Product Reviews

I want to preface this by saying I only purchased this after being frustrated with my PHA-1A. I love you Sony, but it sometimes hurts. This is a "do-it all" type of device that is tethered to your computer/audio player/phone of choice. As a DAC/AMP, it produces a tasteful warm sound with its balanced output. I specifically purchased adapters to use with my existing gear, and it's an entirely worthwhile purchase to use it balanced. In this review, I compare it to what is shown in the photos, which is my NW-55 and PHA-1A to compare to (plus my phone). When traveling with my laptop, it's plugged into a "signal-cleaner", going into an OTG USB-C to micro-usb, before going into the included adapter. The PHA-3 is sensitive enough to noise/interference that I do hear a slight hum, under certain conditions. It's only if my laptop is plugged into a wall outlet without the "signal cleaner" present in the chain. When using it off of my desktop, I use the SPDIF input. There's noise, but again, it's situational as it's an issue only when plugged into the wall. Speaking of inputs, the PHA-3 also can be used as a DAC only. I am excited to test this in the future. Let's talk about it's size. It weighs in at a little over 10 oz, and even while phone sized (3-4 phones stacked), it's not pocketable by most pants, but it will travel if you use a messenger bag or such. The issue is how to deal with wires coming in at both sides. If you're in your living room, enjoying the sound, it's nearly a non-issue. However, by going outdoors, or walking with the thing, there's just more hassle and movement to deal with. Sony and others have their top of the line DAPs if the outdoors are more of your calling. When it's running and playing music, from light orchestral to thundering bass-heavy rap, it always runs warm. Never hot though, as some electronics (desktop PC temps) do. This is when I held it in my hands, I never felt like it burned while using it. Keep in mind, my headphones are generally pretty low-impedance, and this may change depending on the headphone. Finally, onto sound. This where it's most subjective, and yet, it's really the entire reason behind a purchase like this. Since this was my first time running my gear balanced, I was blown away by what the PHA-3 was capable of out of the box. I've had this unit playing music for at least 100 hours, and yet burn-in hasn't changed my opinion a whole lot. On forums, you'll find some acknowledgement and arguing of whether the capacitors used in PHA-3 really need that time. I was used to the pretty decent sound out of my PHA-1A, but there's just a richness to having what you're used to, be refined to a T. (Yes, I'm aware the PHA-1A came out after the PHA-3) To A/B between a PHA-1A and PHA-3, obviously isn't fair, but it's what I have on hand. To my ears, the NW-A55 sounds capable, but rather tinny after having the PHA-3 be my primary driver for months. Maybe it's better suited to IEMs rather than a full size planar magnetic. The PHA-1A sounds forgettable after the PHA-3. So what is it that makes the PHA-3 special? It's a more spacious presentation, with detail in silky layers. Having headroom to play with makes sure I'm not burdening the device beyond it's design. Both the PHA-1A and PHA-3 promise to push up to 600 Ohm headphones, but high (300 Ohm dynamic) impedance seems to put the little PHA-1A out of it's comfort zone. I believe others have covered battery life. It's around 5 hours of continued light usage from me. This is as an DAC/AMP, without DSEE HX turned on. Then there's the design. It's a beautiful chunk of aluminum, and it's also a dust magnet. Especially the little rubber "rails" that catch specks all the time. Dust also seems to collect between the knob and the casing, and is somewhat difficult to get at with fingers. I'm constantly wiping it down to keep it clean. In person, it really feels as premium as in the pictures... if you don't plug anything into it. However, the design carries forward some Sony proprietary engineering. Foremost is the highly non-standard balanced out. While it's meant for the Z7 headphones (first gen) it almost seems absurd to go with this, as other headphones must use adapters unless you plan on going very boutique with your wire choices. Yet what is absurd is the proprietary data cable they provide you to use. While it's not necessary to use to connect to your PC, it is a very necessary component to use when connecting to your Walkman DAP. Sony, why are there 2 different designs for a proprietary data cable between these 2 products from the same family? The PHA-1A and PHA-3 did not (from my consumer perspective) need to give us another cable to worry about. The PHA-1 and PHA-2 (somewhat) did not require there to be a proprietary micro-usb connector at all. The issue of "clicking" (a clicking noise when playing any audio) isn't present from at least my ears, on the PHA-3, like there was on the PHA-1A. So I don't know what went wrong. So in conclusion, it's a very capable device that sounds spacious, silky, and layered. It has more power than its weakest sibling, and it's beautiful to look at. Perhaps it was somewhat out there when it first came out, but it's not an oddity today with the personal audio market the way it is. There's demand Sony.. just not for these proprietary ecosystems. <3

They could not put the HI RES decal on straight! Peeled it off to put it on right wont stick. Someone did not do their job right. POOR QUALITY CONTROL!