[audionewbi]

Few things I wanted to share with you after spending all day today reading all things walkman related:

• The gap between two model is basically the internal wire and the chasis, both model uses the exact same PCB part.
• Unlike the previous model, the ground is actually connected with the walkman chasis, therefore the chasis materil is more than just a shielding. Those who believe in this might find this relevant.
  • Im just glad the pentaconn ground is actually used, finally!
• 1ZMk2 uses kimber cable for both 4.4mm and 3.5mm.

Impression on the two unit is mixed. Almost all reviews, impression praised 1AMK compared to 1A, but not all WM1Z prefer the new sonic changes of 1ZMK. 1ZMK2 has a wider soundstage, warmer tonality, with less emphasis to vocals. The sound is said to be less intence than 1AMK2 (and 1Z), making it less ideal for JPOP or rock music. So basically if you are audiophile who is into that, might not be happy.

One 1AMK2 imoression suggest the DSD engine ON, the gap between 1AMK2 and 1ZMK2 becomes very small, to the point that it will be impossible to pass a blind test.

 

[hoofman]

I demoed both WM1AM2 and WM1ZM2 just now

 

[gerelmx1986]

yep its really bad the EU has gimped the sound on sony players not worth buying ..hong kong or japan only

The Eau shall be disbanded, we dont need control of what each land does. We should be back to Deitache Mark

 

[gerelmx1986]

Yes, UAPP does actually work, but no MQA rendering or full decoding, only the first unfold within UAPP. But AFAIK, none of the streaming apps are bitperfect on Sony Android.

Actually you wont never get “bitperfect” as @Whitigir said. All pcm audio passed to S-Master DAC is converted to a PWM signal for amplification (1-bit)

 

[fish1050]

When you look at the prices you have to take into account the Covid affect. There are still parts shortages and supply chain issues manufacturers have to deal with. Clearly releasing DAP's during a pandemic is not an ideal time. Give it another year or at least 6 months to deal with parts shortages and fixes to the supply chain and you will probably see prices come down. Buying one of these on first release is financially crazy, maybe consider waiting and reading more reviews and see what Sony ends up doing with firmware updates.

I get the new toy impulse as I suffer from it myself but there is a time to be financially responsible and a time to indulge your impulses.

 

[audionewbi]

When you look at the prices you have to take into account the Covid affect. There are still parts shortages and supply chain issues manufacturers have to deal with. Clearly releasing DAP's during a pandemic is not an ideal time. Give it another year or at least 6 months to deal with parts shortages and fixes to the supply chain and you will probably see prices come down. Buying one of these on first release is financially crazy, maybe consider waiting and reading more reviews and see what Sony ends up doing with firmware updates.

I get the new toy impulse as I suffer from it myself but there is a time to be financially responsible and a time to indulge your impulses.

Are you writing a memo for yourself, to ready later so you wouldnt buy it ?

 

[fish1050]

Are you writing a memo for yourself, to ready later so you wouldnt buy it ?

Umm yeah maybe a little , but having worked in Audio sales for 15 years the one thing I know is nothing drives down prices faster than lack of sales. I predict that prices will come down by the end of this year if sales are slow out of the gate. Clearly from reading through this thread alot of posters are suffering from sticker shock.

I will be honest these DAP's are not in my price range at any price but I do love to check out the new Sony DAP's and the new tech that goes into them. No one does shiny new tech better than Sony! If buyers can clamp their wallets shut for a few months they should benefit price wise in the long run. Black Friday comes to mind as a good time period to see what prices will come down to. By the time these new models are readily available Black Friday and subsequently Christmas won't be to far off.

Things are kind of slow right now do to Covid and reading reviews on new tech helps me pass the time. I will be looking forward to reading impressions and reviews about these models here and on the product review sites. I will probably try to demo them once they come to Canada just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[rlw6534]

Actually you wont never get “bitperfect” as @Whitigir said. All pcm audio passed to S-Master DAC is converted to a PWM signal for amplification (1-bit)

I don't fully understand how S-Master works, but sample rate is still relevant I would think. I don't understand why 3rd party apps and streaming services can't use the high quality audio pathway. Forced resampling to 48 or 192 kHz does not seem competitive for a modern DAP, where most other models can play at native rates without resampling.

 

[hoofman]

For people with the TA-ZH1ES and wonder how to connect the new NW-WM1AM2 and NW-WM1ZM2 it's fairly simple, a USB-C to micro cable will do the trick, I tested just now it worked perfectly

 

[audionewbi]

Please tell us how it sounds.

 

[Kiats]

I demoed both WM1AM2 and WM1ZM2 just now

So what are your thoughts? I think the one thing that everyone is concerned about is the speed?

 

[hoofman]

So what are your thoughts? I think the one thing that everyone is concerned about is the speed?

I'm not familiar with Android DAP so my expectation can be really low compared to others. I think if I buy this I can be happy with it. It feels smooth enough as a music player. Creating database also faster but I didn't copy too many files. Switching between apps (Chrome/Walkman/Apple Music/Spotify) is quick enough. It is only a tad smoother than the ZX507 next to it so I don't know how it will hold up with huge music DB.
I tried USB DAC mode + MDR-Z1R to my Samsung Note 10+ and it works just nice. Driving power wise there is a tiny difference of 2-3 steps but I didn't A/B them. I think I can safely say that they are about the same.

 

[hoofman]

Please tell us how it sounds.

The devices I tried are new so they may not burnt in yet and I didn't A/B them so much so these are early impression of quick listening at best (I don't have a strong opinion anout burn in anyway, please don't pitchfork me).
The 1AM2 straight out of the box is not very impressive. Switching from my 1ZM1 to 1AM2 I noticed a big change in cleanliness of sound. The clean sound that I normally get from my 1Z disappeared. 1AM2 sounds brighter but not as clean. I couldn't pin-point what went wrong but it could be too much high-mid and treble? Then I switch to the new 1ZM2 and it sounds much closer than the old 1Z. Sad thing is I didn't notice about direct output was off so I listened to the 1ZM2 in DSD remastering. I switch that off and the sounds became much closer. Overall they sound a bit different and if I have more time I may be able to pinpoint the different but I didn't hear any improvement yet. So from my experience today the only plus from the M2 to my use is Android and 10 hours longer battery life.
I don't know why but I felt that both M2 players are a tiny bit not as clean sounding as mine when volume matched by ears. I bought a new set of 1A mark 1 to try out later. After this I may go back to store compare them properly.

 

[MrWalkman]

https://helpguide.sony.net/dmp/nwwm1m2/v1/en/contents/TP1000521635.html

 

[gerelmx1986]

I don't fully understand how S-Master works, but sample rate is still relevant I would think. I don't understand why 3rd party apps and streaming services can't use the high quality audio pathway. Forced resampling to 48 or 192 kHz does not seem competitive for a modern DAP, where most other models can play at native rates without resampling.

Yes thqts odd, lqybe because S-Master ist sonys own creation and tightly keot secret and as opposed to other more generic brands like AKM Sabre etc that may provide drivers to the DAP makers or app developers.

Or maybe aony team doesnt really know how to reroute audio from streaming apps (7u assume there is an API to do so)