SONY NW-WM1Z M2 / WM1A M2

[slumberman]

This one is the best imo.
It helped on my case(mine is very severe bleeding),but i hope you bring the good news

Wow! It completely fixed it for me, it seems!

Thank you!

 

[karloil]

I tried a display calibration app and it makes thing better imo
APP : SCREEN & DISPLAY CALIBRATION

Where were you back in the day? This would have saved me a few bucks!

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Wow! It completely fixed it for me, it seems!

Thank you!

Do you notice any changes to display colors/skin tone after calibration?

 

[slumberman]

Do you notice any changes to display colors/skin tone after calibration?

I have no idea. I just use it to listen to music, so nothing looked abnormally different.

 

[JohnSmithHermawan]

My hypothesis on how this happen is that when you are playing music with the walkman app, it gives a gradient color in the backdrop of the album cover.
With the edge of the gradient being white and the lcd got used to with gradient being there(maybe it's android os or it's display controller).

 

[ttt123]

My hypothesis on how this happen is that when you are playing music with the walkman app, it gives a gradient color in the backdrop of the album cover.
With the edge of the gradient being white and the lcd got used to with gradient being there(maybe it's android os or it's display controller).

My guess:
An LCD panel uses an LED backlight, composed of many LEDs, shining through the LCD panel/pixels. The backlight color is white. The LCD pixels(RGB) are modulated to create color.
It's like a slide projector, with a bright light shining through the slide, to project a picture onto a screen.
To create blacks, the backlight LEDs need to be turned down.
But due to the LEDs covering a broad area, they cannot be controlled precisely, which is why deep blacks are hard to do for an older LCD panel. Modern panels use many more mini leds for a more precise control of backlight.
Edit: Correction, not on legacy LCD panels. The LCD turns off to block the light. The LED backlight stays at a constant brightness.

In an OLED panel, each OLED pixel emits light, and does not use a backlight. OLED panels can create deep black better than LCDs, as each OLED pixel can be turned completely off to show deep black.

In LCDs, Edge bleed can be due to improper assembly/sealing of the panel edge, allowing the backlight LEDs light to bleed around the edges of the LCD panel.
Or it can be due to the backlight control being misadjusted. i.e. the backlight leds are too bright for dark scenes. The calibration readjusts the brightness of the LEDs to different (lower) brightness levels, which then has less blead, due to the edge backlight LEDs being at a lower level of output.

 

[MrWalkman]

My guess:
An LCD panel uses an LED backlight, composed of many LEDs, shining through the LCD panel/pixels. The backlight color is white. The LCD pixels(RGB) are modulated to create color.
It's like a slide projector, with a bright light shining through the slide, to project a picture onto a screen.
To create blacks, the backlight LEDs need to be turned down. But due to the LEDs covering a broad area, they cannot be controlled precisely, which is why deep blacks are hard to do for an older LCD panel. Modern panels use many more mini leds for a more precise control of backlight.

In an OLED panel, each OLED pixel emits light, and does not use a backlight. OLED panels can create deep black better than LCDs, as each OLED pixel can be turned completely off to show deep black.

In LCDs, Edge bleed can be due to improper assembly/sealing of the panel edge, allowing the backlight LEDs light to bleed around the edges of the LCD panel.
Or it can be due to the backlight control being misadjusted. i.e. the backlight leds are too bright for dark scenes. The calibration readjusts the brightness of the LEDs to different (lower) brightness levels, which then has less blead, due to the edge backlight LEDs being at a lower level of output.

In classic LCDs, the backlight is always on while the screen is on, it doesn't have area dimming - area dimming is another thing that exists separately.

In LCDs, when no voltage is applied to the crystals, they will sit in a way that will not let the backlight pass through (at least most of it) - this is how they "create" black.

I doubt that Sony would use LCD with backlight area dimming for Walkman players I'd rather have them go OLED, like they did with the NW-X1000 series players.

 

[JohnSmithHermawan]

"Recently, you may heard of the big news that a certain renowned international audio brand has been acquired by a real estate company. Additionally, based on private discussions with industry insiders, a well-known Japanese brand currently has no plans to update its portable player lineup.

We won’t analyze external factors here. Instead, I’ll explain the reasons behind the industry's downturn from FIIO’s perspective.

1. The return on investment is getting lower and lower.
Simply put, developing portable players requires significant investment but yields diminishing returns. This is especially true for Android-based players, where adopting a new platform costs millions. Moreover, system software, underlying software, driver development, UI, app development, structure, hardware, and industrial design all require a large number of engineers. Portable players are among the most complex products, demanding the highest level of engineering effort.

2. Technological progress has stagnated, or even come to a halt.
The Snapdragon 660/665 has been used for who knows how many years. The DAC options remain limited to ESS, AKM, and CSS chips. In terms of functionality, everything that could be added has already been implemented.

As a result, manufacturers are resorting to features like vacuum tubes, R2R DACs, or experimenting with different casing materials. However, these elements can’t define the industry’s mainstream direction, which are merely better than nothing.

3. Homogeneous product designs
Perhaps due to the inherent constraints of portable players, most devices now look similar—a rectangular shape with only minor variations."
Taken from Fiio's product release post.

It's seems that DAPs are hitting on a slump.
Unless there is a major breakthrough in usability(current Gen is music streaming) or S-master technology, I doubt we get new flagship Walkman in the next 2/3 years.

 

[Killedkella]

"Recently, you may heard of the big news that a certain renowned international audio brand has been acquired by a real estate company. Additionally, based on private discussions with industry insiders, a well-known Japanese brand currently has no plans to update its portable player lineup.

We won’t analyze external factors here. Instead, I’ll explain the reasons behind the industry's downturn from FIIO’s perspective.

1. The return on investment is getting lower and lower.
Simply put, developing portable players requires significant investment but yields diminishing returns. This is especially true for Android-based players, where adopting a new platform costs millions. Moreover, system software, underlying software, driver development, UI, app development, structure, hardware, and industrial design all require a large number of engineers. Portable players are among the most complex products, demanding the highest level of engineering effort.

2. Technological progress has stagnated, or even come to a halt.
The Snapdragon 660/665 has been used for who knows how many years. The DAC options remain limited to ESS, AKM, and CSS chips. In terms of functionality, everything that could be added has already been implemented.

As a result, manufacturers are resorting to features like vacuum tubes, R2R DACs, or experimenting with different casing materials. However, these elements can’t define the industry’s mainstream direction, which are merely better than nothing.

3. Homogeneous product designs
Perhaps due to the inherent constraints of portable players, most devices now look similar—a rectangular shape with only minor variations."
Taken from Fiio's product release post.

It's seems that DAPs are hitting on a slump.
Unless there is a major breakthrough in usability(current Gen is music streaming) or S-master technology, I doubt we get new flagship Walkman in the next 2/3 years.

Sony not updating their daps soon makes sense, but I’m more questioning their decision to not make new IEMs or headphones? I get that the market is oversaturated but I would rather spend my money from well known brands than trusting some new overseas company with questionable customer support.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

"Recently, you may heard of the big news that a certain renowned international audio brand has been acquired by a real estate company. Additionally, based on private discussions with industry insiders, a well-known Japanese brand currently has no plans to update its portable player lineup.

The news from "industry insiders" at the time of CanJam SoCal was that Sony is releasing something this year and some were speculating that it is a new flagship DAP. Let's see.

 

[andrewski]

The news from "industry insiders" at the time of CanJam SoCal was that Sony is releasing something this year and some were speculating that it is a new flagship DAP. Let's see.

Just guessing:

Sony will release a new line of retro Bluetooth devices ranging from $200 - $1000. The flagship will have gapless playback. They'll probably still have headphone jacks, but no new wired headphones released.

We'll see

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

"Recently, you may heard of the big news that a certain renowned international audio brand has been acquired by a real estate company. Additionally, based on private discussions with industry insiders, a well-known Japanese brand currently has no plans to update its portable player lineup.

We won’t analyze external factors here. Instead, I’ll explain the reasons behind the industry's downturn from FIIO’s perspective.

1. The return on investment is getting lower and lower.
Simply put, developing portable players requires significant investment but yields diminishing returns. This is especially true for Android-based players, where adopting a new platform costs millions. Moreover, system software, underlying software, driver development, UI, app development, structure, hardware, and industrial design all require a large number of engineers. Portable players are among the most complex products, demanding the highest level of engineering effort.

2. Technological progress has stagnated, or even come to a halt.
The Snapdragon 660/665 has been used for who knows how many years. The DAC options remain limited to ESS, AKM, and CSS chips. In terms of functionality, everything that could be added has already been implemented.

As a result, manufacturers are resorting to features like vacuum tubes, R2R DACs, or experimenting with different casing materials. However, these elements can’t define the industry’s mainstream direction, which are merely better than nothing.

3. Homogeneous product designs
Perhaps due to the inherent constraints of portable players, most devices now look similar—a rectangular shape with only minor variations."
Taken from Fiio's product release post.

It's seems that DAPs are hitting on a slump.
Unless there is a major breakthrough in usability(current Gen is music streaming) or S-master technology, I doubt we get new flagship Walkman in the next 2/3 years.

The downturn is not only limited to audiophile Daps, it’s a global inflation crisis leading to lesser disposable income for people to be spending on luxury goods which includes things like daps, however global economies are cyclical and would recover.

I bet companies like Sony are smart enough to wait till the global economy is back on track(maybe trump might change things with crypto deregulation or drill baby drill) before they would release their hidden gundams/kraken or whatever samurai weapons that they have been secretly developing.

Although I would hope Sony would start make some of their flagship products back in Japan. If Kioxia can make their 2TB MicroSD in Japan and still be price competitive, I don’t see why Sony can’t do this.

 

[WAmadeusM]

In classic LCDs, the backlight is always on while the screen is on, it doesn't have area dimming - area dimming is another thing that exists separately.

In LCDs, when no voltage is applied to the crystals, they will sit in a way that will not let the backlight pass through (at least most of it) - this is how they "create" black.

I doubt that Sony would use LCD with backlight area dimming for Walkman players I'd rather have them go OLED, like they did with the NW-X1000 series players.

I'd just appreciate them using a refresh rate over 60hz so Sony Daps would not give me migraines unless the are running at 100% brightness.

 

[Killedkella]

It’s understandable that Sony wont realest anything new for the wired headphone/iem space, but I do wish they brought some of that knowledge and technology to their wireless products. Focal Bathys, Dali IO12, AirPods Max all show that there is a market for high end wireless headphones that focus on providing excellent sound quality, Sony I feel like has the right tools to enter that space as well.

 

[WAmadeusM]

It’s understandable that Sony wont realest anything new for the wired headphone/iem space, but I do wish they brought some of that knowledge and technology to their wireless products. Focal Bathys, Dali IO12, AirPods Max all show that there is a market for high end wireless headphones that focus on providing excellent sound quality, Sony I feel like has the right tools to enter that space as well.

Do you need a $€£3k DAP to play loudness wars dynamically crushed rock/pop etc? That's what's on streaming services. Only orchestral is exempt....but even notable recordings have been loudness warred.

I think this is why the DAP sector is intrinsically doomed....