Different from Sony's recently introduced appreciation walkman based on Android system, A 15 returns to a simple embedded system. Although it lacks scalability that can match Android app and WiFi-based extended applications (such as DLNA and Internet radio listening), it also makes the system simple and only used for easy listening to music.
The appearance of A 15 is a bit like the slim version of F880 series, which is different from the previous A865. A 15' s simple lines with rectangular keys are closer to the design style of S 10 and E083 series, but the round keys dubbed Mickey Mouse keys are changed into squares, but the keys occasionally get stuck. It is worth mentioning that A 15 feels light, but the appearance of A 15 is still made of metal, made by cutting, with fine lines on the front and matte finish on the back.
The biggest change between A 15 and Sony Walkman in the past is the addition of a memory card for expansion. A 15 and A 17 can expand the microSDXC with a maximum of 128GB, and also avoid the problem that only 16GB of built-in storage space is quickly filled with high-quality files. After all, the file capacity of 24 bits is above 96 kHz. However, I would like to complain a little about its dust cover design. The mold precision of this dust cover is not enough, it is not easy to cover, and it is also slightly easy to bounce off.
A 15 uses physical keys at the same time in operation, relying on the cross key, dial key and volume key on the side, which also avoids the control confusion caused by the introduction of touch into the small screen of previous generations of A series models; The operation of the music playing interface is left, right, up and down, and the album folder is selected up and down, so the interface will not be too complicated; At the same time, it also provides Bluetooth and NFC supporting atp-X protocol for auxiliary pairing, which is quite convenient for friends who like to listen to music with Bluetooth headphones.
Perhaps it follows the embedded system platform of Sony Walkman, so the functions of photo preview and movie play are also preserved. I think these two functions are a bit lame. After all, the screen is a little small, so it's better to watch it with a smart phone. But A 15 allows you to change the tablecloth pattern, and you can change your favorite personalized tablecloth according to your personal mood.
In terms of architecture, after all, it is a player developed by Sony itself, and the technical architecture is also in the same strain. S-Master HX is adopted to expand the price, and DSEE-HX digital sound quality restoration technology (algorithm to improve the listening sense of low-sampling music) is also provided, which supports WAV, AIFF, and? HE-AAC, FLAC, ALAC and other high-quality formats based on PCM sampling support up to 24bit 192kHz, but do not support DSD.
At the same time, A 15, like ZX 1, uses a power line 1.5 times thicker than the standard line to reduce interference and impedance, and uses high-purity lead-free solder. Although ZX 1 does not use the traditional cylindrical capacitor of Sanyo Electric POSCAP, it still uses the patch capacitor of POSCAP to ensure the audio quality of the analog part. It is commendable that although it is only 66 grams, the MP3 format of A 15 can be played for 50 hours, and FLAC also has 30 hours.
This is also because the embedded system used in A 15 is simpler than the Android system of F880 or ZX 1, and the design of the simulation part is simple, so the endurance is greatly improved. Basically, A 15 rarely enters the complete shutdown mode, and it only goes to sleep after a long press of the power supply, and wakes up in a few seconds. Secondly, it really enters a complete shutdown, and the boot speed is still much faster than Android Walkman.
A 15 is Sony's first walkman with plug-in card expansion. What's the reaction after reading the memory card? Personally, I think it depends on the number of files in the memory card. After the first insertion of the memory card, it will be scanned. When playing, it can be stored with the built-in storage music and played randomly. As for quitting the memory card or inserting the memory card, the music file will be rescanned and the computer will be restarted after completion. Quitting the memory card and restarting the computer is quite fast. As mentioned above, inserting a memory card depends on the number of files.
In addition, A 15 can also support functions from OTG to PHA 2 and PHA-3. Therefore, A 15 can be regarded as the cheapest digital turntable with expandable storage space for PHA-2 and PHA-3. If the focus is on matching PHA-2 and PHA-3, it seems to be a more economical choice than F880 and ZX 1 without DSD playback requirements. Japanese factories also sell Sony-specific pin-to-USB sockets, which can be used for OTG to UDA- 1, SRS-X9 and other equipment, but unfortunately they are not imported from Taiwan Province Province.
As for timbre? The authors take A729, Z 1060 and F880 as the control group. The author thinks that the performance is far better than A729 in terms of resolution and clarity, and there is no subtle noise floor common in early Walkman. The sound base is quite dark, and the overall timbre tends to be ZX 1 neutral and slightly hard, which belongs to partial analysis. However, the detail presentation ability is still not as good as Z 1060 and F880, but it is enough for portable listening. The sound field is between Z 1060 and F880.
Driving force has always been Walkman's weakness. Even though the output performance of ZX 1 is not outstanding, the driving force of A 15 is naturally average. However, the driving performance generally does not mean that the performance of A 15 driving headphones is the same as that of mobile phones. After all, Sony's S-Master HX architecture does not follow the existing digital amplification architecture in the market, but is a digital amplification architecture developed by Sony for many years. Even if the book data is not outstanding, ordinary mobile phones can't compete with it.
In my opinion, the driving force of A 15 is enough to load most ear canal headphones. Except for some balanced armature earphones that use too many monomers or moving-coil earphones with super-large caliber and special coating, general double-balanced armature earphones or earphones with moving-coil monomers around 10mm can achieve good driving performance. As for some three-balanced armature headphones and multi-coil headphones, although they have not been fully driven, they have been significantly improved compared with ordinary mobile phones.
Compared with F880 series, A 10 series is not equipped with a touch screen, and the system does not use a flexible Android platform. However, if the demand is only a portable music playing device that can be easily put into a shirt pocket, then A 10 series has the advantages of simple structure and increased capacity through a memory card, and can also be used as a digital turntable together with PHA2 and PHA-3. On the other hand, F880 has the characteristics of more sufficient driving force, streaming music through the network, matching with original noise-reducing headphones and so on.
Perhaps in the near future, when high-quality digital players appear like mushrooms after rain, A 15 has no amazing driving force and the file support is not diversified enough. However, it is small in size, and it also has the function of Bluetooth and Sony's own portable DAC, which is also a feature that other competing products do not have. In the market, A 15 returns to the analog amplification structure and follows the digital amplification system independently developed by Sony, thus achieving a more balanced performance among volume, battery life and sound quality.
If you want to get a better listening experience than your mobile phone, or don't want to spend the power of your mobile phone on playing music, A 15, which doesn't take up space, is more suitable for players who like to carry it easily and listen mainly with headphones. Coupled with the endurance of at least 30 hours, commuters don't need to charge frequently, which is also the charm of A 15.
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