[Whitigir]

Thank you @Morbideath ! I didn’t expect to have it so fast!! this is awesome !!

My modified 1A with hardware were pushing it by a lot. I let go of SP2K in shade of it. The reasons are as follow

Negatives: the 1A-EM has narrower soundstage to SP2K by 8 to 10, the depth is by 9 to 10. However, the vertical axis is 10 to 10 Equally. The transient speed is a little slower to SP2K by 9 to 10. Trebles upper high extensions is also rolled off faster by 9 to 10. The mid-high of the high spectrum is not as pronounced as SP2K by 9 to 10

Positives: the 1A has a much thicker and more dense timbres by 10 to 7, the decays is cleaner and much more naturals where as the SP2K May have artificial artifacts by 10 to 8, the focused into inner resolution energy and it distribution within a pitch is better than SP2K by 10 to 7, the lower trebles with thicker body And vivid resolutions are more satisfying than SP2K by 10 to 9. Tonal balances is better than SP2K by 10 to 8

All in all, the imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the soundstage is a little behind in width and depth by 9 to 10, the clarity and imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the dynamic, focuses , pitch accuracy is by 10 to 8

I am hoping to get more width and depth with better clarity at mid-high treble, and I realized that there is nothing else I can do, except may be new firmware can bring it. Then you provided me with modifications for firmware!! I am so excited!! Thank you very much!!!

 

[Nayparm]

Hi all,
Last year some Chinese enthusiastic worked out the way to modify firmwares and change their sound. ATM I won't dive into disclosing the technical specifics since it may be illegal and ultra troublesome to write, but the results are something profound. I will first elaborate on some basic principles.

Firmwares do affect sound (nonsense... we all know that). The firmwares of 1A/1Z provided to download all over the world are universal and totally identical (identical MD5 value). But there are TWO SETS of tuning codes to tune 1A/1Z separately, stored WITHIN THE SAME FIRMWARE. The firmware file simply identifies whether your device is 1A or 1Z then it applies the proprietary tunings.

Secondly, firmware file contains two parts: the first part with the basic system functionalities, for example, the random / repeat buttons shown in now playing, introduced in 2.0; the usb dac / bt receiver modes introduced in 3.0, etc; The second part is the tuning codes, which are scattered in various sections of the firmware. We don't know how exactly the codes work, as they remain an encrypted black box. But we can switch the "box" between 1A and 1Z to alter each other sound. Thirdly and most importantly, the firmware of DMP-Z1 & ZX300 are of similar structure with slight differences of the functionality part, for example, Z1 doesn't even has a skip button in the UI while 1Z does of course. HOWEVER, the tuning codes of Z1 can be applied to 1A / 1Z perfectly fine.

Incorporating Z1's tuning, both 1A / 1Z enjoy a much larger soundstage, more airy treble and harder deeper bass. The mids / vocal can be somewhat hollow and pushed back, but we can tackle with that using the tuning codes of 1Z (which has fuller mids). With the new assets at hand, theoretically speaking, tuning codes can be switched and combined to approximate the sound profiles of many other DAPs. Yet the process is hideous since it's a shot in the dark for us to blindly test the wild combinations with our own ears. Thx to our Chinese pioneer, Deck24, who relentlessly keep experimenting the tunings with months of trials and errors, finally there are some results to be shared to the public.

Now u get the basics of firmware modding. Here are some of the iconic firmwares I picked from hundreds of mods to share with you:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LTZTkoQu2V-pr6XfULjq_Qa0ukttg_R8

Disclaimer:
1. I'm just introducing you some interesting findings. Im not the author of these mods.
2. Firmwares, just like IEM pairing, are all about synergy. It depends heavily on your devices and your subjective taste. I merely introduce you with some novel dishes not served by official flavors. Whether u like it or not is completely each to their own.
3. The mods are no way better than official firmwares. They are just different. In my modest understanding, official one is more conservative that will fit more variety of gears, while mods are more progressive tunning. For u they can be hit or miss.

I host 9 firmwares within the folder, 4 are the popular offical ones downloaded from Sony's websites. About the 5 mods: DMP-Z1 1.01 is the official Z1 FW ported to 1A/1Z, with minimal tuning edits. 1.02 is also official FW ported. Many think 01 is warmer and smoother, while 02 is clearer and sharper. YMMV.

Ultimate is the wild attempt trying to combine best of the three worlds: the goodness of 1A, 1Z and Z1. This is a controversial mod since some may find it piercing due to the extreme details retrieval, others may find it bright, yet some will think it's too dark. It's all about synergy with your gears and the music you listen to.

WM2Z is a relatively modest mod without taking too many assets from DMP-Z1, so may sound more like a stock WM1Z but with different subtle tunings. Latoo Paw Gold Touch, as the name suggests, is trying to mimic the sound of LPGT. It does extremely well on some people's system.

Upgrade methods: first make sure your device is on official 3.02. The mods are all based on the official 3.02, keeping all its vested functionalities. If u upgrade from other versions the process will fail.

Run the exe file in \Package folder and you are good to go. The upgrading speed is much faster than official upgrade since only the tuning parts are being modified. The process is perfectly safe for your device, and you can always run the other mod to substitute, or revert back to the official FWs anytime by running their exe.

If anyone fails to run any exe files please let me know. They are supposed to work on either 1A and 1Z.

PART II:
Another Chinese fella accidentally found out that Japanese model of 1Z (not sure about 1A, but should also apply) sounds smoother than the Chinese model (region CN). With some research, he found that the Japanese model and other regions' model are applicable to different tuning codes, thus resulting the difference of sound. To achieve the Japanese tuning, simply run the Rockbox tool to change your region code to J. There are explicit tutorials in this thread about how to do it. After changing to J, please run any firmwares again for your device to apply to the J FW. Restarting your device, u will find a new certificate item showing up at the bottom of setting's page, proving your FW is now in Japanese. At the same time, u lose the ability to change language to others, but keeping your current language (such as English). Because Japanese FW initially doesn't support multi-language selection.

My assessments of the sounds are based on the following gears: MS Ultimate K-Mod WM1Z (1960s 16wire balanced, all battery wire and grounding wire from board to chassis switched to 1960s 2wire, two more AVX F95 capacitors, various additional shieldings to S-Master and battery), balanced output through Labkable Gold Titan 10wire, feeding a Custom Just Ear MH1 specifically tunned by Bandai San for me; another complement IEM is the Custom EE Legend X SE (i believe is not sold in US/EU market?) to unleash my bass-thirsty inner monster. I only listen to classical and metal music, so i strictly focus on instruments not vocal. I currently run the DMP-Z1 1.01 FW as I feel it has a very expansive soundstage, more treble sparkles and firmer but deeper bass. The bass quantity decreases to some extent so may not fit every genres out there.

This is awesome and proves a point i've argued many times, not just in the WM1A/Z forum but many others about people refusing to use any sort of DSP or EQ but spend a fortune on different pairings when I say why not when thats what the manufacturers are doing behind the scenes 'coloring/tuning the sound' Its been long speculated that the WM1A and WM1Z where software tuned differently within the same firmware after comparing the minimal difference in components.

 

[Nayparm]

Thank you @Morbideath ! I didn’t expect to have it so fast!! this is awesome !!

My modified 1A with hardware were pushing it by a lot. I let go of SP2K in shade of it. The reasons are as follow

Negatives: the 1A-EM has narrower soundstage to SP2K by 8 to 10, the depth is by 9 to 10. However, the vertical axis is 10 to 10 Equally. The transient speed is a little slower to SP2K by 9 to 10. Trebles upper high extensions is also rolled off faster by 9 to 10. The mid-high of the high spectrum is not as pronounced as SP2K by 9 to 10

Positives: the 1A has a much thicker and more dense timbres by 10 to 7, the decays is cleaner and much more naturals where as the SP2K May have artificial artifacts by 10 to 8, the focused into inner resolution energy and it distribution within a pitch is better than SP2K by 10 to 7, the lower trebles with thicker body And vivid resolutions are more satisfying than SP2K by 10 to 9. Tonal balances is better than SP2K by 10 to 8

All in all, the imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the soundstage is a little behind in width and depth by 9 to 10, the clarity and imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the dynamic, focuses , pitch accuracy is by 10 to 8

I am hoping to get more width and depth with better clarity at mid-high treble, and I realized that there is nothing else I can do, except may be new firmware can bring it. Then you provided me with modifications for firmware!! I am so excited!! Thank you very much!!!

Looking forward to your findings after trying different firmware

 

[Morbideath]

Thank you @Morbideath ! I didn’t expect to have it so fast!! this is awesome !!

My modified 1A with hardware were pushing it by a lot. I let go of SP2K in shade of it. The reasons are as follow

Negatives: the 1A-EM has narrower soundstage to SP2K by 8 to 10, the depth is by 9 to 10. However, the vertical axis is 10 to 10 Equally. The transient speed is a little slower to SP2K by 9 to 10. Trebles upper high extensions is also rolled off faster by 9 to 10. The mid-high of the high spectrum is not as pronounced as SP2K by 9 to 10

Positives: the 1A has a much thicker and more dense timbres by 10 to 7, the decays is cleaner and much more naturals where as the SP2K May have artificial artifacts by 10 to 8, the focused into inner resolution energy and it distribution within a pitch is better than SP2K by 10 to 7, the lower trebles with thicker body And vivid resolutions are more satisfying than SP2K by 10 to 9. Tonal balances is better than SP2K by 10 to 8

All in all, the imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the soundstage is a little behind in width and depth by 9 to 10, the clarity and imagines is better than SP2K by 10 to 9, the dynamic, focuses , pitch accuracy is by 10 to 8

I am hoping to get more width and depth with better clarity at mid-high treble, and I realized that there is nothing else I can do, except may be new firmware can bring it. Then you provided me with modifications for firmware!! I am so excited!! Thank you very much!!!

u know what, Ive been lurking in these threads and saw your mods. Mine was modded twice by MS in Singapore and I benefit a lot from them. So im always interested in the mods topic. As u talked about the performance improvement of your 1A I was wondering how it will work with the FW mod, so I registered and share those works Another reason was many wished Sony to release sth like 3.03 to refine the sound. So i decided to chime in.
Although i deem my MS 1Z sounding better than SP1K, your loads of capacitors there definitely drool me...... They are too sexy! i wish i could enjoy it in person.

 

[Whitigir]

Lol!!! The most expensive in the bunch is actually the Gold wires LOL

 

[Morbideath]

Lol!!! The most expensive in the bunch is actually the Gold wires LOL

u bet. How is the thickness? is it 8 wire or 12 or?

 

[Whitigir]

u bet. How is the thickness? is it 8 wire or 12 or?

The thickness is 24Awg per each solid wires, using 2 wires give a combination of approximately 20AWG per terminal

 

[Morbideath]

The thickness is 24Awg per each solid wires, using 2 wires give a combination of approximately 20AWG per terminal

I see... MS has two prototypes using 24wires 1960s (I don't know how it translates to Awg but it's insanely thick). They refuse to mass produce 24wire mods since in one attempt it destroyed the MB of their stuff's 1Z.

 

[Whitigir]

I have been rolling the firmware from

Ultimate
DMP 1.0.1
DMP 1.0.2
Stock 3.0.2

Using stock IER Z1R cables and Z1R

There are definitely improved depth and width on the 3 modded firmwares. However, the best to my ears will have to be DMP 1.0.2 as it is detailed but smooth out some of the hot coming lower trebles textures

the DMP 1.0.1 is actually Muddying this very specific sections, the same for Ultimate.

 

[Morbideath]

I have been rolling the firmware from

Ultimate
DMP 1.0.1
DMP 1.0.2
Stock 3.0.2

Using stock IER Z1R cables and Z1R

There are definitely improved depth and width on the 3 modded firmwares. However, the best to my ears will have to be DMP 1.0.2 as it is detailed but smooth out some of the hot coming lower trebles textures

the DMP 1.0.1 is actually Muddying this very specific sections, the same for Ultimate.

Seem u can also echo that 01 being warm and smooth, 02 being clear and sharp. Relatively speaking.
Im super sensitive to sibilance around 2k spectrum so "muddy" is a plus for me. And 1Z initially has brighter treble than 1A, that may be another factor. Btw "Ultimate" is made upon the basis of 1.01. If u enjoy 02 i can share u privately the Ultimate made from 02.

 

[Whitigir]

I see... MS has two prototypes using 24wires 1960s (I don't know how it translates to Awg but it's insanely thick). They refuse to mass produce 24wire mods since in one attempt it destroyed the MB of their stuff's 1Z.

I am not familiar with 1960 and the terms being used by MS by 24 wires

I see from the website that 1960 is 24Awg and 26Awg. But anything higher than 24Awg is already over killed lol!!!

 

[Whitigir]

Seem u can also echo that 01 being warm and smooth, 02 being clear and sharp. Relatively speaking.
Im super sensitive to sibilance around 2k spectrum so "muddy" is a plus for me. Btw "Ultimate" is made upon the basis of 1.01. If u enjoy 02 i can share u privately the Ultimate made from 02.

Please share me the Ultimate based on the 02 version. I appreciate the discrete and privacy, others may also crave for it

 

[Morbideath]

Please share me the Ultimate based on the 02 version. I appreciate the discrete and privacy, others may also crave for it

It's midnight here and my pc is off. I'll give u a link tomorrow.

 

[Whitigir]

It's midnight here and my pc is off. I'll give u a link tomorrow.

No rushing at all. I appreciated that you have shared these modified firmwares.

 

[sect44]

That's better Great to have people like you and Whitigir in this community.

Wholeheartedly agree. You guys (@Redcarmoose and others too) are great for your time and effort to share all this information with the community. A big thank you.