[Vitaly2017]

Not exactly how you look at it. There are a couple reasons.

1/ Sony have to be complaints toward the industry . Sony has volume limitations for EU, right ? Yes, Sony is always serious about being compliant

2/ reliability is always first for any Sony products

so, take the Kimber Kables. It is not your typical “cheap cables” no...absolutely No Low-Grade parts. However, the cables and wires materials are progressing so fast, that there are so many choices to go about. Kimber Kables is the best for this applications and tuning by Sony developers and engineers. If you want something for your personal preferences, you can do so at your own risk/choices. Sound is subjective

then next up, being compliant meaning that there are part of the chains that have to be done under the rules. For example, the interconnect being shielded properly, and that had to be done. You can choose to change it with the materials of choices, whether it is an improvements, it isn’t Sony decision and so Sony are fully complaints from the productions itself.

Does it sound better ? To my opinion and experiences, yeah! Was it good from the beginning out of the box ? Hell yes...why else would I spend so much for it ? But I am a hardcore at the heart, and I do what I deem as a better experiences and what needs to be done

the same as when I upgraded WM1Z internal wires...different preferences, and different choices. The improvements that a real quality cables can bring is “facts”. Whether someone can observe it or not is personal

I understand but then I am wondering what did the change have brought?

Did you replace kimber cable to change sound tuning toward more bright or reference direction?
Like a silver cable?

About sonys shielded cables, those looks like power cable to me ( maybe it not I just guessed )
So changing power cables change sound? Unless you used ones that has maybe even more shieldings then the one from sony?


Well when you say sony need to be compliant and be in regulations.
That also brings me to think they might have been forced to reduce the sound quality due to this regulations. And use not the best parts they have would opted for. But I doubt that what was the problem, I think sony can use some lower tier parts when they see that a higher grade part in this section for example would of not be of any advantage so to save the cost and not overpay they optimised the cost and production accordingly.

So technically sony do its best with most comprehensive approache and using best parts to the level of sound quality that is produced and make sure no parts will alter that sound.


So yea I can understand you changed the kimber cable for sound preferences its okey. I do not klame kimber to be the best cable out there ether, I guess sony love kimber lol its all over the place with sony signature series

 

[Whitigir]

I understand but then I am wondering what did the change have brought?

Did you replace kimber cable to change sound tuning toward more bright or reference direction?
Like a silver cable?

About sonys shielded cables, those looks like power cable to me ( maybe it not I just guessed )
So changing power cables change sound? Unless you used ones that has maybe even more shieldings then the one from sony?


Well when you say sony need to be compliant and be in regulations.
That also brings me to think they might have been forced to reduce the sound quality due to this regulations. And use not the best parts they have would opted for. But I doubt that what was the problem, I think sony can use some lower tier parts when they see that a higher grade part in this section for example would of not be of any advantage so to save the cost and not overpay they optimised the cost and production accordingly.

So technically sony do its best with most comprehensive approache and using best parts to the level of sound quality that is produced and make sure no parts will alter that sound.


So yea I can understand you changed the kimber cable for sound preferences its okey. I do not klame kimber to be the best cable out there ether, I guess sony love kimber lol its all over the place with sony signature series

these wires going toward Volume Potentialmeter, it is exactly the Analog interconnect.

Now, just FIY, power cables should also bring improvements if you use external power sources. However, it is negligible, and I would recommend any Linear Regulated Powersupply instead of measly swapping out the power cables

The goal for this was to improve the sound quality from Analog interconnect of Digital Analog out into the Volume Pot and then the interconnect from the Volume Pot toward the Analog Amplification board. While I am at it, I swapped out Kimber Kables into Neotech Silver-Goldplated cables for headphones out, and this is to bring in a more references and Neutral sound.

There are a lot more improvements, but the 2 mains improvements is improved Soundstage and Balance out the warmth signatures.

but do not mistaken Sony for using cheap parts. Everything is expensive and top notch that can not even be found in many expensive devices. Sony only utilize parts that are the best for their house sound tuning and while being compliant

 

[Vitaly2017]

these wires going toward Volume Potentialmeter, it is exactly the Analog interconnect.

Now, just FIY, power cables should also bring improvements if you use external power sources. However, it is negligible, and I would recommend any Linear Regulated Powersupply instead of measly swapping out the power cables

The goal for this was to improve the sound quality from Analog interconnect of Digital Analog out into the Volume Pot and then the interconnect from the Volume Pot toward the Analog Amplification board. While I am at it, I swapped out Kimber Kables into Neotech Silver-Goldplated cables for headphones out, and this is to bring in a more references and Neutral sound.

There are a lot more improvements, but the 2 mains improvements is improved Soundstage and Balance out the warmth signatures.

but do not mistaken Sony for using cheap parts. Everything is expensive and top notch that can not even be found in many expensive devices. Sony only utilize parts that are the best for their house sound tuning and while being compliant

Maan dmp all naked , I dont think I would dare to do that if I had one.

Dont know those grey connectors with ribon connector style probably dont really play a role in the sound signature in my opinion.

I also wonder why do sony need to introduce an extension made with kimber cable at the end of the output. Why didnt they just soldered it to a pcb? It be best probably
Is it cause maybe kimber bring that thick warm layer that makes sonys sound house?

Wonder what sony thinks about this mode lol

 

[Whitigir]

The ribbon cables is digital screen connection. No sound quality there!

The reason why Sony always, and always be using the extension cables toward the headphone sockets is because: if soldered directly onto the board, stresses would cause damages to the boards (plugging/unplugging/in case of accidents), beside that female sockets has Life Cycles (FE, 2000 cycles***, that means you can only do 2000x plug and unplug before the structural integrity is degraded which could degrade the sound quality without you noticing it, eventually would cause intermittent issues. Whenever that comes, any electrical technician can help you changing out the sockets.

***I am not sure of the life cycles on the Pentaconn female. This was just an example

By using the extensions, the boards will never be damaged because the extensions allow swapping out socket and flexibility upon plug and unplugging. At least there is no cheap Ribbon cables in the Analog sound signals that could degrade the quality of it. I can point you toward a couple brand that does

 

[m usicguy]

So i got my balanced cable. Much better soundstage and noise floor. Very happy. In direct mood, how many battery hours are people getting. Im pretty good about keeping my battery in the 40-90 percent range. But just curios about total hours.

m usicguy

 

[proedros]

is there somewhere we can buy a new/spare battery for WM1A ?

Link ?

 

[rumina]

these wires going toward Volume Potentialmeter, it is exactly the Analog interconnect.

Now, just FIY, power cables should also bring improvements if you use external power sources. However, it is negligible, and I would recommend any Linear Regulated Powersupply instead of measly swapping out the power cables

The goal for this was to improve the sound quality from Analog interconnect of Digital Analog out into the Volume Pot and then the interconnect from the Volume Pot toward the Analog Amplification board. While I am at it, I swapped out Kimber Kables into Neotech Silver-Goldplated cables for headphones out, and this is to bring in a more references and Neutral sound.

There are a lot more improvements, but the 2 mains improvements is improved Soundstage and Balance out the warmth signatures.

but do not mistaken Sony for using cheap parts. Everything is expensive and top notch that can not even be found in many expensive devices. Sony only utilize parts that are the best for their house sound tuning and while being compliant

nice work and very good cable choice, the neotech goldplated silver wire ist the best sounding wire i know/use. expensive but for gear that scales well the best choice, made a iem cable for my brother 2 weeks ago and he loves it. saldy the price jumps quite a lot the last months via hifi collective .

don't know if i would mod my dmp-z1 but may i ask you if you reused the plugs for the pot or used new ones? would be cool to have the part number if possible.

also nice to see the amount of different li-ion battery packs in this device, before i buyed one that was a point i wasn't so shure about the aging quality - how it would be to replace the batterys in 5-10 years. now i'm fine with that.

one thing that is a tad tricky with the dmp-z1 is that the gui is very smal if you operate the device from the side - wish they include a "tiles" view with big album art in the future.

the only technical limitation i found is that the dmp-z1 doesn't like some high ohm iem/headphones to much - no big thing but good to check before if you buy this device.

shure you will enjoy your dmp-z1 with the neotech wire - well done

 

[nc8000]

So i got my balanced cable. Much better soundstage and noise floor. Very happy. In direct mood, how many battery hours are people getting. Im pretty good about keeping my battery in the 40-90 percent range. But just curios about total hours.

m usicguy

About 20 hours plus a weeks standby on one charge playing flac 16/44 with direct source and nfc and BT disabled

 

[Whitigir]

nice work and very good cable choice, the neotech goldplated silver wire ist the best sounding wire i know/use. expensive but for gear that scales well the best choice, made a iem cable for my brother 2 weeks ago and he loves it. saldy the price jumps quite a lot the last months via hifi collective .

don't know if i would mod my dmp-z1 but may i ask you if you reused the plugs for the pot or used new ones? would be cool to have the part number if possible.

also nice to see the amount of different li-ion battery packs in this device, before i buyed one that was a point i wasn't so shure about the aging quality - how it would be to replace the batterys in 5-10 years. now i'm fine with that.

one thing that is a tad tricky with the dmp-z1 is that the gui is very smal if you operate the device from the side - wish they include a "tiles" view with big album art in the future.

the only technical limitation i found is that the dmp-z1 doesn't like some high ohm iem/headphones to much - no big thing but good to check before if you buy this device.

shure you will enjoy your dmp-z1 with the neotech wire - well done

I will be honest with you, that I would leave DMP-Z1 alone if it wasn’t for the Neotech Silver Gold wires as a cables. The sound performances from DMP Z1 from the box was beautifully blended and tuned by Sony. Even though I don’t like Kimber Kables and the regular OFC interconnects. The stock performances is just “oh! So good”. The 2 main goals I wanted to get more out of the DMP Z1 is better soundstage and less “warmth”. So, the DMP Z1 doesn’t use cheap part. Not at all. It took me a bit to decide because these wires are so expensive like you said, and also the DMP Z1 is expensive.

The Pot plugs are reused as they are small and crimped on. I carefully cut it out and soldered on the wires directly for improved connections (used Oyaide SS-47). I still do not know the part # for this, but I am sure when needed, we can find it without problems.

agreed about battery points. It isn’t easy to replace, but from NW ZX2, it battery just kept on going after so many years. I am confident. Beside, it can utilize direct wall unit. I also had a LPSU made for it . So I am covered

OMG... that little screen is like browsing from a WM1Z but can’t use 1 hand or lifting it weight with 4 fingers :/

I love my HD800S and it goes beautifully well with DMP Z1. I wouldn’t want a Susvara or such to go with it LOL!

I do!!! Like you said! This wires is well worth it! Beside, the synergies of these wires and the DMP Z1 goes so beautifully well together. The tuning from out of the Box was so crazily good, and that based on the Experiences that I accumulated over the years about playing around with different wires and materials. This is the only type of wires that is worth it and virtually “0 trade off” but with more “gains”!

 

[hamhamhamsta]

I will be honest with you, that I would leave DMP-Z1 alone if it wasn’t for the Neotech Silver Gold wires as a cables. The sound performances from DMP Z1 from the box was beautifully blended and tuned by Sony. Even though I don’t like Kimber Kables and the regular OFC interconnects. The stock performances is just “oh! So good”. The 2 main goals I wanted to get more out of the DMP Z1 is better soundstage and less “warmth”. So, the DMP Z1 doesn’t use cheap part. Not at all. It took me a bit to decide because these wires are so expensive like you said, and also the DMP Z1 is expensive.

The Pot plugs are reused as they are small and crimped on. I carefully cut it out and soldered on the wires directly for improved connections (used Oyaide SS-47). I still do not know the part # for this, but I am sure when needed, we can find it without problems.

agreed about battery points. It isn’t easy to replace fire wire, but from NW ZX2, it battery just kept on going after so many years. I am confident. Beside, it can utilize direct wall unit. I also had a LPSU made for it . So I am covered

OMG... that little screen is like browsing from a WM1Z but can’t use 1 hand or lifting it weight with 4 fingers :/

I love my HD800S and it goes beautifully well with DMP Z1. I wouldn’t want a Susvara or such to go with it LOL!

I do!!! Like you said! This wires is well worth it! Beside, the synergies of these wires and the DMP Z1 goes so beautifully well together. The tuning from out of the Box was so crazily good, and that based on the Experiences that I accumulated over the years about playing around with different wires and materials. This is the only type of wires that is worth it and virtually “0 trade off” but with more “gains”!

Quick question Whitigirl,

When you helped me mod my 1Z, did you use Mundorf gold silver cable or Noetech gold silver cable? Whats the difference in terms of sounds between the two cables?

 

[Whitigir]

Quick question Whitigirl,

When you helped me mod my 1Z, did you use Mundorf gold silver cable or Noetech gold silver cable? Whats the difference in terms of sounds between the two cables?

Mundorf was used. Neotech Silver Gold wouldn’t fit the DMP-Z1 well enough due to Synergies.

There are too many reasons to list out. But for starter, as good as WM1Z. It is still a Portable devices.

The differences between these 2 Mundorf has a little recessed of mid spectrum as in it signature, which vastly help the WM1Z and soundstage as an improvement. The Neotech Silver Gold is very Neutral and Flat with a lot of details retrieval. I opted for it to go in the DMP Z1 is because the “warmth” were mainly from Kimber Kables, and the details retrieved from the DMP Z1 is virtually flawless.

 

[rumina]

I will be honest with you, that I would leave DMP-Z1 alone if it wasn’t for the Neotech Silver Gold wires as a cables. The sound performances from DMP Z1 from the box was beautifully blended and tuned by Sony. Even though I don’t like Kimber Kables and the regular OFC interconnects. The stock performances is just “oh! So good”. The 2 main goals I wanted to get more out of the DMP Z1 is better soundstage and less “warmth”. So, the DMP Z1 doesn’t use cheap part. Not at all. It took me a bit to decide because these wires are so expensive like you said, and also the DMP Z1 is expensive.

The Pot plugs are reused as they are small and crimped on. I carefully cut it out and soldered on the wires directly for improved connections (used Oyaide SS-47). I still do not know the part # for this, but I am sure when needed, we can find it without problems.

agreed about battery points. It isn’t easy to replace fire wire, but from NW ZX2, it battery just kept on going after so many years. I am confident. Beside, it can utilize direct wall unit. I also had a LPSU made for it . So I am covered

OMG... that little screen is like browsing from a WM1Z but can’t use 1 hand or lifting it weight with 4 fingers :/

I love my HD800S and it goes beautifully well with DMP Z1. I wouldn’t want a Susvara or such to go with it LOL!

I do!!! Like you said! This wires is well worth it! Beside, the synergies of these wires and the DMP Z1 goes so beautifully well together. The tuning from out of the Box was so crazily good, and that based on the Experiences that I accumulated over the years about playing around with different wires and materials. This is the only type of wires that is worth it and virtually “0 trade off” but with more “gains”!

exact my feeling, sony tuned this dap/amp very nice so at the moment i dont change that even if know that kimber cable has some limitation. i like kimber wire for the smooth presentation and use it often for internal wireing of my diyamps but the neotech silver gold plated is simpy 2 steps above.

dmp-z1 was ok with the hd820 but the closed sennheiser was not my taste, the mids where to distant for me, i sold them quichky. the ier-z1r has for me also this weakness, not as prominent as the hd820 but with the stock cable a bit to distant mids. the neotech copper gold plated wire is a good match for headphones/iem that have distant mids - to my surprise the neotech copper goldpated wire is not very neutral with this behavior vs the silver gold plated, quite different.

nope susvara as the big abyss don't work well with the dmp-z1 in contrast to the diana phi which i used the most time with the sony, you need to hear this combination one time .

and thanks for the info about the plugs - hope the service manual shows up sometimes.

 

[Whitigir]

exact my feeling, sony tuned this dap/amp very nice so at the moment i dont change that even if know that kimber cable has some limitation. i like kimber wire for the smooth presentation and use it often for internal wireing of my diyamps but the neotech silver gold plated is simpy 2 steps above.

dmp-z1 was ok with the hd820 but the closed sennheiser was not my taste, the mids where to distant for me, i sold them quichky. the ier-z1r has for me also this weakness, not as prominent as the hd820 but with the stock cable a bit to distant mids. the neotech copper gold plated wire is a good match for headphones/iem that have distant mids - to my surprise the neotech copper goldpated wire is not very neutral with this behavior vs the silver gold plated, quite different.

nope susvara as the big abyss don't work well with the dmp-z1 in contrast to the diana phi which i used the most time with the sony, you need to hear this combination one time .

and thanks for the info about the plugs - hope the service manual shows up sometimes.

Definitely still keeping that 3.5mm as Stock Kimber!!

Never a fan of HD820...agreed about MDR Z1R, but if I had to, I would grab it over HD820 . Yes, the neutral sound sig from Silver Goldplated is something unique.

I will try the Diana Phi when the chance present itself .

Yes, service Manual will be appreciated LOL!!!!

Again! FYI, You will see ribbon cables here and there, but they are not for Audio Paths!!!

 

[JML]

Also eyeing Audio Technica headphones - especially the more recent ones such as the new portable ATH-WP900, beautifully crafted portable wood headphone with 53mm drivers which sounds pretty fantastic even out of an A series Walkman.

I have one of these on the way to me. Should arrive early next week.

 

[Ameerzs]

If anyone interested im letting go my fresh wm1a for sale.. use for 6 month.. warranty with Sony Malaysia
RM 2999 ~ USD 736 ..original price is RM 4,999 ~ USD 1226
Postage will be an extra charge.