This is for me live the music;in any possible place;in home,in the beach or under the stars,with a good glass of wine,and lose my mind in this magic world,and now with my faithful walkman,It bring magic everywhere!!
Thanks again @MrWalkman for this modding masterpiece!!cheers from Sardinia!!
I have my new WM1A in hand. I've put 4 hours of listening in (a long way to go until 200). I can't say it sounds appreciably different than my ZX300 - they both sound terrific over balanced cable to my MDR-Z7 cans. I tried A-B comparisons on many genres. If there is a difference, it might be very slight increased clarity on high frequency sounds like cymbals or vocals. But my comparison was not blind, and I wouldn't swear on it. With that said, the screen is much nicer in comparison to the ZX300 and the overall build quality is splendid (though the ZX300 was no slouch). And it has twice the internal storage (though of course I am augmenting with 512gb sd storage). So, off to eBay I go, to sell the ZX300.
This is for me live the music;in any possible place;in home,in the beach or under the stars,with a good glass of wine,and lose my mind in this magic world,and now with my faithful walkman,It bring magic everywhere!!
Thanks again @MrWalkman for this modding masterpiece!!cheers from Sardinia!!
A 1A with J region 1A/Z+ and the Z switcher seems to just offer such a spectacular experience. I have come to realize that the gift is just feeling closer to the music. Now in contrast you would think a bigger soundstage would be rather distant away? But no. The soundstage is also filled-in. So now stuff isn’t just bigger but it’s all around, kind of some superficial yet real recorded virtual reality. Even early 1990 poor recordings which were borderline unlistenable due to being strident are now fleshed-out, smoothed out and detail-nuanced into an involving experience. Not just accessible but accurate and real, as instruments seem to offer an increase in timber and clarity? The total flip side was the way the 1A before offered the antithesis of any of this. A bright and compressed original response was a repellent forcing the 1Z to be the remedy and cure. Now this land becomes a new adventure full of excitement and vigor at every turn. Plus there is nothing fake or enhanced with process.....it’s just feeling that everything is just more realistic and true to life. Then comes the delivery being consistent and uniformly without seeming hiccups or downsides? The 1A now may still not have the absolute bottom frequencies parlayed with 1Z playback, but it’s irrelevant as this style seems correct but is even more long term listenable. In this world the volume can be pushed and the imaging just opens up. More volume doesn’t seem to make trebles too bright but just increases the clarity?
I have my new WM1A in hand. I've put 4 hours of listening in (a long way to go until 200). I can't say it sounds appreciably different than my ZX300 - they both sound terrific over balanced cable to my MDR-Z7 cans. I tried A-B comparisons on many genres. If there is a difference, it might be very slight increased clarity on high frequency sounds like cymbals or vocals. But my comparison was not blind, and I wouldn't swear on it. With that said, the screen is much nicer in comparison to the ZX300 and the overall build quality is splendid (though the ZX300 was no slouch). And it has twice the internal storage (though of course I am augmenting with 512gb sd storage). So, off to eBay I go, to sell the ZX300.
I had the ZX300 for 3 years and was very happy with it, I had become a little bored with the sound after owning some portable dac/amps with different sound signatures and have a tendency to move on and up anyway. My WM1A was E 3.02 when I got it and it was a lot brighter with the bass pushed into the background - if you follow this thread you understand how different the regions and firmwares are, something I scoffed at on the ZX300 thread. I switched to J region and the sound was closer to the ZX300's firmware I had.
For me the WM1A has a bit more detail and a wider soundstage, I think these things will become more noticeable with time. It is often estimated that the WM1A is 10% improvement on the ZX300 - perhaps, but that 10% can become 50% of your focus now and increase the value of the upgrade. There are also recent simple tuning mods and new custom firmwares that take the WM1A to a new level. I have recently started using my overheads and found new love for them, and I am waiting for some new iems to arrive so I am staying with the stock sound for a while before trying the new firmwares.
I haven't followed the ZX300 thread for a few months but this thread is incredibly active and offers a lot more info and support to get the best out of your device - part of the motivation for me to upgrade.
A 1A with J region 1A/Z+ and the Z switcher seems to just offer such a spectacular experience. I have come to realize that the gift is just feeling closer to the music. Now in contrast you would think a bigger soundstage would be rather distant away? But no. The soundstage is also filled-in. So now stuff isn’t just bigger but it’s all around, kind of some superficial yet real recorded virtual reality. Even early 1990 poor recordings which were borderline unlistenable due to being strident are now fleshed-out, smoothed out and detail-nuanced into an involving experience. Not just accessible but accurate and real, as instruments seem to offer an increase in timber and clarity? The total flip side was the way the 1A before offered the antithesis of any of this. A bright and compressed original response was a repellent forcing the 1Z to be the remedy and cure. Now this land becomes a new adventure full of excitement and vigor at every turn. Plus there is nothing fake or enhanced with process.....it’s just feeling that everything is just more realistic and true to life. Then comes the delivery being consistent and uniformly without seeming hiccups or downsides? The 1A now may still not have the absolute bottom frequencies parlayed with 1Z playback, but it’s irrelevant as this style seems correct but is even more long term listenable. In this world the volume can be pushed and the imaging just opens up. More volume doesn’t seem to make trebles too bright but just increases the clarity?
This correction thing is actually a big surprise for me. Just another turn in this whole story? I mean when you test gear, you break out the well recorded music not the old imprecise recordings. So then the good recordings sound great, but the bad recording sound great? What?
The great recordings sound better obviously but there is a special value to be able to enjoy bad recordings. Most gear can make good recordings sound enjoyable. But...........enigma gear makes the bad recordings good sounding without simultaneously causing any harm to the best recordings.
This correction thing is actually a big surprise for me. Just another turn in this whole story? I mean when you test gear, you break out the well recorded music not the old imprecise recordings. So then the good recordings sound great, but the bad recording sound great? What?
The great recordings sound better obviously but there is a special value to be able to enjoy bad recordings. Most gear can make good recordings sound enjoyable. But...........enigma gear makes the bad recordings good sounding without simultaneously causing any harm to the best recordings.
Out of curiosity, how does the WM1A (with WM1A+) sound on the IER-Z1R? I was considering these earphones as my "endgame" earphones and have been saving up for them.
This correction thing is actually a big surprise for me. Just another turn in this whole story? I mean when you test gear, you break out the well recorded music not the old imprecise recordings. So then the good recordings sound great, but the bad recording sound great? What?
The great recordings sound better obviously but there is a special value to be able to enjoy bad recordings. Most gear can make good recordings sound enjoyable. But...........enigma gear makes the bad recordings good sounding without simultaneously causing any harm to the best recordings.
Therefore, this is controversial issue many will not agree with, but I feel if your gears eg: Daps, cables and iems have great synergy and up to par, especially with 1A/1Z and the different FWs, especially the most current ones, different formats like FLAC, WAV, even MP3 don’t matter as much as people think as long as the master is good. Is it pure, of course no, there’s a lot of different artifacts your gears can add eg: smoothing, extended treble and bass etc but if it derive great pleasure when listening, I think it’s acceptable. Do I hear difference between DSD/ DSF etc vs 320 mbps MP3, of course I hear it. But if I enjoy it, then I can live with the differences, since I have to also consider how much space the music will take up. So yes, I believe with good master and up to par gears and good synergy, format don’t matter as much since your gears will bring the differences in performance closer and it’s acceptable trade off I can live with.
Out of curiosity, how does the WM1A (with WM1A+) sound on the IER-Z1R? I was considering these earphones as my "endgame" earphones and have been saving up for them.
They are spectacular. Strangely (and to be honest with you) I use my Noble Encore K10 more. But the IER is way way more correct and technically superior in most every way. So.....that’s the thing with choices. The IER is more U response and the Encore a W response. Where the IER is the full realization of the Sony house sound. The Encore is maybe going to be messed up to some? It’s a hidden bass, but still emphasized in comparison to the Noble Katana. So the Encore comes off more midrange when it’s really a linear midrange. The mids get their focus from a pulled lower midrange. Also an added treble dip and treble spike, make the Encore a W graph.
So who knows I may come back to the IER-Z1R. Now it’s more like watching a smaller TV where the IER-Z1R is the accurate big screen.
They are spectacular. Strangely (and to be honest with you) I use my Noble Encore K10 more. But the IER is way way more correct and technically superior in most every way. So.....that’s the thing with choices. The IER is more U response and the Encore a W response. Where the IER is the full realization of the Sony house sound. The Encore is maybe going to be messed up to some? It’s a hidden bass, but still emphasized in comparison to the Noble Katana. So the Encore comes off more midrange when it’s really a linear midrange. The mids get their focus from a pulled lower midrange. Also an added treble dip and treble spike, make the Encore a W graph.
So who knows I may come back to the IER-Z1R. Now it’s more like watching a smaller TV where the IER-Z1R is the accurate big screen.
Captured a 24 bit/44.1 kHz song for a duration of 1:30 minutes, using the noisy line in of my computer, from the single-ended output of the player, low gain, at the same volume, of course.
The capture was done at 24 bit/96 kHz.
24 bit/96 kHz, Direct mode:
24 bit/96 kHz, DSEE HX Percussion:
24 bit/96 kHz, DSEE HX AI:
It seems that DSEE HX AI also adds stuff in the lower frequencies, and not only in the high frequencies.
Therefore, this is controversial issue many will not agree with, but I feel if your gears eg: Daps, cables and iems have great synergy and up to par, especially with 1A/1Z and the different FWs, especially the most current ones, different formats like FLAC, WAV, even MP3 don’t matter as much as people think as long as the master is good. Is it pure, of course no, there’s a lot of different artifacts your gears can add eg: smoothing, extended treble and bass etc but if it derive great pleasure when listening, I think it’s acceptable. Do I hear difference between DSD/ DSF etc vs 320 mbps MP3, of course I hear it. But if I enjoy it, then I can live with the differences, since I have to also consider how much space the music will take up. So yes, I believe with good master and up to par gears and good synergy, format don’t matter as much since your gears will bring the differences in performance closer and it’s acceptable trade off I can live with.
I’m with you on the master being more important than file size. I’m more accurately trying to describe replay of music that was intentionally recorded bad. Many underground metal bands intended for mood rather than quality. Their quality they wanted was mood. Mood was in essence their attitude, and maybe you could envision it to be like an old movie? That it was not what you see but how the experience makes you feel. Unfortunately for audiophiles it’s a conflict. But with some equipment it can extrapolate the detail and smooth out a bad recording by adding life maybe? What ever it is it’s making it more accessible. It may even work for people into old 78 recordings from pre stereo times not sure?
I’m with you on the master being more important than file size. I’m more accurately trying to describe replay of music that was intentionally recorded bad. Many underground metal bands intended for mood rather than quality. Their quality they wanted was mood. Mood was in essence their attitude, and maybe you could envision it to be like an old movie? That it was not what you see but how the experience makes you feel. Unfortunately for audiophiles it’s a conflict. But with some equipment it can extrapolate the detail and smooth out a bad recording by adding life maybe? What ever it is it’s making it more accessible. It may even work for people into old 78 recordings from pre stereo times not sure?
It annoys me when I see people on a very good sounding Youtube video of a vinyl record, and they say "vinyl is better than a CD".
Actually, CD quality or even less can be very good. I mean, you're listening to that "best-than-CD vinyl" on Youtube, which is the equivalent of an 192-256 kbps AAC file, if I'm not mistaken, and it sounds that good.
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