Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony NWS705 - 2GB Walkman MP3 Player - With Noise Canceling Headphones - Black

Just thought id write to let everyone know that there is a fault that developes with these over time.. i've owned 2 of these and although they sounded great for about the first 6-9months, the headphone socket eventually came loose meaning that I need to hold the wire in position to listen to the music in both ears.. now i just use mine to store music in the car and listen to the content through the USB port on my in car stereo (which is also a sony product)

I'd opt for a later model (maybe one with MP4 ability aswell) havent had any problems with the replacment yet and its been about a year or so now... I trust sony to deliver 100% on sound quality and still buy theyre products, just wouldnt buy one of these again.. :P

It's my first ever mp3 player and I just love this great looking little thing that looks a bit like an expensive cigarette lighter.

It stores all of my existing CDs and mp3s in ATTRAC3plus 48kps format, sounds great even with a cheap, but still surprisingly good, pair of Panasonic RP-HV107 in-ear headphones I got from Argos a while back for just £3.99 and I love the old school retro style full colour OLED display.

Have had it since late 2006 and the battery life is still good even with minimal power saving. Also love the included digital FM radio with auto preset capability that still keeps going even in weak signal areas.

The range of sound options is also impressive, providing great sound quality even with highly compressed ATTRAC3plus 48kps music and the cheap pair of Panasonic headphones I got above.

It's a tough little player too, with it's solid metal body and scratch resistant display. Dropped it several times and still keeps on going and still looks good.

Just a few problems though.

Firstly, the headphones that are supplied with it. For me, irrespective of which of the three sizes of ear buds I use, they keep dropping out every five minutes. They are also almost impossible to get them into the sweet spot where I can actually hear the sound they make rather than just acting as a pair of earplugs.

They were the main reason I replaced my headphones with the cheap Panasonics, which actually sound much louder and better, stay in my ears even when the cable snags on something and tries to yank my ears off, and are much more comfortable. I do lose the noise cancelling capability, but at least I can listen to my music now instead of wearing a glorified pair of earplugs that don't stay plugged.

Others have loved the headphones so I guess they just don't like my mutant ears.

Secondly, the software.

Without simple drag and drop, transferring music is really slow and awkward.

For compilation albums by various artists I have to select the properties of each individual track, click on the Compilation check box, and select the album art every time. Afterwards, I then have to list the tracks in the album and click on the CD track-listing tab to get the CD track order right. Usually have to move back up to the Albums, sorted by Albums listing, then right click the properties for the Album as a whole to ensure they are set up correctly (For compilations I usually type in 'Various' for the Artist and 'Others' for the Artist initial). The individual artist info still remains intact in the Album's track listing though.

With high quality ATTRAC3plus 48kps transfer set up by going deep into the transfer settings options with the player plugged in, it takes forever (around two hours) to convert and transfer loads of mp3s (around 1200 tracks by the last count) over to the player.

It's also a good idea to install the SonicStage Software first off the CD then update it with the latest supported version (v4.3) with the security updates off the support website for the player as the original software (v4.1) is prone to crashing on a regular basis.

Finally, I find it best to set up the software to transfer to the player in 'Simple' mode, as it tends to lose album art and get the album order wrong in 'Intelligent' mode.

The above is a lot of work, taking many hours altogether, but the results from the player are definitely worth it.

It's just a shame the software lacks simple drag and drop with swift high quality convert and transfer capability at USB 2.0 speeds.

Lovely looking machine, hindered by Sony's insistence for you to use their own audio format, rather than MP3.

You can't copy MP3 direct to the machine and have to use Sony's awful software to convert your music into ATRAC3 format. Despite hours spent trying to get this to work on Windows XP, the software keeps crashing - many other people are experiencing the same problem if you perform a quick search online. Despite trying several fixes, no joy. And without software, it's impossible to use the player.

Had they just allowed me to drag and drop MP3's like any other rival's player, then it would be easy, but now I'm stuck with a useless device. Thanks Sony! Nice work attempting to dominate the market with your own silly audio format.

I have just bought the SONY NW-S705 2 Gb player. It was a difficult choice, since the more widely bought i pod nano was almost the same cost & probably more appealing.

Reading the various reviews online did allow me to give the SONY a chance, especially since it's superior sound quality got it extra points. I also had the opportunity to hear my friend's Latest i pod (& there were no reviews for the new October 2007 3rd Generation version.

As expected, the sound of the SONY is far better, especially in relation to the Bass. The treble qualities are much the same in both. The noise cancellation properties are more pronounced in noisier surrounding, than in routine use (eg the gym). Also, the SONY offers features like virtual surround sound like Live, arena, etc which is a plus point.

As mentioned by various reviewers previously is the Sonic stage software - which is the one biggest drawback of this superb music system. I am not sure why such an advanced sound giant like SONY sticks to such an inconvenient software, instead of copy & paste or drag & drop functionality. Hence, information on album cover, etc all have to be entered manually.

Overall, I think that the product is good value for money, in spite of a few glitches.

Already have an older Sony 1gb mp3 which is excellent....however don't know why amazon still have this one priced so high.
Ok , I know it's not a brand new model but 50 hour battery life is great.
got mine from PC World at £39:95 !!!!!