[Armament]

No. It will transcode to 48 kHz or 192 kHz, depending on the high resolution streaming setting...

From Sony:

Music streamed using apps other than “Music player” is played in the following quality.

• [Use High-Res streaming] is on:
  Up-converted playback at 192 kHz/32 bit
• [Use High-Res streaming] is off:
  Down-converted playback at 48 kHz/16 bit

Ah damn. Are there any DAPS capable of it at all?

 

[Ridewave]

Sure. With low impedance headphones. But be ready to fork out $ to get yourself a proper amp and inline your walkman to it for high impedance ones.

I do. I'm either going to connect to an external DAC or hook up to an external amp at work.

 

[rlw6534]

Ah damn. Are there any DAPS capable of it at all?

Most non-Sony DAPs with SRC bypass can play bit-perfect Apple Music, including FiiO, Hiby, iBasso, Shanling, etc.

Best to ask about the specific DAP that you are interested in to be sure...

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

The m8 is very engaging indid.
It has a unique special sauce to its (colored) presentation, it feels like a sort of deep friend that welcome you to the party asking where or why you were gone, and then pulls you in.
I still have mine , indid.

Yes, I should have kept my M 8 for home. But I rarely listen at home. Almost always when I'm on the go. On the beach and so on. Maybe I'll get the M6 Ultra. I mean for the AM 2. The M6 Ultra isn't too big or heavy either. The only question is how he can cope with the heat here in Vietnam. Here in Vietnam it is also on sale and costs a little over half as much as the AM 2. Has anyone compared the 6 Ultra with the AM 2?

 

[Armament]

Most non-Sony DAPs with SRC bypass can play bit-perfect Apple Music, including FiiO, Hiby, iBasso, Shanling, etc.

Best to ask about the specific DAP that you are interested in to be sure...

Thanks, I thought that was an Android limitation in general. I already have the WM1AM2 but I'm considering returning it to the store for a WM1ZM2 or something else that would work better for Apple lossless streaming/downloading. This would be for an IER-Z1R.

 

[German Expat in Vietnam]

I mean AM2 and M6 Ultra. For different sound

 

[kumar402]

Thanks, I thought that was an Android limitation in general. I already have the WM1AM2 but I'm considering returning it to the store for a WM1ZM2 or something else that would work better for Apple lossless streaming/downloading. This would be for an IER-Z1R.

ya no way to bypass in Sony but Apple music sounds good with 1Z. Warm and bassy. I do engage Sony EQ and DSP settings as well. Not sure if DSEE Ultimate works with Hires Streaming On with Apple Music but other DSP like Vinyl Processor, DC Phase, EQ work fine.

 

[kumar402]

Thanks, I thought that was an Android limitation in general. I already have the WM1AM2 but I'm considering returning it to the store for a WM1ZM2 or something else that would work better for Apple lossless streaming/downloading. This would be for an IER-Z1R.

well I just ran Apple music with DSEE Ultimate and there is clear change in vocals when engaged. I have Hi-res streaming On.

 

[Armament]

well I just ran Apple music with DSEE Ultimate and there is clear change in vocals when engaged. I have Hi-res streaming On.

Interesting. How is the performance of the app? Any lag at all?

 

[kumar402]

Interesting. How is the performance of the app? Any lag at all?

I don't use Apple Music a lot but whatever time I have used, it has performed well without any lag.
No connectivity issue etc.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

@boodi

So is it right to conclude that the Swissbit card has a kind of studio reference sound signature? No excessive coloration or any forwardness/aggressiveness in presentation.

Even for the Sandisk Extreme Pro vs Swissbit S55U, the Sandisk Extreme Pro would appear to have a more dynamic sounding presentation on first listen over the Swissbit but once you listen further, it will hit upon you that the Swissbit has a higher level of dynamic range that allows for even finer sound details to reveal itself which you don't get to hear on the Sandisk due to it's aggressive dynamic, which tends to compress loudness. Bass on Swissbit card has lesser coloration and will allow the sub-bass to show up more and less masked out by the mid-bass and upper-bass that the other cards do.

What I do find though is that DSEE Ultimate with Swissbit has even better dynamic range than the rest of the commercial and high endurance card I have tried, maybe it is related to the studio reference sound signature which works in tandem with how DSEE would selectively process the music according to genre.

 

[boodi]

@boodi

So is it right to conclude that the Swissbit card has a kind of studio reference sound signature? No excessive coloration or any forwardness/aggressiveness in presentation.

It is right, it offers a more flat and linear sound signature compared to the others.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

It is right, it offers a more flat and linear sound signature compared to the others.

How does the Micron compare to the Swissbit, just in terms of soundstage.

I think poorer sound staging my biggest pet vee with regards to commercial microSD cards when it comes to audiophile critical listening in a quiet room, these card just don't provide the kind of realism level(that the Swissbit offers) that is noticeable when one is listening to music at significantly deeper meditative level.

 

[kumar402]

About my findings on using Swissbit MicroSD against other MicroSD industrial or "high endurance" class memory cards

Disclaimers :

- ymmv
- I have done quite all my listenings with Shanling m9+ and Fir Audio XE6 customs on Code23 cable ( WIFI off, WIFI very slightly change the audio signal, on Shanling m9+ too, that is very slightly worsen it, my ears); I 've begun the journey on the Sony 1am2 but decided to switch to Shanling m9+ for easier critical listenings , for some reasons the other MicroSD cards , namely Micron and Kioxia , could be heard adding something different yet at least equally positive for some music genres and tracks on 1am2 , more frequently then not ;
I also briefly switched to other Headphones and IEMS sets and I had confirmation , consider that XE6 is one of the most loved IEM but many find it " raw ", singular in its presentation .. and coloured .
- I wouldn't expect anyone to find it an easy and overall much positive listening experience such as comparing heapdhones iems sets or daps , which has been a clearer and way faster process in my past experiences.

SO : What I found ultimately is the Swissbit convey a different presentation then the other MicroSD cards . And it is not the difference I found at the beginning .
At the beginning I found both the Micron and Kioxia MicroSD cards overall more engaging and more musical then the Swissbit , but I need to tell last words here today so here we are .

The sound presentation on the Swissbit MicroSD seems to remove - the most - some sort or kind of extra texture of the signal , or off the signal surface -at times you can call it brilliance or sparkle , or at times forwardness or presence , at times an extra punch depending on frequencies and song involved - as result it gives the most "cleanest feeling" for the fullness of the different parts presented simultaneously in a composition ( a mix / mix production usually ) , sure the more akin to what I consider reference studio listening .. which is not always the more engaging and more musical .

That extra texture it's not easy to tell apart and to choose , or dismiss..
i.e. the Kioxia card often gives a slightly tubey midbass harmonic hump signature , which I find myself liking and preferring for some genres and songs I like , jazz i.e. , but it is undeniable switching to the Swissbit that the presentation gets the "super-fine purge" treatment , for that tubey midbass aurea
A very subtle aurea ( noise ? ) that in a way or another is more present with other SD cards . This is not at first listen , or I didn't feel it this way at first - as I said .

So :
there are some songs that sound epic in my setup , better then before on the Swissbit : I have no dubt now , but it was not so evident in a first listen.. now it has become a part of the experience that pulls me in an all-music world in which all the rest disappear , a good part ; it is not just brain burn-in as when I switch card now I am able to tell soon the difference and to clearly tell what a different card is doing . I am sure to say that the Swissbit adds on this experience a bit more then what the other cards do.
But then there are equally significant songs from my library and my recurrent listenings , that do not play completely better with a card or another; for Hiromi i.e. , my fav jazz player with plenty of good recordings released , it is undeniable that on her classic pieces the Swissbit plays more politely and cleaner , as well as the bouncier Kioxia midbass hump adds on the musical flow and engagement for her more modern and jazzy tunes - an added limited frqs noise , similar to an harmonic distortion perhaps , that subtly adds in engagement ?
I don't know . But the difference is there .


-Are they different the different MicroSD industrial cards ? Yes . Slightly ? Absoultely , yes . Night and day ? Noway .
-Micron and Kioxia are almost on par .
-Swissbit has the "pure/total purge" treatment . it goes down and invest the subbass , where it is ever so slightly less overclouded by lower midbass and midbass harmonics ( warmth ? ) and more separated , at the point that you can split better the different lines that play down there in difficult tunes , i.e. in tech / metal / prog pieces with bass rumbles and reverbs and double bass drums and the alikes ( courtesy of Xe6 talents too ).
- Kootion has the more vibrant mids ..is not that bad in some songs , but ultimately misses the spot on the greater picture for others .
- Kioxia has a tubey midbass harmonic texture that none of the two have , but lags in other aspects Vs the Swissbit ( less clean overall )
- Micron is good enough and similar to the Kioxia , clean enough , might show "perceived" more dynamics but in the end they might result as more compressed layers ; Swissbit still has the plainest cleanest audio signal impression at extremes , and is the one that more clearly set itself apart , apparently also on simultaneous - different volume parts compression ( you hear more a single "BOOM" on a Kioxia or Micron in an explosive passage , where in the same passage on Swissbit there's little more in the picture and volumes seem to not compress as much one over the other ..remaining a bit less engaging and more polite too "though" ..)
- With the Swissbit picking up places and timber of instruments can be found **generally** easier , generally means that "that guitar" on that song could play and feel closer on the Micron i.e. , more vibrant on the Kootion , ultimately and over a larger selection of music , the great picture and decoding the different ensambles partitures is a talent that favourite the Swissbit the most , by a more pleasurable margin if classical music is involved .
- With the Swissbit the timbral and tonal shift in songs is more clean...and therefore more appreciable , with Kioxia and Micron can be felt a bit more dynamic at first .. as well as more compressed in the end .. , so , if you'd appreciate more the "full volume impact" for that passage in that song , you could prefer them.. if you'd like to hear the different volumes composition in the micro transients " the most un-compressed possible " for that passage in that song , then you're better going with Swissbit , that would also carry a little less engagement on that peculiar climax , at times can be felt as a compromise (? that's why some production use compression among reasons and post-effects )
- With the Swissbit the sense of space and place of the different parts is easier to "see" ; not night and day but there
- With the Swissbit some songs get the "last bit" of clean : to shine in a more proper way .. on these songs ( depending on mix , more then on song format ) the difference in this last bit ( of cleanliness ? Of de-noise? Or anything else it is ) is undeniable and welcome .

- Would anyone be able to pick up they whole differences , easily ? no . Me , I struggled in defining them and needed quite some patience. The differences grew over time and were fully understandable and relatable in a longer term and over a long range of critical + casual listenings , and 3 4 weeks in looping 4 MicroSD cards to tell their difference , feels overkill ( short ) and draining

- The comparison between the Swissbit MicroSD and the Metal Type4 tapes of the '90 is quite very fitting . The difference is less dramatic here ( this is from memory ).

- I would raccomand the Swissbit as the overall more clean media storage sound of a bunch I tried in a month .

Bear in mind : I would expect 95% of listeners of a bunch that included a 10 - 20 % audiophiles , they would not tell things apart here , that is my sensation ; if not some of them particularly attracted by the millimeter of sound rendering , then they could appreciate it , over a long journey that included normal listenings more then critical listenings , as it would be more alike that those subtle attributes appeared and consolidated more naturally in such manner .

I reserve the right to edit this post along the next month

Wow…that’s lot of effort. Thank you.

 

[boodi]

Welcome
True , I wouldn't do it over 4 weeks again.. ,maybe along and over a year..

I wanted to know and to tell about the myth
The myth is real..long life to the Swissbit cult