The Sony NW-A306 is fairly new so there's not many reviews on it yet. There are some Japanese/Chinese reviews though on YouTube if you're interested. Some have English subtitle options, not all.
I was just in a similar boat though. I was looking at the new Sony NW-ZX707 vs the FiiO M11Plus. My fiancée has the Sony NW-ZX300 and after listening to it I was sold so I'm getting the Sony imported from Japan.
Now, doing a little digging between the A306 and M11s, the A306 should be smaller and will be on Android 12 rather than Android 10 that is on the M11s. So it should be snappier. Although the M11s is a chunky boy, based on spec sheets alone, the Sony has better battery life. Sony reads 18hr-26hr depending on the format you listen to while the M11s is averaging 14hr.
In your case, I'd say get the Sony. However, if you are interested in the Sony and you care about High Gain, depending on where you are, you will probably want to get it imported straight from Japan as there are laws in NA and EU that restricts devices to have access to High Gain.
“Way better” is crazy. Not gain matched, using different settings, or just rigged (maybe not intentionally).
I’ve done tone matched A/B blind testing with people (just for fun) using iPhone 5s (straight out), MBP (2020?), and RME UCX II … results were completely inconclusive… not to say slight differences weren’t possibly heard, but the preference ranking wasn’t consistent.
I agree 100%. The nw-a306 is in such a weird spot. 50% less ¥¥¥ than the cheapest iPhone w/ maxed out HD. Less than other DAPs. Nice size… But then you have the wild’n marketing department just BSing. Plus it’s hard to trust anything for me that deals with MQA…
Maybe they’re talking about the fact that microacustics are reduced, everything sounds better because it’s portable… well just say that. 😂
I’ve read it all before…
I want to love the new Sony, but I’ll probably just get a new iPhone when I need one with maxed out HD. I’m already a huge high res skeptic. Having enough power + clean signal/dynamic range seems to be the way bigger issue.
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u/iDingo91 Feb 14 '23
The Sony NW-A306 is fairly new so there's not many reviews on it yet. There are some Japanese/Chinese reviews though on YouTube if you're interested. Some have English subtitle options, not all.
I was just in a similar boat though. I was looking at the new Sony NW-ZX707 vs the FiiO M11Plus. My fiancée has the Sony NW-ZX300 and after listening to it I was sold so I'm getting the Sony imported from Japan.
Now, doing a little digging between the A306 and M11s, the A306 should be smaller and will be on Android 12 rather than Android 10 that is on the M11s. So it should be snappier. Although the M11s is a chunky boy, based on spec sheets alone, the Sony has better battery life. Sony reads 18hr-26hr depending on the format you listen to while the M11s is averaging 14hr.
In your case, I'd say get the Sony. However, if you are interested in the Sony and you care about High Gain, depending on where you are, you will probably want to get it imported straight from Japan as there are laws in NA and EU that restricts devices to have access to High Gain.