Modifying WM1Z/A

[Morbideath]

Hi everyone,

Stumbled upon this thread recently!

@Whitigir great to see you here my friend. You've already done great things for the iBasso community, and I know you're a fan of Sony, so I might have guessed you'd be blazing a trail on here too

I hardly know where to begin..
I've been flicking through pages and pages on this thread and the main Sony WM1Z/A thread, and it's pretty overwhelming.
My understanding is that there seem to be 2 or 3 kinds of mods:

1) changing some setting on the player to do with the region, as Sony have provided different tunings for different regions?

2) Seems @Morbideath and @Whitigir have been also creating custom firmwares for Sony DAPs as well?
Is there anywhere a list that summarises the FW's available and the sound signatures each offers?

3) Hardware mods. I'm aware of the K-mods available. And a guy called Dino in HK said he could mod my ZX300.
But @Whitigir (or anyone else here); have you created any mod templates yourself (like you did with DX220), and is there anyone who can do hardware mods for a guy (me) in London, UK? @Nayparm ?
Am happy to post it globally, but of course a local modder is more convenient for both of us I suppose

Anyway, that's all. Hope some nice people could help me out.
Right now, I have a Sony ZX300 (bought on here, so not sure what region or how to find out?). If this all goes well, will probably look to get a WM1Z too a bit later!
I almost bought one, but after a brief demo, whilst it sounded great, I already own the Lotoo Paw Gold Touch, and felt that the WM1Z didn't offer a sound that was significantly better enough to make me want/need to have both. But that was only based on a brief demo, and these mods might change all that though

Many thanks

Pls check the link in my account signature. It has everything u need to know.
But we don't do FW for ZX300 atm.

 

[Layman1]

Pls check the link in my account signature. It has everything u need to know.
But we don't do FW for ZX300 atm.

"Pls check the link in my account signature. It has everything u need to know."
Many thanks! Am going to read now

"But we don't do FW for ZX300 atm"

Oh no!
But I also read about region adjustments; do these work for the ZX300?
And are there any that you guys think might be most suited to the ZX300 specifically?
In terms of adjusting the existing sound signature, there's two options that I'd be interested in:

1) Making it sound more TOTL and reference; increased soundstage and separation, more detail and clarity etc

2) Making it more musical, vivid, greater note weight, thickness, richness and organic warmth.

If anyone can advise, I'd really appreciate it

 

[Morbideath]

Technically, every adjustments made to 1A/1Z can be applied to ZX300. But we don't have the device so cannot port it over, nor do i have the interest atm. You have to test region code by yourself.

 

[Whitigir]

Technically, every adjustments made to 1A/1Z can be applied to ZX300. But we don't have the device so cannot port it over, nor do i have the interest atm. You have to test region code by yourself.

I agreed and the same here. I don’t have ZX300 and don’t want to spend money for it. Tuning is a (xxXXxx), but if someone want to donate one for me, then I may look into it. However, it is in my best interest to modify Wm1A

A used 1A is $500-700 easily found.

not sure if @Nayparm can do the hardware mods, you need to ask him yourself

This is what I would think is the Tier of Walkman hardware modifications personally
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-nw-wm1z-wm1a.815841/post-15508505

 

[Morbideath]

Host of FW mods transferred to OneDrive, now including Mac DMG version thx to @Lookout57 's help!
Welcome To the Dark Side!

 

[Nayparm]

Shouldn't be an issue with all to tier 4, looking at getting one myself (again lol) at some point.

 

[hshock76]

They say Kmod 1A is faster than Kmod 1Z, while Kmod 1Z dives deeper, with a tad larger staging.
Both referring to Ultimate level.

My friend has the 24 wire Kmod 1A and yes he says my 1Z with similar mods has slightly deeper and wider sound stage after testing both. For me it was really hard to tell the difference unless an extended A/B test was done. I will say the 1A scales much better with the Ultimate Kmod which is understandable since 1Z has better components in stock form.

 

[Whitigir]

My friend has the 24 wire Kmod 1A and yes he says my 1Z with similar mods has slightly deeper and wider sound stage after testing both. For me it was really hard to tell the difference unless an extended A/B test was done. I will say the 1A scales much better with the Ultimate Kmod which is understandable since 1Z has better components in stock form.

Remember, WM1Z use a different Firmware than WM1A.

I will repeat it, the WM1Z is a modified WM1A in both Hardware and Firmware wise

These modified firmwares have closed the Gaps between each firmwares for each devices, but it can not erase all the differences. Both are the same tuning, but the core of the device identities still differ from one another, period.

 

[hshock76]

Remember, WM1Z use a different Firmware than WM1A.

I will repeat it, the WM1Z is a modified WM1A in both Hardware and Firmware wise

These modified firmwares have closed the Gaps between each firmwares for each devices, but it can not erase all the differences. Both are the same tuning, but the core of the device identities still differ from one another, period.

Taking into account the same modified FW and HW modifications, does the difference in Chassis material make an impact on SQ and signature?

 

[Whitigir]

Taking into account the same modified FW and HW modifications, does the difference in Chassis material make an impact on SQ and signature?

it should contribute too, yes...but once you count in the weight and portability...you may need to reconsider . Unless luxury and performances are both being desired then go all out, 1Z is the best there is

 

[ttt123]

"Pls check the link in my account signature. It has everything u need to know."
Many thanks! Am going to read now

"But we don't do FW for ZX300 atm"

Oh no!
But I also read about region adjustments; do these work for the ZX300?
And are there any that you guys think might be most suited to the ZX300 specifically?
In terms of adjusting the existing sound signature, there's two options that I'd be interested in:

1) Making it sound more TOTL and reference; increased soundstage and separation, more detail and clarity etc

2) Making it more musical, vivid, greater note weight, thickness, richness and organic warmth.

If anyone can advise, I'd really appreciate it

Rockbox Region adjustments work on the ZX300

 

[Morbideath]

Since MS has 1960s 2wire grounding from MB to chasis, does the chasis material differs them further more?
Now if u pause the music and immediately unplug the plug, it will cause a sound poping in your monitor. If u wait for some seconds until hearing the relay click within the device, and unplug, that pop won't appear, meaning that the grounding is over.

 

[Whitigir]

Since MS has 1960s 2wire grounding from MB to chasis, does the chasis material differs them further more?
Now if u pause the music and immediately unplug the plug, it will cause a sound poping in your monitor. If u wait for some seconds until hearing the relay click within the device, and unplug, that pop won't appear, meaning that the grounding is over.

I am not sure how they connect to Chassis directly. Is it connected toward outter chassis or inner frame ? The wires that used to connect the chassis/frames to the MB is more of an effect.

 

[Icekuma]

OK just installed "Ultimate 1.01" using the DMG that was uploaded with no issues on a Hackintosh and a Mac mini running Mojave 10.14.6.

On my MacBookPro 16" running Catalina 10.15.3 the installer isn't seeing my WM1A using the Sony Cable nor the WM1Z using the Sony Dock.

Hi. anyone can help me out. I downloaded Jupiter and Solis and tried installing but get error 60002 firmware collapsed. I am using Mojave10.14.6. i tried copying "SoftwareUpdateTool" to disk instead of dmg and get same result. Help please?

Thank you

 

[Icekuma]

Finally sitting down this weekend with my MacBook Pro running Mojave and my 1Z. I thought I would try Lookout57's MAC ports however I am getting the same error message as everyone else.
Has anyone been successful using a MAC to update the firmware?
Any suggestions?

Hi @buzzlulu did you finally manage to install in your Mojave? thank you.