Because my CD ripper (dbPoweramp) seems a bit fussy with trying to obtain track listings - every now and then I resort to ALAC via iTunes, as the Apple database seems to be very thorough, I can note two things:
I don’t personally like the tone of the ALAC decoder on the WM players, something not as nice to me as using the FLAC one...
Additionally, even if you’ve ripped to ALAC and are using that with BT from your iPhone into the WM, you’ll see it is transcoded into AAC, so even if it does work for you, to save space, just stick with AAC for BT connections out of your iPhone
Do you ever look at the metadata options. There are always 4 to choose from. You can also manually type them. I always go to the metadata options and select the closest one and fix the one or two songs if needed. Usually I don't need to fix anything with dbPoweramp.
@RobertP - whilst I’m patiently waiting for your magician skills on the upcoming Orion10Z - do you think that switching my player back to 1A, flashing stock fw, and then installing 10A will yield me better results than my 1A switched to 1Z with stage 5?
Do you ever look at the metadata options. There are always 4 to choose from. You can also manually type them. I always go to the metadata options and select the closest one and fix the one or two songs if needed. Usually I don't need to fix anything with dbPoweramp.
I have tried quite a few times, and you’re right, I generally find iirc GraceNote to be the most likely to find the listings, maybe it’s my eclectic taste in music lol - I will find one of my awkward CDs and see if I can track it down...
I am still busy reading all the posts in this tread to learn more about my WM1A and it is so astonishing. So many posts with very helpful information on my DAP. Thanks for that a lot!
I experimented a little bit with the region code. My favourite is still region U. I tried standard EU (with volume limit – it is a no go!) and J (for three times). But with my current headphones (Teufel Real Z connected via 3.5mm port) region J seems to have lower bass vs region U. Most fun and also clarity I had with U - so I will keep this for the timebeing.
I also installed WM1A-z1 firmware mod. Thank you Morgenstern for posting this and for support (now I get the difference between hard region code which is still on EU on my DAP and soft region code). WM1A-z1 is really an improvement over stock firmware 3.02.
Next steps will be to try the model changer (really looking forward) and I will try to get a used Sony MDR-Z7M2 for the balanced port (there are some opportunities on ebay from time to time).
If you are using devices that support AAC (both source and receiver), the audio is sent *unchanged*. If you are using, for example, an iPhone with AAC audio files, like those on Apple Music, and your BT headphones support the AAC codec via Bluetooth (almost everything new does), you will experience no loss of audio quality from Bluetooth (assuming a clean radio connection).
If your audio files are lossless (i.e. ALAC or FLAC), the source will encode for AAC at high quality and you *still* won't suffer any audible loss of quality.
SBC is another discussion, depending on the quality of the source component and the quality of the radio connection (i.e. SBC will aggressively lower bandwidth to maintain a stable connection, but for a DAP and headphones, you will hardly have a range problem).
I also installed WM1A-z1 firmware mod. Thank you Morgenstern for posting this and for support (now I get the difference between hard region code which is still on EU on my DAP and soft region code). WM1A-z1 is really an improvement over stock firmware 3.02.
I am currently enjoying WM1A changed to Z, with a certain mod for 1Z, available in the same link as the model switcher itself. Also, I am using it with the Z7M2. I could listen for hours and still enjoy it as much without any fatigue.
Great! Next week I am out of office and weather forecast is bad. So, this seems to be a good project for a lazy day at home. I am really looking forward.
I am currently enjoying WM1A changed to Z, with a certain mod for 1Z, available in the same link as the model switcher itself. Also, I am using it with the Z7M2. I could listen for hours and still enjoy it as much without any fatigue.
What are those stock tuning fw exactly? Is it stock fw from 1a or 1z or dmp? What if I switch to dmp from 1z but dont apply the stock tuning and go for a moded one straight what happens?
Nothing will happen. The stock tunings are made to be used instead of applying the stock fw, which would be recommended to be done before applying another tuning.
Because my CD ripper (dbPoweramp) seems a bit fussy with trying to obtain track listings - every now and then I resort to ALAC via iTunes, as the Apple database seems to be very thorough, I can note two things:
I don’t personally like the tone of the ALAC decoder on the WM players, something not as nice to me as using the FLAC one...
Additionally, even if you’ve ripped to ALAC and are using that with BT from your iPhone into the WM, you’ll see it is transcoded into AAC, so even if it does work for you, to save space, just stick with AAC for BT connections out of your iPhone
I actually went back to E-Earphone to sample the Z7M2 and Z1R and spent a solid 3 hours using them both. I did a lot of stretching around my neck and back before diving in and finally noticed the little differences. Both offer better sounds for the electric guitar riffs and drums while the Z1R has more of a concert feel to it. After really analyzing the sounds using my Z1, I went back to adjusting the EQ on the Z1 using my WH-1000XM3 while going back to the Direct stock sound on the big cans. I managed to get the ideal EQ to match the sound of them as close as I could. Mission accomplished. Then, I transferred whatever FLAC files I had and changed them into ALAC and adjusted the EQ from the Z1 settings (as close as I could) to the Sony App and virtually got the matching soundstage I wanted. It worked out better than expected and now I can keep using my iPhone 11 Pro in BT mode while using my 1A and 1Z for my 1AM2. People are right that you gotta put in the time to really analyze all the sounds and pitches to understand how the instruments can create that synergy you want out of your cans.
Oh and regarding the clamp force, I really made sure I adjusted both headphones and didn’t have much pressure today, Stretching then lightly and made sure the height was where it needed to be so I could feel the comfort. I was too determined to give up. Ultimately, I felt that the biggest difference was spending an extra $500 to $1700 USD on the MDR-Z1R and Z7M2 to get more stable guitar rifts and better mid percussion which I found it hard to justify when comparing it with my 1AM2. Still, I see why people love those headphones for their different target markets. They are well done and worth the price of admission to those that decide to take the plunge.
Truly, the best combo I found was the Z1 combined with the IER-Z1R connected to my PHA-2A amp in balanced mode brought the best audio experience that my ears could listen to after all the studying I did at E-Earphone and Dyna 5555. This was probably more extensive than it needed to be. But hey, I did my homework.
Remember though, your phone can only Bluetooth AAC, no matter what quality of file. Same as there is actually high bite rate ALAC; higher than 16/44.1 but it’s bottleneck is the IPhone DAC (16/48) if wired and AAC if Bluetooth.
I just updated my signature so you guys can quickly access my firmwares uploads ! Enjoy everyone I plan to leave it up permanently so no more looking for fw )
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