SONY NW-WM1Z M2 / WM1A M2
Mar 25, 2022 at 9:17 AM Post #1,322 of 17,192
How do the Gen 2 DAPs compare to the original ones?
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 9:42 AM Post #1,323 of 17,192
I have heard the MDR-Z1R on the 1AM2. I think these two has really great sound synergy. It’s one of the rare semi-closed headphones with such great spacious soundstage. The 1AM2 is able to create an amazing sound scape and imaging on the Z1R.

I think the most important thing is do the 360RA ear photo scan if you haven’t done so. It will greatly improve the spatial sound imaging of your MDR-Z1R on both your ZX507 and your new WM1A2 .
I'll try to do it this weekend, but honestly I thought it only mattered if you were listening to 360 reality music. I mostly use Tidal, so it probably doesn't affect 3rd party apps.
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 10:11 AM Post #1,324 of 17,192
I'll try to do it this weekend, but honestly I thought it only mattered if you were listening to 360 reality music. I mostly use Tidal, so it probably doesn't affect 3rd party apps.
Speaking of Tidal, we are not sure whether or not it does the full render of MQA tracks so please be aware.
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 10:13 AM Post #1,325 of 17,192
I'll try to do it this weekend, but honestly I thought it only mattered if you were listening to 360 reality music. I mostly use Tidal, so it probably doesn't affect 3rd party apps.
Yes, its only for this 360 Reality Feature and only for a very limited amount of songs.

Non of any Songs i listen to is supported. I tried it once with an supported song and the effect is cool but... i don't know...

I don't want to take the joy of 360° Audio from anyone. If you like it, enjoy it, but i personally would say its not worth getting an WM1 Series DAP to listen to 360° Audio... imho the Audio Quality is degraded and the effect sounds very fake/to extreme for me personally.

Its like 3D Movie or Dolby Surround, its just too much/fake for me.
 
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Mar 25, 2022 at 10:24 AM Post #1,326 of 17,192
I'll try to do it this weekend, but honestly I thought it only mattered if you were listening to 360 reality music. I mostly use Tidal, so it probably doesn't affect 3rd party apps.
To note, this device profile registration and 360RA ear scan affecting walkman sound output for the Sony headphone/iem was never officially stated or highlighted anywhere by Sony.

It was through my own experimentation and observations that I discovered that the profiles made a difference to how the headphone/iem sounded.

For example if I try to use a wrong profile, example IER-M9 profile with a MDR-1AM2 connected. It results in a slightly more bassy sound signature for the connected 1AM2. With the correct 1AM2 profile selected, I find that the 1AM2 sounded more balanced in its frequency response. It is likely that the IER-M9 profile adds bass to the output. This is just my conjecture.

Same thing happens after I tried uploading the 360RA ear profile to the headphone app for my specific Sony iem/headphones.

Once I uploaded and I find that even the Walkman music app playing regular stereo music files now has more accurate sounding spatial sound processing than before the ear profile upload.

Try for yourself and see if it is true for you. I can’t guarantee that it will sound different for you.
 
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Mar 25, 2022 at 10:32 AM Post #1,327 of 17,192
Speaking of Tidal, we are not sure whether or not it does the full render of MQA tracks so please be aware.

I'm guessing that it doesn't, as the streaming resampling/upsampling would break MQA. It would be nice if Sony would clarify, but AFAIK they have no presence on social media to ask questions.
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 10:36 AM Post #1,328 of 17,192
I'm guessing that it doesn't, as the streaming resampling/upsampling would break MQA. It would be nice if Sony would clarify, but AFAIK they have no presence on social media to ask questions.
You have more luck striking first prize lottery than getting Sony to reply you. Not a joke.
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 10:50 AM Post #1,329 of 17,192
I have the headphone app on my S21 for use with my WF-1000XM3's, just had a look to see if there was a profile for my XBA-H3's, unfortunately not, closest is XBA-Z5. Can't trial as no headphone socket on my phone lol. Doubt app would load onto my ZX1.

20220325_144800.jpg
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 11:15 AM Post #1,330 of 17,192
I am using my DMP-Z1 with 2x 1.0TB cards with no issues
 
Mar 25, 2022 at 11:25 AM Post #1,331 of 17,192
Yes, its only for this 360 Reality Feature and only for a very limited amount of songs.

Non of any Songs i listen to is supported. I tried it once with an supported song and the effect is cool but... i don't know...

I don't want to take the joy of 360° Audio from anyone. If you like it, enjoy it, but i personally would say its not worth getting an WM1 Series DAP to listen to 360° Audio... imho the Audio Quality is degraded and the effect sounds very fake/to extreme for me personally.

Its like 3D Movie or Dolby Surround, its just too much/fake for me.
I think this 360RA content creation is still in its infancy, it will improve over time.

Just check out this video and you will learn how much DSP magic sound technology this giant Sony already have:
 
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Mar 25, 2022 at 12:27 PM Post #1,333 of 17,192
Burn in is, as before, 200h
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Mar 25, 2022 at 1:54 PM Post #1,335 of 17,192
I have heard the MDR-Z1R on the 1AM2. I think these two has really great sound synergy. It’s one of the rare semi-closed headphones with such great spacious soundstage. The 1AM2 is able to create an amazing sound scape and imaging on the Z1R.

I think the most important thing is do the 360RA ear photo scan if you haven’t done so. It will greatly improve the spatial sound imaging of your MDR-Z1R on both your ZX507 and your new WM1A2 .
Oh this is great to know, MDR-Z1R is my all time favorite headphone, listening to them right now :)
 

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