Sony to debut new Wireless headphone with NC Soon

Sony is expected to unveil a slightly updated version of the MDR-XB950.  The new headset showed up on the FCC in late November and it appears little has changed in the design, mainly the overall shape. There will be 2 models, one with new low energy Bluetooth ver. 4.0, and the other with BT LE and NC built in.  With the addition of NC, some of the controls will shift around on the headset.

Sony to launch new WS model soon

Sony has filed a new FCC application for the WS620 Walkman, the successor to the WS610.  Design wise the new WS will be similar to the cheaper WS410.  To differentiate the two models, the WS620 will ship with a remote (RMT-NWS10B) like the WS610. 

GSMArena Review of the MDR-1000X

GSMArena has put up a short review of the new MDR-1000X headphones.  The 1000X are Sony's top of the line model with built in NC and Bluetooth.  There is support for Sony's LDAC and aptX, a format the new A-Series has stopped supporting but does offer LDAC in its place. 

Firmware Update: NW-A35/NW-A36/NW-A37 - Version 1.01

Sony has released (10-11-2016) a new firmware update for the new A30 Walkman.  The following models are supported for the update:

Sony NW-A35/A37 Walkman Shows up on Amazon

The new A-Series has shown up on Amazon finally.  But it is not directly from Amazon but from resellers, all are from Japan, so the model shipping will be the Japanese one.  Pricing is around $300 USD for the A35 and $530-560 USD for the A37, all 5 colours are available for both versions.  If anyone has decided to grab one from Amazon let me know if it is worth the cost.

Sony NW-A36 Reviews from MusicPhotoLife and TechGoondu

These might be the first or at least one of the first reviews I have seen of the new A30.  There are 2 reviews, the first from TechGoondu and the second from MusicPhotoLife.  Both are from Singapore meaning the device should go on sale shortly there, November from what I can see. The MusicPhotoLife review is the longer and more detailed one and probably the better of the two.  The author mentionss upgrading from the A10/A20 might not be worth the money.  Of course this is subjective but from the differences between the A10/20 and A30. I may pull the trigger if it goes on sale here.

Sony Walkman Service Menu Access (Update 2016)

Here is how to access the service menu in the S-Series, E-Series and A-Series.  Before anyone tries this, I caution you that you may brick your player and stop it from working.

Sony Signature Series Show up on Amazon

Sony's Signature Series has shown up at Amazon.com but no shipping information or availability is provided.  Pricing is expensive as expected, $3,199 USD for the Walkman, $2,999 USD for the headphones, and $2,199 for the AMP, a total of $8,397 USD.

New Sony XBA headphones coming this Fall

This upcoming fall, Sony will release two brand headphone sets from the XBA line, the XBA-N1 and XBA-N3.  This is great news since the previous line of XBA headphones never made it to Europe or outside of Asia to my understanding. 

Sony NW-A30 & NW-WM1 Walkman Hands on Videos

Phile-Web has a hands on with the new A-Series and WM1-Series.  A quick preview of the updated menu and UI can be see in the video for the new A-Series.  The menu systems seem a bit choppy and not as smooth as it should be, so I hope this is not the case once the device goes on sale. 

Sony Australia Pricing for NW-A30 Walkman

Sony Australia has announced the pricing for the new A30 and it is a lot more expensive than the older A20 model.

Sony Unveils New A-Series (A30) Walkman (Update)

Sony today has unveiled the new (updated) A-Series Walkman at IFA 2016 today. Sadly there was no separate press release (I have added the Asia Pacific Press Release at the end of the post) for the new A-Series since Sony seemed to want to focus more on the high end WM1 model.

Sony WM1 Series Unveiled

Sophisticated and iconic

The iconic Walkman® is revamped for ultimate sound quality with the flagship WM1 series, including NW-WM1Z and NW-WM1A. A superb listening experience is possible with these digital music players that can handle any music file from the High Resolution Audio end of the scale to low quality mp3. Also, thanks to new DSEE HX™ it has five modes that you can select based on the type of music you are listening to; Standard, Female Vocal, Male Vocal, Percussion or Strings. This technology means it can carefully upscale lower bit rate files to near High Resolution Audio quality. The new Walkman®’s can deliver music with purity, precision and a natural acoustic balance.

Sony MDR-1000X Headphones Introduced

• Industry-leading noise cancellation 
• Personalised features never seen before including; Personal NC Optimizer, Quick Attention andAmbient Sound Mode 
• High-Resolution Audio for better than ever sound

Today Sony launches the MDR-1000X, industry-leading noise cancelling headphones. With flagship noise cancelling performance this pair of premium headphones offers the most responsive cancellation of ambient sound frequency range on the market.

Sony Introduces the MDR-Z1R Headphones

Sony pushes the boundaries with ultimate ‘Signature Series’ audio range

• Made up of pure audio headphones, Walkman® and headphone amplifier
• Delivering exceptional sound quality with High Resolution Audio
• Engineered with meticulous attention to detail and using the highest quality materials

This ‘Signature Series’ showcases Sony’s engineering excellence in audio and has been specially made for the ultimate sound experience. Perfect to sit back, relax and enjoy your favourite tracks. Designed to complement each other as a ‘Signature Series’, together the headphones, Walkman® and amplifier bring the ultimate sound quality to your ears.

IFA 2016 Preview

It is the end of August and IFA is just around the corner.  As with previous years it appears Sony will have some new Walkmans to unveil and hopefully this year will bring a more substantial updates to the A-Series.  Along with the new Walkmans, Sony will undoubtedly bring new headphones to IFA.  some of those headphones can be found in the posts from the past few days.  While I normally do not write about non-Walkman news, this year at IFA, Sony could be bringing something exciting to the Xperia line.  It it rumoured that Sony may be finally adding full manual controls to their camera app, with optical image stabilization finally arriving to a Sony phone near you.  For all the news related to the Xperia brand, head on over to the Xperia Blog for all the updates from IFA.

Sony Signature Series Leaked (UPDATE)

left to right: MDR-Z1R, NW-WM1Z, TA-ZH1ES

A little birdie dropped some gifts off tonight, a little preview of things to come...

 And a little bonus, the new high end walkman, NW-WM1Z.

Small Update, click on the photos for larger size

Preview of new Sony headphones for IFA 2016

In early June I posted some news of upcoming Sony headphones likely to debut this fall at IFA, but it seems 2 more models appeared on the FCC in the next 2 weeks following my post.  To remedy this, I will outline a quick preview of the 5 models of consumer headphones due at IFA this upcoming week.  Here is the list of the 5 pairs of headphones:

Is this the Sony WM1-Series Walkman? (UPDATE)

Sony will be launching two new Walkman models at IFA 2016 this year,  one being the updated the A-Series and the second the WM1 series.  This above image was sent to me by an anonymous user (thank you), it appears to be from a Sony China mini website or teaser site for IFA.  Rumours has it that we should expect a high end pair of headphones, possibly replacing the MDR-Z7 or perhaps positioned above the Z7, a new high end Walkman and a new high end DAC to replace to PHA-3.  If this turns out to be correct, I feel this might be a niche product for devoted audiophiles because a setup like this could easily cost anywhere from 1500-2000 dollars. 

New Sony WM1-Series Walkman coming at IFA?

 

Apart from the new A-Series, Sony will be introducing another Walkman this year, possibly a WM1-Series or WM-Series.  The FCC has 2 models up on its site, the WM1A and WM1Z.  The only difference I can see in the documents is the Bluetooth versions, the WM1A will feature Bluetooth low energy, version 4.0, and the WM1Z will feature Bluetooth classic, or version 3.0.  The difference in Bluetooth should allow for an increase in Bluetooth play time and lower latency. In addition both devices will feature NFC.

New A-Series Walkman coming soon

As with previous years (2015, 2014), Sony is on track to introduce the 3rd generation of the current A-Series Walkman.  The new NW-A30 should ship this Fall after an introduction at IFA 2016 and be available in 3 different capacities, 16, 32 and 64GB.  Like previous versions, the new A will feature NFC and Bluetooth, most likely version 3.0 like the previous model.  This seems to be confirmed by the FCC documents, as the Bluetooth is labelled as classic.

Upcoming Wireless Sony headphones

(MDR-XB80BS)

Sony will be releasing 3 new wireless headphones shortly, either later this Summer or during IFA 2016 with a Fall release date.  Two of the sets will be in ear, while the last set will feature a standard over the ear design.

Sony E-Series (E390) Walkman

It seems I missed the introduction of a new E-Series Walkman earlier this year, so I will just post it up now for those who missed it as well.

Firmware Update: NWZ-A17 - Version 1.21

Sony USA has released a firmware update for the A17. LINK, this should work for the A15 but update at your own risk. I have not seen the update on Sony Europe's site yet.

Sony Launches new WS Walkman

 

Sony boosts Wearable line-up with launch of new WS413 / WS414 Walkman

• All-in-one design delivers quality sound anytime, anywhere with easy connectivity and an improved sleek, wearable fit

• New salt-water / dust proof design for use with increased range of sports

• Introducing ‘Ambient Sound’ mode for enhanced user experience

Sony CES 2016

Another new year and another CES upon us. Not expecting anything new on the Walkman front.  Perhaps Sony will introduce the ZX100 and A20 Walkmans to the US market, otherwise their press conference will/should focus on TVs, Playstation VR and perhaps photo.  So far only a new speaker has been leaked or revealed, the h.ear go wireless speaker, so nothing exciting.