AFP reports that Sony’s market share for MP3 players for last month was 47.8% compared to Apple’s 44%. Since the early reign of the cassette Walkman’s that started over 3 decades ago, it looks like Sony is back on top for portable players in Japan. Also on top now for the 10 years of MP3 player.
(img credit Wikipedia)
Dealing with headphone cables can sometimes be a pain, especially when you are using it while active. One solution many have tried is by going wireless Bluetooth but sound quality was always hurt. You also still had to deal with a player and a set of headphones. So why not just put it all in one headphone like package? This is not a new idea, Sony did this back in the day with the yellow Walkman sport FM radio headphones. Remember those goofy looking things?
At any rate, here is a look at the modern take on the headphone/player combination.
While you can always find cases for players such as the iPods or the Zune HD, some of the smaller brands are often a bit hard to get any accessories for- at least third party ones. I-Nique luckily makes cases for most players out there, including the Sony NWZ-S540.
A lot of people have been drooling over the Asian Sony S and A series players which are a bit more appealing than the S540 and E340 players we have on this side of the planet. Sony have always kept their schedules for releasing same-generation players at the same time; S610/A810, A820/A720, S630/S730/E430 and S540/E340 (with the middle number indicating generation) have all been released at the same time. I therefore predicted that the first we’d see of the Asia style players would be around CES in form of a A850 device, continuing the tradition. Instead, a Canadian forum member spotted a quiet release of the S740 in Canada.
Only the 16GB model is listed on the Canadian Sonystyle ATM, but there’s likely to be at least a 8GB model out there as well and also perhaps a 32GB model. The player is identical or at least close to identical with the Asian S740, which is available in 8, 16 and 32GB. The A840 in Asia goes to 64GB, so 32GB is sure to sound like a disappointment for a lot of Sony fans.
Ignoring the whole “where, what, who” for a moment, the S740 has a lot to show for under the hood. Podcast support is back from being removed from the S540, and the same seems to be true for themes. As with previous S7XX devices it has noise canceling, so there might be a S640 without that feature coming too. TV out is a new feature that is sure to help since the screen is only 2″, but with the same old useless 320×240 resolution video support I doubt anyone would bother with that feature. An FM radio is also in place. Battery life is rated at 43 hours for audio, 10 for video.
Honestly I don’t know what Sony is doing anymore- they once made sense with their releases, but have lately gone a bit Philips. Currently you can get the X series, W series, S540 and E340 series in the US, but not the B140 series. You can also get generation 3 devices which doesn’t seemed to be phased out. In Europe, you can get all of the above as well as the B140. Asia has completely different models, but those seem to be coming here. The Korean version of the S740 is designated a NWZ player (Asian players are normally designated NW), so that might be that player we’re seeing. Either way, there’s now a S740 in the mix, which makes the lineup something like this, from bottom to top: W-series, B140, E340, E430, S540, S630/S730, S640/S740, X-series. I have a hard time seeing why a company needs to have 10 models in the market at once, but maybe that’s just me. The S740 is nice, for sure, and I can’t wait for a possible future NWZ-A840/A850), but Sony needs to decide what they’re trying to do instead of spewing out more players than the rest of the manufacturers combined.
With the S540 review out of the way, it’s time to shift focus to its baby brother, the E340. How does it compare to the S540?
It’s that time of year again; the time when Sony takes a look at their MP3 player line up, decide it’s time for an update, and run a computer application that randomly adds and removes some features and then releases the result as a new player.
The S540 is a Sony player, which means the same menus, format support, video support, screen resolution etc etc as the previous models. New in this model is integrated stereo speakers, FM and voice recording and a couple of more tweaks. Read on to see how it hods up.
One of the features I use the most on my music player is the auto-pause feature that automatically pause your music when you pull the 3.5mm jack out of the device. With it being a touch screen device, it’s so much faster than fishing the player up from the pocket and pausing it. Still, it could be a lot fast – Sony Ericsson MH907 shows exactly how.
The MH907 has a built in motion sensor that noticed when you take out the earbuds. To start playing music, you plug both earbuds into your ears. To pause the music, or to answer a call, you simply take one of the earbuds out. To hang up and go back to music playing you plug it back in. Sony Ericsson says it requires “body contact” to work (aka a small electrical charge, same concept as capacitive touch screens) so it won’t activate randomly in your pocket. Unfortunately this will only work with Sony Ericsson phones and it probably isn’t the best sounding IEMs out there, but I have to say the concept is both simple and genius. I pop out one earbud to talk to people all the time, and have it automatically pause when doing so would be simply awesome. We can only hope this will come to MP3 players as well, though it’s unlikely since it’s most likely a patented technology and it would require the player to support it. Maybe we’ll see it in Sony WalkMan players if we’re lucky.
Turns out, the photo Sony Insider snapped last week of that mystery Sony DAP they thought was the S740 Series, was indeed the S740 Series.
Sony Japan just announced the 7.9mm thick Walkman S740 Series, which will feature a 2.0″ TFT LCD, built in noise cancellation, FM radio, your typical codec support (with the addition of Sony’s ATRAC), 480i TV output, and an impressive 42 hour battery life audio and 10 for video. The S740 will be available in 8, 16 and 32GB capacities.
Also announced was the S640 Series, which seems to be very similar to the S740 sans noise cancellation and will only be available in 8 and 16GB flavors.
Both models will come bundled with Sony’s MDR-EX300SL IEMs, which is a nice step up from those 10 cent earbuds typically bundled with DAPs. The S740 and S640 begin shipping in Japan mid to late October, no word yet on US availability.
[via Sony Insider]
While most companies use the same players worldwide, Sony unfortunately runs with two lines of players; the NWZ players in Europe/US/etc, and the NW players in Asia. The NW series tend to get the better deal when new players are announced, and the new Sony NW-A840 is a perfect example of just that.
The 7.2mm(!) thick device sports a 2.8″ OLED screen, 29 hours of battery life for audio and 9 hours of battery life for video along with “premium” headphones like other higher end Sony players comes with. A new feature is TV out, supporting up to 480p (720×480). It will arrive October 31st with capacities of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB making it the second player to the market and first non-iPod player with 64GB of integrated flash memory. When or if this will ever make it to the US and Europe is unknown, and frankly unlikely, but these specs deserved a plug anyways.
Omar from Sony Europe walks us through the Sony S540 in this minute long piece of over-produced HD delight. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know.
According to Omar, the S540 plays music and video, has a 42 hour battery life for audio, 6.5 for video. It also has built-in stereo speakers, and has an FM radio, which it can also record from.
And of course, it is only 10.2mm slim. He doesn’t have mammoth hands, it really is that slim! Video after the jump.
[via Engadget]
The Clip+ has a fantastic little form factor; somewhat cheap in build quality but very rugged. The interface is simple and relatively straightforward. The features on the Clip are more or less average, however it supports the alternative Rockbox firmware which provides tons of additional options (gapless playback, Replaygain, playlists, Last.fm scrobbling, etc). Read the full review or go ahead and buy it.
The J3 is a fantastic PMP with a very nice AMOLED screen and tons of features. It sports Cowon's trademark BBE sound enhancements, and offers a customizable user interface with strong support by our user community. You can usually find it at Amazon for the best price - and don't forget to check out our review.
Sure, many of us are not big fans of the walled garden, but there are a lot of great things going on with the Zune: sturdy hardware, ultra easy to use user interface, and a media player that is worthy of Editor’s Choice. You can check out our Zune HD review or stop by our Zune forums for the latest info and gossip.
Phonak Audéo PFE offer outstanding clarity and precision; natural, dynamic mids and treble, and decent bass for a single armature in-ear phone. They handle dense, complex music very well. The PFE work well with most acoustic and some electronic music genres, but bassheads might have to look at other alternatives. They're great for sports as well, since they fit very securely. Check out our review.
The Hippo VB (Variable Bass) offers a serious subwoofer for on the go, right in your head. They don’t just deliver generous quantities of punchy, textured bass, but good audio quality over the whole frequency range with decent clarity and exceptional soundstage. Exchangeable bass ports let you customize their sound to your liking. Read our in-depth Hippo VB review.
The Soundmagic E10 and E30 are basically right in the middle between the Phonak PFE and Hippo VB - not too analytical sounding, not too bass heavy. The E10 provide a bit more bass, the E30 a bit more clarity. Both come with a very fair price tag considering the sound quality they deliver - a great choice for the audio aficionado on a budget. Read our E10 and E30 reviews for more info.
