It’s hard to believe the 1A was held back by firmware all this time. We simply took for granted that the manufacturer was doing all they could to improve the sound with firmware progression. And.....in some ways there was progress. But the 1A had a hidden personality. Maybe it was physically modified with different capacitors or wires to add a tone change? But DMP-1Z 1.02 firmware update with the 1A fully bridges the gap closer between the 1Z in normal firmware, and the 1A. The bass in not only there, it’s textured and tonally correct. It’s a huge step in physicality getting closer to the robustness of the 1Z, yet offering it’s own personality for once. Everything blends together as it should. I’m listening to (2006RMST) Boston-Boston. Little things like picks sliding on strings are way over in their own area. Both the vocals and bass have this great pace and harmonic attack. Probably best of all is the 1A finally has amazing bass. And that bass interferes with nothing. The imaging of reverb on this album has always been magical but now it’s thick and immersive.
The power of suggestion is strong; group suggestion stronger. And ontop of that we maybe only truly understand 1/2 of what we perceive, in the place where placebo and self-impressions are generated, that girl in the bar at 2AM can look pretty hot. That’s why it does take time to know what’s up. But I’m pretty sure there is a big difference here?
The power of suggestion is strong; group suggestion stronger. And ontop of that we maybe only truly understand 1/2 of what we perceive, in the place where placebo and self-impressions are generated, that girl in the bar at 2AM can look pretty hot. That’s why it does take time to know what’s up. But I’m pretty sure there is a big difference here?
The firmware mods are pretty cool especially since they are being shared for free. Kudos to @Morbideath for bringing this to Head-Fi!
For those who haven't tried the mods yet, my opinion is that the changes are on the level of cable rolling or digital filter changes. At least for me, this is one of the options that get that last bit of optimization for your given WM1 and your IEM/Headphone. By "optimize" I mean one version of the firmware mod may sound great with one IEM but not another. Such is the tradeoff for getting to this level of finesse.
Now one may ask why didn't Sony give us better firmware from stock? Well to my early comment, Sony has to offer stock firmware that will sound good for an unlimited range of IEMs and headphones so it has to be somewhat plain vanilla. Alternatively, Sony could have given us a UI to make these changes like Android developer options. However, that is a double edged sword since Sony would have to document and support such options, making future firmware upgrades more challenging plus it will give insight to Sony's competitors on their proprietary technology - one of the reasons why Apple iOS doesn't offer advanced setup.
But now we have an unofficial way of getting that last bit of tuning so give it try and remember there will be 180 deg differences of opinion at times because these mods are at such a specific tuning/synergy level. But the best part - it only costs your time to try it!
Original: the most Flat, Neutral, details retrieved as intended by Sony Musical: The mixture and balanced of Original and Fun Fun: The most fun version but some people may prefer the other two above
The firmware mods are pretty cool especially since they are being shared for free. Kudos to @Morbideath for bringing this to Head-Fi!
For those who haven't tried the mods yet, my opinion is that the changes are on the level of cable rolling or digital filter changes. At least for me, this is one of the options that get that last bit of optimization for your given WM1 and your IEM/Headphone. By "optimize" I mean one version of the firmware mod may sound great with one IEM but not another. Such is the tradeoff for getting to this level of finesse.
Now one may ask why didn't Sony give us better firmware from stock? Well to my early comment, Sony has to offer stock firmware that will sound good for an unlimited range of IEMs and headphones so it has to be somewhat plain vanilla. Alternatively, Sony could have given us a UI to make these changes like Android developer options. However, that is a double edged sword since Sony would have to document and support such options, making future firmware upgrades more challenging plus it will give insight to Sony's competitors on their proprietary technology - one of the reasons why Apple iOS doesn't offer advanced setup.
But now we have an unofficial way of getting that last bit of tuning so give it try and remember there will be 180 deg differences of opinion at times because these mods are at such a specific tuning/synergy level. But the best part - it only costs your time to try it!
Well, maybe Morbideath works for Sony? Who would ever suspect a name like that representing a giant corporation? It’s perfect.
DMP-1Z 1.02 will add something to every IEM. It’s literally better sound quality out of the 1A in my opinion. But I have posted the same questions as you. And........I do have one final science fiction theory.
I may suggest that Sony started in 2016, released the players with the best firmware. There became a time later when the team was developing the DMP-Z1 when they were able to unleash much more quality from the Walkman1Z/1A system. When they took note of that they folded the sonic improvements into the DMP-Z1 then accepted that it was business like to simply supply a watered down version to the 1A and 1Z; still an improvement and still better than the rest of the market. Thus they had room for better 1Amk2 and 1Zmk2 and could still sell the 40th anniversary Walkman and others. The technology in the 1A and 1Z was too good and they could not top it, especially with the new DMP-1Z firmware 90% inside.
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