Impressions: Walkman ZX300A

The Walkman ZX300A is probably one of the more honest players Sony has put out recently.

First off, the chip. It uses Sony’s newly developed S-Master chip, which is a higher hardware revision than what’s in the Black Brick and Gold Brick, and it supports more features too. In theory the sound should be on par with those high-end models, and the price is still low — the Chinese domestic version seems to be under 3000, which is downright reasonable compared to the Black Brick, the Gold Brick, and the “Sony Sixty Thousand.”

So anyway, I’m broke, I can’t afford a Black Brick, and this is all I can manage. It has every feature I need, and I’m pretty happy listening to it.

Then comes the even better part: this thing keeps getting firmware updates, and the latest one is a bombshell.

1. It supports an input method now. (Pinyin only, and only when naming playlists.)

2. It supports Bluetooth DAC mode. (The trendy Bluetooth headphone amp thing, LDAC included.)
3. You can pick your own album art now. (Though I tested it and if the image isn’t in a particular format it’s basically useless.)
4. USB DAC was added for the Black Brick and Gold Brick. (What the hell does that have to do with me, the ZX300A already has this built in, I thought it was my exclusive feature.)
5. Added sound effects like “Vinyl Record.” (I can’t really hear much difference, maybe my ears are already wood.)

Looking at it all, the one worth getting excited about is that “Bluetooth DAC.”

And I even got it working with my own laptop.

Of course, this DAC has its downsides: about 1.5 seconds of audio delay. Fine for music, useless for video.

At first I figured the delay was Bluetooth’s fault, but then I checked — when I use USB DAC mode, the same delay is there. In other words, it’s the Walkman itself, nothing to do with Bluetooth. So if you’re using the ZX300 as a DAC, music only. No movies or video.

Last thing worth complaining about: the download page is a fucking nightmare to find!

I searched the whole official site and couldn’t find it. In the end I had to rely on someone’s “leak” on X (Twitter). Sony’s operations people are absolute idiots.

ZX300 http://service.sony.com.cn/PA/Download/92206.htm

And one for the Black Brick/Gold Brick http://service.sony.com.cn/PA/Download/92203.htm