=1,024 bytes).

Once you get up into multi-Gb memory cards, that amounts to a discrepancy of around 7% between advertised and useable capacity, which would explain the ~4.5Gb of memory you’re not seeing.

 

NWA45 working for me with 200GB card.

 

Thanks for the clarification. I hadn't thought about the difference between actual and advertised memory capacity although I'd heard about it. I apologize for being unclear about putting the OS on the memory card, I should have said that the OS reserves a portion of the memory card but based on your post that is not the case.

I do know that when I formatted a memory card on my player it set up a file system and added a few kb of files. Plus, when I use Media Go with the memory card it adds a MEDIAGO folder and an xml file of a 364bytes.

 

That's excellent! But that isn't listed in the manual I found or the specs I found.

 

Yep. Admittedly (and somewhat bizarrely) Sony have rather squirrelled that information away. Wouldn’t have known myself if I hadn’t seen it on the headfi NW-A35 thread.