Name: Sony NW-ZX300 Walkman®
Brand: Sony
SKU: 158NWZX300
Rating: 4.5 (7 reviews)

Purpose-built for exceptional sound

When you hold the Sony NW-ZX300 Walkman in your hand, the heft of the milled aluminum casing lets you know this is a quality portable music player. The Walkman's powerful digital-to-analog converter (DAC) renders high-resolution files in their native resolution for pristine, better-than-CD sound.

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Purpose-built for exceptional sound

Plus, the player's USB port lets you use the built-in DAC to play high-resolution sound from your computer through your headphones. (You can download high-res tunes from sites like HDtracks).

Advanced circuitry for high-res sources

The NW-ZX300 is compatible with high-res DSD files (up to 11.2MHz), PCM-based files (up to 32-bit/384kHz), Apple Lossless, and other formats. Sony's built-in Digital Sound Enhancement Engine can help MP3 and other lossy file formats sound fuller. Pair this Walkman with a great set of headphones, and you might discover details in your favorite tunes you've not heard before.

Ample storage for high-res files

The NW-ZX300 comes with 64GB of built-in storage — enough for over 1,000 CD-resolution songs. If you need more memory the player's microSD card slot can accommodate up to a 128GB card. That gives you up to 192GB of storage.

Bluetooth® compatible for wireless listening

With its built-in Bluetooth, you can stream music from this Sony player to your favorite Bluetooth speaker. You can also use Bluetooth headphones to really cut down on cables. This player offers high-quality aptX® playback as well LDAC Hi-Fidelity wireless music streaming to compatible products. The better your headphones, the more detail you'll hear.

Advanced features for high-performance audio

The milled casing isn't just for looks — the aluminum shields the player's circuitry from electrical noise. High-quality film capacitors ensure uniform frequency response for low distortion. The player is also MQA-compatible. If you're a TIDAL subscriber, you can enjoy your music through this innovative high-resolution format.

The player has a traditional 3.5mm stereo headphone minijack and a 4.4mm balanced output jack. With compatible headphones, this balanced output gives you superior stereo imaging, with fully discrete right and left channels.

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Product highlights:

plays MP3, FLAC, AAC, APE, WMA, And DSD audio files
plays high-resolution digital music files (PCM files up to 32-bit/384kHz; DSD files up to 11.2MHz)
rendering for MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) audio files
USB input allows for use as an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with a computer
microSD card slot accepts,microSD, microSDHC, or microSDXC cards (available separately)
64GB internal flash memory, with up to 128GB additional storage (up to 192GB total memory)
3.1" color touchscreen display (800 x 480 pixels)
built-in Bluetooth supports Sony's LDAC Hi-fidelity streaming codec
Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) restores high-frequency signals to compressed digital formats like MP3 for more natural, expansive sound
S-Master® HX amplification offers accurate, detailed playback of high-resolution music files
minijack stereo headphone output (3.5mm)
4.4mm balanced headphone output
high-speed USB 2.0 port
rechargeable battery provides 30 hours of playback
USB 2.0-compliant cable included for file transfer and battery charging
milled aluminum frame
2-1/8"W x 4-11/16"H x 5/8"D
weight: 5.54 oz.
warranty: 1 year
MFR # NWZX300/S

What's in the box:

Sony NW-ZX300 Walkman® owner's manual

Digital music player (silver)
42" USB cable (Type A USB on one end and proprietary connector on other end)
Instruction Manual
Startup Guide
Note on matte glass
Listening for a Lifetime
Warranty sheet (US + Canada)

See the difference between "Open Box" and "Scratch & Dent" Outlet items

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Researched by Crutchfield's Mark G.

Product Research

Features

Overview: The Sony NW-ZX300 is a Hi-Res Walkman digital music player, capable of playing high-resolution audio files. It also has Bluetooth Audio Streaming with NFC technology. The unit features a 3.1" LCD screen, and an internal 64 GB flash memory. You can add even more memory by inserting a microSD.

Supported Audio Formats: The NW-ZX300 Hi-Res Walkman can support multiple digital audio formats:

MP3	32-320 kbps (incl. VBR) at 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz
WMA	32-192 kbps (incl. VBR) at 44.1 kHz
FLAC	16, 24-bit at 8 to 384 kHz
WAV	16, 24, 32-bit at 8 to 384 kHz
AAC	6-320 kbps at 8 to 48 kHz
HE-AAC	32-144 kbps at 8 to 48 kHz
Apple Lossless	16, 24-bit at 8 to 384 kHz
AIFF	16, 24, 32-bit at 8 to 192 kHz
DSD	1 bit at 2.8224, 5.6558, and 11.2896 MHz
APE	8, 16, 24-bit at 8 to 192 kHz (Fast, Normal, High)
MQA	Supported

Build Quality: The NW-ZX300 features supreme build quality with a 3.1" TFT WVGA color display (800 x 480 pixels) with white LED backlighting. It has a capacitive touch screen made of matte glass to allow smooth fingertip control with fewer fingerprints. The device is constructed with a rigid aluminum milled frame to keep the circuit boards secure, preventing noise and distortion. The circuits and components are attached to the circuit board with a Sony-developed high-quality, lead-free solder for a purer signal path. The S-Master HX digital amplifier is optimized for high-resolution audio playback, delivering smooth, natural sound over a wide 20Hz-40kHz frequency range.

DSEE-HX: Sony has included their DSEE-HX "up-scaling" technology in the NW-ZX300. DSEE-HX uses an algorithm to analyze the music, and automatically replace the "lost" information. DSEE-HX (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) gives your highly-compressed music files new life so they sound almost as good as true Hi-Res Audio quality.

Memory: The NW-ZX300 has a 64 GB internal memory, which has the capacity for the following number of recordable songs:

MP3 (128 kbps): 15,000 songs
AAC (256 kbps): 7,600 songs
FLAC:
- 44.1 kHz/16-bit: 1,300 songs
- 96 kHz/24-bit: 420 songs
- 192 kHz/24-bit: 210 songs
DSD:
- 2.8224 MHz/1-bit: 340 songs
- 5.6448 MHz/1-bit: 170 songs
- 11.2896 MHz/1-bit: 80 songs

Note: The unit's memory card slot will also accept microSD cards for even more memory capacity.

Bluetooth/NFC: With built-in Bluetooth 4.2, you can stream your music files wirelessly from compatible devices up to 30 feet away. Devices that have the NFC (Near-Field Communication) function, can be automatically turned on, and paired with the Walkman, by simply touching the back of the Walkman to the device on the NFC logo.

Sound Quality Settings: You can adjust the sound quality with the following selectable functions: Equalizer/Tone Control, DSEE HX, DC Phase Linearizer, and Dynamic Normalizer. You can save up to 3 sound settings for later recall.

Rechargeable Battery: The Walkman has a built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery for exceptional stamina. After a 5.5-hour full recharging time (via USB connection), the unit's estimated battery life is as follows:

	Stereo 3.5mm Jack	Balanced 4.4mm Jack
MP3 128 kbps	30 hours	25 hours
AAC 256 kbps	27 hours	23 hours
FLAC 96kHz/24-bit	26 hours	23 hours
FLAC 192kHz/24-bit	23 hours	23 hours
DSD 2.8224 MHz/1-bit	19 hours	13 hours
DSD 5.6448 MHz/1-bit	15 hours	12 hours
DSD 11.2896 MHz/1-bit	13 hours	10 hours
MP3 (128k) w/Bluetooth	25 hours (SBC connection)
FLAC (96kHz/24-bit) w/Bluetooth	14 hours (LCAC connection)

Connections/System Requirements: On the top of the unit are two headphone outputs: a 3.5mm stereo mini headphone output and a 4.4mm balanced standard headphone output. A 22-pin WM-PORT for connecting the unit to a computer using the supplied USB cable. The NW-ZX300 is compatible with computers with the following operating systems: Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and macOS v10.8-10.12. You can also use the WM-PORT to connect the unit to one of Sony's Headphone DAC/Amplifiers, such as the PHA-1 or PHA-3 (special cable supplied with the headphone amplifier).

Specifications:

Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 40 kHz (Stereo 3.5mm Mini-jack and Balanced Standard 4.4mm jack)

Audio Power Output:

Balanced Standard Jack (4.4mm): 200mW + 200mW (High Gain)
Stereo Mini Jack (3.5mm): 50mW + 50mW (high gain)

Dimensions: Width 2.261", Height 4.724", Depth 0.596"

Weight: 5.5 ounces

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1 question already asked

Does this player have the ability to store and play Tidal albums in offline mode in the same way that Apple and Android devices do?

vladimir Jul 25, 2018

4 answers

No. This player does not have any Wi-Fi capabilities. You are limited to playing music stored on the player.

marc Jul 26, 2018

No, the Sony NW-ZX300 isn't able to connect to the internet. You can however use this as a DAC on your computer while streaming MQS from Tidal. Also as far as I can tell you can't use it as a DAC with an iPhone.

jelani Jul 26, 2018

There is no network connectivity - no app-based streaming, etc. It is more like a classic iPod. Files must be manually managed, transferring from a PC or Mac using either the free Sony software or by simply dropping and dragging files to the player while connected via the included USB cable. I don't know enough about Tidal to answer your question directly. If Tidal allows you to download files and transfer them to an external device then I don't see why it wouldn't work. But, is they are copyright protected and prevent from downloading to a PC or Mac I'm not sure it would work. What works well is adding files from CDs (ripping to FLAC or ALAC using the software of your choosing - i.e. iTunes), adding files from Hi-Res audio purchase sites like Hdtracks, Qobuz, 7digital, etc., or adding DSD files either purchased or ripped from Super Audio CDs (SACDs).

josh Jul 25, 2018

Not that I'm aware of.

tyrone Jul 25, 2018

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