Sony Nw-ZX507 64GB Walkman Hi-Res Digital Music Player with 3.6" Touch Screen, Aluminium Body, Android 9.0, S-Master Hx, DSEE-Hx, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth and USB Type-C - Black

A great portable music player - lives up to its Walkman name. Having read reports about people experiencing loudness issues, I was a bit wary but a simple trial solved the issue - you don't need to buy the Japanese or American version - the EU version works very well if you pair it with the right headphones. So for example when I listened via the Hifiman Sundara- the volume did not get loud enough because they are too big to be used outdoors. However, having tried it with three in-ear buds/ phones, I can confirm that the loudness is fine - unless you want hearing damage. For my test, I used Shure Aonic 4 (wired 7ohms impedance - worked well), the Hi-Res capable Final E 5000 Hi-Res (14 ohms wired - worked well) and finally Sony's WF- 1000XM4 (Earbuds / Hi-res with LDAC - worked very well). The problem that people complain about is that it appears they are using high impedance headphones as this is a portable device - low impedance earphones are delivering the volume.Given both the Sony earbuds and the Walkman can handle LDAC. LDAC is Sony’s proprietary Bluetooth streaming codec. At its maximum potential, it’s the codec with the highest quality. It streams at a max of 990kbps, translating to a sample rate of 96kHz and a bit depth of 24. That means both stored and streaming files can be played and listened to in Hi-Res. Over 1TB ( 1Tb of music on the Micro SD card plus whatever memory is left on the Walkman's hard drive. I removed a lot of Google "bloatware" - Gmail ( Screen and keyboards to write an email but obviously read), YouTube (this is after all a supreme music player). Battery life is determined by how you use the device - if you play mp3 Sony says you can keep going for 20 hours whereas Hi-Res Flac or Alac files is 18 hours. For Tidal users, this can also handle MQA files. Is this a step up versus its sibling Sony's NW- A105 but you get high res streaming without memory issues. In fact, the 65GB memory allows you more than one streaming service ( for example Amazon & Qobuz). In terms of a full-featured streaming device launched at £700 but available on Amazon at a tad over £500, this offers everything and more from a highly competent portable music player. Just make sure you pair with the right earphones. With Sony LDAC headphones and earphones it really delivers!

I've owned £1,200 DAP's to ipods, and everything in between, I've spent £400 on in line amps, £850 on IEM's and another £200 on cables in search of that "perfect" sound .... now, I know that when I put this player and my current IEM's up against that level of equipment its going to fall short ... if I'm sitting in my lounge relaxing ... but thats not the reason I bought those items, I bought them for travelling internationally for work and to listen on planes, trains and automobiles overseas as well as my office/hotel room when on location .... so more to do with travelling than relaxing. And lets be honest ... the best kit in the world still picks up background noise when used in the real world, so whats the point?And thats where my decision to drop all of the ultra high end audio I owned and move on to look for something that ticked ALL of the boxes came in.Sound qualityBuild qualityPortabilityUser interfacePriceThe reason's I looked past this player initially were due to poor reviews .... primarily the volume cap on EU models and the battery life. For that reason I've spent the past year trying out FiiO, HiBY, A&K and Cowon. The thing is, each of the aforementioned have their own issues as well, sound/build quality, user interface, no bluetooth etc, so in this price point, there are choices, but in my opinion they are not perfect either. When I bit the bullet to at least try the Sony, its stayed when the others fell down, as it ticks most of what my requirements are.My findings with the reviews that caused me to look around:Volume cap .... I have taken the time to run in the capacitors as recommended by Sony, for 200hrs on each output jack .... not exactly a taxing thing to do ... plug it in, hook up the earphones and press play and leave it sitting when you are not listening .... it doesnt take that long. I noticed a difference in sound quality and volume level within 100hrs and am regularly listening on 80 out of the 120 max ..... seriously, for those who say its too quiet, what volume do you really need? You must be causing damage to your hearing if 120 isnt high enough ... I'm 58, so far from young in the hearing department.Battery life .. I dont think I've ever sat for more than a couple of hours doing nothing but listen to music, even while on the move .... switch off everything you dont need ... its a portable player, if you need to surf the net, check mail, etc ... use your phone, why wouldnt you? Mine is on airplane mode with 70% brightness and hasnt let me down. Again, if the measure of battery life is compared against a mobile phone then I dont know what to tell you.That out of the way, heres the other positives:Build quality and design are on point. Its a Sony after all, they very rarely put out a poor product.Sound (now that the capacitors are run in) is fantastic, plenty high, mid and bass to please anyone ... the equalizer is a bonus if you feel it needs a tweek and it drives and sounds great through my IEM's and Airpod Pro's in equal measure .... obviously lower levels of volume on the Bluetooth side, but if you dont know that you always lose something via Bluetooth you do now.Portability ... its a reassuring weight, but not one that pulls your shirt pocket down to your navel, and the design is such that its comfortable in a jacket or jeans pocket.User interface .. this is where I docked a star ... I cannot for the life of me see the need to have Android on a portable music player, we have our phones attached to us 24/7 these days, if you want to stream music, use your phone, hot-spotting off of it to get Spotify on a portable player is beyond me ... talk about over complicating a simple task. As for anything else I'd need Android/Google for on an item purchased for nothing other than listening to music on the move? I cant think of a single use ..... Sony, drop the Android UI and just put your proprietary player in place .... its great at what its for, easy to navigate and, its all thats needed after all.Price .. Its not cheap, however, when all of the positives are put together, its a perfect example of "you get what you pay for" .... If these were £100 cheaper they would be the best selling player in that mid price bracket IMHO.I hope this sheds some light on the usual reviews, a bit long winded, but I always feel that reviews fall short of real world opinion and tend to focus on short sharp opinions without any explanation or context.

Beautifully manufactured. Compact but with heft; feels substantial.UK models adhere to the EU Noise Directive. Poor sound level straight out of the box. After the DAP has "burnt in" the capacitors (around 100 hours of use) the sound level is fine. The quality of sound is astonishing.A higher volume level, again straight out of the box, can be achieved with Bluetooth headphones. For best sound quality get headphones/ear buds which support LDAC . Wired IEM's offer an improvement in sound level over wired headphones.The battery life is as others have described. Well below the Sony claim. With everything switched off (ie WiFi, Bluetooth and notifications) the unit will manage 8 - 9 hours. This is using Qobuz offline rather than the Sony Music Player App.Streaming Qobuz gives 5 - 6 hours. For a long haul flight an external battery (eg Anker PowerCore+ Mini £14.99 from Amazon) would be advisable.MQA is achieved with a compatible App ie Tidal but it is first unfold only. The latest firmware release by passes the Android 9.0 OS and allows Hi Res streaming; however this release also upsamples the output to 24/192kHz.Apple Music now supports both lossless and hi-res music. So ironically the Sony NW ZX507 is a better way to listen to Apple Music than an iPhone ie no dongles or external DAC’s plus support for external storage cards.