Sony Walkman Celebrates 47th Anniversary
The Sony Walkman celebrates 47th years today, with the original TPS-L2 debuting in July 1979. Do you remember your first Walkman? Here is a quick history of my journey.
I never owned an original Sony Cassette Walkman, but I did have a Panasonic RQ-P45, which I used for a few years in the late 1990s. I vividly remember listing to the Star Wars Episode 1 soundtrack on it a lot, along with some recorded pirate radio EDM broadcasts. Good simple times.
Do check out the Walkman Land website, as they have an amazing catalogue of all various brands of cassette players and Sony’s own Walkman.
I was able to save up money over a few summers to buy my first Sony Walkman, the Sony D-EJ925 (identical to D-E999). I still have it, but I am not sure if it works, as I suspect the batteries will not longer charge. I do have the AA extension cord, so I could always use that to test it. I will have to dig out, and make a post about it in the future.
After the D-EJ925, I bought my first MiniDisc Walkman, the MZ-N10, which Sony’s 10th Anniversary model for the MiniDisc. It was a great player, great battery life, compact, came with a remote, and a metal build. It was my main player for a good number of years.
I wanted to buy the the Sony NW-HD1 or NW-HD3, but I was not a fan of ATRAC, and wanted a native Mp3 model. I was saving up for the NW-E95/99, when Sony announced their new A-Series in 2005, and I really liked the design. So I knew I had to get it.
I pre-ordered the NW-A3000 at my local SonyStyle store, but my order was delayed, and the store offered me a discount on the NW-A1000, which I decided to get instead. Unfortunately, the 6GB capacity was not enough for my collection, so I ended buying the NW-A3000 8 months later to add to my collection. Both are the silver models. In hindsight, I wish I got the blue/purple colour for one of the units.
Both the A3000 and A1000 served me well, but I disliked the software, it was not a pleasure to use. I wanted to buy the NW-A800 series, but again the transfer software was horrible. Luckily Sony released an improved model, the NWZ-A810 line supporting drag and drop, with no requirements for any transfer software. I ordered mine from the United States, as it was a lot less expensive there, and with a good exchange rate, I saved about 25% when compared to the price in Canada.
In 2010, I bought the X-Series after hesitating for about a year. I really enjoyed it, it was a favourite of mine, but the in-ear headphones had issues after a few years with one side cutting out.
In 2014, I picked up the new NW-A10 series to replace my X-Series. I still have the A10, I really like using it, great design, and the battery life is amazing. I am still using the A10 this day when I need to quickly grab a Walkman. Only downside is my earbuds do not work with it.
I also own the one Walkman which almost no one bought, the M-Series.
I really liked using it with my A10, but also with my Xperia Z3 phone as a remote. The M-Series also had built in noise cancellation and the S-Master amp, so it was a great Walkman and remote.
In late 2024, I ordered a Japanese NW-A306 to add to my collection. This is my main player today, but I will admit I do not use it as much some of my past Walkmans.
I do regret not buying an NW-A50 as I would have preferred a model without Android, as I hardly even use any of Android’s features like streaming. If I find a used one from Japan, I may grab it in the future.
I have a few other Walkmans, some S-Series, E-Series, and WH-Series models. which I can make a post about if people want me to.
So this was my journey, while it may seem like a lot of models, I have seem some owners from Japan posting a lot more in their collections.
Sony will have a new Walkman, the NW-ZX900. Check out my post below for the details.
Thanks to Akira Tanaka on Twitter for the cover photo. Make sure to give them a follow. As a former Sony Walkman Designer, they post a lot of amazing Sony Walkman content on their Twitter feed.
I still remember getting my first Walkman, a NW-A45 around 2018, when I first started going to college. I had a SanDisk Clip Jam before, but I wanted to upgrade so I could hold my entire music collection, and I saw the blue model going on sale at the time. It was the first ‘big’ purchase I’d ever made and a little treat to myself that I still look back on fondly, and I now have both a blue and a red A55. I have considered getting an A306 but at this rate I’m holding out and seeing what gets announced. Here’s hoping Sony keeps up production, I trust them more than anyone else. ^-^
Will there be a “Special “50th Anniversary Walkman in 3 years time ?
I would hope so.