Comparing the (Uncapped) Sony A306 & NW-WM1AM2 | Law of diminishing returns in audio

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Sony A306 £349
Sony NW-WM1AM2 £1300
"Which one sounds better?"
The NW-WM1AM2. Larger stereo image/soundstage/field of sound, etc and a firmer bass.
How much better? What is the scale/level of improvement in sound? Maybe 5%, at most.
Unfortunately BOTH devices have a pretty unacceptable level noise floor (hiss with IEMs).
Despite costing more than 4x more the Sony NW-WM1AM2 only sounds marginally better than the Sony A306. The difference is not "night and day" but a bit better.
The law of diminishing returns is certainly the case with audio. Spending 2/3/4/5/10x more will not get you that level of improvement. The gains will only be marginal/fractional, if there are any gains at all.
IEMs/frame of reference:
Thieaudio Prestige Ltd £1149
Elise Audio X Symphonium Helios SE £1099
Campfire Audio Dorado 2020 £1099
Thieaudio Monarch Mk3 £899
Thieaudio Monarch Mk2 £800
Sennheiser IE600 £599
Thieaudio Hype 4 £349
Fiio FD5 £289
Penon Serial £289
Ziigaat Doscinco £254
Ziigaat Cincotres £254
Fiio FH3 £120
Fiio JD7 £89
KZ ZS10 Pro £45
DAPs/frame of reference:
Hiby R6 Pro II £600
Hiby R5 Gen II £450
Hiby R3 Gen II £179
Hiby M300 £179
Hiby R6 £1400
Sony A55 £200
Sony A306 £329
Sony NW-WM1AM2 £1300
My Ebay: www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lure-1286
Ziigaat Cincotres for sale £180 (UK only)

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Опубликовано:

27 май 2024

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Комментарии : 28

@chevymusclecar1970 Месяц назад

A306 is perfect for my use case… portable, great sound, holds all my 25k ALAC files on SD. Love it. (Nw-a307)

@glsracer Месяц назад

This is what I have experienced. So far the pinnacle for me is an A55 and ZX300 running the Walkman One firmware. The only difference between the two is that the ZX300 has more power from both the 3.5 and 4.4 ports. I don't notice much of a difference in actual sound quality or stage. The sound chips are programmed via software so the vast majority of sound differences are intentional gimping in the way Sony programmed the FPGA. This is why I have stuck with the older non-android models where we can get the better programming on the entry level devices.

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

If the non Android Sonys did gapless with AIFF I would stick with those. I hope Sony release more non android DAPs in the future but I doubt they will.

@glsracer Месяц назад

@@PerputuallyCensored I have very few AIFF files but I have noticed that the gap between FLAC files isn't always the most seemless. Thankfully I'm not that sensitive to it. I too hope that Sony will continue the line of linux based players again at some point. Right now my A55 is holding about 95% of the original charge since I bought it new old stock recently. My ZX300 holds about 80% but that was bought used. They should both continue working for several more years but at some point I'll need a replacement battery or replacement player.

@capitanlevi203 Месяц назад

Hello, I have the same model wm1am2. I wonder if you can activate LDAC 990 in settings? Whenever the active returns to "best effort" I don't think it is limited by Sony being the same codec. I wonder if there is a solution?

@natanquirino5400 Месяц назад

Okay so I actually have both too. I switch back and forth. I’ll tell you this. For both you can hear clearly the vocals what every singer says. The imaging. Perhaps a little more imaging on m2. Instrument separation slightly more on m2. Bass is what I’d say you get more out of on m2. By that I mean the bass is more pronounced. When sometimes playing classical music. The signature of the a306 is somehow more presenting. Also hate me or not. Clear audio + sometimes can sound amazing on songs and out beat the m2. The soundstage is more noticeable but not too much. The vocals on m2 are more in your ear. A306 are more distant. There are differences but only if you look for them. I wish that Sony made it a more noticeable transition.

@imosolar Месяц назад

Good review and however can you update the firmware on expensive Sony Dap

@susanbarrientomamani7569 Месяц назад

Hello greetings from Peru. I came across your channel and the videos you make seem very interesting to me. You have a sincere and realistic opinion. My serious question is there a difference when listening to an mp3 music file at 320 kbps vs flac. there is difference. Or is the difference just theoretical? thank you

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

Greetings to Peru. I think a lot depends on the recording you’re listening to. Some claim they can hear differences. Others say they can’t on a 320 kbps file but can on a 128 kbps file, as that introduces artefacts (via compression). I don’t know really but you can look into it online if you’re interested. There is more information out on it. Technically FLAC is also compressed. If I rip a CD to AIFF the kbps is always 1411. On FLAC the kbps is usually well under 1000 and varies a fair bit. The file size is also smaller than AIFF files.

@MrNitrox97 Месяц назад

amazing, from perú too. I think it also depends on the headphones you use. I have the A306 and it's amazing.

@dougmorato Месяц назад

I don't know if I caught you saying that but are you running the latest firmware on NW-A306? Cauze apparently it improves the low frequencies...

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

I didn’t say but the devices are all on the latest firmware. That issue with the A306 is quite old, not long after release, and was resolved a while back. I only bought mine fairly recently and it was updated as soon as I got the device set up.

@dougmorato Месяц назад

@@PerputuallyCensored thanks for your feedback. I’m waiting for mine to arrive 🙂

@sunfire65ph Месяц назад

I can also strongly recommend the FiiO M11 Plus, it's 700€ and can easily compete with other 2-3k DAPs.

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

I have the Fiio M23 on order. Just waiting for dispatch.

@chevymusclecar1970 Месяц назад

How do you manage your music?

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

What do you mean?

@chevymusclecar1970 Месяц назад

@@PerputuallyCensored do you use folders on sd card? Or just put files in music folder.

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

Android devices will automatically add folders (Documents, Downloads, Music, etc). I place all my music in the same titled folder and the device reads them no problem.@@chevymusclecar1970

@AF-rd2vf Месяц назад

That’s why some hobbyists pay more for these DAPs. Better parts, better circuit topologies, more power. You can’t unhear top notch gear.

@PerputuallyCensored Месяц назад

To each their own.

@praetor47 Месяц назад

"You can’t unhear top notch gear" DACs? DAPs? amps? you absolutely can when you understand the only ones who don't sound exactly the same [tubes notwhistanding], are the ones who suck, lol

@rlw6534 Месяц назад

@@praetor47 If I can tell a noticeable difference in decent DAPs/DACs, something is likely broken...

@praetor47 Месяц назад

@@rlw6534 exactly! always laugh at DAC reviewers describing night and day differences in DACs that are perfectly neutral and measure the exact same :D

@18yearsoldnot Месяц назад

@@praetor47 Firstly, have you heard a $3000 dac? One can also argue, you can't show love if you have never experienced it.

@karolkedzierski5824 Месяц назад

The diminishing returns. Now imagine that something that costs 20k pounds will sound around 8% better than the NW-WM1AM2 lol. I have the AK sp1000 which costed 3,5 grand a couple years ago and the difference between this one and the old Pioneer xdp300r which costed 600 euros (i bought it for 300 new) is about 8-10% approximately, to my ear. Its just crazy. Ironically when i was using the 64 Audio u12t (i know they suck but didnt know that back then), the differences were even smaller. But with some other iems, like the Variations, Xelento 2, Monarch 2 or ie900, there is bit more difference in sound quality, mainly in soundstage width, stereo separation, treble smoothness and bass depth/controll. But still its 6x price difference..