Astel&Kern


Astell&Kern AK100



First of all, a big thank you to Michael at Air Audio Distribution UK for making this review possible.



Specs:
Dimensions: 79x59x14mm
Weight: 122gram
Screen: 2.4 inch capacitive touch screen, 320x240
Battery life: up to 16h (lossless) and up to 20h (mp3)
Capacity: 32GB built in and two Micro SD card slots for 2x32GB (96GB total)
Price: £569

Included accessories:
A pouch
A screen protector
A micro USB Cable
Manual and quick guide stored on the player
Warranty card and various information
2GB memory card with MQS files

More about the specifications and the technical side can be found on astellnkern.com



Build quality and hardware:
The AK100 is made of aluminium and it feels very sturdy and well put together, with a nice weighty feel, a true high end product.
The 2.4 inch screen fills half the face of the player and it feels very responsive and smooth in use, it’s also very bright and has excellent viewing angles. On the right hand side of the AK100 you will find the analogue type rotary volume control, on the left hand side you have the play/pause, ff/next and rew/previous buttons. On top of the AK100 you have the on/off button, optical in and combined optical out/headphone jack. At the bottom of the player you have the micro USB port and dual micro SD card slots.



Menus and overall usage:
The menus are very easy to navigate with the touch screen. There are no eye-catching menu animations, aside from album art in the now playing screen, but the menu is very intuitive and you soon get the hang of the overall use.
The AK100 is purely an audio device, there are no picture or video viewers or any other fancy stuff as cameras or online capabilities. There is however a built in Bluetooth chip so that you can stream audio wirelessly to your car or headphones, if you so wish.



One more thing worth noting is that Astell&Kern are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products, free to download from their homepage. While I have been tinkering on this review there has been two new firmware versions already.

Audio:
This is the heart of the matter, the one and true aim of the AK100.
It can play just about any file you care to throw at it, mp3, flac, alac, ape, wma (even lossless), wav, and plenty more, all the way up to 24bit/192kHz. One thing it does not do, gapless playback, which is a shame for all us Pink Floyd fans. But I have heard that it is on consideration to add gapless in a future firmware update.
ETA, gapless has now been added.

As always when trying out a new player, I plugged in some high quality earphones and hit play. The first song to play was one of the preloaded MQS files, and I was totally mesmerized by what I heard, the quality of the sound is in a different league to anything I have previously experienced.
Proof if anything that with quality products, you don’t need any gizmos like EQ and DSP to smoothen or tailor the sound to your liking. This is how music was meant to sound, it really is as simple as that.

I don’t really know where to start when describing the sound of the AK100. Every time I hit play and think I will just listen a little while and write down my thoughts, next thing a couple of hours have passed and I’m totally oblivious to anything happening around me.
Even mp3 files sound much better and more alive than I have ever noticed before, the sound is so clean and pure, spacious and extremely dynamic, without any hint of background hiss or generated noise. Every micro detail stands out and can be exactly pinpointed when listening critically, or then you can just sit back and enjoy the glorious sound of this true Hi-Fi audio player. This is as close to being in the studio during the recording session as you can come.
The AK100 can be used as a standalone DAC and amp as well, or as a digital source to a bigger system. Connect an optical cable to the inline on the top and connect headphones to the headphone out, or connect an optical cable to the line out and feed a full-size rig with it. I tried my THX certified surround sound system with the AK100 as source, very impressive!

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags and you can add files to personal playlists. There is a built in EQ as well, but to be honest, you will not need it.
The now playing screen is informative and nice looking with the big album art filling all of the screen with easy access to all playback controls.



There are no headphones or earphones bundled with the AK100, but if you have the opportunity to try the Phonak PFE232 IEMs or the SoundMagic HP100 full-size headphones with the AK100, please do so, you will be rewarded with a sound that will rock your world.

The AK100 is the best player I have heard, and not only as a portable player, but it can stand up to many home and professional systems as well. Magnificent!



Conclusion:
A studio quality audio player in itself is a real achievement, when it is in a very portable size as the Astell&Kern AK100, it’s simply astonishing. Highly recommended!





Cowon


Cowon i9





First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 95x43x9mm
Weight: 40gram
Screen: 2inch, 320x240
Battery life: 29h music, 7h video
Capacity: 8GB (4GB and 16GB)
Colour: black (white, silver and red)
Price: 8GB £79

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary)
Earphones
CD with software and quick manual


Build quality and hardware:
The i9 is made of plastic and is very light, but still feels very sturdy and well put together. The screen is very nice to look at but rather small for anything more than album art and menu navigation.

On the left hand side of the i9 you will find a volume rocker and a microphone, at the bottom of the player you have the 3.5mm earphone jack and hidden under a hatch the proprietary USB connector, on the right hand side you will find the on/off combined hold slider button and a menu toggle button. Below the screen there is a touch pad, for play/pause, ff/rev and next/prev, up/down and left/right, and a back menu control, and below the touch pad you have the built in speaker.


Menus and overall usage:



There are two different ways of displaying the home screen, both are icon based with either bigger icons filling the screen diagonally or smaller icons with a big analogue clock on the screen. To toggle between the different layouts, press and hold the menu button on the right hand side of the i9.
The volume button can be set to act as ff/rev, next prev when the hold mode is on.
As with all Cowon players, the i9 can be used either in MTP or MSC mode, meaning that Windows can see it as either a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support, or a mass storage device, with drag and drop support.
It takes a bit of practising to learn how to use the menus and the touch pad, but once you get used to it, it is not bad at all.



Audio:
The i9 can play mp3, flac, wma, ogg, wav and ape files, and most importantly, it also supports gapless playback. Thank you Cowon!

Remembering that I praised the sound qualities of both the J3 and the X7 previously, I was very curious about how the older and smaller i9 would stack up against them.

As usual I plugged in some high quality earphones to get the best out of the player.
Once again Cowon have proved that their products are at the absolute top when it comes to audio quality, the i9 is a superb sounding player. The sound is identical to that of the J3 in other words, it is remarkable!
The i9 has the same BBE+ and JetEffect 3.0 settings as the J3 and X7 with the same 39 presets including four user definable ones.



You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, and of course there is support for playlists as well. The now playing screen is informative with easy access to all playback controls. Audio playback is stated as 29 hours.


Video:
File formats, xvid and wmv.
I would not recommend watching a full feature film on the i9, the screen really is too small, but if you insist, it works very well. The i9 has the usual Cowon video refinements, such as support for external subtitles and BBE+ sound enhancements. If you purchase the separate video out cable, you can watch the i9 content on a big TV screen as well.



The video playback is stated as 7 hours.


Photo:
Again, I would recommend keeping the photo viewing to a minimum due to the screen size. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should.


Extras:
FM radio with 24 presets, audio/radio recorder, document reader and flash support. You can also buy separate cabling to gain TV out and line in functionality on the i9.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.


Conclusion:
If you can live with just the occasional video and photo viewing, the i9 boasts excellent sound quality, with gapless playback, in a light and small form factor. Highly recommended.





Cowon J3





First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 106x56x10mm
Weight: 76gram
Screen: 3.3 inch capacitive AMOLED touch screen, 480x272
Battery life: 64h music, 11h video
Capacity: 8, 16 and 32GB + micro SD slot
Colour: black or white
Price: 8GB £169, 16GB £199, 32GB £239

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary/Korean standard)
Earphones
CD with software and quick manual


Build quality and hardware:
The J3 is made of plastic on a metal frame and the screen is scratch resistant glass, it feels very sturdy and well put together.
The 3.3 inch AMOLED screen is the best screen I have seen on an mp3 player, it is very bright with excellent viewing angles and highly responsive.
On the left hand side of the J3 you will find the power/hold button, at the bottom of the player you have the 3.5mm earphone jack and hidden under a hatch the half-standard USB connector and the micro SD slot, on the right hand side you will find the volume controls, play/pause and ff/rew controls, and finally on the back of the player you will find a reset hole, a microphone and a speaker.


Menus and overall usage:
There are three different ways of displaying the main menu, one text based and two icon based options that can be tweaked to own preference. As if this was not enough, the J3 can be customized with flash based themes as well. There are hundreds of different themes and tweaks for the J3, everyone is guaranteed to find one that works for them and that makes the J3 a real pleasure to use.
As with all Cowon players, the J3 can be used either in MTP or MSC mode, meaning that Windows can see it as either a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support, or a mass storage device, with drag and drop support.
There is also a G-sensor, so that when you tilt the player the screen rotates automatically, it can even be set to change tracks by a shake of the player.
Thanks to the tactile buttons the J3 can be used without having to use the screen.




Audio:
The J3 can play the same audio codecs as the recently reviewed X7, i.e. mp3, flac, wma, ogg, wav and ape files, and most importantly, it also supports gapless playback. Thank you Cowon!

Remembering that I hailed the X7 as the best sounding player I have heard, I was very curious about how the older and smaller J3 would stack up against it.

As usual I plugged in some high quality earphones to get the best out of the player.
The J3 sounds remarkable! There is ever so slightly less “body” to the music compared to the X7, but this is with highest end earphones and very critical listening. With normal listening there is no question about it, the J3 is a superb sounding player.
The J3 has the same BBE+ and JetEffect 3.0 settings as the X7 with the same 39 presets including four user definable ones.

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, and the J3 supports playlists as well. The now playing screen is informative with easy access to all playback controls, and with the option to install new themes it becomes a visual masterpiece as well. Audio playback is stated as 64 hours.



Note, the music interface is a flash based third party application called Aero Music.


Video:
File formats, avi, wmv, asf. Support for external subtitles.
The AMOLED screen will give you a great film experience it really shines when watching videos.
The audio settings can be used during video playback as well, the video can be cropped and stretched to fit the screen and external subtitles can be turned on and off and altered for colour and such. All in all a very nice set of features for the video playback. The video playback is stated as 11 hours.





Photo:
Once again the AMOLED screen shows its excellence, pictures look very good when viewed on the J3. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should.


Extras:
FM radio with 24 presets, audio/radio recorder, bluetooth, calculator, hand written or typed memo, comic reader, document reader, flash support, stopwatch, alarm and a game called hunter. You can also buy separate cabling to gain TV out and line in functionality on the J3.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.


Conclusion:
Excellent sound quality and Pink Floyd friendly gapless playback, excellent screen, great battery life, memory expansion, great design and fully flash customisable. Highly recommended.




Cowon X7





First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 127x79x14mm
Weight: 212gram
Screen: 4.3 inch resistive touchscreen, 480x272
Battery life: 103h music, 10h video
Capacity: 120 or160GB HDD, 2GB SDD
Colour: black or white
Price: 120GB £229, 160GB £249

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary/Korean standard)
220 volt charger
Earphones
Hand strap
CD with software and quick manual

Build quality and hardware:
The X7 is made of metal and it feels very sturdy and well put together, with a nice weighty feel.
The 4.3 inch screen fills nearly all of the face of the player and even if it’s a resistive screen it feels very responsive and smooth in use, it’s also very bright and has excellent viewing angles. Below the screen you have the menu button and a built in speaker that sounds perfectly adequate. On the right hand side of the X7 you will find the power/hold button, at the bottom of the player you have the AC input and hidden under a hatch the half-standard USB connector and a reset hole, and the 3.5mm earphone jack, on the left hand side you will find the volume controls.

Menus and overall usage:
There are two different ways of displaying the main menu, either as text or icon based, both are good in their own right and very easy to get used to, my favourite is the text based one. The X7 can be used either in MTP or MSC mode, meaning that Windows can see it as either a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support, or a mass storage device, with drag and drop support.
The tactile buttons can be set to act differently depending on if the screen is on or off, the power button is also a hold button for the screen or entire device, depending on the setting. In fact most of the menus and buttons can be set to your personal preference and altered to suit your needs. The X7 can be charged either over USB or with the provided AC charger.
Once you have gotten used to the X7 it is very easy and quite intuitive to use.
One more thing worth noting is that Cowon are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products, free to download from their homepage.



Audio:
The X7 can play mp3, flac, wma, ogg, wav and ape files, and most importantly, the X7 supports gapless playback. Thank you Cowon!

Cowon, or iAudio as they also are known as, have always been known for their excellent sound quality, and the X7 continues that legacy.
Advancedmp3players had a “sound off event” not long ago where the customers voted for the best sound between the X7 and an iPod Touch, the X7 won comfortably.

So, with this in mind I plugged in some high quality earphones and hit play.
I can safely say that to this day I have not heard a portable player with better sound, it’s as simple as that. What is it then that is so spectacular about the sound of the X7?
In my opinion the JetEffect 3.0 and BBE+ offer a dynamic and true to life sound that is very hard to beat in a portable player.
There are 39 presets, of which four are user definable. Without going into too much geeky tech talk, lets just say that no other player offers such advanced tweaks for the sound, or what about a five band parametric EQ, bass/stereo/3D boost, reverb, mp3 enhance, and of course the BBE+ settings on top of it all. Everyone can find a setting that suits you and your earphones, or just leave all settings on flat and enjoy a untampered sound.

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, and as already mentioned the X7 supports playlists as well. The now playing screen is informative and flashy looking with the big album art filling all of the screen with easy access to all playback controls. Audio playback is stated as 103 hours!



The excellent sound quality and the enormous battery life, and of course not to be forgotten the native support for gapless playback (rejoice Pink Floyd fans) makes the X7 the best portable music player I have had the pleasure of using.

Video:
File formats, avi, wmv, asf. Support for external subtitles.
The screen, even if the resolution is “only” 480x272 is bright and vivid and offers a pleasant watching. The audio settings can be used during video playback as well, the video can be cropped and stretched to fit the screen and external subtitles can be turned on and off and altered for colour and such. All in all a very nice set of features for the video playback. The video playback is stated as 10 hours.



Photo:
As with watching videos the bright and vivid screen makes pictures look very good, even with the limitations already mentioned. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should.

Extras:
FM radio with 24 presets, audio/radio recorder, bluetooth, calculator, post-it memo (hand written or typed), comic reader, document reader, flash support, stopwatch, alarm. There is also the option to buy separate cabling to gain TV out and line in functionality on the X7.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.



Conclusion:
For a high capacity media player, with excellent sound quality, the Cowon X7 is hard to beat. Highly recommended.





Pioneer

Pioneer XDP-100R



First of all, a big thank you to Rebecca and Joe at Napthine Porter for making this review possible.



Specs:
Dimensions: 146x76x14mm, without bumper and handle 129x76x13mm
Weight: 203gram, without bumper and handle 198gram
Screen: 4.7 inch capacitive touch screen, 1280x720
Battery life: up to 16h
Capacity: 32GB built in and two Micro SD card slots for 2x200GB (432GB total)
The first MQA capable portable player on the market (More about this later)
Price: £499

Included accessories:
A micro USB cable
Manual and quick guide stored on the player
Warranty card and various information

More about the specifications and the technical side can be found on:
http://www.pioneer-audiovisual.eu/eu/def/products/...



Build quality and hardware:
The XDP-100R is made of aluminium and it feels very sturdy and well put together, with a nice weighty feel, a true high end product.
The 4.7 inch screen fills most of the face of the player and it feels very responsive and smooth in use, it’s also very bright and has excellent viewing angles. On the left hand side of the XDP-100 you will find the analogue type rotary volume control, on the right hand side you have the on/off, play/pause, ff/next and rew/previous buttons, and the dual micro SD card slots. On top of the player you have the headphone/line out jack. At the bottom of the player you have the micro USB port that also functions as a digital output and finally you have a built in speaker. The built in speaker has surprisingly adequate sound..



Menus and overall usage:
The XDP-100R runs on Android Lollipop which means that the possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to tweaking both sound and interface. The menus are very easy to navigate with the touch screen and for us Android users everything is very much straight forward. There are a few very nice pre installed audio apps, Tidal, Spotify, OnkyoMusic and the excellent Pioneer Music app. Of course you can download more apps from the Google Play store as well.
The XDP-100R is not purely an audio device, you can watch videos and play games on it as well, and it has wireless connection with Bluetooth and WiFi.

One more thing worth noting is that Pioneer are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products, free to download from their homepage. While I have been tinkering on this review there has been one new firmware version and two updates for the Music app.



Audio:
As already mentioned, this is the first MQA capable portable player. So what is this MQA? Master Quality Authenticated is a new audio codec that is intended for high resolution audio playback and streaming. Very much simplified, the MQA codec allows for high resolution audio to be folded in to a file size not much bigger than a conventional CD quality lossless file, but with much higher resolution and better sound. You can read more about MQA on: mqa.co.uk

Apart from MQA the XDP-100R can play just about any file you care to throw at it, mp3, flac, alac, wav, dsd, dsf and a few more, at the highest quality available today. It even has fully working gapless playback, thank you Pioneer!

Time to hit play, and hear what it can do.
There were some MQA files already on the internal memory, so I chose Hotel California, put on the Oppo PM-3 headphones, pressed play and adjusted the volume, then my jaw dropped.

Where to begin and how to describe the sound of this combination, I don't think pixels on a screen can make it justice, even words like sublime and superb would be somewhat of an understatement.
Neutral, dynamic, airy and precise are words that come to mind when listening to the XDP-100, but most of all it's just so incredibly musical, and never seem to misplace one single tone.
It's just like being in the recording studio or on the pitch at a concert, the sound is so present, so lifelike.

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags and you can add files to personal playlists on the device or then you can sync them from a computer. There is a built in 11 band EQ and as if that wasn't enough you can set the digital filters and even upsample your lower quality files. If that still isn't enough, you can download and install all sorts of audio apps like Rockbox or Poweramp, but to be honest, the built in Pioneer Music app is fantastic. The only little niggle I have with the built in app is that it does not support replaygain.
The now playing screen is informative and nice looking with the big album art filling all of the screen with easy access to all playback controls and menus.

The XDP-100R is the best player I have used, it can easily rival the best home systems as well.
In true high end style there are no bundled earphones, but then you wouldn't use them anyway, unless they were really good and then the price would double. If you have the opportunity to try the MeeAudio Pinnacle IEMs, they are a very good match for the XDP-100, and then of course the Oppo PM-3 that pretty much is an end of the game combination. The PM-3 and XDP-100R sound like nothing I have heard before, if you aren't fully happy with this combination, I will personally refund you.



I doff my hat to Pioneer.


Conclusion:
A portable studio quality player with a whole new studio quality audio codec up its sleeve, way to make an entrance Pioneer! I cannot recommend the Pioneer XDP-100R highly enough!





Sony


Sony NWZ-A846



First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.



Specs:
Dimensions: 105x47x7mm
Weight: 62gram
Screen: 2.8inch OLED screen, 400x240, 262K colours
Battery life: 30h music, 6h video
Capacity: 32GB (8GB, 16GB and 64GB versions available)
Colour: black or white
Price: £189

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary/Sony standard)
Sony EX earphones with active noise cancelling
In-line cable
Flight adapter (use the A846 and EX earphones for active noise cancelling when in-flight)
Software and manual stored on the player


Build quality and hardware:
The A846 is excellently built. It appears to be made of metal, with a scratch resistant glass screen.
The screen is one of the best screens I have seen on an mp3 player, very bright, excellent contrast and great viewing angles.
Below the screen you will find the home/back and power off/option buttons, play/pause button and a four way rocker wheel (next/prev and up/down, etc) and at the bottom of the player you have the 3.5mm earphone jack and the USB connector, on the right hand side you will find the volume controls and a hold switch.


Menus and overall usage:
First when I got the A846 in my hands, I looked for the power on switch/button, there isn’t one. There is a power off button though, but to power it on, press any button and it will come to life. Talking about the buttons, they are not backlit, which can be a little frustrating when using the A846 in the dark.



The home screen consists of nine icons that lead you straight to the desired application, music, photo, video, radio, etc. The menus are intuitive and easy to use.
The A846 uses MTP mode, meaning that Windows can see it as a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support.


Audio:
The A846 can play mp3, aac, wma and wav files. Unfortunately there is no gapless playback.

The Sony EX earphones are the best supplied earphones I have heard, and the noise cancelling feature works very well. The noise cancelling can be set to different levels of noise blocking, and it works best for long term monotone noise like lawn mowing or in-flight, or why not use it on a track day if the engine note gets tiresome.



But as per usual I plugged in some high quality earphones to get the best out of the A846, and it sounds great!
The sound is warm, with a very nice and full low end, yet with a very detailed and clear mid and upper end as well. The A846 has a five band equaliser with four presets and two user definable ones, in addition to this there is also settings for clear stereo, virtual surround and sound enhance. With these settings each and everyone should be able to find a sound that suits their taste and earphones.
As said, the sound is excellent with a hint of warm lushness.



You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, including a cover flow style for album art, and the A846 has playlist support as well. The now playing screen is informative with easy access to all playback controls.


Video:
The A846 can play wmv, mp4 and m4v files.
The OLED screen is very good, but at least for my taste a bit too small for watching feature films. For shorter videos it is perfectly fine though, and it will give you a great viewing experience. You can zoom and crop the video to fit the screen.



Photo:
Once again the OLED screen is very, very nice, but the size means it is best for just the occasional viewing of pictures.

Extras:
FM radio with 30 presets, TV out with separately sold cable, podcasts, language learning mode, which enables quick rewind and repeat, and active noise cancelling.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.


Conclusion:
The Sony NWZ-A846 offers a mixed bag, the sound is excellent, but it doesn’t support gapless playback, the screen is gorgeous, but quite small and with a low resolution.
Highly recommended for the sound quality alone.


Sony NWZ-A866





First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs.
Dimensions: 97x53x9mm
Weight: 75gram
Screen: 2.8inch capacitive touch screen, 400x240
Battery life: 23h music, 5h video
Capacity: 32GB (16GB and 64GB versions available)
Colour: Black
Bluetooth for file sharing and streaming
Price: £199

Included accessories.
USB Cable (proprietary/Sony standard)
Sony EX300 earphones

Disclaimer, as there is little difference between this player and the previously reviewed Sony player, some of the following review will be more or less exactly the same as that for the NWZ A846,

Build quality and hardware.
The A866 is excellently built. The size and weight is perfect for portability, and the sturdy feel of it is encouraging. The A866 did not get an OLED screen as its predecessor, but it is still a very good screen with great viewing angles and great colours.
Below the screen you will find the home button, on the right hand side of the player you have play/pause, next/prev, hold and volume buttons and at the bottom of the player you have the 3.5mm earphone jack and the USB connector, on the back of the player is a reset hole.



Menus and overall usage.
To turn the A866 on you press any button, just like the A846, and to turn it off you press the home button for a few seconds.

The home screen consists of eleven icons that lead you straight to the desired application, music, photo, video, radio, podcasts, bluetooth, etc. The menus are intuitive and easy to use.
The A866 uses MTP mode, meaning that Windows can see it as a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support.



Audio.
The A866 can play mp3, aac, wma and wav files. Unfortunately there is no gapless playback.

The Sony EX300 earphones are the best supplied earphones I have heard, which makes the A866 the best “out of the box” player I have had the pleasure of using.

The A866 has a new S-Master MX digital amplifier, which really gives the sound a new dimension.
The sound is warm, with a very nice and full low end, yet with a very detailed and clear mid and upper end as well. The A866 has a five band equaliser with five presets and two user definable ones, in addition to this there is also settings for clear stereo, virtual surround and sound enhance. With these settings each and everyone should be able to find a sound that suits their taste and earphones.
As said, the sound is excellent with plenty of warm lushness.



You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, including a cover flow style for album art, and the A866 has playlist support as well. The now playing screen is informative with easy access to all playback controls.

In addition there is a nice feature called “Sense Me”, which basically scans the music and categorises it into different moods, from which a random playlist is generated when you choose this option. There are ten different categories, dance, mellow, energetic, etc, it may sound like a gimmick,but I really liked the option of a randomly selected playlist suited for my mood.



Video.
The screen is very good, but at least for my taste a bit too small for watching feature films. For shorter videos it is perfectly fine though, and it will give you a great viewing experience. You can zoom and crop the video to fit the screen.


Photo.
The screen is very nice, but the size means it is best for just the occasional viewing of pictures.

Extras.
FM radio with 30 presets, podcasts, language learning mode, which enables quick rewind and repeat, and bluetooth.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.

To sum up.
The good: excellent sound, great build quality, stylish looks, easy to use, tactile buttons
The bad: no gap less (see what I did there) playback, proprietary USB

Conclusion.
The Sony NWZ-A866 offers excellent sound quality (sadly not gapless), very good bundled earphones, high quality feel and exclusive looks. Highly recommended.