Hi guys! I had the chance to demo the WM1AM2 alongside the WM1Z today. Unfortunately, there were no demo units for the 1ZM2 and units of the 1AM were removed. I tried to connect the 1AM2 to my tablet as a DAC to test out tracks I'm familiar with but unfortunately that was unsuccessful. Fortunately though there were 2 demo songs I'm familiar with in both DAPs, LiSA - Gurenge & Utada Hikaru - First Love. I was only allowed 30 minutes in total to test so this is more of a "quick thoughts". I very briefly tried to slide around the OS and I think it's smooth enough without much lag. I brought my IER-Z1R paired with the Luminox Night-for-Night cable for testing. Both were used with low gain at about 90/120 for volume in direct mode on the balanced side. Also, take into account the 1AM2 only has 2 hours of burn in so far on balanced.
There were a couple things that stood out to me:
1. The 1AM2 has a slightly different tuning compared to the WM1A (based on memory). The 1AM2 is closer in tuning to the 1Z albeit less "warm".
2. The 1AM2, shockingly, is about 90% of the original 1Z. The 1Z is still the better DAP, but the 1AM2 is honestly scary close. The 10% difference being the bass, spaciousness, mid/vocal presentation, separation, and naturalness.
3. The bass of the 1Z has more volume and hits deeper, but is slower. The bass of the 1AM2 doesn't hit as deep but has a faster quality to it.
4. The vocals of the 1AM2 are a bit more forward in the upper treble and a grainy texture to it as opposed to the smoother but slightly more recessed vocals of the 1Z.
5. The 1Z sounds wide. That's it, not much to say. The soundstage of the 1AM2 is decent but the spaciousness of the 1Z is just HUGE. I'm sure anyone who's tried the 1Z would understand what I mean. With that being said, the separation of the 1Z is just downright amazing. Both songs don't have much instruments present but it's enough to make you hear how you could make out all the different instruments and parts of a track. With the 1AM2, I could still make them out but requires just a bit more attention.
6. The tuning of the 1AM2 makes it more suited for more energetic and modern music genres such as Pop/K-Pop/J-Pop/Rock (less natural). LiSA's vocals were more energetic with the 1AM2 and I genuinely felt excited. The 1Z is the best with genres with lots of instruments, such classical/orchestral/jazz music (more natural). The vocals of Utada Hikaru carries more weight and emotion and was better presented to me.
7. I tried Spotify with the device and it works fine and loads fast enough. Can't comment much on the sound quality though as I was only trying for response time, smoothness and such.
I know this may seem like a lot of big differences but honestly it's not that much. It's more of a "different presentation" kind of thing. There is no "which one is better" but only "which suits you better". The 1AM2 is a slight departure from the 1A and personally, I like it more than the original 1A. I can see why some people may call it the best DAP in terms of value. Thank you for reading.