The other day, I just wrote an article about purchasing the new iPod nano, but this time I will focus on the Walkman "NW-A840 series," which has become a popular product at the end of the year. That's because I used to look at the A840 while wondering before actually using it, but now I've been driving the iPod nano to the corner (forcibly giving it to my family) and putting the A840 in my pocket and going out for coverage every day. , Because I wanted to write the reason.
| Walkman "NW-A840" |
In addition, it is said that the Walkman series is catching up with the iPod series in the Japanese market these days. I wondered what was behind it.
The A840 series will be announced on September 16th and will be released on October 31st. In the meantime, there seemed to be presentations for bloggers who posted articles on this kind of goods, and many articles were posted regardless of commercial media such as this magazine or personal blogs.
In my case, I went directly to both the product preview for reporters and the September presentation, so of course I knew the functions, but I have the sound quality and noise canceling function. I want to try it with the source and usage environment.
After the presentation, I used the rental machine for about two weeks, but I completely liked this product and became a user. However, the A840 has a lot of great elements, but I don't want to praise them all. A840 ... Rather, I had to re-recognize the problems that are common to the entire Walkman series.
■ Supports three user scenarios
The current Walkman has three main usage scenarios regarding the method of music management.
| X-App |
One is to use the x-app. The x-app is software that adds video and still image management functions to SonicStage V, a music management software developed by Sony for many years, and makes it possible to add various functions with plug-ins. In terms of iPod, it is equivalent to iTunes.
Since the x-app has a music data transfer function and synchronization function that it manages, use this to transfer music data to the Walkman. The x-app is required to transfer songs purchased from the online music sales site mora. However, this x-app. The Mac OS X version has not been developed.
So isn't Mac users useless? That's not the case. In addition to using Boot Camp or a PC emulator, you can make your computer recognize it as a USB mass storage device and copy the compatible music files directly to any folder on your Walkman. This is the second usage scenario.
At this time, the Walkman refers to the metadata of all songs by the player alone, and automatically generates an index for quick access to the data. However, songs with DRM purchased from mora etc. cannot be played.
| Music can be transferred to the Walkman even with the PSP application "Media Go" |
However, there are some problems. It's a jacket photo. The Walkman handles this correctly if the jacket photo is included as embedded data, but the iTunes-encoded music data does not have the jacket photo embedded. The jacket photo is managed separately, and the jacket is displayed by referring to the file position. When transferring to an iPod, iTunes converts and transfers the jacket photo you are referring to.
Then, what should we do? The simple transfer application called Content Transfer is prepared, and this is the third usage scenario. Not only music, but also images, videos, etc. can be dropped into Content Transfer by dragging and dropping, and it will be automatically sorted to the appropriate place and copied. In the case of video, it also converts to WMV etc., and the drag source can use not only normal file operations but also songs displayed on iTunes and image files on Internet Explorer.
| Content Transfer |
In addition, there is a function to automatically transfer media files in a specific folder, but basically it is a type of tool that copies manually selected files, and you can easily copy files directly. Furthermore, in the latest version released the other day, if you drop a file on iTunes, the jacket photo managed by iTunes will be taken out and set.
I have already used a considerable number of characters, but some people will positively evaluate that it can be used in various ways, but it is difficult for users to understand how to start with such various management methods. .. Originally, it would be better to unify it into an x-app, but there seems to be a situation where that is not the case. Because I think there are a lot of problems with x-apps.
■ Sound quality that feels a clear "difference" from Apple
Quiet talk break.
As I wrote at the beginning, I decided to listen to music on the go with my Walkman while continuing to live surrounded by iPod, iPod nano and iPhone. I've completely migrated and I'm not using the iPod nano at all (I don't even have it because I've pushed it against my family).
The demo songs I listened to at the recitals were mastered like Japanese music with uniform strong compression, and I couldn't check the sound quality very much, but with the songs I was used to hearing and the earphones I was used to. When you listen to it, you can see how good it is.
| NW-A840 | Operation button part | Comparison with iPod nano |
| Ultimate Ears "Triple.fi 10" |
Although there are complaints in various details (static, that is, S / N in silence is not good enough), the ability of music to express the inherent dynamism is clearly superior to the current iPod nano. I felt. When you listen to vocals that are as close to the original as possible without the compression, you will hear a very sloppy sound.
I used Ultimate Ears' "Triple.fi 10" for both auditions, but the more I used the higher performance earphones, the more obvious the difference was. The speed of the attack and the beauty when the lingering sound disappears are completely different, but before that, the sense of density of the entire sound field is completely different. For an iPod that has no information at all, the Walkman can draw a rich and fluffy sound field as long as the quality of the source music is high.
Of course, it doesn't fall into the category of portable audio, but if there is such a difference, it's not surprising that some people think that the Walkman is better just for sound quality. The author and others were just addicted to it.
Also, when I actually used it, I noticed that the Walkman, which sends the initials with the cross key, can search for the desired song more quickly than the song search by playing the iPod-type twirl or screen. I think I have a taste for this, but the high-speed scrolling of the jacket is smooth and refreshing.
The author's NW-A847 has more than 13,000 songs in 64GB of memory, but he hasn't had any trouble finding songs yet.
| Attached earphones |
In addition, the digital noise canceling function built into this unit. This is also a wonderful result. It is an application version of the technology developed in the headphone "MDR-NC500D", but it is equivalent to the single canal type NC earphone "MDR-NC300D", such as supporting fine adjustment of noise canceling that differs depending on the fit between the earphone and the ear. It also includes the function of (however, there is no automatic mode selection function). The digital noise canceling function was also introduced on the Walkman X1000, but the effect is increasing due to the improvement of the earphone itself.
If noise canceling is applied, the sound quality itself will deteriorate (naturally, the sound will be worse because it is covered with noise in the opposite phase of background noise), but it is used in places such as trains, buses, and airplanes. If not. You should be able to enjoy turning off the noise canceling function in a quiet place, but it is obviously better to turn it on if you are traveling by transportation.
Among the earplug type earphones, for example, the earphones with particularly high sound insulation such as Etymotic Research's ER-4 series may be able to obtain quietness close to this noise canceling function, but with ordinary canal type earphones, it is absolutely impossible. Can not compete. You can listen to classical music comfortably while riding the Yamanote Line, so the effect is enormous.
I used it when I traveled to the United States the other day, but I felt the noise canceling effect was as high as that of the MDR-NC500D and higher than that of Bose's Quiet Comort 2. When the noise canceling function is turned on, the battery lasts only about 8 to 9 hours, but this unit, which can be charged by USB, is easier to use than the MDR-NC500D, which can only be charged with a dedicated AC adapter. By combining it with an external input cable, it can also be used as a noise canceling earphone, so you can use the music player + α when traveling.
The noise canceling function requires the attached compatible earphones, but this earphone is probably the top class (clearly better than the iPod) among the many earphones attached to music players, compared to the 10,000 yen class commercial products. Not bad. Unless you have a high-quality earphone for 30,000 yen or more, you will be fully satisfied. I myself use the attached earphones instead of Triple.fi 10 with an emphasis on the noise canceling function when I'm on the go.
■ "Mysterious" specifications that can be seen in places
Now let's get back to software. The hardware is very good. By the way, the firmware built into the hardware is generally good. However, when it comes to the entire system, there are some parts that are a little difficult to understand. Personally, I am attracted to the Walkman's own sound quality, usability, and noise canceling function, but if I want to acquire more users, Sony needs to work on several points in the future.
First of all, while the Walkman itself has abundant functions and capabilities such as generating index information of meta information, the Walkman itself does not have the function to change the rating of songs or create playlists. This is annoying because you can't copy playlists using Content Transfer.
After all, you have to use the x-app to use playlists. This x-app is positioned as an evolution of the conventional SonicStage V, but in reality it is almost the same as SonicStage V as a music management tool, just by adding video and photo management and transfer functions to SonicStage V. It's the same.
| x-Ads are always displayed in a prominent position when the app is launched |
When I started using it, I was really interested in advertising. How about displaying an ad in the center of the screen, which is quite large? This area can be used for artist search and album search by clicking the tab, but it always starts every time it is started. Switch to advertising. Users are not using the Walkman for free. Also, many x-app users use the x-app to use the Walkman, but this is unlikely.
The x-app also has a bad habit in SonicStage V that it slows down at an accelerating rate as the number of managed songs increases. The responsiveness of the entire software becomes slow, making it very difficult to use. Also, when synchronizing content with the Walkman, the performance of creating a synchronization list is also low. If you have more than 100,000 songs like the author, you will have to wait even if you are using a PC with a fairly high-speed processor.
The proud 12-tone analysis, which embeds an ID that analyzes music and determines what kind of music it is, also makes the operation considerably slower during the analysis process (although it is only necessary to suspend the analysis while operating). ..
Also, this is a function inside the Walkman, but while the Walkman W, which has a slower processor built-in, has a function to recognize the 12-sound analysis ID and perform zapping, everything else. The Walkman cannot dynamically generate a playlist by looking at the 12-sound analysis ID. When I talk to the Walkman product planner, the analysis results are embedded as tags in the song, so in reality any Walkman can incorporate functions that utilize it.
Since the A840 also has a model with a built-in memory of 64GB, I wonder if automatic playlist generation is more important than the Walkman W, but it does not correspond (as mentioned above, it is not "impossible"). (No) is a little incomprehensible.
Content Transfer also has a function to transfer while performing 12-tone analysis for Walkman W, so if you support the firmware, you can utilize 12-tone analysis without x-app. This is in contrast to Apple's iTunes and iPod's appeal of Genius Mix as one of its product strengths. Comparing Genius Mix and 12-tone analysis, there are many parts where I feel that the latter is technically superior. However, it is Apple that has actually been able to successfully convert to product power. Why is Sony not willing to take advantage of such superior technology?
■ Requests for the revival of the adult Walkman
Some of these Walkman issues may or may not be very important to traditional users. Sony says it was because it gained the support of junior and senior high school students in the share recovery until this summer. Indeed, junior and senior high school students do not have a lot of content, so there will be no performance problems with x-apps, and copy management by dragging and dropping files will not cause any problems in operability. Even if you use 12-tone analysis, you may not feel so dissatisfied because you can use playlists generated by the x-app.
However, the A840, which was a hit at the end of the year, clearly looks "adult". I think many people are buying this product, wondering if it's okay to evaluate the Walkman again.
Also, the fact that there are multiple similar software such as x-app, Content Transfer, and Media Go, which is not used in the Walkman in Japan, is good to say that it supports multiple usage scenarios, but it sounds good. It is also the flip side of not being able to meet all needs with one stop. In the future, I can't see how Sony is trying to manage music, the policy of thinking, and the straight line.
It will also benefit iPod users that the quality of the product has improved and the Walkman has the power to switch from the iPod. As the Walkman gets better and more prominent, the iPod should get better too. I hope the Walkman's revival will bring a good cycle to the entire portable audio player, but in order to create and continue that cycle, it will be necessary to improve the entire system, including software.