If you want audiophile-grade sound quality while you’re out and about, one of the best MP3 players is the best way to get it. And phones aren't made with music in mind: the digital-to-analogue converters in smartphones aren't aimed at audiophiles and Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth to match a wired headphone connection. With a few exceptions, streaming services can't match the quality of high-res audio downloads. But not everybody thinks good enough is good enough, especially if you've invested in some of the best headphones: high quality headphones often expose the flaws in streaming music, and in poorly recorded music too. In fact, you should take a look at our best smart speakers guide and best music streaming services guide if you want to refresh the way you enjoy your favorite tunes.įor many people, streaming music sounds good enough. It’s a gloriously easy listen.Most people now turn to music streaming services, smartphones or smart speakers if they want to listen to music.
The whole effect is of a device that delivers a very rich sound in seemingly effortless fashion. It really gives a sense of Sony’s confidence in this product. The bass is authoritative and tight but still fun and lively. There’s no part of the range that has been rolled off in any way and you can tell that there’s no crawling attempt at crowd pleasing with the way that the NW-ZX507 has been tuned. Pharrell’s voice is reproduced with a wonderful depth of character while Daft Punk’s gritty vocoder lyrics are a fantastically robotic contrast. There's no harsh onset of the beats, no fuzz and no hiss anywhere in the background as we listen to the locally stored FLAC file. Claps, clicks, tom-toms and the like really bring the music alive, but the sounds still remain so well integrated spatially into the overall soundstage that nothing feels like it stands out where it shouldn’t.ĭynamics are superb, with the silences between the notes chocolatey deep. Playing Get Lucky by Daft Punk and Pharrell, we’re immediately struck by a wealth of detail we’ve simply never noticed on that track before. Nonetheless, we are very impressed by what we hear. The Sony Walkman NW-ZX507 is set-up by Sony at the show to test with the five-star Sony MDR-Z1R headphones, which already gives the Walkman something of a head start.
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