[nanaholic]

And why walkman dont use such FETs for amping instead the induxtor coils and capacitors?

Probably heat. As FETs work they emit heat. Capacitors don't do that.

 

[Signal2Noise]

I also can't really afford any of them right now.

*Unofficial Head-Fi slogan 🤣

 

[AshGotem1412]

And why walkman dont use such FETs for amping instead the induxtor coils and capacitors?

There seems to be a misunderstanding here. S-Master is, as Sony themselves call it, "digital amplification". To simplify, they convert the signal from PCM into a modulated 1-bit pulse much like 1-bit DACs from PS Audio etc. except the power output and impedance are good enough to be used directly with headphones without passing through any analog amplification. This is why the battery life is so long, there's no analog amplification like with other DAP brands, only transistors switching between 0 and 1 where they're most efficient, but also why the maximum output power is limited. The Gallium Nitride transistors (very fast switching transistors) are definitely used for digital switching according to the SA-Z1 sites, so you were correct there. The inductors and capacitors need to be there in any version of S-Master in order to filter out the high-frequency/out-of-band noise resulting from the 1-bit modulation process i.e low pass filtering (the WM1A/Z can output slightly more power than the ZX300/507 due to better filtering parts and better power supplies, but they're all using the same S-Master chip). The SA-Z1 is very high-cost, small production so is free to use the bespoke and not-cost-effective FPGA (field-reprogrammable chip) S-Master with GaN switchers, but that technology hasn't trickled down into a new mass-manufactured chip to replace the current CXD3778GF, for all sorts of reasons we can speculate on, which is obviously disappointing.

 

[hoofman]

There seems to be a misunderstanding here. S-Master is, as Sony themselves call it, "digital amplification". To simplify, they convert the signal from PCM into a modulated 1-bit pulse much like 1-bit DACs from PS Audio etc. except the power output and impedance are low enough to be used directly with headphones without passing through any analog amplification. This is why the battery life is so long, there's no analog amplification like with other DAP brands, only transistors switching between 0 and 1 where they're most efficient, but also why the maximum output power is limited. The Gallium Nitride transistors are definitely used for digital switching according to the SA-Z1 sites, so you were correct there. The inductors and capacitors need to be there in any version of S-Master in order to filter out the high-frequency noise/out-of-band noise resulting from the 1-bit modulation process i.e low pass filtering. The SA-Z1 is very high-cost, small production so is free to use the bespoke and not-cost-effective FPGA (field-reprogrammable chip) S-Master with GaN switchers, but that technology hasn't trickled down into a new mass-manufactured chip to replace the current CXD3778GF, for all sorts of reasons we can speculate on, which is disappointing.

This is so interesting. Do you know where I can read more about this S-Master digital amplification technology?

 

[AshGotem1412]

This is so interesting. Do you know where I can read more about this S-Master digital amplification technology?

Apply google translate on this: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Master

 

[Whitigir]

The S-Master in Walkman is Class D amplifications, except it doesn’t convert from analog signals into PWM, but rather it modulated binary info from applied Digital signal processing algorithms into a 1 bit as said, then passed through Low Pass Filters that are consisted of FETs and Capacitors, together with resistors and coils to form an amplified analog signals.

The question was correct per @gerelmx1986 , why did Sony not use GAN-FET here ? Well….no body knows. Don’t tell me that Sony can not do it, they can, just that they do not want to do so.

 

[chewyR]

 

[chewyR]

 

[ahossam]

Oh no! its Android.

I hope they'll have dual boot OS.

 

[chewyR]

 

[chewyR]

 

[chewyR]

The GUI is very much like the Walkman OS. The way it works is have DSD remaster on with no enhancements, or DSD remaster off then run source direct, or DSD remaster off and use EQ, Vinyl Processor, Dynamic Normalizer, DC Phase Linearizer, DSEE HX.

The Micro SD card slot has a rubber gasket, the mechanism is very similar to those found on the Xperia phones they had on display. It does not feel too big in the hands. Very quiet when running balanced headphones, no noise at all.

 

[Steve1976]

Huge disappointment seeing it running Android, but I guess that's probably all DAPs' future in a couple years.

I have to say MDR-Z1R paired with WM1Z was pretty mediocre at best. Maybe Sony should update their headphone line ASAP as well.

 

[fattycheesebeef]

Sony house signature is a pairing for their IEMS with the WM firmware/acoustics

im heading to the sony store in about 10 minutes

If it's warm, then wouldn't be pairing with a less warm IEM be ideal?

 

[chewyR]

Huge disappointment seeing it running Android, but I guess that's probably all DAPs' future in a couple years.

I have to say MDR-Z1R paired with WM1Z was pretty mediocre at best. Maybe Sony should update their headphone line ASAP as well.

The MDR-Z1R was designed to be used with the TA-ZH1ES. NW-WM1A/Z was always supposed to be used with IEM.
Here on the MDR-Z1R product page you can see that they are rated for up to 2,500 mW input.
The next lower line, MDR-Z7M2 is rated for up to 2000mW, the MDR-1AM2 is rated for 1500 mW.

The IEMS are rated for about 100mW which is smack in the middle of the 60mW output unbalanced and 250mW balanced.
The TA-ZH1ES is rated for 1200mW balanced and 300mW unbalanced. The DMP-Z1 is actually the single best component for driving the MDR-Z1R with 1500mW output balanced and 570 mW balanced. Really impressive what sony put together with the DMP-Z1