IFA 2014: Sony Hi-Res Walkman, Sony went hard on audio and wearables at IFA with new High-Resolution Walkman, Bluetooth headphones, and Bluetooth Waterproof Walkman (WS613) that doubles as a wearable Bluetooth headset, unveiled overnight. 


Hi-Res Walkman


The world’s smallest and lightest High-Resolution Audio digital music player, the Walkman NWZ-A15 has a high-grade POSCAP2 capacitor used as the charge pump for the S-Master HX digital amplifier to minimise noise and distortion and DigitalSound Enhancement Engine) HX technology upscales the quality of compressed sources. 

Its 16GB internal memory can be increased via the microSD memory card. It has a 30 hours battery life for listening to Hi-Res tunes and 50 hours for lower grade quality. 

The Hi-Res Walkman will be out in Australia in November for RRP $249. 


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Bluetooth Walkman

Sony Bluetooth ‘wearable Walkman’ costs $199 is a music player and Bluetooth headset in one, appealing to fitness fanatics. 


There are also several other Hi-Res headphones which cost $349-$799 with 70/40mm dome  drivers, can handle 2,000 mW/1500mW of power and come in black / silver. 

There are three new Sony Bluetooth Wireless Headphones unveiled at IFA – bottomless bass MDR-XB950BT, noise cancelling MDR-ZX550BN and splash-proof, sport-focused MDR-AS800BT.  They, too, come in some cool colours.  

Sony’s new PHA-3 headphone amplifier converts Hi-Res signals (PCM 384 kHz/32 bit and DSD) from a device’s digital output to headphones. Its not cheap, costing $1,099.95 and will be on sale in Australia next month.   

Sony BASS BAZUKA 

Sound Bar and Subwoofer (T-GT1), blasts out 260W of 2.1 channel audio with powerful bass, with separate subwoofer, BASS BAZUKA and LED illumination for party animals for $399. 

You can pair it to smartphone via Bluetooth with NFC.


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There also a Premium Sound Bar (HT-ST5), incorporates nine independent speakers and seven discrete amplifiers. It also supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio formats, for up to 7.1 channel high-definition surround sound. 


Bluetooth and NFC and Built-in aptX and AAC codecs are also supported for better quality Bluetooth streaming. 

It also has three HDMI 2.0 inputs, one HDMI 2.0 output with audio return channel (ARC), plus additional digital and analog inputs. 

It will be on sale at $999 from Sony and JB Hi-Fi. 

The Japanese company also unveiled Action Cam Mini,  smallest ever Action Cam at 63g, the HDR-AZ1VR.

Sony also unveiled a new wearables – a Smartband and smartwatch and new smartphones Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact.Â