NEW YORK CITY – Sony Group introduced a trio of premium digital music players priced from US$1,900 (S$2,400) to US$5,900, marking the first new hardware in several years carrying the storied Walkman name.
The new Walkman devices aim to deliver the “finest portable sound experience” for audiophiles, the company said in a statement on Oct 15.
Across the line, the hardware benefits from an improved “DSD Remastering Engine” that can make digital music files sound warmer and more analog, Sony said.
When users are streaming compressed, lower-quality music files, the Walkmans use artificial intelligence to identify music genres and enhance both high frequencies and subtle sounds. Fortunately for enthusiasts, major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music already let subscribers stream or download high-resolution, lossless audio.
The three new devices are available for preorder now, though Sony has not yet said when they will start shipping.
To make the most of these players, which are designed for focused listening, shoppers will also need high-end headphones capable of reproducing even the smallest details of their favourite songs.
The Walkman brand is core to Sony’s heritage, and the new products are an example of the more niche consumer segments that the company serves outside of its much bigger personal audio business.
But competitors like Astell & Kern, along with some Chinese brands, offer their own so-called hi-fi players at significantly lower prices than Sony.
Sony’s middle- and top-of-the-line WM1-series players, the NW-WM1ZM3 (US$5,900) and NW-WM1AM3 (US$3,000), both have 5.5-inch, 1080p-resolution screens that are slightly larger and sharper than their predecessors from 2022.
The lowest-end NW-ZX900, which has a 5-inch display, has been upgraded with 1080p resolution, an improvement over 720p on the prior model.
The flagship product offers several additional features meant to justify the nearly US$6,000 price.
That includes a gold-plated oxygen-free copper chassis that the company says will help elevate the sound quality. The screws also have a gold-plated treatment providing a “stable ground connection that delivers powerful bass, an expansive soundstage and smooth, extended high frequencies,” according to Sony.
The two less expensive models, meanwhile, have an aluminum-alloy main enclosure with a gold-plated rear chassis.
All three players run the Android operating system. The lowest-end NW-ZX900 (US$1,900) is making a particularly big leap to Android 16, up from the much older Android 12 software found on its predecessor.
Notably, Sony’s battery life estimates are for low-quality, 128-kilobit-per-second MP3 files, an unlikely usage scenario for enthusiasts.
The NW-WM1ZM3 and NW-WM1AM3 can last through up to 31 hours of streaming or 35 hours when music is stored on the device. The more affordable NW-ZX900 promises the longest endurance: as much as 35 hours of streaming or 40 hours of local playback.
Walkman hardware has not been the only focus for Sony’s pro audio division: Earlier in October, the company introduced a unique spatial audio microphone for smartphones, priced at US$250, that can capture immersive audio for recorded videos.
In 2023, the company bought boutique headphone maker Audeze, a purchase that so far has mostly benefitted its PlayStation division. In September, Sony announced its latest line of gaming headphones that incorporate Audeze’s planar magnetic driver technology. BLOOMBERG