[TonyStarks]

With the new swissbit 256gb industrial card inside, I felt that my fully aged WM1AM2 balance port no longer has any unnatural grain or distortion to the sound at all.

Cymbal strikes feels extremely sharp and clean without any hint of the tizzy distortion at the tip of the transient that I heard on the SanDisk extreme pro.

So I would really recommend for Walkman users who are interested in seeking improvement to the sound quality of Walkman to consider using industrial cards if budget allows.

Currently there are a few cards for you to choose from basing on your budget and storage requirements:
Micron I300, up to 1TB, QLC cells
SanDisk Edge up to 400GB, 3D TLC cells
Swissbit S-55U, up to 256GB, 3D TLC cells

QLC cards will be much cheaper interms of cost per GB. Their downside is higher cell error rates, a lower write endurance and lower write speeds as compared to 3D TLC.

But for the purposes of Walkman read heavy music playback, QLC with stronger LDPC error correction will do just fine. Even taking to account of streaming apps, we don’t really write much data to the QLC microSD that will cause it to fail prematurely.

Currently we don’t have any one who have own all three cards to give a comparison to know which card sound better. But I believe all these three industrial cards will be so much better than any of the consumer microSD cards out there.

The distortion on the extreme pro is just a no no for me.. Was on extreme pro, there is no looking back after I got the Edge and Micron... Might get the swissbit to try out later... But I would think between Edge and Micron... It a matter of taste for individuals....

 

[Whitigir]

@Whitigir

This magical audiophile rabbit hole is just so bizarre.

Why can’t you just be satisfied with the sound coming from your AirPods?

Isn’t streaming 256Kbits AAC music good enough for you?

Why do you have to insist on listening to microsd music files?

Why do you have to buy an expensive $3700 Walkman player? Your smartphone plays music fine.

Why do you want to modify what Sony engineers have created? Isn’t that stock TA-ZH1ES already good enough sound quality for you?

Why do you have to buy expensive industrial microSD cards? Isn’t the SanDisk extreme pro cards much faster interms of read and write performance?

Why do you spend so much time tinkering with custom firmwares? Isn’t Sony stock firmwares good enough?

Questions and more questions…

Chaotic thoughts from @Sonywalkmanuser.

Bizarre indeed

 

[psikey]

So, just going on the mSD card debate. If you have a Z and can fit all your music on its internal 256GB then best not to use any mSD at all?

 

[MrWalkman]

Why can’t you just be satisfied with the sound coming from your AirPods?

You could be, if you don't know that better exists.

Isn’t streaming 256Kbits AAC music good enough for you?

Same as above, but I could personally live with 256 kbps AAC if for some reason nothing else would be available anymore.

Why do you have to insist on listening to microsd music files?

I'm not personally into this, so I can't comment. I just use a microSD card to have more available storage.

Why do you have to buy an expensive $3700 Walkman player? Your smartphone plays music fine.

Well, of course that a smartphone cannot play at the same quality as the $3700 Walkman player.

Why do you want to modify what Sony engineers have created? Isn’t that stock TA-ZH1ES already good enough sound quality for you?

Why do you have to buy expensive industrial microSD cards? Isn’t the SanDisk extreme pro cards much faster interms of read and write performance?

Why do you spend so much time tinkering with custom firmwares? Isn’t Sony stock firmwares good enough?

If "better" can be achieved, then why not?

So, just going on the mSD card debate. If you have a Z and can fit all your music on its internal 256GB then best not to use any mSD at all?

If you can get better sound quality by using a certain microSD card (aka if you can perceive differences, etc.), then it could be something to use one. Otherwise, if 256 GB is enough for your music, then there's no point, right?

 

[gLer]

@Whitigir

This magical audiophile rabbit hole is just so bizarre.

Why can’t you just be satisfied with the sound coming from your AirPods?

Isn’t streaming 256Kbits AAC music good enough for you?

Why do you have to insist on listening to microsd music files?

Why do you have to buy an expensive $3700 Walkman player? Your smartphone plays music fine.

Why do you want to modify what Sony engineers have created? Isn’t that stock TA-ZH1ES already good enough sound quality for you?

Why do you have to buy expensive industrial microSD cards? Isn’t the SanDisk extreme pro cards much faster interms of read and write performance?

Why do you spend so much time tinkering with custom firmwares? Isn’t Sony stock firmwares good enough?

Questions and more questions…

Chaotic thoughts from @Sonywalkmanuser.

Simple, don't seek that which you don't need to find...

 

[Whitigir]

Simple, don't seek that which you don't need to find...

Very true ! Don’t we all seek for it from new technologies and new products ? Cables ? Iems ? Phones ? Etc ?

I told myself every minutes that I should be content and satisfied. I would have saved a lot. I need to start meditation and quit this forum altogether

 

[maddib]

You could be, if you don't know that better exists.



Same as above, but I could personally live with 256 kbps AAC if for some reason nothing else would be available anymore.



I'm not personally into this, so I can't comment. I just use a microSD card to have more available storage.



Well, of course that a smartphone cannot play at the same quality as the $3700 Walkman player.





If "better" can be achieved, then why not?



If you can get better sound quality by using a certain microSD card (aka if you can perceive differences, etc.), then it could be something to use one. Otherwise, if 256 GB is enough for your music, then there's no point, right?

I think we should simply return to the main topics here in this thread. If some highly recommend to put a DAP into a cooling box to reduce noise or others use the 1Z simply for 128kbs MP3s... it's rather OT here. IMHO

 

[nc8000]

You could be, if you don't know that better exists.



Same as above, but I could personally live with 256 kbps AAC if for some reason nothing else would be available anymore.



I'm not personally into this, so I can't comment. I just use a microSD card to have more available storage.



Well, of course that a smartphone cannot play at the same quality as the $3700 Walkman player.





If "better" can be achieved, then why not?



If you can get better sound quality by using a certain microSD card (aka if you can perceive differences, etc.), then it could be something to use one. Otherwise, if 256 GB is enough for your music, then there's no point, right?

I could live with my Sony WF-1000XM4 and Tidal on my iPhone and still thoroughly enjoy music but since I have the option to do better I do so (up to some level)

 

[gLer]

Very true ! Don’t we all seek for it from new technologies and new products ? Cables ? Iems ? Phones ? Etc ?

I told myself every minutes that I should be content and satisfied. I would have saved a lot. I need to start meditation and quit this forum altogether

Not really. Surely there comes a point in the journey when you can say 'that's it, I'm happy right here'? If not, you'll be forever wandering, looking for what's next, what's new, what's different.

For me, when I discovered the 'Sony sound' with Z1R, and then the 1Z, I knew that I've reached a point where not only was it good enough, but actually so much better than I could have imagined.

Beyond this point is the massive cliff of diminishing returns. So, I can continue to look for more/better/different at great cost and effort, or I can accept that the Signature Series is already so incredibe, and be thankful and humble just to have the privelege of enjoying it every day while the world is in turmoil.

I know my choice. What's yours?

 

[hshock76]

Received yesterday…..

Looks, feels and sounds amazing. Time to it in.

 

[MrWalkman]

Not really. Surely there comes a point in the journey when you can say 'that's it, I'm happy right here'? If not, you'll be forever wandering, looking for what's next, what's new, what's different.

For me, when I discovered the 'Sony sound' with Z1R, and then the 1Z, I knew that I've reached a point where not only was it good enough, but actually so much better than I could have imagined.

Beyond this point is the massive cliff of diminishing returns. So, I can continue to look for more/better/different at great cost and effort, or I can accept that the Signature Series is already so incredibe, and be thankful and humble just to have the privelege of enjoying it every day while the world is in turmoil.

I know my choice. What's yours?

I am really happy with the Sony sound signature, so I would be curious about one of the M2 players. Otherwise, I'm not curious about other DAPs.

TA-ZH1ES and/or DMP-Z1 would be interesting to at least try. I think I would love the DMP-Z1, based on my experiences with how these Sony players can sound, and with Sony using DSP to get to their sound signature.

 

[Whitigir]

Not really. Surely there comes a point in the journey when you can say 'that's it, I'm happy right here'? If not, you'll be forever wandering, looking for what's next, what's new, what's different.

For me, when I discovered the 'Sony sound' with Z1R, and then the 1Z, I knew that I've reached a point where not only was it good enough, but actually so much better than I could have imagined.

Beyond this point is the massive cliff of diminishing returns. So, I can continue to look for more/better/different at great cost and effort, or I can accept that the Signature Series is already so incredibe, and be thankful and humble just to have the privelege of enjoying it every day while the world is in turmoil.

I know my choice. What's yours?

Going to get M2 soon ?

Received yesterday…..

Looks, feels and sounds amazing. Time to

it in.

Congratulations!! Look at that fancy bedding for it !!

 

[Ryokan]

Ordered a Micron micro sd card, interested to hear any difference.

 

[djricekcn]

Big thanks to @Damz87 for his recommendations of the clear TPU case and tempered glass screen protector.

I won't do it but curious, does it fit in the official case with it on?

 

[Lookout57]

Not really. Surely there comes a point in the journey when you can say 'that's it, I'm happy right here'? If not, you'll be forever wandering, looking for what's next, what's new, what's different.

For me, when I discovered the 'Sony sound' with Z1R, and then the 1Z, I knew that I've reached a point where not only was it good enough, but actually so much better than I could have imagined.

Beyond this point is the massive cliff of diminishing returns. So, I can continue to look for more/better/different at great cost and effort, or I can accept that the Signature Series is already so incredibe, and be thankful and humble just to have the privelege of enjoying it every day while the world is in turmoil.

I know my choice. What's yours?

After installing MrWalkman's custom firmwares on my 1A and 1Z I'm extremely happy with what I hear using my Campfire Solaris SE and 2020 and Andromeda Gold using DHC Clone Fusion and Silver cables. What I hear with them comes close to the $100,000+ 2 channel system I heard at an audio show. Based on that I have no desire to even look at other DAPs as the Sony's provide me with a realistic, natural sound.