[Whitigir]

Oh it will sell like hotcakes. I can imagine Suyama will like it, based on his star iems he like warm and smooth sound.

Once again the key question is, does the Z sound better than the A.

They sound significantly different from one another.....how much better ? It is all upon taste and preferences. The facts are

1/ 1Z is the most expensive and the most premium Walkman up to date throughout the history. Sony may or may never do such thing again, and it may become a piece of timeless collection.

2/ 1A is cheaper and is using lower "Tier" components inside it stuffing. For people who witness the differences and improvements from different materials and components.....the 1A is inferior.

3/ Both are the most powerful Walkman yet, and is advertised to be able to drive full size headphones including the flagship Z1R.

 

[proedros]

They sound significantly different from one another.....how much better ? It is all upon taste and preferences. The facts are

1/ 1Z is the most expensive and the most premium Walkman up to date throughout the history. Sony may or may never do such thing again, and it may become a piece of timeless collection.

2/ 1A is cheaper and is using lower "Tier" components inside it stuffing. For people who witness the differences and improvements from different materials and components.....the 1A is inferior.

3/ Both are the most powerful Walkman yet, and is advertised to be able to drive full size headphones including the flagship Z1R.

 
you are speculating now , right ?

btw , unless the sonic difference is like 50% (and it seems hard to me) , looks like 1a will be the bargain model and 1z will be the 'look i am rich and bought the gold one to show off' model

30% difference is the minimum for me to justify paying almost 3 times more

 

[Whitigir]

you are speculating now , right ?


btw , unless the sonic difference is like 50% (and it seems hard to me) , looks like 1a will be the bargain model and 1z will be the 'look i am rich and bought the gold one to show off' model


30% difference is the minimum for me to justify paying almost 3 times more

No, I have confirmations from someone reputable enough, and from reading bits and pieces in different places, forum all around the net.

Both A and Z sound signatures are very different, and it would be tastes and preferences to decide. I am having a hard time because I know better and higher grade components do improve the sound quality. I am not sold on the Copper gold chassis, but more into the internal components. It is freaking expensive though, but without Sony, it wouldn't exist.

There are no other players on the market like this 1Z. Even AK380 Copper doesn't use as good quality of internal cables and such....

 

[echineko]

30% difference is the minimum for me to justify paying almost 3 times more

Yes, justify is the key word. The quality of the 1Z will stand on its own, for better or worse. But even if it is 50% better or more, everyone will have to decide for themselves if they can actually afford to go for it. Nothing wrong in deciding otherwise, these are totally non-essential products after all.
 
Edit: I'm doing mental gymnastics trying to justify it to myself, not sure if I can pull that off, either 

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

you are speculating now , right ?


btw , unless the sonic difference is like 50% (and it seems hard to me) , looks like 1a will be the bargain model and 1z will be the 'look i am rich and bought the gold one to show off' model


30% difference is the minimum for me to justify paying almost 3 times more

No, I have confirmations from someone reputable enough, and from reading bits and pieces in different places, forum all around the net.

Both A and Z sound signatures are very different, and it would be tastes and preferences to decide. I am having a hard time because I know better and higher grade components do improve the sound quality. I am not sold on the Copper gold chassis, but more into the internal components. It is freaking expensive though, but without Sony, it wouldn't exist.

There are no other players on the market like this 1Z. Even AK380 Copper doesn't use as good quality of internal cables and such....

You can buy both 1A and 1Z, swap the boards, sell the 1Z with the 1A board for premium price because its gold

 

[spkrs01]

My good friend has pre ordered the Z for me at e-earphones today, for October 29th collection. Will be there for the Fujiya Show. that weekend.
 
Will be great fun to compare with my 380Cu stack.
 
Now the search for 4.4mm 5 pole plugs........

 

[gerelmx1986]

I bet the 1A will be 50-70% better in SQ than ZX100 as i have read in zx2 forum zx2 sounds betetr than zx100

 

[echineko]

 
Now the search for 4.4mm 5 pole plugs........

There are none yet, from what I can see. Have asked several cable manufacturers as well, they can't even get stock of those new plugs yet. 
 
(not even going to touch the AK part of this earlier 

 )

 

[bvng3540]

 

[gerelmx1986]

it is not TRRRS otherwise measure it is correct at 4,4mm but to my eyes looks like 6.3mm

 

[denis1976]

I preorder the sony nw-wm1a because i don't have the money for the "z" version,and next year the nw-wm1z mk2 come out and the "z" buyers will by crying...with the "a" i will cry less

 

[Whitigir]

Yes, justify is the key word. The quality of the 1Z will stand on its own, for better or worse. But even if it is 50% better or more, everyone will have to decide for themselves if they can actually afford to go for it. Nothing wrong in deciding otherwise, these are totally non-essential products after all.

Edit: I'm doing mental gymnastics trying to justify it to myself, not sure if I can pull that off, either 

There are diminishing return on everything, and more so on the high quality audio. Of course the higher the material - the better. However, the key word is "Tunning".

The 1Z is simply expressed by Sony engineers as an "all in call" and is an "all out" designed and engineered point. Sony usually has some restrictions applied as a company. The 1Z is the first of it kind that the engineer was told to go "all out".

This means, they expressed their utmost engineering , tuning, and perception of Sony sound in the utmost capability that they can. The 1z is the first of it kind that if you buy it, you are seeing and hearing things from Sony utmost technology and engineering perspective.

Like I said, they may decide to do it again, or they may not. Whatever the case to turn out to be

You either:

1/ Had been enjoying the best Walkman from the way the engineers see it. If they make another successor

2/ Will and have been owning the best and timeless piece of the Walkman in history. If they don't do an "all out" again

It is the SoNY 70th anniversary !!!


Trust me, I have been trying to convince myself to go for the desktop Amp.....or just stop....but the more I try to reason off, twice of it returned to me saying the 1Z is the one of a kind

 

[gerelmx1986]

 

Yes, justify is the key word. The quality of the 1Z will stand on its own, for better or worse. But even if it is 50% better or more, everyone will have to decide for themselves if they can actually afford to go for it. Nothing wrong in deciding otherwise, these are totally non-essential products after all.

Edit: I'm doing mental gymnastics trying to justify it to myself, not sure if I can pull that off, either 

There are diminishing return on everything, and more so on the high quality audio. Of course the higher the material - the better. However, the key word is "Tunning".

The 1Z is simply expressed by Sony engineers as an "all in call" and is an "all out" designed and engineered point. Sony usually has some restrictions applied as a company. The 1Z is the first of it kind that the engineer was told to go "all out".

This means, they expressed their utmost engineering , tuning, and perception of Sony sound in the utmost capability that they can. The 1z is the first of it kind that if you buy it, you are seeing and hearing things from Sony utmost technology and engineering perspective.

Like I said, they may decide to do it again, or they may not. Whatever the case to turn out to be

You either:

1/ Had been enjoying the best Walkman from the way the engineers see it. If they make another successor

2/ Will and have been owning the best and timeless piece of the Walkman in history. If they don't do an "all out" again

It is the SoNY 70th anniversary !!!


Trust me, I have been trying to convince myself to go for the desktop Amp.....or just stop....but the more I try to reason off, twice of it returned to me saying the 1Z is the one of a kind

Also 1A is a masterpiece both are based on same sony signature series and sony 70th anniversary, i don't think OSCON caps are that inferior, and yes i wil be upgrading my XBA-Z5 and my future MDR-Z7 to the new TRRRS cable
 
wonder how much money does whitigir makes per month, me as a software engieer  in mexico, udnerpaid i make less than an 1st world country engineer

 

[Gibraltar]

I'm a huge fan of Sony's flagship products from years gone by. In my experience when they decide to go all out they can make some truly outstanding equipment, but it doesn't happen very often. After reading everything I can find about this release it sounds like this may be one of those times. I'm really looking forward to checking out the headphones and desktop amp, but the DAP is a tough one. I'd love to just pick up the flagship, but unlike the other two it has a set lifespan that ends with the battery, so it's tough to justify the price. One issue with Sony is that they don't support products for more than a few years after production ends. I've experienced this first-hand trying to source parts for older equipment, even if I was willing to pay whatever they asked, they just didn't keep the parts in stock (and this was in Japan, and for a flagship product).

 

[musicday]

Has it been confirmed that there will be firmware updates for the walkmans? I cannot see videos of the settings yet.