[PointyFox]

funny I have a cousin that says that Pepsi is the same as coca cola, cars are all the same, woman's are all the same... Now someone that daps sound all the same... And I'm the nutcase?

You might be since you seem to think I'm your cousin.

 

[redrol]

A proper DAP should sound the same as all other proper DACs. NO sonic signature.

 

[Kitechaser]

Same applies to DAPs. They all sound the same to me. I owned the WM1A, DX200, Opus#2, etc. I sold them all and now I just use my S9 or ES100 for everything.

They all sound different with the iems I use. Very very different.
Not subtle in any way.
And the difference in SQ, to my ears, between a galaxy S8 and the WM1A, is the same difference between a skullcandy and a TOTL heaphone.
It is not subtle.

 

[denis1976]

You might be since you seem to think I'm your cousin.

From laughing so much, my belly already hurts, just one more thing, my cousin , not you i think.... Is a little deaf...

 

[candlejack]

You might be since you seem to think I'm your cousin.

Lolz, this made no sense as a response, but funny as hell.

 

[bibit69]

I have other DAPs fyi, not so cheapskate. i agree DAPs can sound so different depending on IEM.

But still hear Z1R a bit too intense for me. Speaker like? yeah like putting your ears next to speaker. Perhaps just my ears/taste. anyway, will try to auditoin again with WM1A, tho someone mentioned wm1z is still underpowered.

 

[INGRAMLI]

I have other DAPs fyi, not so cheapskate. i agree DAPs can sound so different depending on IEM.

But still hear Z1R a bit too intense for me. Speaker like? yeah like putting your ears next to speaker. Perhaps just my ears/taste. anyway, will try to auditoin again with WM1A, tho someone mentioned wm1z is still underpowered.

While higher price does not (necessarily) implies higher quality, from my experience it is (extremely) rare to have the cheaper player be the best sounding out of the lot, I would recommend to have audition on more DAPs (especially the infamous ones, like A&K SP1000, Sony WM1Z, Cayin N8,Lotoo Paw Gold Touch) before making a verdict.

 

[syke]

I have other DAPs fyi, not so cheapskate. i agree DAPs can sound so different depending on IEM.

But still hear Z1R a bit too intense for me. Speaker like? yeah like putting your ears next to speaker. Perhaps just my ears/taste. anyway, will try to auditoin again with WM1A, tho someone mentioned wm1z is still underpowered.

Sounds like a plan. Hopefully it continues to scream at you. Then you would've saved yourself a bundle and a legit justification to laugh at the faces of those who bought one.

 

[PointyFox]

funny I have a cousin that says that Pepsi is the same as coca cola, cars are all the same, woman's are all the same... Now someone that daps sound all the same... And I'm the nutcase?

Lolz, this made no sense as a response, but funny as hell.

Let's break down what he said:

1. My cousin thinks these things are the same("coca cola", "cars", and "woman's" (sic)).
2. Now this other person (me) thinks DAPs sound the same.
3. "And I'm the nutcase?" - Implies he was called a nutcase, but someone else is the nutcase.

Why would he say "now" unless he thinks what I did in addition to what his cousin did makes me a nutcase?
How would that make sense unless he's considering his cousin to be the same person as me?
Or maybe the post just didn't make sense to begin with.

 

[jmills8]

Same applies to DAPs. They all sound the same to me. I owned the WM1A, DX200, Opus#2, etc. I sold them all and now I just use my S9 or ES100 for everything.

Well all those sort of do but If you tried say Cowon P1 , Cayin N8 , and Colorfly U8 they will sound different than the tree daps you mentioned.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I can’t imagine anyone thinking the 1A or 1Z would be underpowered in high gain mode. It’s beyond loud. The only slight improvement someone would get from a desktop is slightly better imaging.

1Z........ beyond loud, not underpowered. Though it’s near it’s limits at high gain and close to full volume. I can’t imagine a human wanting more loud?

The other thing is the sound is always substantial with 3.01 firmware, all the way up in volume. The players show no sign of weakness at high levels. IMO

 

[Sp12er3]

A proper DAP should sound the same as all other proper DACs. NO sonic signature.

Well, DAP has an AMP inside them to drive the headphone... So no, DAP can't sound exactly the same everywhere.

@bibit69
I think at one point (enough power) it's really more of a tonal matching than trying to drive it with the most expensive gear you can find?
Its Just that, like most summit fi gear, people find the IER-Z1R to be quite scalable when given even better source.

But really, like most recommended thing to do when trying out any audio gear, if you don't like it from using your source, try borrowing a friend's or store demo's and...

Listen.

If the improvements doesn't pull you in enough, congratz, you've dodged a $2000+ bullet to your wallet.

 

[FangJoker]

I have other DAPs fyi, not so cheapskate. i agree DAPs can sound so different depending on IEM.

But still hear Z1R a bit too intense for me. Speaker like? yeah like putting your ears next to speaker. Perhaps just my ears/taste. anyway, will try to auditoin again with WM1A, tho someone mentioned wm1z is still underpowered.

Just buy a Hugo 2. There's a reason why you'll see so many of them at cam jams

 

[ACheah]

to the ones that already own the z1r, what do you guys think about isolation? being a dynamic driver iem, can you travel with these iems? IE , Flight and Busses

 

[nanaholic]

I can’t imagine anyone thinking the 1A or 1Z would be underpowered in high gain mode. It’s beyond loud. The only slight improvement someone would get from a desktop is slightly better imaging.

1Z........ beyond loud, not underpowered. Though it’s near it’s limits at high gain and close to full volume. I can’t imagine a human wanting more loud?

The more I hang around audiophile forums the more I believe "not enough power" is just a thing people say when they can't find the proper words to describe why they don't like the sound and must attribute it to some external cause.

Over the weekend I attended a talk session at Sony Ginza store featuring the engineers of the IER-Z1R, I tried the Z1R out of my 1Z and I didn't need more than 65 clicks on low gain balance. Some other attendees asked the acoustic engineer Kuwahara-san regarding the same impressions that the Z1R is difficult to drive and/or the 1Z is insufficient and he said the WM1Z was used extensively as a reference Sony player when tuning the IER-Z1R, and the other player he used was the PCM-D100 DSD capable voice recorder which has a reputation for having great sound but if you check the specs the headphone output of that unit is a measly 25mW SE output. So maybe you just don't like what sound signature they are going for but there's pretty much no way that a 1A or 1Z would be under-powered within the vision of the engineers.