[abitdeef]

Can confirm no volume cap on UK model when using LDAC Bluetooth headphones.

Sony 1000xm3’s are far louder than iPhone XS on iOS13 and on par with NW A45 with volume cap removed.

Busy downloading a stack of Tidal playlists.

Also, as with A45, all Sony system wide audio enhancements are disabled over Bluetooth.

Not going to affect the volume on bluetooth headphones because they have their own amp/dac. iPhone doesn't support ldac so it's going with sbc/aac hence the different output.

 

[thewusman]

Not going to affect the volume on bluetooth headphones because they have their own amp/dac. iPhone doesn't support ldac so it's going with sbc/aac hence the different output.

So any EU volume limit is thus rendered ineffective if you use a pair of BT cans ? Good to know.

I’m surprised they didn’t extend the gimping to BT headphones sold in the EU by customizing the firmware on-headset.

 

[Sonyvores]

So any EU volume limit is thus rendered ineffective if you use a pair of BT cans ? Good to know.

I’m surprised they didn’t extend the gimping to BT headphones sold in the EU by customizing the firmware on-headset.

Yes you are right

 

[ThomasHK]

So any EU volume limit is thus rendered ineffective if you use a pair of BT cans ? Good to know.

I’m surprised they didn’t extend the gimping to BT headphones sold in the EU by customizing the firmware on-headset.

Most brands sold in EU follow the same loudness regulations in BT headphones.

 

[davidcotton]

His UK price yesterday was £370 then at £280 today. Must be altering price based on demand or just trying his luck.

£288.00 now! Guess it's going to fluctuate for a while until "demand" settles down.

 

[Emulle]

Would this one be able to drive the HD650? As a comparison my V20 has an output vrms of ~2.0.

 

[thewusman]

Initial impressions on battery life:
Streaming MQA's takes a toll you can visibly watch the battery % drop before your eye, however I think in offline mode using Tidal will be fine.

Some changes I've made:
-disabled gmail and most background auto app updates
-turned off battery saver mode

EDIT: I'm not an android guru are there any other settings we can modify to make the Android OS backgrounding activity as barebones as possible ?

It's still early days and the battery needs to cycle a few times but I've loaded my microSD card with around 80gb of FLACs and MQA's so will perform some mixed mode testing using the Sony app and Tidal. Sony Cassette screensaver is awesome.

With the screen and wifi off I suspect 8 hours is possible.

Question: do we know which SoC Sony has chosen for this and the battery rating ?

 

[abitdeef]

Would this one be able to drive the HD650? As a comparison my V20 has an output vrms of ~2.0.

No

 

[abitdeef]

No

These cans can't really shine without some power behind them. And your v20 may play them at an ok volume, but it's not ' driving ' them properly. The nw a105 isn't going to either.

Honestly this is designed for iems and low impedance cans.

 

[abitdeef]

Initial impressions on battery life:
Streaming MQA's takes a toll you can visibly watch the battery % drop before your eye, however I think in offline mode using Tidal will be fine.

Some changes I've made:
-disabled gmail and most background auto app updates
-turned off battery saver mode

EDIT: I'm not an android guru are there any other settings we can modify to make the Android OS backgrounding activity as barebones as possible ?

It's still early days and the battery needs to cycle a few times but I've loaded my microSD card with around 80gb of FLACs and MQA's so will perform some mixed mode testing using the Sony app and Tidal. Sony Cassette screensaver is awesome.

With the screen and wifi off I suspect 8 hours is possible.

Question: do we know which SoC Sony has chosen for this and the battery rating ?

Psikey, did some battery rundown tests a bit back. I believe he got 10 hours on spotify offline and way more with the Sony player- minimal screen time.

 

[griga]

Question: do we know which SoC Sony has chosen for this and the battery rating ?

This guy did some serious research: https://thewalkmanblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/what-soc-is-sony-using.html?m=1

 

[abitdeef]

I'm always amazed how clean Sony's PCBs are compared to other manufacturers. Well they don't need dac chips or op amp chips or LPF output chips with their class d design.

But look at the inside of the r5, (the big caps are for balanced out) then look at the Sony's PCB- below it. It's not the whole board but you can see it's much less cluttered with tiny transistors.

 

[abitdeef]

This guy did some serious research: https://thewalkmanblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/what-soc-is-sony-using.html?m=1

Looking at videos of the a105 running it looks like the UI is very responsive and snappy.

 

[thewusman]

Looking at videos of the a105 running it looks like the UI is very responsive and snappy.

Yes I'm very impressed, the UI is very snappy. We have an extra phone lying around at home for emergencies, Samsung Galaxy J4 and the 105 runs circles around it.

 

[nm626]

Hey everyone,

New member here from the U.S. A lot of great input in this thread! I purchased the A105 from Amazon.co.uk completely unaware of the EU volume cap so I am curious to see if how the player performs (if it does have a cap). I use pair of Fiio FA1 (that I really enjoy) which shouldn't have much issue with the Sony player potentially being capped. The player should be coming in some time next week.

For others in the U.S. looking for an alternative to eBay Japanese import, I found this seller on Amazon.com for $310.00 with Free shipping (unfortunately after my purchase from the U.K. was shipped).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YYFN8HH/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A33CO5KBHCZEZR&psc=1