Sennheiser HD 558 - Over the Ear Headphones

The HD 558 climaxes my posts on the coverage of the Sennheiser HD 5XX series audiophile headphones having previously covered the HD 518 and the HD 598. Being the of the same product line, they all have a semblance in making and material. To begin with, they are all open back, high-end over the ear (circum-aural) headphones featuring velour ear pads and a leatheratte headband headset designed for extended listening comfort. Additionally, the velour ear pads provide for better sound channeling to your ear canal. This coupled with the open back design and an internal Surround Reflector, the HD 558 produces an 

extended spatial sound field. This makes it suitable for privately listening to music from your MP3 player and perhaps for use with your home theater entertainment system.

These headphones are supplied in a gloss black-colour with a layered honeycomb finish on ear cup casings.

Features of the Sennheiser HD 558

• Open circum-aural headphones with E.A.R. technology 

The Sennheiser HD 558 are full size headphones with earcups fully wrapping around your ears and have been designed to give you outstanding sonic accuracy and clarity while ensuring your listening comfort for extended periods through Sennheiser's intuitive "Eargonomic Acoustic Refinement" (E.A.R.) design.  The E.A.R design ensures all audio signals are directly into your lugholes while maintaining maximum comfort.

• DuoFol Diaphragms  

DuoFol diaphragms are thin membrane films attached to a voice coil. They are designed to create a wide sound stage with ultra-fast response and rest times for improved sound transparency and minimal distortion. The size and shape of the diaphragms is ingeniously crafted to limit intermodulation distortion. In simple terms, when an audio signal at a given frequencies passes through an imperfect audio system, several noise frequencies will be present at the output which are either multiples, sums and differences of frequencies of the original audio signal, though much weaker than the desired audio signal frequencies. This distortion becomes significant when the volume is turned up!

• Neodymium Ferrous Magnet and Aluminium Voice Coils

The permanent magnets adopted for the Sennheiser HD 558 are highly optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous magnets. This coupled with lightweight aluminum voice coils provide an almost linear dynamic response and efficiency.

• Surround Reflector 

The HD 558 are designed with open earcups that create a spatial field - a perception of distance from the sound source. To improve on this, the HD 558 is further equipped with a surround reflector to provide an extended spatial sound field.

• Velour Ear pads and Leatheratte headband 

The HD 558 Ear pads are made of velour fabric, which makes them have a smooth and tender feel to provide extra wearing comfort during listening sessions. Its headband is lined with leatheratte - an imitation of leather, to complete a luxurious and comfortable headphone set.

Design attributes of the Sennheiser HD 558 Over the Ear Headphones

• Dynamic Transducer type

Just like all other models in the 5XX series, Sennheiser adopted dynamic transducers with Duofol diaphragms for the HD 558 headphones. A dynamic transducer [call it a speaker], is able to produce sound because the changing audio current flowing through its voice coil creates a varying magnetic field in polarity, which interacts with the fixed magnetic field of the permanent magnet where the voice coil is suspended to generate a vibrating effect at the rate of the changing magnetic field. This vibration impacts the air around the cone, hence creating sound - music for that matter.
The permanent magnets adopted in the HD 558 are similarly made from high performance field-strengthened neodymium ferrous material to provide excellent dynamic response.

• Frequency response

You should expect an almost linear response from the HD 558 headphones from as low as 15Hz to 28,000Hz. This range impressively blanks out our average ordinary audio range of 20Hz to 20,000Hz. Thus, the HD 558 has been designed for audiophile quality.

• Input Impedance

The input impedance is still the same from the Sennheiser HD 518. The Hd 558 is rated 50 Ohms input impedance. This value is deliberately kept low by Sennheiser to ensure a quality output when used with modern home theater systems and professional audio equipment, designed with low impedance output headphone jacks.

• Sensitivity

The HD 558 ' sensitivity is of the same magnitude as the HD 598. It is rated at 112 dB SPL at 1kHz for an amplifier input voltage of 1Vrms.

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a widely and intentionally misrepresented concept by most audio equipment manufacturers. The value of the THD ratio ideally should represent how much of the unwanted frequencies (harmonics) a given audio system has at its output for an entire audio signal range of say 20Hz - 20kHz. Traditionally, this is quoted by manufacturers as measured for a single frequency. For the Sennheiser HD 558, this value of THD is <0.2% at 1kHz, and 100 dB SPL.

• Dimensions and weight of the HD 558

The HD 558 is shipped in a product packaging that measures (L x B x H): 205 x 100 x 240 mm and  weighs a net weight of 270 g. 

• What's In The Box?

A 3 meter, single sided and changeable OFC, 4-strand copper cable, a gold-plated 6.3 mm stereo jack with a 3.5 mm gold-plated adaptor and Sennheiser HD 598 headphones.

Buying guide

• The HD558 are an improvement from the HD 518. They sound better although some people may not at times tell the difference in performance. The headphones generally sound good for an open back design.

• The Sennheiser HD 558 wearing comfort is excellent even after extended use.

• Open back earcup designs normally have problems with poor Bass. But with the HD 558, the Bass is clear and just sufficient. 

• Like all open back earcup designs, the HD 558 are always a distress to the people around you because they allow music sound to escape from the headphones, which is perceived as noise by others. So you cannot use them while on your travels; on the Airplane for instance or in a public place. 

Read More

Sennheiser HD 518 - Over the Ear Heaphones

The HD 518 is the evolution piece in the Sennheiser HD 5X8 series audiophile headphones; with the HD 558 and HD 598 following in succession respectively. All headphones in this series are circum-aural or over the ear headphones with open back earcups.The Sennheiser HD 518 being the starting piece in this series is also the cheapest costing about $129.95. They are all built with the same technological concept but with progressive refinements across the series.

The Sennheiser HD 518 also features the innovative E.A.R. technology, which ensures accurate channeling of audio signals into your ears and the DuoFol diaphragms that minimize sound distortion. Additionally, the ear pads are generously padded and headband cushioned to enhance wearing comfort for extended listening periods.
These headphones are supplied in a beige-colour with high-gloss burl wooden parts and matching ear pads in a sophisticated premium finish.

Features of the Sennheiser HD 518 Headphones

• Open circum-aural headphones with E.A.R. technology 

The Sennheiser HD 518 are full size headphones whose generously padded earcups fully wrap around your ears. They are designed to provide maximum wearing comfort during long listening sessions while ensuring impeccable sonic accuracy and clarity through Sennheiser's intuitive "Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement" (E.A.R.) design.  The E.A.R design ensures all audio signals are directly into your ears while ensuring maximum comfort.

• DuoFol Diaphragms adopted for the HD 518

DuoFol diaphragms are a thin membrane attached to a voice coil. They are designed to provide a wide sound stage with ultra-fast response and rest times for improved sound transparency and reduced distortion. The diaphragm geometry is tailored to keep intermodulation distortion minimal. Intermodulation occurs when an audio signal known frequencies passes through an imperfect audio system giving rise to several noise frequencies in the output signal, which are either multiples, sums and differences of frequencies contained in the original audio signal but weaker than the desired output audio signal frequencies. This distortion however, becomes significant when the volume is turned up!

• Neodymium Ferrous Magnet and Aluminum Voice Coils

The permanent magnets adopted for the Sennheiser HD 518 are specially optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous magnets. This coupled with lightweight aluminum voice coils provide a superior dynamic response and efficiency.

• Soft Ear pads and Cushioned Headband

The Ear pads of the HD 518 are generously padded with very soft material, while the headband is also cushioned with an equally soft material to provide luxurious wearing comfort during your extended listening sessions.

• Versatile connectivity options

The HD 518 can be invariably used with HiFi system, TV set, Headphone amplifier, Home Audio, etc, without any noticeable drop in quality of sound output. This is because of its low output impedance that closely matches with these audio systems.

• Eye catching grille-like ear cup casing design

The Sennheiser HD 518 feature an distinctive eye catching grille like design that makes them fairly attractive at first glance.

Design attributes of the Sennheiser HD 518 Over the Ear Headphones

• Dynamic Transducer type

The Sennheiser HD 518 headphones use the dynamic transducer principle. This means that once a varying current is applied to the voice coil suspended within the magnetic field of the neodymium ferrous magnet, it creates a magnetic field which changes polarity and direction at the rate of the input current. When this dynamically changing magnetic field interacts with the field of the neodymium ferrous magnet, it creates a repulsive force when the polarities of the two fields match and an attractive force when the polarities are different. This causes the voice coil to vibrate several times a second [depending on changing current] carrying the duofol diaphragm with it, and consequently the air around it - creating music sound.

• Frequency response

The Sennheiser HD 518 headphones are designed to respond to an incredibly wide audio frequency spectrum, going from as low as 14Hz  and to as high as 26kHz. If you are an audiophile, the HD 518 has got you covered for you will never regret because it pumps out some quality sound yet costing only $129.95!

• Input Impedance

The Sennheiser HD 518 is a low impedance headphone. Its input impedance is only 50 Ohms. This gives you the flexibility to use them with your TV set or home Audio which have low impedance output headphone jacks.

• Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a headphone determines how loud a headphone is for a given level of an acoustic signal input. It is measured in decibels of Sound pressure level (SPL). Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is the change in local air pressure that results due to a disturbance caused by a sound wave. For the Sennheiser HD 518, the SPL value has measured to be 108 dB at 1kHz for an amplifier input voltage of 1Vrms. The normal headphone range of SPL is between 85dB to 120dB; with 85dB corresponding to the lowest  and 120dB the highest volume.

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a widely and intentionally misrepresented concept by most audio equipment manufacturers. The value of the THD ratio ideally should represent how much of the unwanted frequencies (harmonics) a given audio system has at its output for an entire audio signal range of 20Hz - 20kHz. This value is expected to be larger for an entire signal range! Traditionally, this is quoted by manufacturers as measured for a single frequency. For the Sennheiser HD 518, this value of THD is <0.2% at 1kHz, and 100 dB SPL.

• Dimensions and weight of the HD 518

The HD 518 is shipped in a product packaging that measures (L x B x H): 205 x 100 x 240 mm and  weighs a net weight of 286 g. 

•   In The Box?

A 3 meter, single sided and changeable OFC, 4-strand copper cable, a gold-plated 6.3 mm stereo jack with a 3.5 mm gold-plated adaptor and Sennheiser HD 518 headphones.

Buying guide

• The headphones sound really good for an open back earcup design and for such a price. Plus, you enjoy the flexibility of hooting them up to any audio system to enjoy quality sound without requiring a headphone amplifier.

• The soft ear pads and cushioned headband of Sennheiser HD 518 provide wearing comfort for use over long periods.

• Open back earcup designs normally have problems with poor Bass. But with the HD 518, the Bass is clean and fairly deep. 

• Like all open back earcup designs, the HD 518 leak out quite a lot of sound. Be sure to use them in the comfort of your home. You cannot use them while on your travels; on the Airplane for instance or in a public place. 

Read More

Sennheiser HD 598 - Over the Ear Headphones

The Sennheiser HD 598 are high-end over the ear (circum-aural) headphones from Sennheiser priced at $249.95. They feature velour ear pads and a leatheratte headband headset to ensure listening comfort during long sessions. The velour ear pads are designed in such a way as to completely cover your ears and channel all audio signals directly into your ear canal, while the open back earcup design allows some sound to leak out of the headphone and also lets in more ambient sounds into the headphone. This results in a more natural or speaker-like sound and a realistic spatial sound field.
These headphones are supplied in a beige-colour with high-gloss burl wooden parts and matching ear pads in a sophisticated premium finish.

Features of the Sennheiser HD 598

• Open circum-aural headphones with E.A.R. technology 

The Sennheiser HD 598 are full size headphones with earcups fully wrapping around your ears and have been designed to give you outstanding sonic accuracy and clarity while ensuring your listening comfort for extended periods through Sennheiser's intuitive "Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement" (E.A.R.) design.  The E.A.R design ensures all audio signals are directly into your lugholes while ensuring maximum comfort.

• DuoFol Diaphragms  

DuoFol diaphragms consist of a thin membrane film attached to a voice coil designed to provide a wide sound stage with ultra-fast response and rest times for improved sound transparency and reduced distortion. The diaphragm shape and size is intuitively crafted to limit intermodulation distortion. In simple terms, when an audio signal at a given frequencies passes through an imperfect audio system, several noise frequencies will be present at the output which are either multiples, sums and differences of frequencies of the original audio signal but much weaker than the desired audio signal frequencies. This distortion becomes significant when the volume is turned up!

• Neodymium Ferrous Magnet and Aluminium Voice Coils

The permanent magnets adopted for the Sennheiser HD 598 are highly optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous magnets. This coupled with lightweight aluminum voice coils provide a superior dynamic response and efficiency.

• Surround Reflector 

The Sennheiser HD 598 features open earcups that provide a spatial field - a perception of distance from the sound source. To improve on this, the HD 598 is further equipped with a surround reflector to provide an extended spatial sound field.

• Velour Ear pads and Leatheratte headband 

The HD 598 Ear pads are made of velour fabric, which makes them have a smooth and tender feel to provide extra wearing comfort during listening sessions. Its headband is lined with leatheratte - an imitation of leather, to complete a luxurious and comfortable headphone set.

Design attributes of the Sennheiser HD 598 Over the Ear Headphones

• Dynamic Transducer type

The Sennheiser HD 598 headphones have been designed with dynamic transducers with Duofol diaphragms or call them cones. This means that once a changing current is impressed on the voice coil suspended in the field of a permanent magnet, it creates a magnetic field which changes polarity and direction at the rate of the changing current. When the dynamically changing magnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet, it creates a repulsive force when the polarities of the two fields match and an attractive force when the polarities are different. This vibrates the voice coil several times a second [depending on changing current] carrying the duofol diaphragm or cone with it and consequently the air around it - creating music sound. The permanent magnets adopted in the HD 598 are made from highly optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous material to provide an excellent dynamic response.

• Frequency response

The Sennheiser HD 598 headphones respond to an incredibly wider audio frequency spectrum, going from as low as 12Hz  and as high as 38,500Hz. This means the HD 598 has been designed with an audiophile in mind and it certainly lives up to this expectation and moreover for a fraction of the cost of high end audiophile headphones!

• Input Impedance

The Sennheiser HD 598 is generally a low impedance headphone with input impedance in the order of 50 Ohms. This means, the HD 598 will still give you quality output on most modern home cinema systems and professional audio equipment, which are designed with low impedance output headphone jacks.

• Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a headphone determines how loud a headphone is for a given level of a sound signal input. It is measured in decibels of Sound pressure level (SPL). Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is the change in local air pressure that results due to a disturbance caused by a sound wave. For the Sennheiser HD 598, the SPL value has measured to be 112 dB at 1kHz for an amplifier input voltage of 1Vrms.

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a widely and intentionally misrepresented concept by most audio equipment manufacturers. The value of the THD ratio ideally should represent how much of the unwanted frequencies (harmonics) a given audio system has at its output for an entire audio signal range of 20Hz - 20kHz. Traditionally, this is quoted by manufacturers as measured for a single frequency. For the Sennheiser HD 598, this value of THD is <0.1% at 1kHz, and 100 dB SPL.

• Dimensions and weight of the HD 598

The HD 598 is shipped in a product packaging that measures (L x B x H): 205 x 100 x 240 mm and  weighs a net weight of 294 g. 

• What's In The Box?

A 3 meter, single sided and changeable OFC, 4-strand copper cable, a gold-plated 6.3 mm stereo jack with a 3.5 mm gold-plated adaptor and Sennheiser HD 598 headphones.

Buying guide

• The headphones sound really good for an open back earcup design, and coupled with their low input Impedance, you can invariably use them with any Hi-Fi stereo or home cinema without a preamplifier and still get excellent results.

• The Sennheiser HD 598 lives up to its promise of wearing comfort; even after long hours use, you never get the awful burning ears sensation.

• Open back earcup designs normally have problems with poor Bass. But with the HD 598, the Bass is clear and just sufficient. 

• Like all open back earcup designs, the HD 598 are always a distress to the people around you because they allow music sound to escape from the headphones, which is perceived as noise by others. So you cannot use them while on your travels; on the Airplane for instance or in a public place. 

Read More

MDR-XB950BT/B Extra Bass Boost Bluetooth Headset

The MDR-XB950BT/B is a wide, adjustable closed-back type of headband headset that completely covers your ears to minimize background noise and give you a studio like sound environment. You can operate it as a  wireless headband headset via Bluetooth or using the supplied cord as a fixed headset. The MDR-XB950BT/B features large dome driver (speaker) units with electronic bass boot and active noise cancellation. With the XB950BT you have the convenience of answering calls and managing your playlists wirelessly through its Bluetooth feature.

 

 

 

 

 

Full tech Specs of the MDR-XB950BT/B Bluetooth Headset

40 mm, dome Driver unit

The dome drivers adopted by Sony particularly for this MDR-XB950BT/B headset respond virtually flawlessly across the entire audio signal range of 20-20kHz. Their size allows them to reproduce perfect and high quality low frequency notes giving you a studio sound experience. 

MDR-XB950BT/B Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a headphone is a measure of how loud a headphone is if a given level of an audio source is impressed at its input terminals. It shows how effectively a given headphone converts an input audio voltage into an acoustic or sound signal. Sensitivity is normally stated as Sound Pressure Level (SPL) in dB (decibels) per mW(milli watt) or SPL dB/mW.
The MDR-XB950BT/B is rated at 102dB/mW sensitivity using the supplied cord. This means it produces an acoustic signal of 102dB of Sound Pressure Level if 1 mW of an audio signal is impressed at its terminals. Please note that, sensitivity is not linear! For instance doubling the power of the input audio signal to 2 mW does not double the SPL to say 204dB. The engineering and mathematics involved is beyond the scope of this article. 
Typical headphone sensitivity ranges between 80dB/mW to 125dB/mW. The higher this value is, the louder a given headset will be for a given input and the converse is true.

 

Extended Comfort

The lush, wrap around ear cushions provide a seal out for background noise while allowing for a comfortable listening experience for extended periods.

Frequency Response a.k.a Bandwidth 

The MDR-XB950BT/B gives an almost linear response for frequencies between 3Hz and 28kHz using the supplied cord while the effective frequency range in Bluetooth mode is 20-20kHz. All frequencies outside this range are severely attenuated or marginally reproduced. The large frequency response range is attributable to the large (40mm) dome drivers adopted for this headset. However, this choice sacrifices the higher tweeter-like and woofer-like amplification gains you would experience if different drivers were adopted for this purpose. Sony cleverly 'outwits' this drawback using a specially designed Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to electronically boost the low frequency response (Electronic Bass Boost).

Electronic Bass Boost 

This is a feature built into the MDR-XB950BT/B in which a DSP designed with special audio codecs remarkably improves the low-end bass response of headphones. The DSP produces club-like music with enhanced bass by a mere press of a Bass Boost Button.

Supported Audio File Formats

• SBC codec support

 All Bluetooth devices are designed to support SBC codec by default. SBC is a low complexity and medium bit rate sub-band codec for the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) which was specified by the Special Interest Group (SIG) for data transfer between Bluetooth devices. It was specified to optimally utilize the limited Bluetooth bandwidth and additionally, conform to the low power data transmission constraints.

• AAC codec support

• aptX codec support

General

• Can be used as a wireless headband headset with Bluetooth on or as a fixed headset using the supplied detachable cord.
• The MDR-XB950BT/B has an Active Noise Control switch on the on ear-cup
• Gold-plated stereo mini plug

Hardware

• Omni directional, electret condenser microphone. An electret is a stable dielectric with a permanent electrostatic charge. The effective operational frequency range of the microphone is from 100 Hz - 4,000 Hz.
• Detachable stereo connecting cord
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Remote Control : Via Bluetooth AVRCP: Play, Pause, FF, FR, Volume +/-, Bass Boost on/off

Power

• Built-in Lithium-ion rechargeable battery
• Battery Life (Approx) : Continuous music playback: up to 20 hours; Continuous communications: up to 20 hours; Standby time: up to 200 hours
• Battery Charging (Approx) : Appox. 4 hours for full charge
• Power Handling Capacity : 1000 mW using supplied stereo cord
• Power Consumption in Operation : 1.5 W

Speaker (Driver unit)

Sony adopted the 40mm dome type dynamic closed speakers for the MDR-XB950BT/B with measured impedance of  24 ohms at 1 kHz using supplied cable. When we speak of impedance of a headset we mean the measure of opposition to the flow of an audio signal current through the speaker circuit.

Weights and Measurements

• Cord Length (Approx.) : 1.2m Headphone cable,  0.5m micro-USB cable for battery charging
• Weight (Approx.) : 10 oz. (280 g) without cord

Wireless features

• The Bluetooth version adopted for MDR-XB950BT/B is version 3.0 and operates in the 2.4 GHz band (2.4000 GHz-2.4835 GHz). It uses Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) techniques to data transmission.
• It uses the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for audio streaming with a transmission range of 20-20kHz and line of sight of 30 ft or 10 m.
• The MDR-XB950BT/B has the NFC capability for Bluetooth pairing.

Buying guide

• This headband headset is relatively priced; going for $199.9 as compared to similar premium sound headsets that can very easily go for as much as $600. The MDR-XB950BT is a compromise between professional studio application and an ordinary usage.

Read More

Sony NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Audio Walkman

Sony's NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Walkman to be unveiled sometime in November, will be the smallest and lightest Hi-Res digital Audio musical player commercially available today; weighing only 66g and about less than the size of your palm in length. Sony NWZ-A17 features high fidelity audio sound performance in a pocket-sized music player. And if complemented by the new MDR-1A Hi-Res headphones, the NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Walkman presents an unrivaled listening experience. The NWZ-A17 is truly a piece of art housed in a sleek compact brushed aluminum chassis. It comes with 64GB of on board expandable memory and with microSD support.

Attractive features of the NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Walkman

• multi codec audio file format support

Sony's Walkman NWZ-A17 supports a myriad of digital music file formats including MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, AIFF, WAV and ALAC up to 192kHz/24 bits. This implies you are certain to enjoy independent music labels in virtually every music genre.

• The S-Master HX digital amplifier and DSEE HX technology

The NWZ-A17 music player features an S-Master HX digital Amp specifically designed to reduce distortion and noise and render a wide frequency response for a superb acoustic experience during Hi-Res Audio playback. On the other hand, the DSEE HX technology is upscales the resolution of compressed digital files namely; MP3, AAC, and WMA beyond CD resolution quality to mimic a recording studio environment.

• Built for High fidelity sound

The Sony NWZ-A17 Walkman is inherently a quality centered product. It is built to limit circuit noise and distortion as much as possible. The NWZ-A17 features a rigid aluminum chassis to minimize electronic noise and stabilize sound reproduction. Additionally, the internal PCB component interconnections made from high-purity lead-free solder, allow reproduction of finely detailed audio with well balanced low, mid and high frequency ranges. The power supply lines have also been redesigned to limit impedance and distortion for deep bass reproduction.
 Finally, a high performance POSCAP capacitor from SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. has been used as the charge pump for the S-Master HX digital amplifier to minimize noise and distortion even further.

• Large Library Memory Capacity

The NWZ-A17 Walkman has 64GB of internal memory more than enough for an average user. With a further support for microSD and microSDXC memory cards, a maximum capacity of 192GB is achievable.

• Sony NWZ-A17 has Bluetooth and NFC capability

With inbuilt support for SBC and aptX codecs, you can enjoy high quality audio streaming over Bluetooth connections. And for NFC enabled devices, Bluetooth pairing and streaming is only a touch away on the NFC area of the NWZ-A17 Walkman with your NFC enabled smartphone.

• MDR-1A Hi-Res Headphones

Sony's MDR-1A Hi-Res headphones are designed with a 40mm HD speaker units with an incredibly wide frequency response, namely from 20Hz to 100kHz. Aside from being light, the drivers are made from an aluminum coated liquid crystal polymer film diaphragms to provide rigidity and accurate percussion for wide, balanced sound reproduction for every genre. To further refine user experience, the headphones use silver coated Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) wires with separated ground cable structure to limit crosstalk between the left and right channels. Silver coated OFC has lower electrical resistance than standard copper wire. This minimizes transmission loss.

Full Tech Specs of the NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Walkman

• Audio Modes : ClearAudio+/DSEE HX/5-band EQ/VPT/Dynamic Normalizer/DPC
• Channel Station Presets : Up to 30
• Audio Power Output : 10 + 10 mW
• Tuner : FM Tuner Tuner Frequency Range : 87.5 - 108.0 MHz
• Frequency Response : 20 to 40,000 Hz (when playing data file, single signal measurement) Audio 

 

Audio File Formats Supported by the NWZ-A17 Hi-Res Walkman

• MP3: 32-320 kbps including Variable Bit Rate (VBR) at 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz.
• WMA: 32-192 kbps including VBR at 44.1 kHz
• FLAC: at 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz
• LPCM: at 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz
• AAC: 16-320 kbps including VBR at 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz
• HE-AAC: 32-144 kbps at 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz
• ALAC: 16-24 bit at 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz
• AIFF: 16-24 bit at 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz Audio

 

NWZ-A17 function features:

• Play Mode : Normal / Repeat / Shuffle / Shuffle & Repeat / Repeat 1 Song / SensMe channels Bluetooth Feature & Device
• Bluetooth Audio Codec : SBC, aptX codecs 

 

Display Technology 

• TFT display with white-LED backlight
• Screen Size : 2.2 inch (5.6 cm) QVGA TFT (320x240 pixels) 262,144 colors 
• General Backlit Color : White

 

PC Requirements

• System Requirements : IBM PC/AT compatible computer preinstalled with 32-bit Windows XP (Service Pack 3 or later), Windows Vista (Service Pack 2 or later), Windows 7 (Service Pack 1 or later), Windows 8, Mac OS X v10.6 or later.
• CPU: 1 GHz processor (2.6 GHz recommended for video playback)
• RAM: 1 GB or more (2 GB RAM required for Windows 8 64-bit)
• 600MB HDD/SSD
• Internet Explorer 7 or later
• Internet connection for Gracenote^® MusicID^® services, podcast features, Online music store access, or online help.

 

Inputs and Outputs

• WM-Port (22 pin)  for Digital Audio Input
• High-speed USB 2.0 compliant 
• Headphone Output : Stereo mini-jack Memory 

 

User Memory Capacity

• microSD support up to 2 GB
• microSDHC support up to 32 GB
• microSDXC support up to 128 GB
• 64GB Internal memory size

 

Power requirements

• Built-in Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
• Estimated Battery Life : 
• mp3 @ 128 kbps = 50 hrs. (Bluetooth (BT) OFF), 23 hrs. (BT ON); LPCM @ 1411 kbps = 51 hrs. (BT OFF), 23 hrs. (BT ON); FLAC @ 96 kHz/24 bit = 40 hrs. (BT OFF), 16 hrs. (BT ON); FLAC @ 192 kHz/24 bit = 30 hrs. (BT OFF), 11 Hrs. (BT ON); MPEG-4 @ 384 kbps = 14 hrs. (BT OFF), 10 hrs. (BT ON). 
• Radio = Approx. 22 hrs. 
• Battery Charging (Approx) : USB-based: 4 hrs for full charge
• Battery Capacity : 960 mA/h 
• Output Power : 10 + 10 mW 

 

Video features and supported File Formats

• AVCHD: 10 Mbps bitrate, 30 fps frame rate, 720 x 480 max
• MPEG4: 6 Mbps bitrate, 30 fps frame rate, 720 x 480 max
• WMV9: 6 Mbps bitrate, 30 fps frame rate, 720 x 480 max
• JPEG Playback : JPG: Max image size 4,096 x 4,096 pixels 

 

Approximate Dimensions

• 44.4 x 109.1 x 9.1 mm
• Weight (Approx.) : 66 gms

 

Wireless Connectivity

• Frequency Band : Bluetooth spec 2.1 + EDR 2.4 GHz band (2.4000 GHz-2.4835 GHz)
• Modulation Method : FHSS Maximum Range : Line of sight approx.30 ft (10 m)

Read More

Monster DNA Pro Wireless Head Phones

Monster's DNA Pro Wireless headphones makes use of the proven acoustic features of its predecessor, DNA Pro over-ear headphones. This DNA Pro Wireless model revolutionizes your aural experience while listening to music from smartphones, media players and other Bluetooth enabled devices. Support for low energy advanced Bluetooth feature makes it possible to stream music wirelessly to the DNA Pro Wireless headphone for several hours, enjoying a crisp and CD-like quality sound.

Attractive features of the DNA Pro Wireless Headphones

• Support for Low Energy Bluetooth 4.0 (BT 4.0 LE)

Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth 4.0 LE is an extension of classic Bluetooth technology that enables communicating devices conserve battery power. Typically, the average power consumption for BT 4.0 LE enabled devices is about 10mW while for Classic Bluetooth enabled devices is about 1W. Clearly, with a DNA Pro Wireless headphone equipped with this technology you should expect more hours of music streaming.

• Embedded AAC for iOS devices

Monster's DNA Pro Wireless supports Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec which is the default lossy digital audio compression technique adopted for iPhone and all iOS based devices. AAC is a coding standard that achieves better sound quality than MP3 for the same bit rate and was designed to replace MP3 coding standard.  Because Monster's DNA Pro Wireless supports AAC, you are certain to enjoy a quality sound output.

• aptX codec technology

AAC codec is for iOS devices while for aptX codec is for Android devices. aptX is a near-lossless wireless codec developed for Android devices. The aptX codec is currently applied in the music industry, public broadcasters, film studios smartphones, etc because it can deliver CD-like quality audio over Bluetooth. Bluetooth has a limited bandwidth so it is not always possible to deliver high bit rate high quality audio. But thanks to aptX codec, the bit rates are significantly reduced while preserving audio quality and minimizing latency inherent in its low audio coding delay.
Additionally, because a Bluetooth connection is limited by a maximum bandwidth, aptX codec reduces the size of audio files and sequences them over the Bluetooth connection without affecting the sound quality.

• Deep bass and Crisp sound

Just like all Monster's DNA headphones, the DNA Pro Wireless model offers you the much coveted bass with crisp detail. DNA Pro Wireless headphones are tuned for a live music experience.

• Active noise cancellation

The DNA Pro Wireless features an Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) mechanism to enhance user experience. With the ANC, interfering noise signal is picked, analyzed and its signal characteristics such as amplitude and phase measured. A replica of the noise signal is then generated and transmitted in antiphase to the noise signal thereby interfering with the noise signal and countering its effects.

• Touch interface 

No more pressing buttons to control your music playlist and volume. The DNA Pro Wireless introduces a touch interface for this function to enhance user experience.

• Power saving mode

The DNA Pro Wireless headphones automatically power off when either they are folded and when there is no input for a prolonged period, thus saving you precious playback time on battery.

Read More