Sony has announced a trio of new Walkman portable media players that start at an already absurd $1,899.99 for the NW-ZX900 and climb all the way up to $5,899 for the gold-plated NW-WM1ZM3. Sandwiched in between is the $2,999.99 Walkman NW-WM1AM3, which is nearly identical to the WM1ZM3, just minus the gaudy gold shell.
All three devices are aimed squarely at the audiophile market, if the price tag didn’t make that clear. All three feature Sony’s DSD (Direct Stream Digital) Remastering Engine, which upsamples standard PCM audio to an 11.2MHz DSD stream, which it claims delivers a more analog-like sound. They also all feature gold-plating on the rear chassis that’s meant to reduce interference and lower noise.
The higher-end Walkman NW-WM1ZM3 and NW-WM1AM3 add hand-soldered oxygen-free copper (OFC) wiring and upgraded power circuitry to lower noise even further. A milled OFC block isolates the digital circuits from the analog ones to limit potential interference.
What sets the WM1ZM3 apart is that the entire chassis is made of OFC and then gold-plated.
This is not the first time Sony has gone all out on a gold media player. In fact, you can pick up the previous model — the NW-WM1ZM2 — on sale now for just $2,599.99. A veritable steal. Though, an old iPod bought off eBay is still probably the better bargain.