SONY NW-WM1Z M2 / WM1A M2
May 3, 2022 at 5:43 PM Post #3,646 of 15,089
I guess all things like reviews and impressions are snake oil until someone proves it in a controlled double blind ABX test right?

#logic
Well, in a sense, it is all true. All impressions and reviews are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. Hearing is believing, but if you have not listened to it, please restrain yourself from posting about it.
 
May 3, 2022 at 6:34 PM Post #3,647 of 15,089
Bits are bits? How can digital audio go wrong? You send ones and zeros to a dac using ram data buffer, how can the dac give “wrong” results? Input = output right? You key in 1 + 1 on a calculator, the result is always 2 right?

Isn’t 44.1Khz enough sampling rate in theory? Why do audiophiles need to listen music at 96KHz,192KHz sampling rates? Do they have dog ears or bat ears or something?



 
May 3, 2022 at 7:08 PM Post #3,648 of 15,089
No unfortunately, I keep talking to the live support and they told me they are waiting for them to arrive at the warehouse… they said initially 30/04 then 03/05 and now today they’re saying 05/05

I guess they’re just waiting for them to arrive
Yep, same with mine (26/04 ---> 03/05). Oh well my screen protector hasn't arrived yet anyway. Hope everyone who pre-ordered in March-April gets their unit soon!
 
May 3, 2022 at 10:28 PM Post #3,649 of 15,089
I guess this makes sense? Using EarPods on Walkman

https://twitter.com/gulfstream1995/status/1521660668977451009

4FABE384-1292-4987-99AD-AF894589B313.jpeg
 
May 4, 2022 at 12:57 AM Post #3,650 of 15,089
Looking through the thread i had no idea that certain microsd cards make ones music sound even more open ...Help me understand this :L3000:....hopefully its not snake oil ..
To me, I hear no difference at all. 1tb sans extreme, 512gb Samsung evol select, internal. Same file. I hear no difference. IEM is mainly ierz1r
 
May 4, 2022 at 1:43 AM Post #3,651 of 15,089
I would like to ask you if andromeda (not 2020) will pair well with WM1AM2?. I know a lot of you have probably had WM1A and been in contact with andromeda.
I was using Andromeda (not 2020) when I tried with the demo unit in Sony shop.
For me I prefer the sound of my Andromeda to the XJE-MHRWM1M2 / IER-Z1R which are also available when I was toying with the unit.
 
May 4, 2022 at 2:42 AM Post #3,652 of 15,089
If you don't prefer the new Sony 3D-like spatial sound processing and prefer your singer's voice to sound closer to your ears like in traditional stereo imaging for the Walkman Music app, you can try switching to Hi-Res Streaming OFF. I feel that if you are using Direct Source ON in conjunction with Hi-Res Streaming Off, that's the least digitally processed sound setting you will get on the walkman.

This of course will affect your Android Streaming apps ability to use 32bit 176.2/192KHz and be limited to 16bit 48KHz.

Do note this is NOT stated by Sony anywhere in their manuals or publications, it just my subjective observations from listening.
 
May 4, 2022 at 2:51 AM Post #3,653 of 15,089
Bits are bits? How can digital audio go wrong? You send ones and zeros to a dac using ram data buffer, how can the dac give “wrong” results? Input = output right? You key in 1 + 1 on a calculator, the result is always 2 right?

Isn’t 44.1Khz enough sampling rate in theory? Why do audiophiles need to listen music at 96KHz,192KHz sampling rates? Do they have dog ears or bat ears or something?





I watched carefully these two youtube videos ... As they are mostly concerned with sample rates issues, long distance inter systems transmissions and ADC/DAC conversions (with mainly jitter issues for D/A Conversion ), I am not sure, these videos are applicable to some WM1AM2 SD card types or internal memory, all through some pure Digital buffer readings before conversion.

I really doubt that in the Sony's WM1AM2, the internal components, cable length or solders are such low quality that some jitter could impact/create some audible distortion in the digital to analog conversion time.
And even if there are some really low quality components in the WM1A, it's still not clear how fewer readings errors could transform theoretically fewer scratches/cuts into "stage width/depth" or clarity in low or high frequencies.
 
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May 4, 2022 at 3:55 AM Post #3,654 of 15,089
I watched carefully these two youtube videos ... As they are mostly concerned with sample rates issues, long distance inter systems transmissions and ADC/DAC conversions (with mainly jitter issues for D/A Conversion ), I am not sure, these videos are applicable to some WM1AM2 SD card types or internal memory, all through some pure Digital buffer readings before conversion.

I really doubt that in the Sony's WM1AM2, the internal components, cable length or solders are such low quality that some jitter could impact/create some audible distortion in the digital to analog conversion time.
And even if there are some really low quality components in the WM1A, it's still not clear how fewer readings errors could transform theoretically fewer scratches/cuts into "stage width/depth" or clarity in low or high frequencies.
Thanks for sharing your detailed thoughts on this.

Sorry but I have to go really technical on this to explain to you. Do note I do not have a degree in electrical engineering and all these information is gathered from my own interest in understanding how digital audio reproduction works at a deeper level.

Perfect Digital transmission without bit errors is not possible at the moment due to voltage skew errors that happens with electricity flow in the printed circuit board and the Data transmission receiver circuitry that determines if the voltage swing is a One or a Zero.


EMI noise is quite a pervasive issue that affects all digital devices. FCC do have EMI regulations that electronic devices must pass in order to be sold in the USA.

Certainly the Sony Walkman Engineers and also, A&K, Caylin, FiiO, Shanling and IBasso DAP engineers all do pay special attention to reducing the effects of jitter caused by electrical, radio, magnetic as well as physical vibrations at the printed circuit boards.

However there’s still a technical limit, physical size, design costing, manufacturing difficulty considerations to how much jitter/interferences that can be reduced. I think for these DAP designers, they have already done the best they can from the considerations to achieve what they consider as “good enough” low jitter for high quality sound reproduction. What is good enough? Well it depends on how golden your ears are.

You can say Sony is quite good at shielding their higher end Walkman from EMI/RFI noise, some other audio devices like chord mojo will likely buzz digital noise when there’s a mobile phone transmitting mobile data next to it which doesn’t happen to Sony Walkman (unless you happen to own a pair of ultra sensitive iems)

There’s still one area of EMI noise transmission that cannot be totally eliminated with use of extensive copper shielding and that is the microSD cards electrical and data pathways that leads to the Walkman battery and Its NXP CPU. I would think that is the likely method that an electrically noisy microSD can affect the Walkman highly precise crystal word clock timing output.

I would think It’s kinda of like a butterfly effect, as long as the crystal work clock timing is off by a few picoseconds, it will result in cumulative timing error issues(jitters) with the dac output. This errors don’t noticeably affect the frequency response of the Device but these errors may affect the phase timing which in turn affects the perceived sound-staging and sound localisation of the human ear. This errors might not be noticeable to untrained ears but to certain group audiophiles with trained/experienced ears, they can notice this errors.

Also there are error correcting systems like Phase Lock Loops which can sort of mitigate jitter problems but it has its own limits to how much can be done, if there’s too much data transmission issues, the PLL will unlock. Digital systems are pretty robust from an error correction point of view but in the case of high precision audio reproduction is concerned where by millions of bits are flowing through every second, these unpredictable undetermined transmission errors and picosecond timing errors will affect the final sound quality output to a certain extent.



It’s really a very complicated electrical design issue requiring deep understanding of science and how energy transmits. I guess I will end right here.
 
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May 4, 2022 at 4:06 AM Post #3,655 of 15,089
Voltage skew is one thing, clock skews is also another. Even though you don’t have EE degree, but you are willing to learn, to observe, and to seek out information, you will soon grab the whole concept and possibly be Better than some EE and or programmers that has decades of work experiences but refuse to learn...well, even among themselves, there are different tiers. Needless to say that those refuse to learn are just coolies tiers :wink:

nothing is perfect, and engineering is trying to achieve what is the best scenarios, while choosing to compromise others. That is why I kept on saying, there is no such thing as Bit-Perfect.....it doesn’t exist
 
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May 4, 2022 at 4:08 AM Post #3,656 of 15,089
This errors might not be noticeable to untrained ears but to certain group audiophiles with trained/experienced ears, they can notice this errors.
In my very humble opinion, if you are listening intently for the most minor of variations in sound characteristics, undetectable to all but 'highly trained ears with perfect hearing' you are no longer listening to music for enjoyment, but rather analysing sounds. It's like looking for molecular variations in two batches of the same ice cream through a microscope, instead of just taking a lick and enjoying the sensation of taste. That's not to say analysing sound is not enjoyable - I'm sure at a cerebral and technical level it must be - but it's just not what I'm buying audio gear for, personally. I can't speak for anyone else, that's just my opinion.
 
May 4, 2022 at 4:16 AM Post #3,658 of 15,089
How is everyone's Chinese translation - this reviewer seems to have more money than Elon Musk....and has the DMP, W1s and W2s....and looks like he is reviewing....

there are no caption translations....

 
May 4, 2022 at 4:17 AM Post #3,659 of 15,089
Unrelated with walkman but in what situation(s) does a DAP needing an external cooling fan? I don't think even think it's really needed in Death Valley?

https://hifigo.com/products/fiio-dk3-multifunction-dock-applicable-for-fiio-m17

I am Asking seriously / curiously

1A owner, just catching up with this thread, so apologies if it has been answered.

The Fiio DK3 dock was built for the FiiO M17 DAP / Mini-desktop (!!), which gets hot, especially under certain mode of operation. The M17 has its own cooling system / heat dissipation, but (apparently) still benefits from a fan at some times.

As we know most DAPs can get warm or even hot at times, especially in pockets, but the 1A is much better than most DAPs I have used for this. I have the DK3 dock, just as a useful stand for my desktop set up (used mainly with the M11 Plus) and I have never used / needed the fan.
 
May 4, 2022 at 4:20 AM Post #3,660 of 15,089
In my very humble opinion, if you are listening intently for the most minor of variations in sound characteristics, undetectable to all but 'highly trained ears with perfect hearing' you are no longer listening to music for enjoyment, but rather analysing sounds. It's like looking for molecular variations in two batches of the same ice cream through a microscope, instead of just taking a lick and enjoying the sensation of taste. That's not to say analysing sound is not enjoyable - I'm sure at a cerebral and technical level it must be - but it's just not what I'm buying audio gear for, personally. I can't speak for anyone else, that's just my opinion.
If it’s minor variation in perceived sound quality then I can accept that there’s no need to pursue that differences.

But in my own listening test comparing a Lexar 633x 512GB microSD vs Walkman 1AM2 Internal memory vs Swissbit S-55U 256GB, there is big enough difference in how Walkman sounded between them for me to completely abandon the idea of using the bigger size Lexar card to store my music.

To my ears, the Lexar card has really hazy soundstaging and has unsmooth distortion to the vocals. Its really lacking in overall refinement and lacking in treble extension as well.

The Walkman internal storage has soundstaging and as well as a smoothness to the sound.

The Swissbit has better dynamics and as well as a more blacker background over the Walkman internal memory.
 

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