Slashdot Mirror
Sony's Signature Walkman and Headphones Are $5,500 of Ridiculous (theverge.com)
Vlad Savov, writing for The Verge: Like a grand old dinosaur that's being left behind by the evolution of the tech industry, Sony is in desperate recovery mode here at IFA. The company has new phones, a rather nice pair of noise-canceling headphones, the imminent PS VR, and... a truly outlandish combo of music player and headphones that costs a mighty $5,499.98. I guess there had to be some outlet for Sony's classic wild-eyed grandeur. Sony's new Signature audio series consists of the gold-plated NW-WM1Z Walkman, which weighs in at 455g (1lb) and $3,200, the $2,300 MDR-Z1R closed-back headphones, and a desktop headphone amp whose price I haven't even dared to look up. First impressions? The portable media player barely qualifies to be called portable. This new 256GB Walkman glints beautifully under IFA's bright lights, and its hefty case is machined to a perfect finish, but its weight is overwhelming. I simultaneously love it for its looks and hate it for its impracticality. Typical Sony, then!
Take this reviewer's commentary with a grain of salt. As with all "audiophiles", he bases his opinion on just plain subjective emotion associated with product brands, individual tastes, and nationalistic biases, not any type of fact. He doesn't like the $5,500 Sony headphones? Then why did he like the Sennheiser $55,000 headphones (yes, that's right, $55K headphones) or the Focal $3,999 headphones? And I really hate to bring this up because it's ugly, but maybe his review comes down to simple nationalism? The reviewer (Vlad Savov) is based in Europe, and Sennheiser is from Germany and Focal is from France. And Sony is (duh) from Japan.