[WAmadeusM]

bit of research.....some interesting first impressions on T......

Another making eyes at the DMP Z1

or

they are big....

 

[WAmadeusM]

and this very ...from a W1Z user .... detailed....

which leans into my thinking around Sony having to have a flagship with streaming and that being a crucial selling point. That and having a new battery five years later....

 

[Lookout57]

I can't wait till someone compare the MK2's giants the MK1'a running MrWalkman's firmware. Maybe Sony's engineers took his firmware and used his tweaks on the MK2's . Wouldn't that be amazing.

 

[djricekcn]

Basically 1AM2 has better improvement gap and is close to Z. While 1Z2 does have improvements over Z but it also changed signature of itself so some might prefer Z over 1Z2.

 

[hoofman]

Basically 1AM2 has better improvement gap and is close to Z.

I went to the store yesterday with the intention to preorder the 1AM2 because of this reason. The 1AM2 is much cheaper, has WM1 sound and closer to 1ZM2’s sound so it is a perfect Android DAP for me to try given I didn’t consider Android DAP before. But I couldn’t convince myself to get it because I couldn’t see how I will feel with 1A in a long time yet. To my ears it sounds really different to the 1Z. My early impression was it has less bass, quite bright, but not very ”clean” as well. So I went and bough the mark 1 instead.
I didn’t write off the 1AM2 completely yet, but I will give it a month or so to see if anything changes. Sony said at booting time that these devices will stable after 200 hours so I will try it out again.

 

[hoofman]

Can someone who visited Sony store, please show pictures of Both 1Z and 1A boards side by side please

I went to Sony flagship store in Singapore yesterday but they didn‘t have the inner cut pictures yet. I’ll wait for it and take a picture for you.

 

[purk]

Buying the 1AM2 and the. upgrade the OFC to the best wiring possible makes the most sense. This alone should bridge the gap between the two players. There are number of better sounding cable MFRs than the Kimber.

 

[hoofman]

Buying the 1AM2 and upgrade the OFC to the best wire possible makes the most sense. This alone should bridge the gap to the 1ZM2. There are better sounding cable than the Kimber.

The issue this time around is that the new walkmans are much harder to mod. So there is a higher chance that we will stuck with the stock sound of the devices. I still dont know if I can live with the sound off the 1AM2 yet.

 

[audionewbi]

I understand why Sony would use cable inside the dap, but the best cable is no cable (for transparency purposes). Why would they not directly solder it to the PCB board?

 

[purk]

The issue this time around is that the new walkmans are much harder to mod. So there is a higher chance that we will stuck with the stock sound of the devices. I still dont know if I can live with the sound off the 1AM2 yet.

I understand why Sony would use cable inside the dap, but the best cable is no cable (for transparency purposes). Why would they not directly solder it to the PCB board?

I have this crazy but great friend who is so good at modding. He modified my 1A, 1Z, as well as my DMP-Z1. I hope he comes thru for me again!

Agreed on why not board mount the 4.4 mm jack.

 

[INGRAMLI]

Buying the 1AM2 and the. upgrade the OFC to the best wiring possible makes the most sense. This alone should bridge the gap between the two players. There are number of better sounding cable MFRs than the Kimber.

If you have followed the CFW thread of MrWalkman (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-walkman-custom-firmware-non-android.943661/), you should be aware that Sony intentionally created a difference in sound signature through different "tuning" in firmware between 1A and 1Z, which was "unlocked" by MrWalkman' CFW mod.

As he has stated, the chance of being able the unlock the Android based Walkman is very slim (not unless we got the root access, which is not the case on ZX507 which is released for more than a year). This means it is very likely to have a device locked to a region (no workaround available to bypass the volume cap in EU) and character of sound "tuned" by Sony which could not be changed by user. From the impression of multiple Japanese, it seems differentiation in sound through tuning in firmware is very likely to remain the case in M2 series, in such case changing the capacitors and internal wires, or even replacing the chassis of 1ZM2 may not make the 1AM2 sounds like 1ZM2.

 

[djricekcn]

I went to the store yesterday with the intention to preorder the 1AM2 because of this reason. The 1AM2 is much cheaper, has WM1 sound and closer to 1ZM2’s sound so it is a perfect Android DAP for me to try given I didn’t consider Android DAP before. But I couldn’t convince myself to get it because I couldn’t see how I will feel with 1A in a long time yet. To my ears it sounds really different to the 1Z. My early impression was it has less bass, quite bright, but not very ”clean” as well. So I went and bough the mark 1 instead.
I didn’t write off the 1AM2 completely yet, but I will give it a month or so to see if anything changes. Sony said at booting time that these devices will stable after 200 hours so I will try it out again.

hmm, I really love the WM1A (i like it more than 1Z, but price point is also considered into the factor. 1Z, although good, 3000 is a bit too much for the difference imo). so very curious of your future...i don't check this forums often so if you can DM me, much appreciate it (if you do). Also, since it's Android, it is something small, but i'm very curious if the 1Z/1A remote works. Sure would not want to let it go to waste + i actually use it very often.

 

[purk]

If you have followed the CFW thread of MrWalkman (https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-walkman-custom-firmware-non-android.943661/), you should be aware that Sony intentionally created a difference in sound signature through different "tuning" in firmware between 1A and 1Z, which was "unlocked" by MrWalkman' CFW mod.

As he has stated, the chance of being able the unlock the Android based Walkman is very slim (not unless we got the root access, which is not the case on ZX507 which is released for more than a year). This means it is very likely to have a device locked to a region (no workaround available to bypass the volume cap in EU) and character of sound "tuned" by Sony which could not be changed by user. From the impression of multiple Japanese, it seems differentiation in sound through tuning in firmware is very likely to remain the case in M2 series, in such case changing the capacitors and internal wires, or even replacing the chassis of 1ZM2 may not make the 1AM2 sounds like 1ZM2.

This is a hardware not firmware mod. All I really want to do is to replace the OFC cable from the audio board to headphones jack with higher grade cable (even better than what the 1Z MKII has). I am not talking about a firmware mod. I also did similar mod on my ZX507 and it sounds considerably better to my ears.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Wow, you have a WM1A and WM1Z now! Be sure to try aftermarket firmware in the 1A. The 1A changed the most with region settings and firmware. It will be a cool contrast to the 1Z.

After hours on the 1Z, you switch to the 1A for a forward midrange experience, where guitars wake up and shine! It is found that both players are in reality very opposite. You know back in the day, they were introduced to complement each other’s magic!

I went to the store yesterday with the intention to preorder the 1AM2 because of this reason. The 1AM2 is much cheaper, has WM1 sound and closer to 1ZM2’s sound so it is a perfect Android DAP for me to try given I didn’t consider Android DAP before. But I couldn’t convince myself to get it because I couldn’t see how I will feel with 1A in a long time yet. To my ears it sounds really different to the 1Z. My early impression was it has less bass, quite bright, but not very ”clean” as well. So I went and bough the mark 1 instead.
I didn’t write off the 1AM2 completely yet, but I will give it a month or so to see if anything changes. Sony said at booting time that these devices will stable after 200 hours so I will try it out again.

 

[hoofman]

Wow, you have a WM1A and WM1Z now! Be sure to try aftermarket firmware in the 1A. The 1A changed the most with region settings and firmware. It will be a cool contrast to the 1Z.

After hours on the 1Z, you switch to the 1A for a forward midrange experience, where guitars wake up and shine! It is found that both players are in reality very opposite. You know back in the day, they were introduced to complement each other’s magic!

I remember that you shared before that the 1A is more of its own beast rather than an inferior 1Z, and then Sony staff told me that there is 1 left so I thought why not. At the very worst it will become a collector item from the first gen Z signature for me so I don't lose anything.
Since you got yours at launch I'm basically re-walking your steps of the last 5 years haha. I'm very late to the party and still I enjoy every bit of these. I have much to learn from all the sempai here.