[kubig123]

@Jason.
No error message after I format to Fat 32.

Great news, I was going to get one for my SP1000 but I got concern after you post.

 

[tambox]

I have been using sp1k cu for a while (with the original case); today I just removed the leather case to check the back of the device and found a tiny sticker on the bottom part of the glass plate. Lol.

I removed it anyway to see it better what’s printed on it.

 

[Bendixen]

O wow, that was quick.
I fortunately didn’t suggest you to buy a Ferrari..

Jokes aside, the SpinFit helped me postpone ordering the U18 Tzar until Black Friday (waiting for a 20% discount.. fingers crossed).
I hope it helps your “upgrade-titis” too!

Had you suggested a Ferrari I would not have been a problem because it is out of my reach - had you suggested a BMW M2 Coupe it might have been a different story though... but that is for a completely different forum.

Thanks for the advice and I have received my SpinFits and fitted them. I am vey happy with the upgrade in comfort that they offer. I do not know if I do find the small changes in sound signature as pleasing.

Picture of SE846 with SpinFits and A&K balanced cable.

 

[Piotr Michalak]

In fact it al boils down to the sq of a recording, not the number of devices.. Each album is recorded very differentll. Buying Million devices won't help make them all sound great.

In fact, I love how every album sounds completely different (and yet, still accurate!) on different DAPs and totl HP / IEMs. It's like listening to the same music from completely different seating, angles, or maybe - the same notes but in different recordings, or made by different bands. This way music never gets boring.

An example: my favourite sacral classical music is Mozart "Requiem". I have more than 10 different recordings of it, made in different times by different bands. Of course, during my auditions I've chosen two favourite versions. Still, it was fun to listen to all of them and learn how various choirs, conductors and musicians interpret the same notes; some do this better, some do this without their heart put into it. Some train the musical phrases to perfection, others don't. And one of them goes beyond perfection, reaching the pinnacle of mysticism: my long time favourite remains the same, even if it was recorded 20 years ago - Requiem conducted by Philippe Herreweghe. No one did it in such majestic way, where music flows and plays on the strings of not only ears, but on the strings of our hearts.

Different DAPs allow me to view this perfected music through different lenses.

Those scratches/dents would annoy me. Do you use a case?

Notice that the original AK case doesn't help here. My biggest dent is in the upper right corner, where the AK case doesn't reach. Just look at this:

Ultima case is well made and nice by itself, but the player doesn't look like much in it. In fact, it looks like a crappy big cellphone. Only without this case is Ultima an artistic beauty, a design that kills Sony WM1Z. But it ends abruptly when you look at the WM1Z case, which both compliments greatly how it looks, and also makes WM1Z panzer-like, indestructible:

I absolutely love this case. I've seen it first on CanJam London 2017 recently and was like "WOW"! How well is it designed! It fits the device perfectly. It's well though out. It protects it from every angle completely. And it doesn't hide the golden elements of the player, rather, it compliments them and shows them more.

My WM1Z came just last week and I was afraid of the Cu material again, but with this case I'm not afraid I absolutely love my new WM1Z. Still, both devices are a different take on the word "perfection", but Ultima looks great only without the case, unfortunately. I'm waiting for my dignis RED alcantara case, but I worry that it'll change nothing.

Guys, there is no fun having a beautiful device if you don't see it at all. It's like having a beautiful wife, but working on the other side of the planet and meeting her only through skype.

Can you explain why you regret buying the Cu versus the SS? I'm deciding between the two, so your insights will help me.

As I wrote before, Cu is delicate material and bumps are possible, whereas SS is indestructible; only your floor will be destroyed when you drop it I'm thinking about upgrading to SS still.

Every Addiction has good excuses but i after just spending nearly $10K for a pocket stereo i hardly can justify even that i guess iam not going there and will just keep enjoying the music itself.

I know I'm addicted and I like it. Middle life crisis has it's priviledges ;-P And it helps enjoy music even more. Many years I've only built my business and resigned from all of this, so I really also know how it is to have less than I'd like to have.

 

[Eroica4th]

Umm the daul dac will only be useful for balanced output?

What are the technical difference, since on A&K website they say two dacs, each for one channel.

Now if i use single ended not balance what would be the difference?

Thabks

 

[Schmeisser]

two identical players congrats!

 

[Dvdlucena]

Personally I’ve listened to the SP1000 and the Sony WM1Z and they are different sound signatures their own right, I just preferred Sony’s. But I have also listened to the Hugo, while it sounds awesome, I personally think the sound from both DAPs especially when burned in sound better than the Hugo by a wide margin, the Hugo sounds more digital to me if that makes any sense. So are you losing sound quality going with the SP1000, most definitely not. Now if we are going to use a Chord Dave....then that’s entirely different story.

Sorry to reopen this thread from the dead... but you re talking about hugo2?

 

[bsimms99]

Sorry to reopen this thread from the dead... but you re talking about hugo2?

Correct sorry about that.

 

[hattrick15]

I absolutely love my new WM1Z. Still, both devices are a different take on the word "perfection"

Can you give your impressions on the sound quality between the SP1000 Cu and the WM1Z (with the new 2.0 firmware update which others are saying changes the sound signature of the Walkman)?

How many hours do you have on the WM1Z? Sony says that it takes 200 hours to get to maximum sound quality.

Appreciate your thoughts as I try to decide between the SP1000 Cu and the WM1Z.

 

[Trebor1966]

Please can you tell me if the AK also use both DAC with the usage of single ended?
For example Onkyo and Pioneer Daps with Dual DAC only use the dual DAC in balanced mode - single ended there is only one DAC used.
Astell never described it in any publication if there Dual DAC mode works also with single ended configuration.

 

[Eroica4th]

Yea that is my question... up there please any official responses

 

[JasonNYC]

Please can you tell me if the AK also use both DAC with the usage of single ended?
For example Onkyo and Pioneer Daps with Dual DAC only use the dual DAC in balanced mode - single ended there is only one DAC used.
Astell never described it in any publication if there Dual DAC mode works also with single ended configuration.

Both DACs are used no matter what output you are using - single ended or balanced.

 

[Dvdlucena]

Correct sorry about that.

I dunno what many people see in Hugo 2 and Hugo. Its way overpriced... you always have to stack something and there is no big deal in the sound. well, it can play way ****ing louder then AK1000 or sony 1z.
imho, both sony and Ak have better dac and sound qualities.

 

[Piotr Michalak]

two identical players congrats!

Well, these were not mine. Just a photo googled.

 

[Piotr Michalak]

Can you give your impressions on the sound quality between the SP1000 Cu and the WM1Z (with the new 2.0 firmware update which others are saying changes the sound signature of the Walkman)?
How many hours do you have on the WM1Z? Sony says that it takes 200 hours to get to maximum sound quality.
Appreciate your thoughts as I try to decide between the SP1000 Cu and the WM1Z.

Yep, I wrote a quick review for a forum in Polish, a quick translation, pardon for rookie English. Before we start, I'll only answer that I have probably only about 50h on my WM1Z and installed 2.0 roughly from the start, so had no time to analyze firmware differences unfortunately - however it sounded great from the start. So, let's quote myself:

Today, we tested WM1Z and SP1000 Cu with my wife on several different tracks, genres and headphones. I'm afraid that 1Z has better not only the battery or rather the design (class D), but also has something else. He has a soul. To summarize our findings, you have:

WM1Z: analogue poetry from the country of the rising sun and blooming cherry
Ultima Cu: Korean technology excellence

I am saying that my WM1Z is not fully warmed up. It has dozens of hours of heat on the counter. The manufacturer is advising 200h of warming, and users report 500h ... What will it be? We'll see. From the beginning, however, my WM1Z had pretty highs, very delicate, never rough on the ears.

Secondly, I note that both devices are great. There is no way that one kills the other or vice versa. They have a slightly different character; and both represent an idea of perfection. Both are in my opinion competitive to the level set by Hugo 2. For example, as proof of this thesis, the Shure KSE1500 play great with Hugo2, but I prefer it with the Ultima line out, because then I hear the sound equally transparent, slightly different with slightly backward mids, but with less noise, which is more important when listening to classical.

A little and I regret, and I'm surprised that I did not appreciate WM1Z before. I beat myself in the chest. I listened to it on AVS 2016 and it did not impress me, because he had a few songs on device only, and WM1Z did not drive my earphones from that period and I could not even verify really how it sounds.

Even on CanJam London it's Ultima SS that impressed me, and WM1Z I heard that it is just "good" and better than WM1A. Now I understand why. Because this device does not play "phenomenally". Your hat will not fall off your head. 1Z plays just fine, but subtle. This is a refined sound that never attacks your ear.

At CanJam I saw for the first time his black case, which is remarkably designed. And there's not much information about it on the web. Perfectly protects the device while exposing the buttons and emphasizing the look of the device, rather than covering it completely, like the Ultima case, which in addition almost does not protect (exposed upper right corner of the device).

But the best in WM1Z is one thing: ANALOGUE. Listening to WM1Z, I was took back more than 20 years before, when I listened to Walkman and my first tapes. WM1Z has a similar analogue "noise" on the sound, which reminded me of cassettes - and that softness, which I had long forgotten, and had existed only in imagination or dreams. I really went back in time. This is subtle and we will not hear it on CanJam or AVS, listening briefly on accidental headphones.

WM1Z also catches the beautiful synergy with my Final Lab II on classical or acoustic music, it is pure poetry.

Overall I am delighted. In favor of the device is that it's also much lower price than the Ultima, and the hardware is on the same shelf.

Cons are two or three.
- No wifi, no Tidal, only files.
- A special Sony plug for charging or connecting your PC, you lose the cable and you have a problem, requires 1-2 pcs to stock up.
- Limiting the volume, though on the internet hangs instructions how to remove this, it requires Windows / Linux or virtual machine eg Parallels and takes some time to do it...
- ... and even if we remove the limit, it only consists in the fact that in the menu we get access to increased boost of the amplifier - and so - useful for driving planes or older dynamics, although I do not know if it will work out, so this power will not be much ...
- ... and so with the Shure KSE1500 does not cope, on the acoustic music we feel too low volume, and the Shure KSE1500 amplifier above a certain level causes distortion, because ...
- ... WM1Z has no analogue line-out, we can just release the headphone or digital signal turned up.

In summary, this is a DAP rather for a mobile headset not to drive LCD-4 It holds 25+ hours on the battery for that. I does not drive the best IEMs in the world (KSE1500), but when I drive them (when I let go of more loud music, ie studio, not acoustic), it is still superb.

Both Ultima and WM1Z are great equipment, I emphasize it at the end. Both play better than many stationary sets. Let everyone judge what he likes better.

// Sorry again for the Google Translator English, I had only that much time to straighten this up.

To sum this up, if I had to choose one, I would choose WM1Z without hestitation. Especially with the price difference.

Then I would try to make it work with KSE1500

EDIT:
I have to correct myself. My test was probably on some very quiet music, probably it was "Requiem for a friend" by Preisner, where there are often parts with only one instrument in a huge space. Then, truly, WM1Z output may be not enough. But, for most classical music, it will be enough. I listened all day today and KSE1500 pairs beautifully with WM1Z. I've managed to find another album with such a problem, again: only organs, recorded from many feet away, an old master tape moved into DSD files. Again WM1Z was not loud enough and KSE1500 was on a brink of distortion. But I have to correct myself, that for most music, WM1Z is enough to drive KSE1500.