[Lookout57]

I feel very big difference between music recorded into 24 bit vs 16bit, to a point that 16bit is not even appealing anymore.

I've found some CD rips 16/44.1 can sound amazing if they are mastered correctly. But 24/96 or 24/192 copies of the same CD does sound better.

 

[Hinomotocho]

I had about 40 hours on my ZX300, and I plugged it into the electrical outlet with my iems attached to the balanced, turned it up to 50, and let it run for a week on a loop. After that, I had over 200 hours on it, and I didn't hear any difference. Not quite sure why, as I realize my experience was contrary to that of others.

Probably because I am paying more attention to the new sound of my WM1A that I am noticing the changes more.
Burn in for Sony was new to me when I got my ZX300 but I did notice a settling in after 70 -100 hours, after that I was already enjoying it and not paying attention.
When I first got my ZX300 I tried 2 pairs of secondhand XBA-Z5 which were a slight upgrade to my A3 but with bigger bass - they sounded terrible, bass was odd sounding on both pairs. 6 months later I ended up buying another secondhand pair and they sounded glorious, considering all factors I can only put it down to my ZX300 not having any burn in hours and the bass frequencies not having 'ripened`.
I am particularly noticing improvements of the bass with my WM1A.

 

[CaptainFantastic]

Now my WM1A sounds just about right with the HD-660S. Work rig end game.

Looks great. What tubes are you using (curious because I see they all need adapters)?

 

[Gamerlingual]

Is charging the 1A through a PC USB 3.0 port good enough to fully fill it up or better to use a plug outlet?

 

[Vitaly2017]

As soon as I solve my 2nd paypal account issues.. locked due to suspicious activity. I-ll gwt the most expensive SACDs ever .... japanese remasters from DG

The issue with paypal arose as I created a 2and account with my german bank account, as I had used the email previously with my first paypal account from Mexico

I wonder if it was not because of my big discussion about flac vs wav and DSD on top, made you go this route and now you are going full high res as you can?

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Speaking of DSD.

This YouTuber has made a very interesting take on it. He even have test files recorded in various formats.

 

[515164]

Is charging the 1A through a PC USB 3.0 port good enough to fully fill it up or better to use a plug outlet?

It is enough, yes.

 

[Vitaly2017]

I've found some CD rips 16/44.1 can sound amazing if they are mastered correctly. But 24/96 or 24/192 copies of the same CD does sound better.

well be careful to not fall into that trap. It has to be natively recorded into 24/96 resolution to sound at its best anything upsampled or rip a cd 16/44.1 into a 24/192 is not going to give any benefits, you are simply upsampling and thats not native so you dont gain full sound potential here.
It may sound better as you probably feel the upsample version smoother... But a real 24/96 record sound very much more dynamic full and authoritative! cd dont stand near it.

also need good software and good gear to do the rips to make them sound as genuine as it can be, wrong equation and boom some losse's.

 

[Gamerlingual]

It is enough, yes.

Cool. I'll charge it while working and gaming from my home PC. Thanks

 

[frost15]

well be careful to not fall into that trap. It has to be natively recorded into 24/96 resolution to sound at its best anything upsampled or rip a cd 16/44.1 into a 24/192 is not going to give any benefits, you are simply upsampling and thats not native so you dont gain full sound potential here.
It may sound better as you probably feel the upsample version smoother... But a real 24/96 record sound very much more dynamic full and authoritative! cd dont stand near it.

also need good software and good gear to do the rips to make them sound as genuine as it can be, wrong equation and boom some losse's.

In my experience bit depth has very little to do with appreciable sound quality. 24 bit is a marketing gimmick in the audiophile market. I did a lot of blind testing with 16/44,1 vs 24/44,1 and I could not hear any difference at all. This video explains it pretty well. Also there was this blind test experiment conducted in the Steve Hoffman forums where even people with very expensive gear could not hear a difference between 16 and 24 bit audio. Now 24/96 vs 24/44, that's another story, and I could hear the difference most of the time while doing abx blind tests. Between 24/96 and 24/192 I could not tell the difference most of the times but I don't think I have the best gear in the world to judge that quality jump.

 

[Lookout57]

well be careful to not fall into that trap. It has to be natively recorded into 24/96 resolution to sound at its best anything upsampled or rip a cd 16/44.1 into a 24/192 is not going to give any benefits, you are simply upsampling and thats not native so you dont gain full sound potential here.
It may sound better as you probably feel the upsample version smoother... But a real 24/96 record sound very much more dynamic full and authoritative! cd dont stand near it.

also need good software and good gear to do the rips to make them sound as genuine as it can be, wrong equation and boom some losse's.

When I'm talking about "24/96 or 24/192 copies" I was talking about hi-res downloaded versions of the same album. Not an upsampled version.

As for software I use XiSRC to convert AIFF to FLAC or to downsample DSD to FLAC. It sucks that they no longer sell it or will update it.

 

[Vitaly2017]

In my experience bit depth has very little to do with appreciable sound quality. 24 bit is a marketing gimmick in the audiophile market. I did a lot of blind testing with 16/44,1 vs 24/44,1 and I could not hear any difference at all. This video explains it pretty well. Also there was this blind test experiment conducted in the Steve Hoffman forums where even people with very expensive gear could not hear a difference between 16 and 24 bit audio. Now 24/96 vs 24/44, that's another story, and I could hear the difference most of the time while doing abx blind tests. Between 24/96 and 24/192 I could not tell the difference most of the times but I don't think I have the best gear in the world to judge that quality jump.

its not a gimmick it does exist and works. Just to many different perceptions and test done differently... If you want the test to work you really have to record the same song natively in all those different formats as first step then what kind of gear are you using for the test you know. Too many factors are involved so I speak to my own system and from what I hear.
I agree some cd-done right do sound amazing pink floyd is one example I havent heard any other to sound as good as theires cds...

Too many different beliefs and brain amping different ideas lol.
I done the tests for my self and I say what I learned. This is how it is for me if you dont believe in high res then keep listening to cd's and be happy with it


Same goes to folks who say well 1a sounds good enough for me why do I need to buy 1z, uhhhh well okey dont buy ha what you want me to say .

I can say this why did I buy tia fourte noir? why did I buy pw1960 cable? why did I buy 1z and mod it ...? Man I am so crazy there is no difference why why


SO I could buy the sony Bluetooth mx3 and use with my samsung s9 using spotify and forget all this troubles and maybe never even know that such a website As headfi exists! and not explaining a thing to any one lol and be happy enjoy mp3 320 which sounds fantastic to the blissful tears

 

[Gamerlingual]

its not a gimmick it does exist and works. Just to many different perceptions and test done differently... If you want the test to work you really have to record the same song natively in all those different formats as first step then what kind of gear are you using for the test you know. Too many factors are involved so I speak to my own system and from what I hear.
I agree some cd-done right do sound amazing pink floyd is one example I havent heard any other to sound as good as theires cds...

Too many different beliefs and brain amping different ideas lol.
I done the tests for my self and I say what I learned. This is how it is for me if you dont believe in high res then keep listening to cd's and be happy with it


Same goes to folks who say well 1a sounds good enough for me why do I need to buy 1z, uhhhh well okey dont buy ha what you want me to say .

I can say this why did I buy tia fourte noir? why did I buy pw1960 cable? why did I buy 1z and mod it ...? Man I am so crazy there is no difference why why


SO I could buy the sony Bluetooth mx3 and use with my samsung s9 using spotify and forget all this troubles and maybe never even know that such a website As headfi exists! and not explaining a thing to any one lol and be happy enjoy mp3 320 which sounds fantastic to the blissful tears

I couldn’t discern between a FLAC file and a 320 kbps MP3 yet I could discern the sound differences in the 1A and 1Z all for the same song. It can be an endless argument. Whatever works for the listener is good for them which is all that matters

 

[Fsilva]

Hell's bells... Listening to Immolation's "Close to a World Below" with Autumn+ makes the album sound exactly like a World Below... At the risk of being too repetitive but this is the pinnacle of Death Metal sound for me...

Another metal head with good taste!!!

 

[Vitaly2017]

I couldn’t discern between a FLAC file and a 320 kbps MP3 yet I could discern the sound differences in the 1A and 1Z all for the same song. It can be an endless argument. Whatever works for the listener is good for them which is all that matters

I coudnt really much tell the difference either, but I could definitely say a difference between mp3 and flac LoL common

The secret to my ability to feel the difference more prominently is the pw1960 4 wires cable, I am very impressed by this cable this cable showed me a lot of resolution and nuances that lays deep in to the music. I had a gps plus sound cable before it was a 4 wires type ( gold plated silver ) well the cost was 600 usd$ and I couldnt feel much the difference but once I got the pw1960 I was shocked it is there and very very perceptible.

Now are you willing to pay 2550 $ for a cable for this ability is your call