Sony NW-E005 flash Walkman with AAC support

Sony has updated its E-series flash Walkman, but if you've already picked up a first-gen unit and are happy with it, you probably don't need to rush out and pick up a new one. Like its predecessor, the NW-E005 comes in versions from 512MB to 2GB, and comes in a range of colors. But Sony has added one key feature: the new model now supports the AAC file format, which Sony is in the process of adding to all new players. As previously mentioned, although AAC is the default format used by iTunes, these players won't be able to play any DRM-protected iTunes downloads. However, if you've ripped CDs into AAC using iTunes, you will be able to play them back in the NW-E005 without having to convert them into another format first. Sony's also rolled out a waterproof case for this player, though we'd still be a little wary of taking it into the shower or pool. (Note: Sony is currently offering a firmware upgrade to allow owners of the A-series Walkman to play AAC files, but we have yet to hear of an upgrade for this model.)

[ShadowBottle @ May 25th 2006 10:48AM]

Technically it doesn't 'support' AAC it's just able to convert it to sony's crappy compressed format. I've got an E507 myself and the compressed format on a 1gb disk of mp3's (or what /used/ to be mp3s) adds several tens of megs, effectively reducing the capacity of the drive.
Definately pants. ):<

ShaBot

[Joe dont @ May 25th 2006 11:01AM]

Sweet, will these babies work with WMA and Media Player 11? I don't care about any crappin iPod support...

They kind of look like colorful pocket knives.

[D. Pitt @ May 25th 2006 11:18AM]

-> 1.Taken from Atraclife:

"Playback of AAC format* on the Network Walkman is available. It enables the transfer of AAC file on SonicStage CP 4.0 without converting to ATRAC format."

[bob @ May 25th 2006 11:35AM]

i can only really see girls buying these, asphetically speaking

[dave95 @ May 25th 2006 12:12PM]

What would be great is not just to support AAC but to be able to use with iTunes. Why is this impossible? I don't want to use Sony crappy software, their players look great though.

[Josh Warner @ May 25th 2006 12:22PM]

"asphetically speaking"

You, my friend, have inexplicably confused a th with a ph. The correct spelling is "asthetically." Nice try.

[velcrocore @ May 25th 2006 12:49PM]

Yeah, I have 11,000 songs, over half are aac format. Sony has to know there are a lot of people like me. Sony tried to convince us to use their lame format, but now is finaly giving up.

I hope they drop some kick ass 80 gig player (for like, $200.) I can dream.

[themanwithoutaplan @ May 25th 2006 1:07PM]

#6. You have inexplicably confused an "ae" with an "a". The correct spelling is aesthetically. A good attempt, though.

[thomas @ May 25th 2006 1:11PM]

Hey Josh.. you too have problems with spelling this word... it's "aesthetically"... nice try ;)

[dave @ May 25th 2006 2:10PM]

its not much of a surprise as the PSP had AAC playback enabled a while back.

a fantastic plus though, apart from OGG, this is gonna give you the best sound :)

and thanks apple for the free music ripping software, itunes works just great to create VBR aac that can be used without having to pay a penny...

[Qwerty @ May 25th 2006 2:14PM]

"Technically it doesn't 'support' AAC it's just able to convert it to sony's crappy compressed format."

I know that you guys hate Sony (because they are evil and their DAPs were not too hot three or four years ago), but ATRAC is not crappy at all.

Anyway, Sony is finally "getting it" with their DAPs. Sound quality has always been excellent and the battery life on Sony current gen flash players is staggering. I don't know how anyone in their right mind would consider something like an iPod shuffle over these.

[zip22 @ May 25th 2006 4:35PM]

actually, this player and the ipod shuffle have rather similar battery lives (16:03 nw-005, 15:39 shuffle according to cnet asia). the audio quality of the shuffle has been regarded as excellent (see head-fi.org), this player hasn't been put through the paces yet.

is it even available? that would be one big reason for people to choose this over the shuffle (which has been out for a year and half).

[zip22 @ May 25th 2006 4:36PM]

whoops, should have read "the shuffle over this".

[Pat McKrotch @ May 25th 2006 4:50PM]

Wow, that is sad Josh. If you are going to make fun of someone for misspelling words, you should probably learn to spell. The least you could do is proofread.

[TC @ May 25th 2006 6:21PM]

#10 dave: Completely agree with you about OGG, but ATRAC was about as good as AAC in my book;

#12 zip22: The original E has been out for ages in the UK, and suffers the same audio flaws as the shuffle (ie; pretty good mid-range sound, but lacking in bass compared to the larger models in the family. I still prefer the sound of the E series over the Shuffle, but this could have been down to various factors like music type I listened to when comparing them, ATRAC/DRM'dAAC etc. I think the main reason to get this over the shuffle is the ability to see what tracks you're llistening to (and the built in FM on the 1Gb).

And Josh got owned in this post!

[zip22 @ May 25th 2006 6:44PM]

where did you hear the shuffle lacks bass?

[joe mfkilla @ May 25th 2006 7:32PM]

that's true. its sad as hell, josh. how f*ing embarrasing for you.

[sahas @ May 25th 2006 9:58PM]

when is this comming to the United States? because i can't find it on the Sony Style Online Store.

[simon @ May 26th 2006 12:52AM]

#18. Woot. They're on sonystyle.ca along with the NW-A's that never made it south of the border.

[Frank @ May 26th 2006 6:45AM]

I saw these DAPs in an electronics store few days ago. Small and good build quality!
I'd buy one instantly IF Sony would leave out Sonic Stage...
Hear that dear Sony?
You REMOVE part of the product and you sell MORE!
What does that tell you about Sonic Stage?

[Galley @ May 26th 2006 8:51AM]

Finally, an alternative DAP for all of my 14,000 AAC files.

[Alan @ Aug 2nd 2006 2:26PM]

I have one of the early MP3 players, a NW-MS9 back from the days when these things used memory sticks. The memory sticks were expensive, the battery life sucked, and OpenMG was crappy, but man did it sound good. Sound quality 10x better than my 1gb Creative TX FM and the Sony will get loud enough to make you deaf.

Recently played with the Sony again, still sounds great after 4 years. Memory stick size is limited to the older style 128mb ones. Too bad, if it supported 1gb+ mem stick pros, I'd probably still use this thing.

I like my Creative for it's drag/drop interface, now if this Sony E00x will do this, I'm sold.

[soundblock @ Sep 7th 2006 10:03AM]

Why isn't anyone looking into the old ones? The NW-E500 series?

Looks like so far my NW-E507 is better than this one, in terms of battery life. And ATRAC technology doesn't reduce the capacity of the drive, it increases it. It doesn't make a 3 MB song into 7 MB. It's more of the opposite. That's what's Sony's good for, compressing the file as long as it plays perfectly. Sure, there's some distorting noise, but that's what I get from converting a 192kbps file into a 64kbps.

One liner....hmmm, looks like the NW-E507 owns that. 28 hours of battery life?? Mine can do 50, at ATRAC3 format.

SonicStage may suck, but that's coming from people who NEVER used Sony products, but the iPod users and the other ones who have never used a Sony product in their life...

I had a Net-MD player from Sony, which is now outdated, but still playable, and back then I thought SonicStage/OpenMG sucked. It was horribly confusing, but 5 years later, here I am, benefiting from it on my NW-E507.

[cee2it @ Sep 12th 2006 1:56PM]

So how about a test: Convert one song to ACC and ATRAC and MP3 and of course, load the original WAV file and listen to each one and see which one sounds better. (We can forget about WMA, as it sounds bad, to me at least).