The Pop Corporation

Sony Walkmans are an evocative thing, making oldheads and retro lovers hark back to a time when you could carry your tunes around on dedicated machinery. Well, phones replaced the need for that, as we saw the passing of various iPods and Zunes and whatnot and everything went to one device.

Is there a need for a separate thing? Well, Sony think so as they’re bringing their Walkman back, as a hi-res streaming player. There’ll be two models – the NW-ZX707 and NW-A306 – and you’ll be able to listen to music you’ve downloaded and stream on it. You know how technology works by now, but we have to bulk the article out somehow or it’d just be a link to the video below.

What is good, where phones and their sometimes limited memory might fall down, is that you’ll be able to load this device up with all your illegally downloaded mp3s, YouTube rips, mash-ups, your home recorded demos and mixes and all that, incorporating them into playlists, rather than solely relying on Spotify.

Sony adds that you can also use “your favourite streaming and music apps right on your Walkman or connect to a PC to access your music collection”. “The evolving algorithm now delivers even greater benefits for CD-quality (16 bit 44.1/48kHz) lossless codec audio. Restoring acoustic subtleties and dynamic range provides a richer, more complete listening experience.”

Have a look yourself.

So there you have it. If you want to know the tech-spec, go and find out for yourself. Looks nice. Is a nice idea. Will everyone be buying one? Who knows, but this might be a nice thing to have if you want to listen to music without fear of being pestered on WhatsApp and your Instagram DMs at the same time.