[erictioh]

[COLOR=000000]So far, i have to say I feel a bit lukewarm about the WM1A.....I know people will say I'm crazy but I think 1Z should be better.



Compared to the ZX2, its a lot of energetic and you notice the expanded soundstage and extended treble.


But it comes with a lot of drawbacks. The player doesn't sound as lush or musical anymore...it sounds a bit more analytical.


The treble though more extended sounds a bit grainy and crispy....to the point where for me it seems the main emphasis. It does add edges around every note, giving more detail but also adds a little harshness...making it slightly unnatural. Treble reminded me a bit of the mojo, esp on cymbal hits. There is much less bass quantity in comparison, especially to the ZX2, as it its a more brighter tuning than a warm analog tuning. Its more towards QP1R signature than the ZX2.


The soundstage does seem bigger, but also for me it feels odd. It was wider but didn't have much depth. Its almost like watching a movie on a big screen, but someone just moved the display closer to your face. So when you look at the screen it looks bigger because its very close, but in actuality, the soundstage isn't that big. What I would prefer for a real bigger soundstage is if there was more screen room and everything scaled according to the screen space, giving a more natural presentation. I really sometimes felt the soundstage was a blanket over my face, which along with the treble was a bit fatiguing. Vocals and mids are very forward(a bit like the mojo).


Also something I miss with this presentation, is though it seems larger scaled and more detailed, the WM1A does not have the same driver grip as the ZX2 on the transients. Its really not as explosive and punchy, which didn't give me the toe tapping I was hoping from the sony. The unit has been playing for only 10 hrs, so I will keep burning it in (recommended around 200 hrs) to see if there are changes. 
[COLOR=000000]I know I'm nitpicking......sounds really amazing.........just trying to give a good comparison since I was a ZX2 lover.


All listening was done on TRRS 3.5mm single ended without volume cap, in Direct Mode.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=000000]Listening through my ALO CDM.......just have to say.....sounds just wonderful.....I really wished CDM didn't add anything, but it does ><.[/COLOR]
 


[/color]




[FLOAT=LEFT] [/FLOAT]

3.5mm and you felt sound infront of your face ? 4.4mm will make the sound inside your face then

 

[blazinblazin]

If you use SONY 4.4mm Kimber Kable. 
 
You will get depth infront but width will shrink a bit. 

 

[wolfmobil]

Thank you for clarifying it!

 

[wolfmobil]

   
It's normal - it's because the engineers used a magnetically operated mechanical switch to act as the output muting circuit (which prevents loud pops and noise being pump into the headphone when the machine switches modes etc) instead of the usual electronic transistor which they claim affects the sound quality.

Thank you for clarification!

 

[PrinceOfEgypt]

Dear friends,
 
I have the MDR-EX1000...what 4.4mm balanced cable do you recommend please?
 
Also what is the quality of the dignis case? 

 

[CraftyClown]

Looks like it's time to start burning again 

 
 

 

[kms108]

  Dear friends,
 
I have the MDR-EX1000...what 4.4mm balanced cable do you recommend please?
 
Also what is the quality of the dignis case? 

There is no cable for the EX1000 to support balanced, you have to mod the cable.
 
1 change the EXK plug to MMCX
 
2 purchase a cutom made one
 
3 change the 3.5 plug to a 4.4 mm
 
Someone in this forum has had his cable mod from the 3.5mm plug to 4.4mm, he has confirmed the cable has 4 strands from top to bottom which supports balanced.

 

[CraftyClown]

  Dear friends,
 
I have the MDR-EX1000...what 4.4mm balanced cable do you recommend please?
 
Also what is the quality of the dignis case? 

 
The Dignis cases are beautifully made and fit so well they look like part of the device. I highly recommend them 

 

 

[blazinblazin]

  Looks like it's time to start burning again 

 
 

 
Gratz~ How's your first impression of the Balanced vs Single Ended? 

 

[kms108]

  Looks like it's time to start burning again 

 
 

So you have received your cable, I got it today, too bad I don't have a WM1A yet.

 

[CraftyClown]

   
Gratz~ How's your first impression of the Balanced vs Single Ended? 

 
Well in the 60 seconds I've been listening since receiving the cable I'm going to say I can't hear a difference 

 

[CraftyClown]

 
So you have received your cable, I got it today, too bad I don't have a WM1A yet.

 
Haha, at least you're ready to go 

 

[kms108]

 

 
So you have received your cable, I got it today, too bad I don't have a WM1A yet.

 
Haha, at least you're ready to go 

well it is cheap, thats what matter.

 

[tangents]

Christian Löffler?

 
Yup
 
Copied a few of his albums to my WM1A – his name displayed incorrectly on some of them. It was probably a character encoding issue.

 

[phonomat]

Nice! I like his earlier works, but haven't checked out MARE yet.