Sony Walkman ZX300A delivers the sound of nature that will move you

Music is an art of expressing emotions. No matter what environment you are in, there will be a tune that matches it. Different music can always bring different feelings to people, or some insights, or occasional inspiration, or a sense of calmness or noise. I don’t know if you have such friends around you. They have life and attitude, and they are a bit literary. They are easily impulsive about things they like, and they will ruthlessly despise things they don’t like. They will deliberately choose music that suits them in different environments, but they are not like ordinary people who just listen to music simply, but more about exploring every syllable with their whole body and soul.

Well, you may have a question here, what is the difference between listening to music and enjoying music? First of all, it is the listener's attitude towards music; they want to capture every syllable 100% meticulously and feel the mood of the singer and musician when they play. Maybe there is more that they really can't do without the artistic aesthetics brought by sound. For this reason, it is these audiophile listeners who have a harsh mental violence against the quality of equipment, and ordinary playback equipment is completely not up to their standards.


Sony NW-ZX300A Audiophile Walkman

This also explains why the "Walkman" still has a reason to exist even today. For example, the well-known Sony NW-ZX300A is designed for audiophile users, but there are also many discerning friends who compare it to an entry-level music audiophile product. The NW-ZX300A Walkman is equipped with both 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced interfaces. In addition to being convenient for ordinary headphones, it can also meet the needs of friends who pursue higher sound quality. The price of 2,999 yuan will not exceed the budget of most music enthusiasts.

First of all, from the appearance, the Sony NW-ZX300A is small enough to be held in one hand, and compared with 10,000 mAh power banks, it is quite compact. Although it looks like a small black block and very heavy, it is actually about the same weight as the iPhone 8 and much lighter than the iPhone 8 Plus, making it more suitable for carrying in a backpack or trouser pocket.

The two gold circles on the top of the body are very eye-catching. These are the 4.4mm balanced interface and 3.5mm interface that are the symbols of this product. The whole machine is compactly designed, and the details are excellent, giving people a feeling of wanting to touch it. Of course, the grip is still very good. There are no other fancy designs, nor are there any popular elements combined, but the machines produced by Sony always give people a sense of high-end, mainly because Sony NW-ZX300A has a calm temperament.

It is worth noting that the key details are well designed. There is a small bump on the volume adjustment increment key, so you won't press the wrong button even if you close your eyes and press it blindly. The position is very easy to find, and I can't help but admire the designer's carefulness.

Soft and hard attack to serve beautiful voice

After turning on the phone, you can see that the screen is not a full screen. It uses a 3.1-inch 800×480 resolution touch screen. The finger slides the content smoothly, and the frustration when scrolling the content is not great. The sensitivity is no different from the screen operation of ordinary smartphones.

The picture quality is not grainy, and after opening the music album, the singer's portrait is quite delicate. Among the photo content in the picture, Lowell Lo's poster is a bit eye-catching, mainly because it has a retro and old effect.

Here, let's take a look at what features the Sony NW-ZX300A has. The main interface has many options, including all songs, albums, performers, styles, release years, composers, high resolution, folders, and more.

Most of them are music categories, which are convenient for users to find. After all, it not only has built-in storage, but also supports microSD card expansion. For example, a 3-minute Flac lossless music is about 35Mb, and a longer one may be 40 to 50Mb. In this way, 16GB capacity can store more than 400 songs. Add to that the expandable storage capacity, and it is common to have thousands of songs in the player. In the ocean of songs, if you want to find exactly what you want to listen to, then this music classification is very useful.

In terms of file format support, it supports MQA decoding and can decode up to 32bit/384kHz PCM format files. The standard 4.4mm balanced port can even decode 11.2MHz DSD audio, which is considered to be top-level.

Sony NW-ZX300A has many built-in sound-related adjustment functions, among which the EQ/tone control is very practical and easy to operate. Users can control it at will by lightly touching the circle on the screen according to their preferences. The sophisticated 10-band equalizer satisfies discerning audiophile users.

In addition, it also provides options such as DSEE HX sound loss compensation mechanism and dynamic volume equalization. The functions are clear at a glance, and even novices can quickly understand the product.

From these functions, it is not difficult to see that Sony NW-ZX300A uses a pure music playback system, and is a product that focuses on high-quality music experience. In other words, this product does not support online playback and installation of third-party software. After all, it is not based on the Android system, so the application is not so open.

Main 4.4mm balanced port audition

I mentioned the 4.4mm balanced port earlier. Compared with the 3.5mm headphone port, I personally feel that the former has a fuller expression, a mellower sound, a stronger sense of layering, and a wider sound field. Of course, this is just a subjective first impression. In fact, the 3.5mm sound quality of Sony NW-ZX300A is also very good, and you can clearly feel the subtle changes brought by the high-quality sound quality.

It should be mentioned here that Sony NW-ZX300A uses its own LDAC Bluetooth protocol, which is backward compatible with aptX. The transmission rate can reach up to 990kbps. In addition to ensuring high-quality lossless transmission, it can also be adapted to other brands of Bluetooth headsets that support aptX.

The left and right channels of the 4.4mm balanced port are all grounded separately without interfering with each other. This is the biggest feature of this interface, the sound is purer, the separation is higher, and the sound field is more three-dimensional.

During the audition, the drums, bass and other accompaniment sounds in the music had a clear presence, the sound details were very good, and the overlap with the main melody could be clearly felt.

The high frequency performance of different headphones is not much different. Sony NW-ZX300A high frequency gives a neutral and elegant style, and the control is relatively good, but there is a more obvious difference between 3.5 and 4.4mm. For example, when playing "Random Reflection Glass" (which comes with the machine), the soprano part of the 3.5mm output is a bit stiff, while the 4.4mm output is much softer.

In terms of mid-range , the timbre performance of the two interfaces is basically the same. The difference is still what was mentioned earlier. The sound contour of the 4.4.mm balanced port is clearer and the sense of sound field is stronger.

The music "Wonderland" has a strong sense of rhythm and gives people a passionate feeling. The sound of its instruments is overlapping and undulating, and when it is output through the 4.4mm balanced port, the expression is more outstanding, and the details of the lingering sound are undoubtedly missed. Compared with 3.5mm, the biggest difference is that the former has a clear sense of direction. When you close your eyes, you feel like you are at the scene.

Finally, in terms of low frequency , I randomly listened to a song "Off The Wall". The low frequency was rich, the rhythm was full, and there was no drag, which gave people a very refreshing feeling. Thanks to the 4.4mm balanced port, Michael Jackson's voice and the accompanying instruments did not interfere with each other, and it was very three-dimensional.

Hearing this, I can't help but think that if the 4.4mm balanced port can be used on the computer, the layering is so clear, and the sound is stereo surround, then "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds tonight" is just around the corner, because you can really hear the direction by listening to the footsteps, and you are no longer afraid of being attacked. Not to mention, Sony NW-ZX300A can really be connected to the computer. It supports USB DAC function and can replace the computer sound card. Users only need to plug in the data cable and turn on USB DAC according to the prompts. That's it! Without further ado, I'm going to play PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.