This is the new Sony NW-A55 Walkman - the
new high resolution digital audio player in
Sony’s popular small form factor A series.
Compared to the A45, the A55 now sports a
smooth aluminum finish with curvier edges
that make it easier to hold.
There’s been changes under the hood too
- compared to the A45, the A55 has a higher
contrast display with noticeably faster UI
performance, which makes Sony’s already
great user interface that much better to use.
The A55 also features some new sound enhancements
including upgraded high res upsampling and
an interesting new Vinyl Processor mode, which
I suppose is fun if you like your music to
sound warmer with tubbier bass.
Also inherited from the higher end Walkmans
is the new Bluetooth Receiver function, which
allows you to beam music from your phone or
computer to the A55.
This is useful if you want to listen to say,
Spotify or podcasts but prefer the output
of the Walkman.
Speaking of output, just like the A45 the
A55 has lower than average power output, which
means that we do recommend it for pairing
with dynamic driver and hybrid earphones,
and easy to drive headphones.
With those the A55 produces a clean and punchy
sound with a useable 120 steps of digital
volume control.
The A55 still has a significant degree of
background noise, so we can’t recommend
it with sensitive multi-balanced armature
IEMs like the Campfire Andromeda - for those,
try out the Sony ZX300.
This is Lachlan for MinidiscTV - see you next
time!
