HomeThe NWZ-S738F's impressive sound quality is enhanced with a noise-cancellation feature and five-band equalizer.
Carrying the torch of the Walkman brand name 30 years after the first cassette Walkman was introduced; the Sony Walkman NWZ-S738F is a high-quality MP3 player. The marquee feature is noise-cancellation, which showcases the player's excellent sound and equalizer.
Carrying the torch of the Walkman brand name 30 years after the first cassette Walkman was introduced, the Sony Walkman NWZ-S738F is a high-quality MP3 player. The marquee feature is noise-cancellation, which showcases the player's excellent sound and equalizer.
The NWZ-S738F sounds phenomenal, especially when using its noise-cancelling earbuds with the player's noise-cancelling feature turned on. That makes it a great option for flights, bus rides, and settings where outside noise may creep in on your listening experience. In PC World Test Center audio tests, it netted a signal-to-noise ratio score of 82 decibels--just a shade below the latest iPods and the top-ranked Creative Zen X-Fi--as well as a barely registering harmonic distortion and noise level of 0.01 percent.
The noise-cancelling earbuds are a bit bulkier than most earbuds and will probably work best with bigger ears. The headphone port on the NWZ-S738F works with any minijack, but to get the noise-cancelling feature, you need to use the included set. That's worth thinking about if you don't like the look or feel of the large earbuds.
What's more, thanks to the proprietary noise-cancellation connector on the side of the included earbuds' jack, they won't work with other devices. In short, you can use other headphones with this player, but the bundled noise-cancellation headphones won't work with standard minijack inputs.
The earbuds, manual equalizer settings, and great sound aren't the only reasons why an audiophile might want to consider this player. A number of other audio features would entice any aural perfectionist.
The fully manual five-band equalizer comes with four presets (Heavy, Pop, Jazz, and "Unique"). You can't make playlists within the player, but the NWZ-S738F does have some unique on-board features. One of them is the "SensMe" playlist generator, which analyzes your songs' beats-per-minute counts--and "moods," according to Sony-- and builds automatic playlists based on those parameters. In SensMe mode, the player assigns playlists names such as "Daytime," "Relax," "Energetic," and "Extreme" (the mood, not the band). In my informal tests, SensMe worked well enough to create "mood-based" playlists.
Pro
The Sony S-Series Walkman is nicely designed and has a high-quality feel; it offers a load of cool extras such as integrated noise-canceling, an FM tuner, podcast support, and a smart playlist creator. The display is bright and crisp, and the interface is customizable and easy to navigate. The player sounds great right out of the box and features several sound-enhancement options. It has Rhapsody DNA and works flawlessly with Amazon Video On Demand. Battery life is superb.
Cons
The S-Series Walkman maxes out at 8GB and doesn't include memory expansion. The packaged earbuds, which are necessary for the noise-cancellation feature, may not be comfortable for all users. There's no voice recording option.
The Botton Line
Thanks to excellent sound quality, integrated noise-canceling functionality, and several smart music sorting options, the Sony S-Series Walkman is a superb choice for music aficionados.
