Yesterday my Walkman USB cable gave up, I got false contact to PC and it mounted and dismounted pretty quickly. Went into panic thinking my SD card was bad or my Walkman motherboard was bad. Fortunately have the brand new unused cable of the wm1a on hand (dead one was from my zx100)
ok, I do most of my listening via BT so that makes a lot of sense now that the counter is not moving. I will do a test and see how I get on. Perfect answer thanks ! I haven't done a factory reset.
ok, I do most of my listening via BT so that makes a lot of sense now that the counter is not moving. I will do a test and see how I get on. Perfect answer thanks ! I haven't done a factory reset.
I’m doing more and more BT listening via LDAC which is leading me to another question, am I waisting the 1Z and would something like the much, much cheaper A45 do just as good a job playing red book flac files ?
New guy here, I am wondering if you could give me recommendation on what is the best to pair with IER Z1R - WM1A or WM1Z? I have been reading a bit and it seems that WM1Z has a warmer sound & more detailed and WM1A is more balanced with probably less detail. I purchased Z1R to complete my set up with KSE1200, and was searching for an DAP upgrade. Currently using XDP-300R.
New guy here, I am wondering if you could give me recommendation on what is the best to pair with IER Z1R - WM1A or WM1Z? I have been reading a bit and it seems that WM1Z has a warmer sound & more detailed and WM1A is more balanced with probably less detail. I purchase Z1R to complete my set up with KSE1200, and was searching for an DAP upgrade. Currently using XDP-300R.
The WM1A has more details, precisely because the WM1Z is warmer, the brighter a source is, the more details it gets, including unwanted ones or mastering issues, which is usually the reason a lot of people prefer warmer sources to neutral (like the WM1A is or bright ones). That said the IEMs or headphones you use are going to have much more impact to the sound signature than moving from a WM1A to a WM1Z.
I believe those are great options for IEMs and easy to drive headphones, they sport great battery life to boot. The ZX300 is also a great option in that regard. If you want to drive power demanding headphones however, Sony DAPs are probably not what you'd want to get.
The WM1A has more details, precisely because the WM1Z is warmer, the brighter a source is, the more details it gets, including unwanted ones or mastering issues, which is usually the reason a lot of people prefer warmer sources to neutral (like the WM1A is or bright ones). That said the IEMs or headphones you use are going to have much more impact to the sound signature than moving from a WM1A to a WM1Z.
I believe those are great options for IEMs and easy to drive headphones, they sport great battery life to boot. The ZX300 is also a great option in that regard. If you want to drive power demanding headphones however, Sony DAPs are probably not what you'd want to get.
Thanks so much for the quick reply! So it means that the price difference does not make it up for sound quality? i am yet to purchase the DAP and I am slighly concerned whether i want to pay a 2K premium for shiny gold lol. I'd rather get another pair of IEMs.
I normally don't use DAP to drive home listening headphones since I have my own set up to drive those.
In your opinion it would be better to get WM1A in this case?
Thanks so much for the quick reply! So it means that the price difference does not make it up for sound quality? i am yet to purchase the DAP and I am slighly concerned whether i want to pay a 2K premium for shiny gold lol. I'd rather get another pair of IEMs.
I normally don't use DAP to drive home listening headphones since I have my own set up to drive those.
In your opinion it would be better to get WM1A in this case?
Thanks so much for the quick reply! So it means that the price difference does not make it up for sound quality? i am yet to purchase the DAP and I am slighly concerned whether i want to pay a 2K premium for shiny gold lol. I'd rather get another pair of IEMs.
I normally don't use DAP to drive home listening headphones since I have my own set up to drive those.
In your opinion it would be better to get WM1A in this case?
Indeed the price does not reflect in the increase in sound quality when it comes to the difference between both these DAPs (or even the ZX300 vs the WM1Z really), that said you do get the nice shiny golden enclosure (along with the added weight from the copper chassis) and the slightly warmer sound signature, which makes for a slightly different listening experience. While some might be willing to shed the extra 2k for that, I believe people buy the WM1Z because it's the most expensive device of the Sony DAP lineup and they like to flaunt their money. Is it a bad DAP? Certainly not, if someone is to flaunt his or her money around, just considering digital audio players alone, that someone could do a lot worse, at least it remains a very high quality product, does the difference in sound quality justify the extra 2k from the WM1A (or the even higher increase from the ZX300)? Hell no!
Then again, as far as the device goes, so long as you know Sony DAPs are somewhat limited in their power output, you can't go wrong with any of them, they will all sound great from the balanced outpout (not so much from the Single Ended output, but I digress).
Indeed the price does not reflect in the increase in sound quality when it comes to the difference between both these DAPs (or even the ZX300 vs the WM1Z really), that said you do get the nice shiny golden enclosure (along with the added weight from the copper chassis) and the slightly warmer sound signature, which makes for a slightly different listening experience. While some might be willing to shed the extra 2k for that, I believe people buy the WM1Z because it's the most expensive device of the Sony DAP lineup and they like to flaunt their money. Is it a bad DAP? Certainly not, if someone is to flaunt his or her money around, just considering digital audio players alone, that someone could do a lot worse, at least it remains a very high quality product, does the difference in sound quality justify the extra 2k from the WM1A (or the even higher increase from the ZX300)? Hell no!
Then again, as far as the device goes, so long as you know Sony DAPs are somewhat limited in their power output, you can't go wrong with any of them, they will all sound great from the balanced outpout (not so much from the Single Ended output, but I digress).
I think you are defo right. I hope I can try them somewhere if I have the chance.
Speaking of balanced, I don't think it will affect the sound quality on KSE1200s as they are Electro, and only have single ended input to the AMP. Am i correct? Sorry I am quite new to this game lol
New guy here, I am wondering if you could give me recommendation on what is the best to pair with IER Z1R - WM1A or WM1Z? I have been reading a bit and it seems that WM1Z has a warmer sound & more detailed and WM1A is more balanced with probably less detail. I purchased Z1R to complete my set up with KSE1200, and was searching for an DAP upgrade. Currently using XDP-300R.
I have both the IER-Z1R and 1A and 1Z. The 1A at times is the better combo, only because the IER-Z1R is already slightly warm and on the thicker side.
Funny to as no IEM has this nice magic with the 1A? There is no better DAP as the 1A and 1Z are complementary which means they both offer their own thing. Still I could be happy with just the IER-Z1R and 1A combo as it’s that good!
The included 4.4mm rocks too! No need to change that!
I think you are defo right. I hope I can try them somewhere if I have the chance.
Speaking of balanced, I don't think it will affect the sound quality on KSE1200s as they are Electro, and only have single ended input to the AMP. Am i correct? Sorry I am quite new to this game lol
A balanced output will definitely improve the sound quality in most DAPs because they either have circuitry designed to this end (like on Sony's DAPs) or lack power on the SE output (especially Sony's DAPs).
A balanced outpout will also give you a cleaner audio separation between both channels as it, by design, removes any possible crosstalk you'd get from SE.
That said, not all headphones or IEMs can be connected to a balanced ouput, unfortunately a majority, especially on the low to middle end audio gear, can't.
I’m doing more and more BT listening via LDAC which is leading me to another question, am I waisting the 1Z and would something like the much, much cheaper A45 do just as good a job playing red book flac files ?
If you mean transmit mode to BT headphones, then no I don't think there is any audible difference using an A45 versus 1Z since the DAC function is inside the headphone.
If you mean transmit mode to BT headphones, then no I don't think there is any audible difference using an A45 versus 1Z since the DAC function is inside the headphone.
That was my gut feeling so I've bought an A45 for cheap, it'll fit nicely in the case for my 1000XM3. Will continue using the 1Z with my cabled balanced phones
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