TechNewsSonySony made a $5,900 gold-plated Walkman MP3 playerA $6,000 media player slathered is gold is the perfect gift for the millionaire audiophile in your life.A $6,000 media player slathered is gold is the perfect gift for the millionaire audiophile in your life.by Terrence O’BrienOct 15, 2026, 5:48 PM UTCShareGiftIf you buy something from a link, The Verge may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.This render with a transparent background is the closest we’ll ever come to touching one of these things. Image: SonyTerrence O’Brien is the Verge’s weekend editor. He’s covered the tech industry for over 18 years and knows a thing or two about synths.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.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Terrence O’BrienNewsSonyTechMost PopularThe Tesla Roadster could have stayed vaporwareHoney, Xbox shrunk its controllerAs a TV enthusiast, I was hoping for more from the Apple TV 4KThe best feature of Apple’s HomeView might be its simplicityThe Ocarina of Time remake feels remarkably modern — and surprisingly terrifyingAdvertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad
Leave a Reply