[psikey]

IER-Z1R should be your best bet.

If your ears are big enough to handle them and not overly concerned of the cable failures reported. Taking into account fit/comfort and if you want to stick with Sony the M9 maybe. It really comes down to what you want to spend. I recently got a set of Fiio FD7 single Beryllium driver and for the price, I'm impressed.

It doesn't have to be over £1K to be good.

 

[maddib]

Seems today pop artists and their sponsors are more likely to be driven by making money than passion for creating good music?

I'm not sure if it's trying to make more money or just trying to keep music business alive. I guess in current times it's simply harder to make money out of music than e.g. 30 years ago. Concerts (tours) are complex and expensive, marketing for reaching the target audience as well. Selling music for home is rather outdated. So, in a way, I believe, the music industry is forced to cut costs more than in the past. And this certainly has an impact on how music is being produced.
And, as we all know, talking about the technical aspects of music such as audio quality is an absolute niche interest. And I believe it's even harder to earn money on that.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Previously, I also waited quite sometime for Micron and Edge.
At least it is worth the wait over extreme pro.

Now tempted to try Swissbit and Greenliant.

So between the edge and micron, which one do you prefer with the WM1AM2?

 

[TonyStarks]

off topic but what type is better for the Z1R - pure copper, pure silver or hybrid or SPC?

I

So between the edge and micron, which one do you prefer with the WM1AM2?

I haven't tried Edge on 1AM2... Based on the "signature" of Micron and 1AM2, I would think Micron and 1AM2 fits very well with each other... I would think Edge would go well with 1WM2..

 

[xryptic]

The MQA files need to have some special MQA tags. If the tags are missing, then the files won't be recognized as MQA.

You can use this app which scans the music files and then tags them automatically if they are actually MQA: https://www.mqa.co.uk/tag435sdf43te

If the files are correctly tagged, then the Walkman does full MQA unfolding, up to 384 kHz (which is 8x).

Thank you so much, this now makes MQA recognizable in the Walkman app.

 

[gLer]

I would say need is a strong word, I find the stock cable to be amongst the best stock cables on the market. That said I do like the Dunu Blanche I use more but find that it is only a small difference but to that add the convenience of the swappable plugs and to me you have a winner

I agree, I find the Z1R stock cable perfect for vocals and treble. No need to roll cables at all.

As for music tastes, we may as well debate religion and politics. To each his own, I say. For the record I think Billie Eilish is the voice of a generation that many older folks simply don't understand. I also think her music is brilliant. YMMV...

 

[gLer]

The MQA files need to have some special MQA tags. If the tags are missing, then the files won't be recognized as MQA.

You can use this app which scans the music files and then tags them automatically if they are actually MQA: https://www.mqa.co.uk/tag435sdf43te

If the files are correctly tagged, then the Walkman does full MQA unfolding, up to 384 kHz (which is 8x).

Does this work for the OG 1Z too?

 

[Erwax]

I ordered a ZM2 on the opening day of pre-orders in France, last delivery date communicated is April 30

Has anybody in EU/UK actually received one yet (an EU unit that is) ?

 

[fish1050]

but sometimes when you listen to older songs with modern equipment, they sound they are singing from the bathroom

I have been updating my music collection with remastered versions for years now. I would say 90% of my oldies have now been updated. It doesn't matter if you ripped these old songs from CD or streamed them if they are the originals they will sound as you say like singing in a bathroom. The songs I haven't been able to update I have increased the volume of these tracks with Audacity. Remastering is largely increasing the volume of the the old tracks.

I will never trade The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Elton John etc.. for Billie Eilish, Lana Del Ray or Moron 5 and the like regardless of the production quality of the tracks. Crappy music is crappy music regardless of how well it is produced and most just have the volume pushed to the max. If I have trouble sleeping maybe I will try and listen to Lana Del Ray or Billie Eilish (great alternatives to sleeping pills).

 

[nc8000]

Does this work for the OG 1Z too?

Yes the older Walkman daps on SonyOS handle mqa fine provided the tags are set correctly

 

[cFkoauvicGBK7o]

I have been updating my music collection with remastered versions for years now. I would say 90% of my oldies have now been updated. It doesn't matter if you ripped these old songs from CD or streamed them if they are the originals they will sound as you say like singing in a bathroom. The songs I haven't been able to update I have increased the volume of these tracks with Audacity. Remastering is largely increasing the volume of the the old tracks.

I will never trade The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton and Elton John etc.. for Billie Eilish, Lana Del Ray or Moron 5 and the like regardless of the production quality of the tracks. Crappy music is crappy music regardless of how well it is produced and most just have the volume pushed to the max. If I have trouble sleeping maybe I will try and listen to Lana Del Ray or Billie Eilish (great alternatives to sleeping pills).

I am also getting older (born in 1990) and I generally listen to music that I "grew up" with (generally late 80s, 90s and 2000s) but I would never think to disparage new music as "crap".

From my perspective I'm just less aware of the style and general trend of current music but when I conciously make an effort to discover new music I have discovered some absolute brilliant albums and genres. I was loving all the dance/electro swing music coming out around 2013 but I'm not currently aware of what the charts consists of now.

 

[gLer]

I am also getting older (born in 1990) and I generally listen to music that I "grew up" with (generally late 80s, 90s and 2000s) but I would never think to disparage new music as "crap".

Glad someone said it. Now let's get back on track.

 

[Lookout57]

I think you are influenced by what your parents listened to. I grew up in the late 60's early 70's and learned to appreciate good music by listening to WNEW-FM in NYC. WNEW was a free form radio station and the DJ's played what ever they liked. So you would hear current rock, progressive rock, jazz, standards and even classical music. So you learned and appreciated all types of music.

My son was born in 1989 but grew up listening to the music I like, classic rock, progressive rock, alternative and grunge. And that is what he listens to now. I know he doesn't care for rap, hip hop or pop.

 

[MrWalkman]

Does this work for the OG 1Z too?

Yes.

Some devices can also scan the whole file to determine if it's MQA encoded or not, instead of relying just on the tags, but it's not the case with the Walkman players.

For example UAPP can do a deep scan or it can also rely just on tags. This can be chosen via an option in the app settings.

 

[gLer]

Yes.

Some devices can also scan the whole file to determine if it's MQA encoded or not, instead of relying just on the tags, but it's not the case with the Walkman players.

For example UAPP can do a deep scan or it can also rely just on tags. This can be chosen via an option in the app settings.

Do you know if the 1Z plays back MQA in USB DAC mode? As in Mac -> Tidal -> 1Z as DAC? Probably a question for the OG thread, but since we're discussing here...