Sony's NEW WALKMAN hits me right in the feels 🥰 (NW-A306 review)

👉🏻 This episode is brought to you by Bowers & Wilkins:

🎥 Camera #1: Olaf von Voss
🎥 Camera #2: John Darko
🎬 Editor: John Darko
🌈 Colour: Olaf von Voss
🕺🏻 Motion GFX: John Darko
💰 Ad segment: Jana Dagdagan

👉🏻 As seen in this video...

Sony NW-A306

Shanling M3 Ultra podcast review w/ Srajan Ebaen

Campfire Audio Andromeda Emerald Sea

Sennheiser IE600

Sennheiser IE900

Shanling M3 Ultra

VA - Steven Wilson 'Intrigue' box set

Fever Ray - Radical Romantics

#headphones #walkman #sony

__________________________________________________________________
📖 PLEASE READ *before commenting*!
1) Polite comments that advance the conversation are most welcome
2) No URLs, racist/sexist remarks or conspiracy theories
3) All comments here are moderated by a third party

__________________________________________________________________
⏰ How our YouTube videos get made:

Darko.Audio FAQ:

Why are/were comments turned OFF?

What the bloody hell am I talking about?

How is Darko.Audio funded?

Darko.Audio may earn a small commission from items purchased via affiliate links.
__________________________________________________________________
🎧 Check out the Darko.Audio podcast:

__________________________________________________________________

[iKaGe]

I only came to see if the cassette actually moves during playback. I can leave happy now

[burnzy]

As a former Sony salesman, I have to correct you. NW stands for Network Walkman, not new walkman.

[MikeLindup]

As an old school Walkman owner back in the day, I so wanted this player to be great and blow the competition out of the water :) However, I’d be more interested in how it competes with an iPhone 13/14 with a lightning adaptor straight out into IEMs/ earphones. What I loved about the Walkman (then the iPods) was being in uninterrupted music world, plus the long battery life of the classic iPod. I hope there might be a further firmware update to the NW that restores that feature? Thanks for the review, and yes, the 80s rock IMHO 😂

[jinvid]

The Cassette Tape graphic on the screen is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!! It screams nostalgic and futuristic all at once! I would get this JUST for that feature. That’s an AMAZING feature! It’s a different tape every time with YOUR PERSONAL COLLECTION only! Just like the old days. A big salute to the people on that team that came up with that. Also loved how you went to commercial on this video John.

[JamesAlexanderFoxhal]

Been using a Sony A45 for a few years now and love it. Sure i use spotify every day but to have a backup of all my favourite music with no need for internet and great quality and no fluff. Im suprised more people haven't jumped on them already.

[CristianGeelen]

I just want a real Walkman with cassettes. :(

[joaquing]

Hi John. The output power in this Walkman 306 is 35mW+35mW at 16ohms. And is not capped. The only capped walkmans in Europe are The balanced output of ZX507, ZX707, WM1AM2 and WM1ZM2.

Greetings from Barcelona.

[HlloSE]

You're one of the only YouTubers that I initially start complaining about the lengthy video, and end up watching it all 😂

[PaulLembo]

Mini review: Ordered mine from Sony US direct. Gets stupidly loud and has plenty of bass. Love the form factor, and the vibe. Unit is noise free with IE600 IEMs at medium volume.

[Beati]

You're right. I bought the Sony NW-A100TPS in 2022, entirely because of both that screensaver and the Walkman case that makes it look like the most adorable little Walkman ever. It's battery life is abysmal, but I can't be mad at it. If you delete almost everything and run it without the wifi on, the battery can cope with a few hours a day of Hi-Res audio. The Sony ClearAudio+ ability is a bonus though. The Sony app itself with ClearAudio+ switched on is fantastic for upscaling my old collection of MP3s from when I ripped my collection 20+ years ago. I don't know what that does exactly, but it gets sparkle where there had previously been none. Sony deserves credit for that. I use it a lot.

[neilshirley]

Great video, and loved the ending! That screensaver when playing local files is fantastic. I want one just for that!

[ramacharya]

Thank you for finally adressing the power output problem. Ive got the nw a105 and was very annoyed when i wanted to use it with actually all my wired headphones. They were all underpowered. Stil i had to use my Dragonfly red portable DAC to power my headphones.

But every review back then was like this player was straight from heaven made by angels.

[vontaejordan]

The 0.4 to 1.1 mW is right and that is EU/ North American capped version most people are getting uncapped Sony dap's from Japan or Hong Kong and these have a higher gain at 35mW+35mW

[christopherviers]

Great review...!!! In the year 1980, a close friend turned me on to his newly purchased Sony Walkman cassette player... It was really a true music epiphany at the time...!!! Sound quality, portability and convenience never seen before...!!! Hot Diggity...!!! Fast forward some 40 years and the landscape has changed a lot... Gone are the days when big brands, such as Sony and Bose, ruled the roost concerning hi-fi audio gear... Nowadays, smaller companies, solely dedicated to manufacturing audio equipment, are doing a much better job at much lower prices... A $350US Sony Walkman NW-A306 with only a 3.5 single-ended output, along with poor battery life compared to a $210US HiBy R3 Pro Saber with 2.5 balanced & 3.5 single-ended outputs provided, along with two DACs, etc., makes for an easy choice... Don't get me wrong... I have a warm spot in my heart for the Sony Walkman, but using balanced cables, good DACs, and having a longer battery life are my priorities these days... Still, it was nice seeing the Walkman is still around and kickin'...!!!

[techgeek]

The Sony walkman's soundstage is it's biggest strength. It sounds absolutely phenomenal. Despite iPhone's dac/amp posing higher dynamic range, the noise of other components ruin everything. So this Walkman is way better sound quality wise.

[someperson]

I still have my Sony CD/mp3 player and Mini Disc player. Both work after 20 years. Their quality back then was top notch. I don't think their quality now is as good as in the past.

[PersonaNGrata]

In this day and age, there’s absolutely no excuse for a device to be laggy. If they can’t make the interface smooth as silk, they shouldn’t be releasing the product at a premium price.

[telephonic]

If you want this player, purchase it from Japan, the EU and UK version have a sound limiter.

[CamdenBloke]

I have a Sony Experia 1 iii telephone which I selected because it still takes microSD cards, still has a headphone jack, and isn't made by Samsung (I used to be a Samsung fan, until they changed direction in several ways). It has very good sound quality for both headphones and earbuds.

I don't actually purchase digital music any more. I stream digital music. If I hear an artist I especially like, I purchase their album on vinyl.

I actually stuck with mainly cassette format until about 2000, when I was forced to switch to CDs because music shops stopped selling cassettes. It wasn't long after that that I got an mp3 player (iomega hipzip, later a 1st gen shuffle, later a 4th gen nano) and started torrenting music, and now I do what I described above - streaming music and purchasing vinyl. The only place that I use digital music is stored on my watch for running music (so I can leave my phone at home).

[walterzoomie]

Some say, "Why?"

...To replace my beloved (and dying) iPod Touch 4!

I don't need or want streaming, or anything that uses data. I don't want or need constant internet/cellular connectivity. I want a stand alone music player with shitloads of capacity. I don't want to use an "old smart phone" with low capacity as a music player. I spend 8-12 hours a day on the road. I don't want to hear music I don't like, or the same song twice during my work day. I want a touch screen. I want decent audio quality. I want USB, stereo mini-jack, and Bluetooth connectivity. I want to load the massive library I have (what I like), hit shuffle, and cruise on down the road. I don't listen to music while on foot, jogging, bicycling, etc. I don't wear headphones unless I'm at my PC ripping, editing, engineering audio clips. These are the reasons this device suits me.