[Sonywalkmanuser]

This is an article that speculates why Sony doesn’t ground 4.4mm connection.
https://www.hum.hk/articles/why-doesnt-sony-ground-44

The article seems to be logical in its reasonings.

It seems like grounding this 4.4mm is producing both positive and negative results with different users.

 

[ttt123]

This is an article that speculates why Sony doesn’t ground 4.4mm connection.
https://www.hum.hk/articles/why-doesnt-sony-ground-44

The article seems to be logical in its reasonings.

It seems like grounding this 4.4mm is producing both positive and negative results with different users.

This is one of those seemingly simple things (Grd should be good) that become very complex, the more you look into it.
- The Grd being used is the same Grd that the 3.5mm (L, R, Grd) uses. So listening to an IEM using a 3.5mm cable/plug, the Grd is utilized.
- But some people, on some IEMs, prefer the sound of the 3.5mm over the 4.4mm ungrounded.
- 4.4mm Grounded is also preferred by some people, but not by others.

I tried adding an internal Grd, and I think I prefer the sound with the added Grd. But that is only from a memory comparison.
Maybe it depends on the system (IEM/cables), the EMI environment of the user, the kind of music listened to and ??

Another area with no clear answer.

I did run across the same thing when making AC power cables. Grd shield added in was bad for the sound. - some said yes, and some said no.

 

[justanut]

This is one of those seemingly simple things (Grd should be good) that become very complex, the more you look into it.
- The Grd being used is the same Grd that the 3.5mm (L, R, Grd) uses. So listening to an IEM using a 4.5mm cable/plug, the Grd is utilized.
- But some people, on some IEMs, prefer the sound of the 3.5mm over the 4.4mm ungrounded.
- 4.4mm Grounded is also preferred by some people, but not by others.

I tried adding an internal Grd, and I think I prefer the sound with the added Grd. But that is only from a memory comparison.
Maybe it depends on the system (IEM/cables), the EMI environment of the user, the kind of music listened to and ??

Another area with no clear answer.

I did run across the same thing when making AC power cables. Grd shield added in was bad for the sound. - some said yes, and some said no.

I chose to follow Sony Engineers' decision. They could have easily grounded it but decided not to for good reason. Afterall, I did believe in their product and buy into it...

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I chose to follow Sony Engineers' decision. They could have easily grounded it but decided not to for good reason. Afterall, I did believe in their product and buy into it...

Sometimes it can be very hard to understand the intentions of these Sony engineers, especially for common folks like us without real world electrical engineering experience, as not everything in electrical engineering is black and white when you are dealing with complicated things related to electro-magnetic spectrum and even quantum physics. Like how Sony mentions the use of gold plating in the crystal clock oscillators, which most common folks would have no idea how this would actually improve sound quality.

While I don’t think it is a good idea to have blind faith in everything. Keeping a more open mind on subjects and topics is a good way to learn, explore and experience new things in life.

This also points to the fact that this M2 Walkman is not Sony first balanced port design, they have implemented 4.4mm for many of their products including the DMP-Z1 and TA-ZH1ES and all of them don’t have grounding either?(correct me if I am wrong on this). So I would think that this omission of grounding on 4.4mm port is as intended by Sony engineers.

I would say Sony engineers can also be wrong or make mistakes in their designs/programming or make bad decisions too. Like the bass issue with their initial A306 firmware release(how the hell did this get pass basic measurement tests?) or when they started to introduce volume cap/power output limits for Singapore and US/Canada ZX707 and A306 Walkman which makes these units totally unusable for many of the more power hungry audiophile grade headphones/iems, defeating the basic purpose of buying these product.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Another area with no clear answer.

We live in the era of information technology and AI. There’s a lot information that can be retrieved in seconds. One google search or one chatgpt question or Wikipedia search can often answer everything you want to know in life. But are these tools actually truthful or is there some kind of hidden bias/agendas? I think it is still best to be careful and thoughtful with what is being told/transmitted to you.

I tried googling and chatgpt this:

“Can microSD affect sound quality of the digital audio player?”

Google gave this link as first results which points to: “Not necessarily”.
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/musicians-guide-to-using-sd-cards/#:~:text=This is because audio data,audio is when transferring files.

While chatgpt gave this answer:

In general, the microSD card itself should not directly affect the sound quality of digital audio played on a device, assuming the audio files are not corrupted and the card functions properly. The primary job of a microSD card is to store data, and when it comes to digital audio files, it either reads the data correctly or it doesn't. If it reads the data correctly, the sound quality should be determined by the digital audio player's DAC (Digital to Analog Converter), amplifier, the quality of the audio file, and the output device (like headphones or speakers).However, there could be indirect effects or perceptions of sound quality changes related to the use of a microSD card, for instance:Speed and Access Times: Lower speed cards might cause issues with loading or buffering high-resolution files, especially if you're playing high bitrate files directly from the card. This isn't exactly a change in sound quality, but interruptions in playback could impact your listening experience.Electrical Noise: Some audiophiles argue that different storage mediums can introduce different levels of electrical noise that might affect the analog parts of a digital audio player, potentially affecting sound quality. However, this is a highly debated topic and any such differences are likely to be extremely subtle, if detectable at all.File Corruption or Errors: If the microSD card has corrupted files or errors, this could potentially affect playback, but this would usually result in files not playing properly or at all rather than a degradation in sound quality.In practical use, choosing a reputable, high-quality microSD card and ensuring your digital audio files are of high quality and properly formatted are good practices. These steps will help ensure that the storage medium does not become a bottleneck or point of failure in your audio playback chain.

 

[audionewbi]

I got this adapter fro Ddhifi for Walkman but I feel it takes away some Sony magic here. Sound is more open and light on its feet. Many enjoy such sound but I like heaviness and dense tonality of Sony. The decay of bass I feel is truncated. Will try for few more songs. So far only in my 3rd song with this adapter.



Aesthetically it matches the color of Walkman very well tbh. Does add additional 32gm though. May help in strengthening my grip further.

Great design, but held back by poor cable used inside.

 

[ttt123]

I chose to follow Sony Engineers' decision. They could have easily grounded it but decided not to for good reason. Afterall, I did believe in their product and buy into it...

This is a major point, that the Sony Engineer had a reason for not grounding the 4.4mm
Unfortunately, nothing is that simple.
- Why did they choose to use OFC wiring for the 4.4mm jacks on the WM1A, and Kimber on the WM1Z? Was that the best? But there are many mods that people have said is a major improvement. The K mod from Singapore, mods by @Nayparm, @Whitigir, Romi, etc.
- Why did they put in relays in the signal path to the 4.4mm. Yes, it blocks transient noise from signal switch/turn on, etc. But this is cosmetic, and not necessary overall. This causes a major deterioration of the signal integrity, due to the weak/small relay contacts. This extra circuitry is, to me, massively detrimental to the signal.
Why, oh Why did the Sony Engineers put this cosmetic design/weakness in, is what I have asked, many times.

So to say that a Sony Engineer will make perfect decisions, ALWAYs, is not true. Sony engineers have massively more knowledge and experience than the average user. But they also have weaknesses and blind spots, like anybody else. Less than most, but there are still areas that they also are weak in their knowledge. They are, after all, only human.
And I also would give my trust to the Sony Engineer's knowledge and experience. But I would not impute on them the expectation to be perfect and infallible. Nobody is, and knowledge can always be expanded on, modified, changed.

And to use the reasoning that "X company's engineer made the design decision, so it must be the best design", cannot be a blanket rationale, as all engineers have constraints and goals imposed on them, along with their personal bias from their training, experience, background. Else why would successive products have improvements? Because those self same engineers grew their knowledge and experience, and found better ways to do things. Or had less or different constraints imposed on them.
Knowledge is not finite, but just a base to expand upon.

So the current situation is normal. Each person evaluates, and makes their choice, for their own system (equipment, music, ears). There is no one size fits all solution, and never will be.

 

[ttt123]

We live in the era of information technology and AI. There’s a lot information that can be retrieved in seconds. One google search or one chatgpt question or Wikipedia search can often answer everything you want to know in life. But are these tools actually truthful or is there some kind of hidden bias/agendas? I think it is still best to be careful and thoughtful with what is being told/transmitted to you.

I tried googling and chatgpt this:

“Can microSD affect sound quality of the digital audio player?”

Google gave this link as first results which points to: “Not necessarily”.
https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/musicians-guide-to-using-sd-cards/#:~:text=This is because audio data,audio is when transferring files.

While chatgpt gave this answer:

Nice answer from Chatgpt. Better than from a lot of the people using a sound science rationale.

 

[rlw6534]

This is an article that speculates why Sony doesn’t ground 4.4mm connection.
https://www.hum.hk/articles/why-doesnt-sony-ground-44

The article seems to be logical in its reasonings.

It seems like grounding this 4.4mm is producing both positive and negative results with different users.

How about the simple answer? The ground isn't needed in this application (floating on both ends - no potential for a ground loop), so they just didn't connect it.

Occam's Razor

 

[justanut]

Sometimes it can be very hard to understand the intentions of these Sony engineers, especially for common folks like us without real world electrical engineering experience, as not everything in electrical engineering is black and white when you are dealing with complicated things related to electro-magnetic spectrum and even quantum physics. Like how Sony mentions the use of gold plating in the crystal clock oscillators, which most common folks would have no idea how this would actually improve sound quality.

While I don’t think it is a good idea to have blind faith in everything. Keeping a more open mind on subjects and topics is a good way to learn, explore and experience new things in life.

This also points to the fact that this M2 Walkman is not Sony first balanced port design, they have implemented 4.4mm for many of their products including the DMP-Z1 and TA-ZH1ES and all of them don’t have grounding either?(correct me if I am wrong on this). So I would think that this omission of grounding on 4.4mm port is as intended by Sony engineers.

I would say Sony engineers can also be wrong or make mistakes in their designs/programming or make bad decisions too. Like the bass issue with their initial A306 firmware release(how the hell did this get pass basic measurement tests?) or when they started to introduce volume cap/power output limits for Singapore and US/Canada ZX707 and A306 Walkman which makes these units totally unusable for many of the more power hungry audiophile grade headphones/iems, defeating the basic purpose of buying these product.

This is a major point, that the Sony Engineer had a reason for not grounding the 4.4mm
Unfortunately, nothing is that simple.
- Why did they choose to use OFC wiring for the 4.4mm jacks on the WM1A, and Kimber on the WM1Z? Was that the best? But there are many mods that people have said is a major improvement. The K mod from Singapore, mods by @Nayparm, @Whitigir, Romi, etc.
- Why did they put in relays in the signal path to the 4.4mm. Yes, it blocks transient noise from signal switch/turn on, etc. But this is cosmetic, and not necessary overall. This causes a major deterioration of the signal integrity, due to the weak/small relay contacts. This extra circuitry is, to me, massively detrimental to the signal.
Why, oh Why did the Sony Engineers put this cosmetic design/weakness in, is what I have asked, many times.

So to say that a Sony Engineer will make perfect decisions, ALWAYs, is not true. Sony engineers have massively more knowledge and experience than the average user. But they also have weaknesses and blind spots, like anybody else. Less than most, but there are still areas that they also are weak in their knowledge. They are, after all, only human.
And I also would give my trust to the Sony Engineer's knowledge and experience. But I would not impute on them the expectation to be perfect and infallible. Nobody is, and knowledge can always be expanded on, modified, changed.

And to use the reasoning that "X company's engineer made the design decision, so it must be the best design", cannot be a blanket rationale, as all engineers have constraints and goals imposed on them, along with their personal bias from their training, experience, background. Else why would successive products have improvements? Because those self same engineers grew their knowledge and experience, and found better ways to do things. Or had less or different constraints imposed on them.
Knowledge is not finite, but just a base to expand upon.

So the current situation is normal. Each person evaluates, and makes their choice, for their own system (equipment, music, ears). There is no one size fits all solution, and never will be.

Valid points both, let me quantify that I was not implying that Sony's engineers are always right. But for this particular design choice, seeing that this wasn't their first DAP, nor the first time they chose to leave the PO ungrounded or grounded, I deduced that it was a deliberate decision and not an oversight. I would agree with correcting oversights or mistakes, but would usually not want to change deliberate design choices, because it's a domino... changing one thing affects something else up and down the chain. And unless we are prepared to and able to make deal with all those affected links, I won't do it to such an expensive player that wasn't designed to be tinkered with imho.

That said, this grounding adaptor is a minor thing that is removable so i see no harm in trying it if you have the $$$ or access to it. There was once I did not plug my cable fully into my amp, and thought the induced distortions sounded 3D-like and fantastic...

 

[kumar402]

After a long time, I changed to direct sound.... DSEE Ultimate is a favorite feature of mine in Walkman and it's crazy how significant jump in battery performance one can get with direct sound ON. You can get close to 35 hrs easily on High gain at 30~35% of volume with some screen usage.
DSP with exception of DSD Up sampling reduces the battery performance by 50% on an avg for me and I get close to 15 to 16 hrs. Still exceptional in the world of portable gears.
DSD Up sampling and screen usage are biggest battery hog.

PS - Tested with local music playback with 80% of music in CD quality.

 

[Armament]

I think with the newly discovered Japanese Language setting and fw1.08.

This is my current preferred configuration for my IER-M9 Balanced:

Japanese language selected in Android settings
High Res Streaming Mode Off
Headphone App Enabled
IER-M9 Profile in headphone app with ear photo uploaded to Sony
DSD Sharp Roll-Off
DSEE Ultimate On
DC Phase Linearizer Type B Low

I feel that Type B low seems to provide IER-M9 with a very nice deep sounding(booming type) of sub-bass which doesn't bleed into the lower mids.
It has a well controlled dynamic and detailed sound that works really well across any genre.

Where is the DSD Sharp Roll-Off setting? I don't see it.

 

[kumar402]

Where is the DSD Sharp Roll-Off setting? I don't see it.

(Options) － [Settings].

Playback​

DSD​

• USB output for DSD
  • Auto
  • DoP
• Filtering during DSD playback
  • Slow roll-off
  • Sharp roll-off

 

[Armament]

(Options) － [Settings].

Playback​

DSD​

• USB output for DSD
  • Auto
  • DoP
• Filtering during DSD playback
  • Slow roll-off
  • Sharp roll-off

Thanks.

 

[audionewbi]

Probably my least favourite feature is the dsd upsampling. It just way too smooth. I don't know exactly what is going with Sony DSD upsampling, but it makes the sound dull.