[Hinomotocho]

@Mystic Traveller I assume you have a screen protector already, I got a free set of dust caps with a glass screen protector from AliExpress which works out cheaper than the cap only Amazon price.

My BIG purchase from a Sony shop in Japan was a set of dust caps for my ZX300. Surrounded by thousands of dollars worth of their high end gear and I spent a couple of bucks.

 

[MrWalkman]

Not sure if Sony created the DMP-Z1 as a Walkman.

For example, the boot logo shows only the Sony logo, compared to other devices like A30/A40/A50/WM1 which are showing the Walkman logo.

Also, all the other devices are using the NW (Network Walkman) nomenclature, while this one is using the DMP (Digital Media Player) one.

DMP-Z1 boot logo	A30/A40/A50/WM1 boot logo

 

[terminaut]

Time to become the Tiger Clan Master of Sony fan boy club by owning every Sony audiophile walkman:

WM1A
WM1Z
ZX1
ZX2
ZX300
ZX507

This little guy says "hey don't forget about me!". This unit started my Walkman DAP journey, and still works great.

 

[Hinomotocho]

This little guy says "hey don't forget about me!". This unit started my Walkman DAP journey, and still works great.

I had the NW-HD20 with a little hard disk in it.
I disliked the Sonic stage software

 

[terminaut]

I had the NW-HD20 with a little hard disk in it.
I disliked the Sonic stage software

Haha yeah the software does stink. It's Sony's early take on iTunes (which I also dislike).

 

[Hinomotocho]

Haha yeah the software does stink. It's Sony's early take on iTunes (which I also dislike).

I was thrilled when they finally had drag and drop.
How does it sound comparing to later daps? I came from a high end minidisc player and even ripping with the highest atrac settings was disappointed. I later got an A808 with bundled EX85 earphones that sat deeper and sealed in your ears instead of the usual earbuds and my listening pleasure began - SUB BASS!

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I tried to compare two microsd cards

Adata Premier Pro 128GB
Lexar 633x 512GB

Both formatted internally by ZX507 android os.

The Lexar is very noticeably flatter sounding, it sounded quite hazy with little to no bass.

The Adata has a sweeter sounding midrange and also there is better bass feeling.

I am not sure why the same file sounded differently, but I guess there’s much more going on inside these microsd cards that affects the Walkman playback.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I think I have devised a good method to evaluate the sound quality of your microsd card. All you have to do is:

Store a particularly well recorded high resolution track in your walkman's internal storage. Remove any microsd card from your walkman temporarily. Listen to that track. This will represent the reference sound quality that your Walkman is capable of.(internal storage with no power draw or interferences from microsd card).

Now place that same track on to the microsd card. Listen to the same track being played on the microsd card. Compare and see if you can notice any degradation to the sound quality. How close does the microsd track sound to the Walkman internal storage will represent the sound quality performance of the microsd card.

 

[terminaut]

I was thrilled when they finally had drag and drop.
How does it sound comparing to later daps? I came from a high end minidisc player and even ripping with the highest atrac settings was disappointed. I later got an A808 with bundled EX85 earphones that sat deeper and sealed in your ears instead of the usual earbuds and my listening pleasure began - SUB BASS!

My music is all @ 320kbps on there and it sounds better than one would expect but a little bright tonally with just average instrument separation aside from cymbals which seem to really stand out (all without using any of the built in effects).

 

[hamhamhamsta]

This is my suspicion, but I think Romi mod 1A/1Z should do very well with bright iem like IER-Z1R. This combination should sound spectacular.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

@Vitaly2017

Have you decided on the ZX507 revisit?

I have been spending alot of time doing sound comparsion between:

No signal processing (safe mode, direct source mode on)

Very light signal processing (hi-res streaming off, direct source on)

Light signal processing (hi-res stream off, direct source off, DSP off)

Medium signal processing (hi-res stream off, DSEE HX AI on)

Heavy signal processing (hi-res stream On, Direct source off, dsp off)

Heaviest signal processing (hi-res streaming on, DSEE HX AI on)

I have done this comparsions using both my IER-M9 and 1AM2 all on balanced. Using a variety of music from DSD, Flac to AAC files.

In the end, I felt that the Heaviest Signal Processing won me over.

It is consistently more enjoyable across a variety of music. No signal processing places the importance on the recording quality of the source material to sound great. Heaviest signal processing is more forgiving and will sound great even with poorly mastered tracks.

Heaviest Signal Processing can flash out tiny details that you will otherwise miss in complex music passages as it presents the music in a 3D-like fashion which allows you to notice the background details that you will likely to miss in other processing modes.

 

[XP_98]

@Vitaly2017

Have you decided on the ZX507 revisit?

I have been spending alot of time doing sound comparsion between:

No signal processing (safe mode, direct source mode on)

Very light signal processing (hi-res streaming off, direct source on)

Light signal processing (hi-res stream off, direct source off, DSP off)

Medium signal processing (hi-res stream off, DSEE HX AI on)

Heavy signal processing (hi-res stream On, Direct source off, dsp off)

Heaviest signal processing (hi-res streaming on, DSEE HX AI on)

I have done this comparsions using both my IER-M9 and 1AM2 all on balanced. Using a variety of music from DSD, Flac to AAC files.

In the end, I felt that the Heaviest Signal Processing won me over.

It is consistently more enjoyable across a variety of music. No signal processing places the importance on the recording quality of the source material to sound great. Heaviest signal processing is more forgiving and will sound great even with poorly mastered tracks.

Heaviest Signal Processing can flash out tiny details that you will otherwise miss in complex music passages as it presents the music in a 3D-like fashion which allows you to notice the background details that you will likely to miss in other processing modes.

Maybe I missed something, but how does "hi res streaming on" affect the processing ? Didn't you do your testing from a file on internal memory or SD card, without any streaming ?

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Maybe I missed something, but how does "hi res streaming on" affect the processing ? Didn't you do your testing from a file on internal memory or SD card, without any streaming ?

In the latest firmware 2.02.01 of the ZX507 just released on August 2020, Sony has quietly done some changes to the way the firmware sounded.

When you use Hi-res streaming mode ON, it adds a very 3D-like audio processing effect to the sound, this effect is system wide(streaming or offline playback). The effect is very noticable and more enchanced with DSEE HX AI On.

When you use Hi-res streaming Off, it switches back to a more normal stereo processing effect. Also System wide effect.

I have done my test mostly with sdcard playback but I have also tested with internal memory. Internal memory files has slightly better 3D effect but not by alot. This 3D effect also works for YouTube videos.

 

[XP_98]

Ok, now I understand, thanks for explaining (again)
I will get my zx507 this Friday, so I can play with the settings myself...

 

[gerelmx1986]

Perhaps @Sonywalkmanuser or @MrWalkman @nanaholic this is one of the things that has intrigued me for years since owning my first sony MP3 walkman back in 2005.

Why are they called Network walkman (NW)? At first didn't make much sense to me as they didn't connect to internet or Bluetooth. Nowadays with the advent of android ones makes some sense