[Whitigir]

I tried campfire holocene (among 1 of the lowest impedance) with 4.4mm, with 1am2, very very slight hiss but very acceptable to me.

Cause I came from ifi gryphon which hiss like mad (waterfall sound) on 4.4mm. The hiss on Sony 4.4mm is like the hiss on ifi gryphon 3.5mm or slightly less. Sony just sound so musical and really push the performance of my Holocene to the max.

Sold off my gryphon that very night after i tried Sony.

If you love Sony S-Master, why don’t you try other gears instead ? The hissings from the Walkman and S-Master to sensitive gears is by natures, because of it passive output inductors. Especially with some multi drivers with a crossover networks. The safest way is to use single driver DD or Amature. IER-Z1R / M7-9 don’t have that problem….probably because Sony in house development.

 

[gLer]

This is a free forum written by enthusiasts. The last Sony W1Ms headfi thread was closed down due to people trolling each other. I was the last person to post after being away for a while - asking what in the world was going on.

I dont want to be the last one out again...

My reply was tone-in-cheek. I keenly await actual comparative reviews of the new M2 players, which is why we're all on this thread supposedly. Trolling should be banned outright. Two strikes and you're out.

 

[AudioAndCoffee]

If you love Sony S-Master, why don’t you try other gears instead ? The hissings from the Walkman and S-Master to sensitive gears is by natures, because of it passive output inductors. Especially with some multi drivers with a crossover networks. The safest way is to use single driver DD or Amature. IER-Z1R / M7-9 don’t have that problem….probably because Sony in house development.

By chance i started with campfire, a novice to iem/dac/dap. I am looking forward to getting DD iem like fd5 or ie600 the next round to enjoy the 1am2.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I have went down to compare the stock demo unit WM1AM2 at 313 Somerset Sony Singapore store against my debloated WM1AM2 with ier-m9 ear profile selected.

I have checked all the DSP settings, gain settings and high res streaming and headphone app settings before doing the comparison.

The store demo unit has no headphone profile selected. Other settings are the same: high gain. Volume 70 dsee ultimate on and dc phase linearizer type A Low and hi-res streaming on.

To my ears, It sounded like these two Walkmans are different models from one and other.

My WM1AM2 has a much more detailed high end. The store demo unit in comparison sounded more mid-range heavy. The high end treble extension doesn’t seem to show up as much on the store unit. Cymbals has a much more fm-synthesis like splash distortion on the store demo unit. My WM1AM2 has a smoother sound presentation with more airiness in the soundstage. Sub-bass feels more stronger on my unit as well.

So my conclusion is that there is a sound difference if you do the debloating.

Please don’t treat this post as some kind of joke. This is my serious subjective evaluation.

 

[HappySheep]

I have went down to compare the stock demo unit WM1AM2 at 313 Somerset Sony Singapore store against my debloated WM1AM2 with ier-m9 ear profile selected.

I have checked all the DSP settings, gain settings and high res streaming and headphone app settings before doing the comparison.

The store demo unit has no headphone profile selected. Other settings are the same: high gain. Volume 70 dsee ultimate on and dc phase linearizer type A Low and hi-res streaming on.

To my ears, It sounded like these two Walkmans are different models from one and other.

My WM1AM2 has a much more detailed high end. The store demo unit in comparison sounded more mid-range heavy. The high end treble extension doesn’t seem to show up as much on the store unit. Cymbals has a much more fm-synthesis like splash distortion on the store demo unit. My WM1AM2 has a smoother sound presentation with more airiness in the soundstage. Sub-bass feels more stronger on my unit as well.

So my conclusion is that there is a sound difference if you do the debloating.

Please don’t treat this post as some kind of joke. This is my serious subjective evaluation.

Thanks for the info!
However, I noticed that according to the notes in the Headphone app, the configuration is only applicable for the case when 360 reality audio is enabled?
If so, the sound difference is the result of the debloating.

 

[Liono]

I tried campfire holocene (among 1 of the lowest impedance) with 4.4mm, with 1am2, very very slight hiss but very acceptable to me.

Cause I came from ifi gryphon which hiss like mad (waterfall sound) on 4.4mm. The hiss on Sony 4.4mm is like the hiss on ifi gryphon 3.5mm or slightly less. Sony just sound so musical and really push the performance of my Holocene to the max.

Sold off my gryphon that very night after i tried Sony.

Thanks for this information, I was wondering exactly this.. i.e. how does the Gryphon DAC solution compare to the Walkman as another option.

From the reviews sounds like a less well polished product too with the bugs (max volume etc)

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Thanks for the info!
However, I noticed that according to the notes in the Headphone app, the configuration is only applicable for the case when 360 reality audio is enabled?
If so, the sound difference is the result of the debloating.

You can try hearing for yourself by selecting different headphone profile.

Just try compare the sound differences between ier-z1r profile selected against the ier-m9 profile selected. This is even if you don’t happen to own any of the above iems and don’t do the ear scan.

Compare it using just the Walkman music app playing back your regular stereo music files.

Why I have compared the debloated Walkman + headphone profile + ear scan vs store demo unit with no profile selected is to confirm that you can get more sound quality out of the Walkman by doing more deeper adjustments outside of what a regular person will hear out of his Walkman without doing anything special.

 

[psikey]

My reply was tone-in-cheek. I keenly await actual comparative reviews of the new M2 players, which is why we're all on this thread supposedly. Trolling should be banned outright. Two strikes and you're out.

Who's trolling? Equally, it doesn't want to be a Fanboy thread where its considered amazing just by virtue of having a Sony badge on it.

And some of us never had the first 1A/1Z so its an upgrade from our ZX507 (or even A107's).

Based on my short time with the EU volume crippled Z that could still drive my 3 IEM's, it sounds fantastic and better than the ZX507 in every way. Can't wait to get a proper one

 

[psikey]

By chance i started with campfire, a novice to iem/dac/dap. I am looking forward to getting DD iem like fd5 or ie600 the next round to enjoy the 1am2.

Go FD7 or FD5 if you can. I think FD7 is great and most reviews seem to say same compared to to OK FD5. Really comfy to wear too and best cable yet.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I happen to hear the Sennheiser IE600 balanced today on my WM1AM2. I think you really need to check if this iem sits well on your ears. For my ears, there is no support and it unseals very easily. The sound signature is on the brighter side. If you like the strong bass of the IER-Z1R then I think this IE600 isn’t anywhere near it. I felt that even my BA based IER-M9 has a stronger bass than the IE600. Stereo Imaging is the strong suite of the IE600. I would think this Sennheiser performs better on classical or jazz music than edm.

For Taylor swift songs, I had to turn on DSD-remastering in order for the IE600 not to sound grating to my ears.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Many people know the battery indicator isn't a terribly reliable measurement, especially at "100%" (the battery may be at ~90% to 100% of its actual maximum capacity and still display as 100% full), if you really want to give a more accurate picture of the battery consumption at standby, I would suggest to measure the variance of battery level when it is not "full", say 60% or so.

I will just let the Zx507 drain itself without usage over a few days and see what kind of standby time it can do.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

If you love Sony S-Master, why don’t you try other gears instead ? The hissings from the Walkman and S-Master to sensitive gears is by natures, because of it passive output inductors. Especially with some multi drivers with a crossover networks. The safest way is to use single driver DD or Amature. IER-Z1R / M7-9 don’t have that problem….probably because Sony in house development.

Actually the ier-m7,m9,z1r has its own internal crossover network printed circuit boards with fine resistor on it. I think Sony must have done some noise filtering at there to remove any hissing.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

For Singaporeans reading this thread. I recommend to visit the Sony Wisma store over the 313 Somerset store as there are many more equipment for you to demo.

313 only has ZX507 and WM1AM2 for listening.

Wisma not only have the above but also DMP-Z1, TA-ZH1ES, WM1ZM2 as well.

The only thing better about the 313 store is there are better and more demo songs on the WM1AM2. Not that it matters if you brought your own microSD card along.

 

[Whitigir]

Actually the ier-m7,m9,z1r has its own internal crossover network printed circuit boards with fine resistor on it. I think Sony must have done some noise filtering at there to remove any hissing.

That was what I meant

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

@Whitigir

Just to check upon your experience with debloating your other android daps like iBasso and Caylin. Do you find there’s a noticeable improvement to the sound by debloating them?