[bflat]

Another question for all you smart people. A friend of mine has a Lotoo Paw S1 and I wanted to try it, among other external dac/amps just for the sake of "reviewing" or trying out new gear but someone in this post https://www.head-fi.org/threads/campfire-solaris.891180/post-15766314 tried hooking it up to the WM1Z but to no avail. It seemed like they were communicating but there was no sound and, to quote:
"Just tried the S1 with WM1Z and I couldn’t get it to output any sound. The WM1Z is transporting to the S1 and the s1 is recognising the signal (says it’s playing 44.1/16bit) but there’s no audio. Then when I try to change song on the WM1Z, the walkman freezes and I have to unplug the adaptor to get it to unfreeze, and then it shows an error message “cannot play audio”

I wondered if anyone would know why and if it's a simple remedy or is there something inherent such that it's not going to work.. I was thinking of getting one of those WMC-NWH10 USB Conversion Cables but don't want to bother if it's not going to work..

Thanks again.

It does not work because DAP side WM Port cannot provide power for S1. Only way would be to get a OTG hub and plug in an external battery or power source.

 

[MrWalkman]

@https://www.head-fi.org/members/sbranson.345753/

I did the same thing with the FiiO Alpen 2 E-17K. I could get the E-17K to recognize the Walkman and it played the 24bit songs but only in a staggering and start and stopping way? Not all digital stuff works together. I could not get the 1Z to act as a digital transport to the DACMagic 2 either.

If they would make the Walkman itself handle this (with an OTG-like cable) instead of that adapter, I'm sure it could work better.

Basically, the adapter is like a middle-man. The Walkman communicates with the adapter, and then the adapter has the OTG function, not the Walkman itself.

It does not work because DAP side WM Port cannot provide power for S1. Only way would be to get a OTG hub and plug in an external battery or power source.

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Damz87]

I remember.., it just occurred to me though to open up the question to some of the other Sony people. Hopefully I wasn’t taken as being disparaging as that wasn’t my intention.

Oh nah lol definitely didn’t take it that way would be great if someone here knows how to get it to work

 

[Damz87]

If they would make the Walkman itself handle this (with an OTG-like cable) instead of that adapter, I'm sure it could work better.

Basically, the adapter is like a middle-man. The Walkman communicates with the adapter, and then the adapter has the OTG function, not the Walkman itself.

Okay I’ll try it without the adaptor and report back @SBranson

 

[MrWalkman]

Okay I’ll try it without the adaptor and report back @SBranson

I'm not sure the Walkman OS has OTG support. Even if it has, then the player app most likely doesn't know how to handle OTG.

Regarding an USB hub, one like this may work.

Because the hub has it's own power supply, it won't draw current from the device you plug it in.

 

[aceedburn]

I

@https://www.head-fi.org/members/sbranson.345753/

I did the same thing with the FiiO Alpen 2 E-17K. I could get the E-17K to recognize the Walkman and it played the 24bit songs but only in a staggering and start and stopping way? Not all digital stuff works together. I could not get the 1Z to act as a digital transport to the DACMagic 2 either.

Maybe it’s because the internal DAC is so damn good and Sony disabled the use of all other external DACs. LOL.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

This must mean the new generation of DAPs with complex AI will allow us to isolate and listen to fragments of songs. Like the vocals.......... simply listen to the entire vocal track. Want to learn the bass, isolate and concentrate on how the bass track was played. Want to bring the drums up in the mix, simply push the drum volume up.

I am guessing Sony is already applying this AI isolation technology to the ZX507 audio processing in the latest firmware's hi-res streaming mode.

What I notice is:

There's much more defined spacing between vocals, drums, guitar, backup singer and audience. They seem to be isolated and spreaded out and about in wide 3D soundstage.

Sometimes you hear audience clapping coming from the far rear right side of your head.

You can sometimes hear acoustical echos/reverberations coming from the drums or pianos that let you sense the size of the recording environment.

With the isolation of the instruments, vocals, audience in their own positioning, it is very easy for your brain to pick out what you want to focus on.

Even though there is so much isolation going on, the music still feels harmoniously in sync as a whole with no strange sounding digital processing artifacts or phase errors of sorts.

This effect is more noticable in well recorded music or live concert recordings.

 

[SBranson]

I'm not sure the Walkman OS has OTG support. Even if it has, then the player app most likely doesn't know how to handle OTG.

Regarding an USB hub, one like this may work.



Because the hub has it's own power supply, it won't draw current from the device you plug it in.

This is getting to be a long chain of cables and devices between the WM1z and the S1.. I'm guessing it's not worth the effort at this point.

Maybe it’s because the internal DAC is so damn good and Sony disabled the use of all other external DACs. LOL.

No real argument from me.. I'm still consistently amazed at how good the WM1Z sounds.

 

[Vitaly2017]

Oh nah lol definitely didn’t take it that way would be great if someone here knows how to get it to work

The dongle needs multiple inserts into the walkman and it works then. It is not so straight it want you disconnect and reconnect a few times lol

For me the dongle works but I never use it

 

[MrWalkman]

This is getting to be a long chain of cables and devices between the WM1z and the S1.. I'm guessing it's not worth the effort at this point.

I think using the single ended output as line out and plugging the other end in an amp would be a better idea, especially if you're after the 1Z sound, and you're not looking to only play your library through another device.

 

[Damz87]

The dongle needs multiple inserts into the walkman and it works then. It is not so straight it want you disconnect and reconnect a few times lol

For me the dongle works but I never use it

Is that with an S1 too? I did try that, as I’ve had that issue in the past with other stuff. But with the S1, it didn’t work at all after many attempts

 

[bflat]

Per WM Port spec:

https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyWMPort

The only voltage out is unregulated battery voltage which is not 5V.

 

[MrWalkman]

Per WM Port spec:

https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyWMPort

The only voltage out is unregulated battery voltage which is not 5V.

Yes, but in the case of the adapter, it's not a simple WM-Port to USB adapter. The adapter actually has circuitry, and acts like a middle-man.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I am guessing Sony is already applying this AI isolation technology to the ZX507 audio processing in the latest firmware's hi-res streaming mode.

What I notice is:

There's much more defined spacing between vocals, drums, guitar, backup singer and audience. They seem to be isolated and spreaded out and about in wide 3D soundstage.

Sometimes you hear audience clapping coming from the far rear right side of your head.

You can sometimes hear acoustical echos/reverberations coming from the drums or pianos that let you sense the size of the recording environment.

With the isolation of the instruments, vocals, audience in their own positioning, it is very easy for your brain to pick out what you want to focus on.

Even though there is so much isolation going on, the music still feels harmoniously in sync as a whole with no strange sounding digital processing artifacts or phase errors of sorts.

This effect is more noticable in well recorded music or live concert recordings.

The dongle needs multiple inserts into the walkman and it works then. It is not so straight it want you disconnect and reconnect a few times lol

For me the dongle works but I never use it

Before MrWalkmans firmware this never worked but now it does. Placebo in full effect but this may be the best the 1A has ever sounded. The 1Z is the transport with confirmation on the 1A of PCM 44.1 kHz if your playing 44.1 but it shows PCM 48 kHz if that is the the file on the 1Z. No controls work to the 1A from the 1Z or vice versa.

Turned on the 1A in DAC mode then after plugging in cable turned 1Z on and pushed play.

I did this with "J" region and 1A/1z+ on the 1A switched to 1Z model and "J" region on the 1Z with 1Z model and MrWalkmans 1A/1Z+. Will report back with more grounded subjective listening tests.

I will not report firmware versions at this point due to instructions. As always try this at your own risk.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Before MrWalkmans firmware this never worked but now it does. Placebo in full effect but this may be the best the 1A has ever sounded. The 1Z is the transport with confirmation on the 1A of pure PCM 44.1 kHz if your playing 44.1 but it shows pure PCM 48 kHz if that is the the file on the 1Z. No controls work to the 1A from the 1Z or vice versa.

Turned on the 1A in DAC mode then after plugging in cable turned 1Z on and pushed play.

I did this with "J" region and 1A/1z+ on the 1A switched to 1Z model and "J" region on the 1Z with 1Z model and MrWalkmans 1A/1Z+. Will report back with more grounded subjective listening tests.

I will not report firmware versions at this point due to instructions. As always try this at your own risk.

So we progressed from Dual DAC architecture to Dual DAP architecture!