My Review: Sony NWZ-A828K

Inspired by james.miller's review of the cowan found here

Specs
Technical specifications

Please be aware that the features/specifications can differ from country to country.
Network function:
High speed data transfer
USB connection
Network WALKMAN® control on PC
WM-PORT
Bluetooth Spec Version 2.0

Output
Bluetooth Spec Power Class 2
Frequency band: 2.4 GHz band
Maximum communication range: Line of sight approx. 10m (30ft)
Modulation method: FHSS
Compatible Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP
Supported Codecs: SBC (Subband Codec)
Transmission range (A2DP): 20 - 20,000Hz (Sampling freq. 44.1kHz)
Memory: Embedded flash memory (GB) 8

Playback & display
QVGA (240 x 320)
TFT LCD

Supported Files:
MP3
WMA (Non-DRM)
AAC-LC*2 (Non-DRM)
Linear PCM
JPEG
MP4
AVC (H.264/AVC)
MPEG-4

Play modes:
Repeat
Shuffle

Digital sound preset
LCD back-lit
Hold

Clear Bass
DSEE
Clear Stereo

General data:
Weight (g): 58
Continuous playback music (hrs): 36
Continuous playback video (hrs): 10
Charging Time (Full charge) (hrs): 3
Capacity (audio files): 5050
Capacity (video files) (hrs): 30.5

Supplied accessories:
Standard headphones
Wireless Bluetooth headphones

DR-BT21G
Windows Media Player 11
MP3 Conversion Tool
Media Manager for Walkman®

Stand
USB cable
Rechargeable battery
AC adaptor



Headphones - DR-BT21G- General Data
Battery life: 11 hrs when fully charged (Communication time) 100 hrs when fully charged (Waiting time)
Battery charge indication
Bluetooth Compatible Profile:
A2DP, AVRCP, HFP, HSP

Bluetooth Output
Bluetooth class 2
Bluetooth Specification
Bluetooth Version 2.0
Charging stand type
Direct charge

Diaphragm: PET
Distortion rate: Less than 1% at 1 KHz
Driver unit: 30 mm, dome type

Effective frequency range: 14-24,000 Hz
Frequency Band: 2.4 GHz band (2.4000-2.4835GHz)

Magnet
Neodymium
Microphone Type
Omni Directional, Electret Condensor Microphone
ON/OFF function
Power ON indicator
Recharging time (H): 2.5
Remote Function
Play/Stop/Pause/FF/FR
Signal range (reception area): Line of Sight. Approx 10m
Weight (g): 65
Headphones - Transmitter

Communication System
Bluetooth Specification version 2.0 + EDR
Compatible Bluetooth profile: A2DP, AVRCP
Terminal
iPod® connector
Headphones - Supplied accessories
AC Power Adaptor
Dimensions
Screen Size (inch): 2.4
Width (mm): 50.2
Height (mm): 93.6
Depth (mm): 9.3

The package
Packaging was the usual affair, it came in a pretty box with the sony if broken return sticker, box was a little scratched assumably courtesy of citylink



Opened up there were a lot of manuals and warranty jobbies, the whole white box under the player in fact



Usual affair in terms of packaging then, so onto something of more substance!,
The player came with the following additional bits including a nice little cradel to sit the player in when you connect it to your pc and additional headphone plugs;

In addtion to the above you get:
- Sony in-ear headphones (noise cancelling)
- Bluetooth headset
- MP3 player
Edit: Note that the charger above is for the bluetooth headset not the walkman, this needs to be charged off the USB

A nice touch i thought was that the MP3 player came charged, the annoying thing was that it was on inside the packaging so no doubt that wasted the battery a bit

Headphones
It had a couple of videos and music files on it already i used these for testing, i have to say the headphones are of good quality, you would not need to buy an additional set (cheers for convincing me to hold off james ) They easily matched my seinheisers in terms of audio quality.

The bluetooth headset is also more then adequate, but i did find it clamping on my ears a little uncomfortable but with a bit of adjustment they fit fine.
Bear in mind these are behind the head headphones.

Setting up the bluetooth set was easy as pie, you hit a button on each and the mp3 player does the rest it was very easy and hassel free. Turning bluetooth on and off is as simple as pressing a button rather than digging through menus.

The player
The player itself is unbelievably small and light, i was genuinley shocked at how little it weighed and i will let the pictures pain their own story for how small it is.

I used a tesco clubcard (same size as a credit card) and a GBP pound coin for comparison,

As you can see the player is marginally bigger than a credit card, and is about 2-3 cm smaller than my Samsung U600
Next to £3

For consistency with james's review, next to a AA battery

Pics






Using the player
The player is easy to use, it's very straight forward to navigate the main menu is split into pictures

First thing that did take getting used to is the lack of touch screen, but you quickly get used to it
There is a insane amount of audio settings for the hardcore audio buffs

To lock the player there is a hold button on the right of the player, whith conviniently placed volume controls on the right so you dont need to mess about with on screen controls.

My biggest gripe with this player is you cannot make playlists without it being connected to a pc

Video and Pciture
I am genuinly impressed with the video quality, football is watchable but i do have one critisism that there is a very very slight ghosting on the screen.
The big problem with video on the device is that the Media Now software does not support video conversion out of the box, you have to buy this additional functionality using the "Go Pro" tab. This was a major turn-off for me as the player seems very picky about its formats, big thumbs down at this point.

Pictures are very well displayed and look detailed enough considering the screen size, regarding the screen it was smaller than i expected but lack of touchscreen means that it could not take up the length of the player like the D2 or the samsung

ps3ud0: I must admit I really only listen to music on these types of players. Can I ask what vids you are playing to get an idea of the intended usage
Converting MKV's is a complete nightmare thus far, virtual dub doesnt accept it at all so i need to find another method around this
I will have a go at various formats tonight to see what it does and does not like. I did notice however the media now software would happily accept the MKV, so maybe it has the functionality for accepting the files if you go pro, but thats just guessing so i would take it with a pinch of salt.

File Transfer & Structure
The device is a MTP so hdtach and sandra weren't able to detect it
So i copied files across and timed the time it took from the initial drop to the end of the copy (Vista 64 Ultimate SP1)
84.3Mb MP3 : 32 seconds
4.07Mb MP3 : less than 3 seconds
1.43Gb MKV: 9 mins 41 seconds

Another thing to note is that the device does charge on USB and doesn't require any software bar media player/vista to connect as it connects as a MTP device

I found no problems using media player on the songs i tested but i have yet to add a whole library as i may still return the player.
Edit: Navigating can be done through explorer and you can drag drop files at will the same as any MCP device, sorry if i did not make this clear

I did find that some files only played when put in the top level rather than in directories, this may be because the directories contained m3u files which threw it a bit (via drag and drop), syncing with media player seemed to work ok though
Sound Quality
Very good quality, it is the best player i heard and the headphones are good enough straight out of the box opposed to the cheap rubbish that is usually packed.

a lot of settings to play with, i added a bit of bass but it wasnt really necessay the sound is very rich and i could hear every sound even on drum and bass tracks which usually drown everything else out because of the bassline.

For ps3ud0
The bluetooth headset is acceptable for what it is, bear in mind it is a flat speaker so doesnt block out background noise very well, at least not for me.
I tested the set using a track by Chemical Brothers called Bass Test,
the bass was fine and it did the full range of sound and i could hear the track well over the bass.
However the quality is not as good as the inner ear set, i head a faint crackle on the drum snare on some of the more involved bits, it is barely noticable but if you listen to the track side by side it is there.
So the bluetooth set is not on the par with a good inner ear set.

Another thing to note with the bluetooth set is that when it is plugged in you cannot adjust the volume on the player using the usual controls, this needs to be done using the controls on the headset the rest of the controls seemed to work fine as far as i tested.
When pluggin in USB connectivity to the bluetooth is also lost, i assume this is because MCP requires exclusive access to the device when it is communicating (which is why the below poster cannot listen to music while he copies files, this issue is presant in all MCP devices i have tried).

When using inner ear the bass was deeper and the track was a lot sharper showing up the bluetooth set somewhat.

Sound Detailed
Will add some rightmark results soon as i find a cable ot connect the 2

Sound playback has a slight delay between tracks and there is no functionality of bookmarking parts of the track such as the Samsung Yp-P2 and Cowon have

Summary
Make no mistake this is a very good player, the sound quality is amazing and the headphones provided are good quality ones which is a nice break from the norm. There are a few minor issues but overall a good solid product, so the roundup:

Pros
Very good sound quality
Good crisp screen
Video and Image quality is good
Drag and Drop using explorer
Great out of the box pair of headphones
Very small and light, great for running and exercise
Solid bluetooth headset

Cons
No radio
Bundled Software has hidden extra charge of video conversion
Bluetooth headset could have been better
No bookmarking, each vid/song needs to be manually seeked
No on the fly tag editing
No gapless playback, there is a tiny gap between tracks
Very picky about video formats
Added 27/05/08
You cannot make playlists without connecting to a PC

What will i do with my money? the video support really annoyed me as i spent hours trying to convert things to a format it will like (biggest problem was converting mkv files to something it would play), andi felt somewhat decieved in reviews which say that video support is built in without mentioning the surcharge. The fact you cant make playlists on the player also annoyed me and added another point to the cowon camp.
So i think i will send it back and try the cowon D2, it is a really hard decision as imo this player looks far better and is very small and light, i also have to admit i am thoroughly impressed with the bluetooth which makes me second guess the D2 or even the Yp-P2. I like to watch movies on the move so will order the cowon to try it out for size and weight as it seems to have better file support rather than messing about with conversions

Edit: Additional Comments

benjo plz. said:

I have the 829, and I think it's a lovely piece of kit with great sound, some things do get on my nerves though...

• new connector, so older docks/cables like the ones for the NW-Ax000 wont work with it.
• no OTG playlist creation - you can only create playlists using a pc etc.
• the option/back buttons are teeny, so they're not quite so comfortable to use compared to the older models.
• the bluetooth button is right above the hold button, not an issue for me yet, but i can see it being one.
• won't pair with anything but speakers/headphones, hopefully this will be updated in a further firmware to allow file transfer and mobile phone connection
• the jack on it seems very loose, may just be the supplied EX82s though.

Click to expand...

Bluetooth continued

PhillyDee said:

Hallo all, I have bought myself a
NWZA828KB Sony 8Gb bluetooth walkman
This comes with the bluetooth headphones. does anyone here have one? The bluetooth seems dodgy to me, I keep it in my right pocket and if I move my head just slightly to the left (So its out of line-of-sight) or if I put my arm in the way, then the music pauses in the headphones or breaks up. This is especially noticeable when at the gym and its on the floor next to me on a rowing machine. Does anyone have a imilar problem? Is this normal? Its literally never more than a metre away.

Click to expand...

Update 28/05/08
I cant say this happens, i put the mp3 player upstairs on my desk and it was still working fine as i wandered around on the floor below

I moved out of line of site even put the player under a pillow no change all working ok
As a result i would say your headset/player is faulty or low on battery maybe?

Video continued...
Ok so the supported formats for the player are:
MP4
AVC (H.264/AVC)
MPEG-4

So in order to simulate this i got the relevant plugins for VirtualDubMod and will be converting the same video file in to the various formats.

The video i used for testing is just off the front page on gamershell:
http://www.gamershell.com/download_26100.shtml
Original File information:
Video Codec: Avc1
Res: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 29.97
Audio Codec: mp4a

I gave up on virtual dub in the end, divx, xvid and mkv do not work out of the box even with shrinked ratios.
In the end i downloaded a program called Ultra MPEG-4 Converter

Test1:
So first test plonk it straight onto the player and see how it handles a run unsupported file
Results:
As expected the file didnt play, interestingly enough it didnt even appear as a file on the video library

Test2:
Convert file to a H264 - AVC
Results:
Even when using the Ultra software the vid still didnt work on the player, i gave up on this in the end

Test3:
Convert file to MPEG-4
Results:
This worked fine, the quality was very good as expected, the camera REALLY doesnt do the player justice i am very impressed with the screen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDf9k2FfKPI

Hi mate - not to ruin your review but I would be particularly interested in the sound performance/quality of the BT headphones against the ex85 (or any decent wired phones). I know you dont really care for the BT feature but its a make/break for me if I get the same player

Also appreciate some battery charge/last 'real-world' tests with/without BT or Video...

EDIT: One thing to consider with touchscreens is that if they have no physical buttons they are impossible to use to control your music when the players in a pocket or a bag (which I suspect most people do when flicking tracks or increasing volume, rather than searching for a song or something...). The Samsung doesnt get around, this but the D2 does with a few additional buttons. P.S. The EX85s arent noise-cancelling AFAIK...

EDIT2: Very nice that Sony have provided a plug charger aswell as the USB cable (presume it charges over USB as per the 818s)...

EDIT3: You should find that you can drag and drop and folder navigate without WMP or external drivers - well I could with the 816 and XP - very useful...

EDIT4: Forgot to say - good review so far ...

Thanks

ps3ud0

I picked up the A729 the other day and the audio is fantastic. Havent really tested the battery yet but I certainly will do on my 9 hour flight back from the US.

Some things that bug me is firstly it doesnt seem to work well with WMP when I plug in the MP3 player and open WMP only some of my songs seems to be shown, but if I open Winamp all songs are listed as on the player.

Also this has replaced my iPod and another thing that bugs me is, it doesnt seem to be great to plug into a PC and play music straight off the player as I used to do this a LOT. With winamp it takes ages to load the songs and in WMP they dont play at all.

Other than that great player I was suprised at how small and light weight it is.

Will do that for you tomorow mate
I haven't done anything with the bluetooth other than turn it on to see if it works so far

I have the same. Just bought mine. I like the BT Headphones, but im having a few problems. I dont know whether they are all like this or not. I just drag and drop mine in windows explorer. IAll my music is stored remotely on my server anyway.
The plug charger is for the heaphones ONLY. The USB cable charges the player, but theydont supply a plug. This doesnt bother me, as I own a usb charger anyway. (I own 3 as they were so cheap!)

Hi ChronicTank,

Thanks for the updates (had to re-read this a few times ). I knew BT wasnt going to be as good as wired, though Ive had no experience regards the AD2P profile and its improvements. The way I see it is if I can listen to my music while physically travelling (walking etc) without having to worry about wires (which really annoy me) all the better. I just expect the sound quality not to detract from my enjoyment. Would have been cool if the headphones had basic playing functionality aswell as volume (play/pause, rewind/forward/skip)...

Bluetooth head/ear-phones are still new so with the limited range its hard to know whats actually really good yet. Im tempted to consider the 829 if the supplied bluetooth headphones for the 828 werent any good (they are meant to be @£50 RRP)...

PhillyDee said:

The plug charger is for the heaphones ONLY. The USB cable charges the player, but theydont supply a plug. This doesnt bother me, as I own a usb charger anyway. (I own 3 as they were so cheap!)

Click to expand...

BOO - thought it would be sensible to use the same charging connector as the player. What USB charging adapter do you have? The first one Ive found isnt certified for these Sony players

EDIT: No probs with the edits - glad to see the extra detail as I am hovering over the buy button as we speak. Did have the 816s only a few weeks ago but give it away so need a replacement...

EDIT2: Just saw your conclusion - can understand that if you require decent video options. I must admit I really only listen to music on these types of players. Can I ask what vids you are playing to get an idea of the intended usage. You are making me consider the YP-P2s again ...

ps3ud0

don't get me wrong the headphones aren't bad by any means
But compared to the inner ear ones the difference is noticable when you listen one after the other
They are definitely a step up from BT headsets i have tried before (bear in mind they were for phones though)

Sos about the edits i am encoding videos and River Past video converter seems to like crashing my pc so i save often

Edit:
On the BT headphones there is
- volume controls
- fast forward, rewind (ff and rw double up as next and previous track, you double tap forward/backward for this functionality)
- Play/Pause (you press down on the ff/rw button and this is a play/pause toggle)

And also a mic aparently but i havent had a play with that i assume it is so you can connect it to your mobile

I will be honest with you, it is a really hard decision to what i want to keep as i really like the BT headphones now i have them lol
But i dont know if i can be bothered with all the hassel of the video
Will let you know how i get on tomorow

Chronictank said:

On the BT headphones there is
- volume controls
- fast forward, rewind (ff and rw double up as next and previous track, you double tap forward/backward for this functionality)
- Play/Pause (you press down on the ff/rw button and this is a play/pause toggle)

And also a mic aparently but i havent had a play with that i assume it is so you can connect it to your mobile

Click to expand...

Drool! Im sold on the BT headphones - how useful is that!

Soz not helping your decision...

ps3ud0

I have the 829, and I think it's a lovely piece of kit with great sound, some things do get on my nerves though...

• new connector, so older docks/cables like the ones for the NW-Ax000 wont work with it.
• no OTG playlist creation - you can only create playlists using a pc etc.
• the option/back buttons are teeny, so they're not quite so comfortable to use compared to the older models.
• the bluetooth button is right above the hold button, not an issue for me yet, but i can see it being one.
• won't pair with anything but speakers/headphones, hopefully this will be updated in a further firmware to allow file transfer and mobile phone connection
• the jack on it seems very loose, may just be the supplied EX82s though.

If there is anything else you guys want tested before i send it back please post as i am making my ticket today

Why cant there just be one that does everything!

Nothing to really add to this thread except cheers for the review and plenty of pics! People should really do this to help other members esp after if e.g. you've gotten help from these forums in the first place!

any last questions? i will RMA it tomorow/friday

i told you the earphones were good

nice review there.

james.miller said:

i told you the earphones were good

nice review there.

Click to expand...

they aint great though, they're only 82s. But probably the best stock buds i've ever used.

they are still the best thing this side of £70 i said when chronictank was considering the player, its pointless getting the ex90's, its pointless getting anythign below £70 when these earphones come with the player. i actually decided not to get the denon c700's because the difference didnt warrant the price. of course they arent great. se530's are though. actually ill take that back. they are great for the cost, no question.

Have a look for my cling film mod for headfi.org for the ex90's they work a treat

stop pimping veggie

james.miller said:

they are still the best thing this side of £70 i said when chronictank was considering the player, its pointless getting the ex90's, its pointless getting anythign below £70 when these earphones come with the player.

se530's are though. actually ill take that back. they are great for the cost, no question.

Click to expand...

They're not 90s and they're not 85's. They don't have the same SQ.

Have you tried the 530s? Personally I like the UE 10's better.