Sony NWZE445B E Series 16GB MP3 Walkman with Voice Recording Function – Black
Posted by Notcot on May 22, 2010 in Portable Sound & Vision |
5 CommentsReply |
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From my short experience I can confirme that the sound level can be regulated and is higher than enough (if you want). But I guess that in some mp3 players the highest level is even higher.
The quality of sound is superb, but you need better earphones. I use Sennheiser MX 760 from Amazon and it is perfect. Equalizer is very helpful. You can transfere audio files without installing any programs as well BBC programs from iplayer. The quality of the screen is very good (just very small). Get stylish case as otherwise it is all plastic and can be fragile. FM is also very helpful, works well and search of channels is precise. Voice recording is a bonus, it does work properly and good enough for such device.
One thing is irritating me that when it is in the sleeping mode the background picture or clock shows
every short interval: I can not manage to have it on or or off all the time. But probably I will learn how soon.
Conslusion: very good player in this price range. Recommend.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this new E series model as a replacement for my old S series Walkman, which was starting to play up. I was a great fan of the S series model and thought it knocked the spots of Apple’s Ipod in terms of sound, functions and value for money. I had read the reviews here complaining of low volume so was a bit trepidatious about purchasing this new version. However, I thought that people might be over-reacting or not be able to find the setting which turns the volume limiter off. So I took the plunge and bought it. Having received the player I’m afraid to say that the volume is TOO LOW. I managed to get my old player working for a while and so I was able to do an experiment comparing the volume levels on the two models. I used the same recording (which i transferred from my old player to new) and the same pair of earphones. The volume on the newly purchased model was considerably lower. I estimate the volume was a third to a half quieter than it was on my old S series Walkman. Its a real shame as this player has the potential to be great. The BBC Iplayer compatability is something that I really value, as is the player’s ability to work with the Napster-to-Go service. However, until Sony sorts the volume issue out, I think alot of people will look elsewhere for their MP3 players.
Rating: 3 / 5
I don’t agree with other reviewers’ comments concerning low sound volume. There is an option to switch off automatic volume limiting.
Having just bought the player, I have only used it for storing music so far. What first strikes me is the impressive sound quality. I have been experimenting with the various file formats and settled on 240 to 355Kbps variable bit rate wma. Rather extravagant with memory but great quality, my 80 albums use about 10GB on this format. Recording, deleting moving individual songs is very easy compared with my previous players.
For storing music an impressive bit of kit.
Rating: 5 / 5
I am a music producer, and like to check my mixes on phones on the way to work
If you are serious about music, you may be really disappointed with the low volume on this. especially if you have some songs/albums that are softer than the loud commercial dance tunes or harshly limited death metal tracks
I understand the motivation for this, but as a responsable music lover, i feel a bit betrayed here. its a lovely device , what a shame. if you have money to throw around, go for it. but dont expect to hear every track on the tube.
I have tried disabling the limit, and the normaliser. and i tried to get to the test settings, which apparently dont help anyway on this model.
even at half the price, it was a bit of a dissapointment. After all the stupid mistakes sony have made with digital players in the past (non-mp3 codecs, sonicstage) they have managed again…
Rating: 3 / 5
Just started out with this player and I can confirm the comments on sound quality – it really is superb with a decent pair of headphones (I use Sennheiser PX100s) The music is clear and punchy, timing is spot on, tight but full bass and with a mid-range clarity that allows you to listen to the vocalists performance in detail. I would go so far as to say that it will entice you to listen to your whole collection afresh as so much more detail comes through (OK depends what you are used to but I was using a decent Creative Zen). Volume is not an issue provided you disable the AVLS feature.
Video is also impressive, and does work with BBC Iplayer (follow BBC instructions and use Windows Media player to sync to the device), but is rather small – the Sony 545 would be better if you want to watch Video a lot.
A few problems
- had some problems with locking up and volume dropping to start with, but that has disappeared once I did a reset.
- no bookmark or seek facility. You can pause something and return to it later reliably, but if you decide to listen to a different song then you have to restart the original from the beginning. OK no problem for most songs but if you are halfway through an episode of “Spooks” or worse listening to an audio book then you have to restart from the beginning – no way around it.
- as a result of the previous problem there is no support for Audible format audio books.
- It may say 16Gb on the package but Windows Media Player reports 14.7 GB free when you first start using it – same problem as hard disks – manufacturers use 1000,000,000 bytes = 1Gb, MS sys that 1,073,741,824 byes = 1 Gb (!)
However no big deal, and at the latest price this player is a real steal!.
Rating: 5 / 5