Do you have a junk drawer in your kitchen? I think some people call it the \u201cutensil\u201d drawer. You know, the one with some paperclips, one of those big pink erasers, two old keys, a misshapen button, a 9-volt battery, a wing nut, and hiding at the bottom, a sheet of unicorn stickers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always had one of those, even as a kid. But something my parents didn\u2019t have is a box of electronics stuff. I bet you have one of those, as well. Mine is full of chargers for phones I no longer have, old phones that no longer work, coax cables, RCA adapters, a rat\u2019s nest of headphone cords, flash drives, and old .mp3 players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s funny is you can almost always find this \u201cbox\u201d at someone\u2019s garage sale, but you\u2019ll never see junk drawer contents on display next to their boxed Christmas tree.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I saw an advertisement for a new Sony Walkman, I was intrigued. My electronics box doesn\u2019t even go back that far, but if it did, there would be a bunch of Sony Walkmans in it. There might be an original iPod or an old Palm Treo in it now, but nothing from before 1986. Nevertheless, as sure as day, I was staring at an advertisement for a $1,198.00 digital Sony Walkman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What could it possibly do for $1,198.00?<\/span><\/p>\n

My first Sony Walkman was grey. It was the highlight of my life at 14 years of age. I\u2019d shove that Huey Lewis tape in, and for 14 minutes, I\u2019d get solid music (with a background hiss). Then, I\u2019d hear the \u201cclick\u201d as it \u201cauto-reversed\u201d to play the other side. (Not having to eject the cassette and flip it over was a cool feature.)<\/span><\/p>\n

After reading a little bit about the NW-WM1A Premium Walkman, I knew I had to ask an audiophile friend of mine. He\u2019s been a connoisseur of Bang & Olufson, Bose, and Klipsch equipment forever. He\u2019s constantly striving to find equipment that will perfectly reproduce the sounds of real instruments, which is important to a classical music fan like him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have that kind of ear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His first question to me was, <\/span>\u201cAre you thinking about this for podcasters?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

I said, <\/span>\u201cNo, for podcast fans.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He gave me a curious look and replied<\/span>, \u201cI think you should just pick something else to write about, because this Sony Walkman is absolutely not for listening to podcasts for a huge number of reasons. I got a chance to try this Walkman out at the Sony booth at CES, and it\u2019s not what you\u2019re thinking it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s an .mp3 player\u2014a really good one. Who\u2019s going to download their podcast episodes and then transfer them by USB cord to the Walkman? Nobody.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s true. The only podcast episodes I save to my computer are mine before I release them, and as a backup in case something happens to my podcast. Otherwise, I listen to other people\u2019s podcasts via an app on my phone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the Sony NW-WM1A doesn\u2019t support apps or streaming content. In the world of <\/span>everything <\/span><\/i>connected, the Walkman walks alone. It\u2019s not connected; it\u2019s not online; it\u2019s not like everything else. The folks at Sony decided to put all their energy into a player that could reproduce sound unlike anything else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the other problem,\u201d<\/span><\/i> he said. <\/span>\u201cPodcasters don\u2019t use this kind of equipment when creating and editing their shows. This Walkman produces sound so clear that if you use them to listen to podcasts, all the little cuts they make while editing the podcast, the background noises, and every other noise and hiss will end in your ears. Unless it\u2019s an NPR podcast, I think it could be a disaster for the average listener.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

His words reminded me of the troubles independent filmmakers had when HD TVs came out. Their edits and poorer equipment were highlighted with the detail of high definition. I could see how that could be a problem with podcasts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t imagine what my podcast sounds like through unbelievably good equipment. But I\u2019m sure with the right headphones, you could hear my kids playing Fortnite in the background.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you happen to be an audiophile, someone who knows Erich Kunzel\u2019s 1812 Overture backwards and forwards, and you\u2019d love to replicate that perfection while jogging or working out at the gym, the Sony NW-WM1A is worth looking into.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just to whet your appetite, it features oxygen-free copper cables, is compatible with high-res DSD files up to 11.2MHZ, and can handle all high-res formats. The batteries last 35 hours, and the Walkman does have Bluetooth technology, so you can wirelessly stream the sound to your high-resolution wireless speakers. All for $1,198.00.<\/span><\/p>\n

Me? I just want to listen to podcasts when the kids aren\u2019t in the minivan. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you have a junk drawer in your kitchen? I think some people call it the \u201cutensil\u201d drawer. You know, the one with some paperclips, one of those big pink erasers, two old keys, a misshapen button, a 9-volt battery, a wing nut, and hiding at the bottom, a sheet of unicorn stickers.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always had one of those, even as a kid. But something my parents didn\u2019t have is a box of electronics stuff. I bet you have one of those, as well. Mine is full of chargers for phones I no longer have, old phones that no longer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":8927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[343,346,344,342,345],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n