Sony’s high-resolution audio Walkman they announced back at CES is in-stock and ready to ship in Australia. The Walkman appeared on the Sony site last weekend, but was listed as out of stock, but that’s now resolved, though with only limited stock available.
The limited stock availability may be Sony testing the waters on the high-priced player which at $1599, will only really appeal to the higher-end audiophile. The $1599 pricetag is somewhat offset by free shipping, but that’s a drop in the ocean in this case.
The Walkman is of course one of Sony’s most iconic brands, which brings back memories of long ago when they kicked off the personal audio revolution. Those days are gone, and audio is playable on just about any digital device, but Sony has kicked it up a notch with the ZX2 Walkman, offering support for loss-less audio codecs and a large amount of storage capacity.
The Walkman ZX2 is a great looking device as well, with a strong industrial feel to it with a textured aluminium alloy frame giving the Walkman a more rugged yet functional look. The device has a number of external controls including physical power, volume and playback controls and a full-size USB port and microSD card slot on the base.
Spec wise, it should keep you quite happy:
- Memory capacity 128 GB
- External memory microSD (card not included)
- Key features High-Resolution Audio playback, S-Master HX Digital Amplifier, DSEE HX (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine), ClearAudio+, Clear Bass, Equaliser, VPT, one-touch listening via NFC and Bluetooth® connectivity
- Compatible audio formats MP3, WMA1, FLAC (192KHz/24bit), Linear PCM (192KHz/24bit), WAV (192KHz/24bit), AAC-LC2, HE-AAC, Apple Lossless (192KHz/24bit), AIFF (192KHz/24bit), DSD (2.8MHz, 5.6MHz)*1: Copyright protected WMA files cannot be played back.*2: Copyright protected AAC-LC files cannot be played back
- Battery life MP3 up to 60 hours**(MP3 128kbps), Hi-Res Audio 33 hrs**(FLAC 192kHz/24bit)
- Charging time Approximately 4.5 hours
- Operating platform Androidâ„¢ 4.2
- Display 4.0 inch FWVGA (854×480) TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile
- Communication mode Wi-Fi® (IEEE 802.11b/g/n/a)
- Bluetooth® Bluetooth® (A2DP/AVRCP/OPP/HID/SPP)Supported Codec: SBC/LDAC
- NFC Yes
- Included applications Media Go (for Windows), Content Transfer for Mac (for Mac OS)
- Dimensions 65.1×131.2×18.5 mm (WxHxD, excluding max. protruding section)
- Mass Weight: Approx. 235 g
- Accessories USB cable, leather carrying case, spacer (headphones not included)
If you’re in the market for a Walkman ZX2 head on over to the Sony Australia website and check it out.
No wonder why they are ready to sell mobile division
“The $1599 pricetag is somewhat offset by free shipping”
Is that a serious comment? I was going to buy a $20k Barina but Mercedes is offering a free tank of fuel with their $120k E-class so I’m going to buy one of those instead.
Sony say making smartphones is losing them money, so a $1600 walk an is going to make them profit?
Can’t understand the logic behind that price. They are not going to make a profit if no-one buys the device. Sometimes people forget that to make a profit, one must sell the product. Then again, there are enough fools out there who might buy one.
Wow… Sony management has really caught the crazy-bug with this one.
And the award for biggest audiophile-nonsense trap from a major manufacturer goes to…
Seems like a good price.
I’m not sure I see a point of this over using a phone for the same purpose. In the photo, they have it connected to an external DAC/amp anyway.
With a phone, you have apps that will play all those formats, and you can have that much storage with an SD card. And for 1/2 to 1/3 the price…
How many phones allow you to connect them via USB to a DAC?
Almost all, depends on your DAC. Works through USB OTG.
Phones have mediocre DACs and horrible amp stages. They also have limited space for hi-res music. In order to obtain high SQ out of phone you will need an external stack containing the DAC and Amp. That will set you back over $600. Or, you buy an all in one such as the Sony. If music is important to you then you will spend the $1k for the Sony. As far as how many they will sell that is anyone’s guess but Sennheiser has sold tens of thousand of HD-800 headphones at $1,400 a pop so the market is there.
The point is that, in the photo, the Walkman is attached to an external DAC/amp.