Sony Walkman NW-A45

I’m sure this has been covered on other threads but haven’t found it. I’m looking to get one of these as a replacement for my iPod Classic, but cannot find confirmation of the largest micro SD Card it will accept. I’m looking to get a 400gb from Sandisk so I can load up with FLAC and other high res files. Has anybody with one of these devices gone above 256gb and found it works ok? Appreciate the feedback

Cheers
Mike

 

Sorry, only got a 200GB in mine. Intrigued to see what other people have tried as i’d like to get a 400GB, but like you would like to hear if it works first.

 

I don't have an NW-A45 (I have an NWZ-A17, great player) but I checked around the Internet for information on your player. The largest size of memory card I've seen supported is 256gb, however that may not be the actual limit.

Something to mention is that I found that there is a limit of 999 songs in a playlist. This was an issue for me with my player because I use playlists to sync songs to my player. I made a playlist of more than 999 to sync to my player but some of the songs didn't sync to my player and the playlist on my player was truncated.

My solution was to create autoplaylists that each will be less than 999 to sync to my player. Currently, I use a combination of years and ratings* to sync the songs to my player and my memory card. As an example, I have one playlist that contains songs rated three stars that were released before 1960 to sync to my memory card, and another one containing songs rated four stars that were released before 1960 to sync to my player's internal memory.

I hope this helps.

*Songs rated three stars are put on my player's memory card, while songs rated four stars are put on my player's internal memory. This allows me to move a song from one location to another just by changing its rating.

 

Thanks for your replies, this helps a lot. I have about 500gb of flac files and I already have a few 200gb sd cards which I plan to format and fill up, I’ve heard that the directory needs a few minutes to build each time you insert a card which I can live with. Thanks again.

 

When a new card is inserted, or the player is powered up, it takes a minute or so to rebuild the directory. As above, I have a full 200GB card so I could imagine if taking a little bit longer with a bigger card. If you leave the player in standby this doesn’t happen and the player is good to go almost immediately.

 

According to Sony, its predecessor, the NW-A35, supports microSD cards up to 2TB (which is also the upper limit of the SDXC standard): What is the maximum storage capacity of micro SD cards for my Walkman? | Sony UK

(This is all theoretical, of course, since 2TB microSDs don’t yet exist in the wild. But it’s probably safe to assume from this that there’s nothing in the Sony firmware or software that will prevent these larger cards from working).

The NW-A45 is basically identical to the A35 but for a few slight improvements (support for MQA and aptX, ability to use the unit as a USB DAC) so no reason to think they’ve dropped that support on the newer model.

There are plenty of folks over on HeadFi who are using 400Gb cards in the A45 without problems.

Re: library build time, my NW-A35 is not bad at all, compared to the competition (~90 seconds to index 15,000 files compared to nearly 10 minutes on a Fiio unit I tried out).

As above, I tend to leave mine in standby mode unless I know I won’t be using it for a while - that way, re-indexing is only ever an issue after I connect to a computer to add or delete files.

 

How do you put the NW-A45 on standby? About how many percent does the battery drain overnight?

 

Short press on the power button (long press will turn it completely off and require a reboot/reindexing next time you come to use it).

Never checked re: overnight battery drain, as I’ve never found it to be an issue (and in any event, there’s no percentage indicator - just a battery icon with four segments). I get more than a week of moderate daily use between charges, which is good enough for me.

 

As above really! I can put mine in standby and leave it for a few days without any obvious drain, but the battery meter is a crude 3 bar affair so I cannot give a percentage. Haven’t had any occasions where I have reached for it and found it to be flat.

 

The MQA bit is intriguing. Does it fully decode MQA files? The manual states that it recognises them. I don’t have any MQA material (nor do I intend to get any as I happy with FLAC), but I didn’t know it decoded MQA.

Edit: just looked at the detailed specs on the Sony website and apparently it does support MQA. You learn something new every day.

 

Do you guys leave Bluetooth and nfc enabled while on standby?

 

Very little information about this, save for the MQA compatibility listed in the specs (nothing in the manual, for example) but I’m guessing from what I’ve read that the NW-A45 performs the first (software) “unfold”, but not the second (hardware) “unfold” - since it won’t, for example, decode MQA output from Tidal HiFi when you’re using it in USB-DAC mode.

Claim is that you’re getting the equivalent of 24/96 after that “first” unfold - not the 24/192 you’d get with a hardware decoder, but supposedly better than the 24/48 you’d get playing the same file back on non-MQA-capable equipment.

I do most of my listening on the go through wired headphones, so leave Bluetooth and NFC off most of the time.

 

Yes, as I most commonly use mine with Bowers and Wilkins PX cans. Good match, as both support AptxHD.

 

I don't use NFC at all and rarely use Bluetooth. I tried it with Bluetooth in my car but had issues with getting it paired and I have used it with my sound bar. When it comes to listening, I prefer to use a set of wired headphones. When it comes to connecting my devices, I prefer to use a wired connection rather than wireless.

 

I would be curious to hear your thoughts about the performance of the PX matched with the NW-A45. I have recently bought the PX and I’m in the market for a DAP. At first I was interested in the Fiio M9 but with only 10 hours of autonomy I’m not very impressed, and there’s no news of it’s availability in Canada. There’s also the Fiio M7 that is doing better with 20 hours of autonomy. It also use a ESS DAC.

Any idea what DAC Sony uses in the NW-A45?

I’m not looking for a high end DAP since I’m going to use it mainly at work and when I walk to and from work. But I’m looking foe something that will last at least a couple of years.

 

I’m amazed how close the PX / NW A45 combination gets to my Oppo PM3 either HA2 amp to be honest. FLAC files + AptX HD works well for me. Having given both a road test on a long train ride the noise cancelling on the PX is better than i initially gave it credit for.

I don’t think the NW A45 uses a conventional DAC; rather the Sony headphone amp is a digital amp. Regarding the headphone out, my EU model has a volume limiter as per EU regulations which can be defeated with a firmware tweak for more power hungry wired cans.

 

This is correct. It uses Sony’s S Master HX, which is a direct digital amplifier, rather than the traditional DAC + analog amp you’ll find in other DAPs.

One advantage of this setup is that it’s *very* efficient - the quoted 40-odd hours of battery life is probably a tad optimistic but it’s not far off and definitely in a different league to Fiio or other comparable Chinese DAPs.

Don’t think the volume cap will be an issue on North American-bought players, but second the recommendation for the volume hack (available here: SonyNWDestTool < Main < Wiki , literally takes a few seconds) if you buy an EU model. Mine sounded a bit weedy out of the box but now has tons of headroom.

 

There is no volume cap via Bluetooth at all, so volume on the PX is not a problem.

 

Does the AW45 support ALAC?

 

NW-A45/A45HN/A46HN/A47 | Help Guide | Supported formats

Yes.

 

“Official” battery life:

NW-A45/A45HN/A46HN/A47 | Help Guide | Battery life

 

Just a related note on the A45. I had it for a few days then sent it back. It was a solid device (with the best interface I've seen on any dedicated music player of this price class), but be forewarned that if you buy it in Europe, it'll have a ridiculously low output volume due to French regulations. It might be fine for loudly mastered pop music, but listening to classical music or any other very dynamic music was not really enjoyable because there's not enough drive for the quieter sections. Even my iPhone was louder than the Sony. This shouldn't be a problem with devices bought outside the EU.

EDIT: Just saw @Sevoflurane mentioned this already.

 

As above, the volume limit only applies to wired, not Bluetooth, headphones, and can easily be defeated using the link above and a minor firmware tweak. With the volume limit defeated, the NWA45 is more than loud enough. As an example, it drives my Oppo PM3 and Sennheiser HD600 to decent volumes, though clearly both headphones benefit from a dedicated headphone amplifier.

 

Thank you very much. I might give it another chance. The link doesn’t mention the A45, but I guess it’s supported nonetheless?

 

Yes. Can’t remember which instructions I used, and I am away from home so can’t check, but I managed to defeat the volume limit on my first attempt.

Edit: follow the NW A40 instructions. The NW A45’s own firmware describes it as “NWA40 series”, anyway.