The Sony Walkman is back (kind of)

[TopWargamer]

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2461186,00.asp

 

The company that popularized the portable music player nearly four decades ago is back in the game with a new "Walkman." Sony's new NWZ-ZX1 won't play cassettes like the original Walkman introduced in 1979, but unlike other digital music players like Apple's iPod, it is a bit of a throwback in terms of its bulky dimensions and relatively hefty weight.

 

Just as hefty is the ZX1's price tag of $700.

 

That is...very expensive... not only that, but it's bulky. According to PC Mag, the ZX1 weighs 139 grams (roughly 4.9 ounces) and is about 37% heavier than Apple's iPod Touch. I dunno why anybody would buy this now a days, but the device has been on sale in Japan since December and has apparently been selling very well.

 

Specs

-Plays 24-bit, 192kHz FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files

-5-band equalizer

-Dynamic normalizer

-Clear Bass and Clear Stereo technology

-128GB of storage

-32 hours of battery life (takes 3 hours to charge)

-"Noise-dampening case" carved from a block of aluminum

-4" 854x480 touchscreen

-Plays back videos and photos as well

-Ships with "quality headphones"

-$700 price tag

(Not available in the USA, at least not yet. You could always import it.)

 

I'm not an audiophile, so excuse my ignorance, but the music I play from my phone and my computer sounds just fine to me. So to me, this product doesn't make much sense.

 

So to all of you audiophiles out there, is the ZX1 worth that $700 price tag?

 

[flibberdipper]

That's dumb.

[Yuval]

Big shoes to fill, doubt it will fulfill

[antoainb]

I ain't giving 700 mother frigging dollars for a music player, I got's more important things to do with mah mahney!

[Coombzy]

Walkman supposedly had superior quality but that price tag is insane.

[madscientist56]

no

[kuddlesworth9419]

That is stupid. I bet the audio quality is similar to any other MP3 player out there. Sony should go out and try and make the ultimate portable MP3 player for a cheap price. I am thinking of something like the Clip+ because that MP3 player is the best you can get out there for the price. Great audio quality, unlimited storage options, great UI and great battery life. If SOny could take that and improve it that would be better then some touch screen bullshit. The walkman should just play audio files and that is it.

[Dietrichw]

I just convert FLAC to ALAC (Apple Lossles) for my iPhone

[sqwidee]

It's probably got great quality for a lot of the stuff I would listen to, but most people these days will be satisfied by slapping their silly overpriced Beats buds into their goofy iPods and running the trap.

 

I would be more likely to put that $700 into a speaker system than a media player, since the quality would only be hampered by my headphones... In the end it would be a huge investment and cash better spent on other things imo

 

Still the move to get high quality audio out there is one that needs to keep moving. With time we'll have cheap players that put out kick-ass sound.

[Katsu-K1L]

Stewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwpid soney

[IPCharger]

That's dumb.

I think this is meant to be a prosumer product (like the GTX Titan) that's why it's so expensive.

[flibberdipper]

I think this is meant to be a prosumer product (like the GTX Titan) that's why it's so expensive.

Still stupid.

[Mainfold]

a dedicated FLAC-player? hey, audio-snobs might buy that!

[Misanthrope]

Oh wow, ladies and gentlemen we have the strongest candidate for the most fucking stupid new tech product of 2014!

[sqwidee]

 the device has been on sale in Japan since December and has apparently been selling very well.

 

This surprises me quite a bit. I wouldn't expect a repeat of this in the US at all.

[Sharif]

Maybe the conversion rates are horrible 

that might explain the price 

[JAKEBAB]

Wow and i thought apple products were over priced lol

 

They should of intergrated a phone in it then it would be worth it.

[TopWargamer]

Maybe the conversion rates are horrible 

that might explain the price 

The conversion rate is almost 1 for 1.

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=JPY

[JR1911]

It doesn't surprise me at all that this sells well, there's a big and growing demand for high quality portable audio players and this Sony isn't even close to being the most expensive one on the market currently, as far as I know the most expensive one is the Astell & Kern AK240 with it's $2500 price tag.

[Sharif]

The conversion rate is almost 1 for 1.

http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=USD&To=JPY

how come it was widely sold in japan..............thats what they said in the article 

[MrCthuntoo]

I wonder how this will compare to the Fiio X5.

[ACatWithThumbs]

Why would anybody buy this when you can buy an Ipod Classic with 160GB storage for $249.
And an Ipod Touch is $190 and it can do the same things as an Ipad and has access to all IOS apps.

 

[ACatWithThumbs]

I'd pay for an Android based Xperia device primarly used for music, however, with a price tag of $700, I might as well just pick up an Xperia Z2 and a 128 GB SD card.

 

Come on, Sony. Don't become Apple. You're better than that.

Not even Apple goes this far lol

Sony is the king of overpricing and proprietary."cough" Linus expensive SONY camera "cough"

[IPCharger]

Still stupid.

 

Stupid for a consumer to buy it at this price when there are cheaper alternatives. For stuff like music production, studio monitoring, etc. it may not be that bad.

[Notional]

Wow a group of people worshipping a 3000$ graphics card, is butthurt over a 700$ highend portable player? Really? If someone spends 1000$+ on headphones, I'd think they want a good source, that can keep up, too. This is not a mainstream product for the masses, but for audiophiles.