SONY NW-WM1Z / WM1A
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Mar 3, 2020 at 7:42 AM Post #33,121 of 45,723
Interesting times for my 1Z/EX1000. Feel like a kid in a Candy shop:)

CA region makes DMP1.02 firmware very good now as well. In J region it lacked in (sub) bass for my setup.

Not sure what I prefer at the moment: stock 3.02, DMP1. 02 or U1. 02, leaving it stock 3.02(CA) for now!

I am glad you liked it me to I find it quiet impressive the Ca + stock, its very similar with dmp1.02 but the bass is something really different! )
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 7:44 AM Post #33,122 of 45,723
I’ve got the original killer vinyl lp of this with the crazy grooves with the cannons that actually could throw the stylus out of the groove


9C6388DE-4F16-4544-92A5-B55BA3717487.jpeg

Woaaa! Haha that is some deep groves lol is it still playable?
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 7:47 AM Post #33,123 of 45,723
Woaaa! Haha that is some deep groves lol is it still playable?

Absolutely. My old B&O record player with its light weight arm could not handle it but my Rega player handles it fine. In a few places the stylus almost has to travel backwards and there were stories when the lp came out in the late 70’s of stylus that were damaged playing it
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 7:55 AM Post #33,124 of 45,723
After testing the firmwares for my WM1A.
DMP-Z1 is damn smooth, not enough kicks for me, but i like the sound.
Other firmwares I like are U1.02, Paw Touch, WM2Z.

But something about stock 3.02 just have that synergy with my WM1A + HS1695TI setup.
Not sure why, everything just felt more sharper more realistic on this setup.
Like the person is just singing in front of me.
 
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Mar 3, 2020 at 8:13 AM Post #33,126 of 45,723
For the "u know what" reason, i have to take down the post. Everyone please help each other.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
0B93001F-0467-4068-ACFA-D4A4AD64BA5F.jpeg
 
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Mar 3, 2020 at 8:57 AM Post #33,129 of 45,723
@https://www.head-fi.org/members/morbideath.526985/
@https://www.head-fi.org/members/whitigir.378966/

Thank-you.
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 8:59 AM Post #33,130 of 45,723
Last year some Chinese enthusiastic worked out a way to modify firmwares and change their sound. ATM I won't dive into disclosing the technical specifics since it may be illegal and ultra troublesome to write, but the results are something profound. I will first elaborate on some basic principles.

Firmwares do affect sound (nonsense... we all know that). The firmwares of 1A/1Z provided to download all over the world are universal and totally identical (identical MD5 value). But there are TWO SETS of tuning codes to tune 1A/1Z separately, stored WITHIN THE SAME FIRMWARE. The firmware file simply identifies whether your device is 1A or 1Z then it applies the proprietary tunings accordingly. It reads the identification codes stored within the firmware and your devices as references to preceed the installation.

Secondly, firmware file contains two parts: the first part with the basic system functionalities, for example, the random / repeat buttons shown in now playing, introduced in 2.0; the usb dac / bt receiver modes introduced in 3.0, etc; The second part is the tuning codes, which are scattered in various sections of the firmware. We don't know how exactly the codes work, as they remain an encrypted black box. But we can switch the "box" between 1A and 1Z to alter each other sound. Thirdly and most importantly, the firmware of DMP-Z1 & ZX300 are of similar structure with slight differences of the functionality part, for example, DMP doesn't even has a skip button in the UI while 1Z does of course. HOWEVER, the tuning codes of DMP can be applied to 1A / 1Z perfectly fine.

Incorporating DMP's tuning, both 1A / 1Z enjoy a much expanded sound with better extension on both ends. With the new assets at hand, theoretically speaking, tuning codes can be switched and combined to approximate the desired sound profiles of many other DAPs. Yet the process was HIDEOUS, since it's a shot in the dark for modders to blindly test the wild combinations with our own ears. Thx to our Chinese pioneer, Deck24, who relentlessly keep experimenting the tunings with months of trials and errors, finally there are some results to be shared to the public.
Disclosure: Since the discovery of firmware tuning, I have been working with "the Step-Father of Walkman"@Whitigir to create and share a series of modded firmwares "in conspiracy". Theoretically speaking, each of these firmwares is a clear upgrade to your Walkman, but remember that your hardware limitations will play the bigger roles that scales up with the firmware performances.
The following firmware mods will bring about the sound signatures of DMP Z1 fine tuned for the Walkman. There will be differences as DMP Z1 and Walkman are too different in hardware engineering, sizes and implementations. If you are not happy with what you hear, please use the stock firmware, as there has been no known risk of damaging or bricking the player.
Both 1A and 1Z are tuned exactly and the same.
Four sound profiles were composed, tastefully and painstakingly. They are Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Venus for you to choose from:


Among all these 4 profiles, we also divided each of them into 3 different Tiers for various levels of setups. You can choose freely for your own preference. So there are a whole combinations of 4x3=12 versions to choose from.

To put it in a nutshell, these firmwares are all about SYNERGY with your hardware. The higher the Tier ranks, the better hardware scales, and the higher output power perceived (illusionary). Tier 3 of each profile may not fit the majority out there, although they are the most technically capable.
For better performances, please also change regional code into Japan.
Japanese model of 1A/1Z sounds different than the other region models. Generally speaking, JP tuning has smoother timbre, better bass texture and a tad deeper/larger soundstage.

How to identify the region your device originally subjects to

To obtain the Japanese tuning, simply run the Rockbox tool to change your region code to J. You can also find the Rockbox tool in the folder I shared.
How to change region code to "J" using Rockbox tool

P.S. You DON'T need to factory reset to activate J tuning! Don't reset or you will lose your clocking hours. Just restarting will suffice.
After changing to J, please run ANY firmwares again for your device to apply to the J FW. Restarting your device, u will find a new certificate item showing up at the bottom of setting's page, proving your FW is now the Japanese version. At the same time, u lose the ability to change language to others, but keeping your current language (such as English). Because Japanese FW initially doesn't support multi-language selection.

Upgrade methods: first make sure your device is on official 3.02. The mods are all based on the official 3.02, keeping all its vested functionalities. If u upgrade from any other official versions the installation will fail, though no harm will incur at all. The upgrading speed is much faster than official upgrade since only the tuning parts are being written in. The process is perfectly safe for your device, and you can always run the other mod to substitute, or revert back to the official FWs anytime by running their exe.

Choose the correct version for your device model to install. All devices except JP model and EU model should choose Universal. Unfortunately I cannot compile and maintain Mac versions.

***
***
Thanks so much again and I am trying the M3ZU now and it is stunning! However, I am not able to download the J3Z files (both J3ZJ and J3ZU) as my Windows 10 banned it from download for virus found. Would you please check?
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 9:01 AM Post #33,131 of 45,723
Thanks so much again and I am trying the M3ZU now and it is stunning! However, I am not able to download the J3Z files (both J3ZJ and J3ZU) as my Windows 10 banned it from download for virus found. Would you please check?
I can do nothing about it since neither contains any virus. u may need to tinker with your security setting to let them through. we know win10 defender constantly act crazy.
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 9:02 AM Post #33,132 of 45,723
Thanks so much again and I am trying the M3ZU now and it is stunning! However, I am not able to download the J3Z files (both J3ZJ and J3ZU) as my Windows 10 banned it from download for virus found. Would you please check?
Windows defender doesn’t like .exe files by default. There is no virus in any package. Just windows being motherly
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 9:07 AM Post #33,133 of 45,723
Last year some Chinese enthusiastic worked out a way to modify firmwares and change their sound. ATM I won't dive into disclosing the technical specifics since it may be illegal and ultra troublesome to write, but the results are something profound. I will first elaborate on some basic principles.

Firmwares do affect sound (nonsense... we all know that). The firmwares of 1A/1Z provided to download all over the world are universal and totally identical (identical MD5 value). But there are TWO SETS of tuning codes to tune 1A/1Z separately, stored WITHIN THE SAME FIRMWARE. The firmware file simply identifies whether your device is 1A or 1Z then it applies the proprietary tunings accordingly. It reads the identification codes stored within the firmware and your devices as references to preceed the installation.

Secondly, firmware file contains two parts: the first part with the basic system functionalities, for example, the random / repeat buttons shown in now playing, introduced in 2.0; the usb dac / bt receiver modes introduced in 3.0, etc; The second part is the tuning codes, which are scattered in various sections of the firmware. We don't know how exactly the codes work, as they remain an encrypted black box. But we can switch the "box" between 1A and 1Z to alter each other sound. Thirdly and most importantly, the firmware of DMP-Z1 & ZX300 are of similar structure with slight differences of the functionality part, for example, DMP doesn't even has a skip button in the UI while 1Z does of course. HOWEVER, the tuning codes of DMP can be applied to 1A / 1Z perfectly fine.

Incorporating DMP's tuning, both 1A / 1Z enjoy a much expanded sound with better extension on both ends. With the new assets at hand, theoretically speaking, tuning codes can be switched and combined to approximate the desired sound profiles of many other DAPs. Yet the process was HIDEOUS, since it's a shot in the dark for modders to blindly test the wild combinations with our own ears. Thx to our Chinese pioneer, Deck24, who relentlessly keep experimenting the tunings with months of trials and errors, finally there are some results to be shared to the public.
Disclosure: Since the discovery of firmware tuning, I have been working with "the Step-Father of Walkman"@Whitigir to create and share a series of modded firmwares "in conspiracy". Theoretically speaking, each of these firmwares is a clear upgrade to your Walkman, but remember that your hardware limitations will play the bigger roles that scales up with the firmware performances.
The following firmware mods will bring about the sound signatures of DMP Z1 fine tuned for the Walkman. There will be differences as DMP Z1 and Walkman are too different in hardware engineering, sizes and implementations. If you are not happy with what you hear, please use the stock firmware, as there has been no known risk of damaging or bricking the player.
Both 1A and 1Z are tuned exactly and the same.
Four sound profiles were composed, tastefully and painstakingly. They are Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Venus for you to choose from:


Among all these 4 profiles, we also divided each of them into 3 different Tiers for various levels of setups. You can choose freely for your own preference. So there are a whole combinations of 4x3=12 versions to choose from.

To put it in a nutshell, these firmwares are all about the SYNERGY with your hardware. The higher the Tier ranks, the better hardware scales, and the higher output power perceived (illusionary). Tier 3 of each profile may not fit the majority out there, although they are the most technically capable.
For better performances, please also change regional code into Japan.
Japanese model of 1A/1Z sounds different than the other region models. Generally speaking, JP tuning has smoother timbre, better bass texture and a tad deeper/larger soundstage.

How to identify the region your device originally subjects to

To obtain the Japanese tuning, simply run the Rockbox tool to change your region code to J. You can also find the Rockbox tool in the folder I shared.
How to change region code to "J" using Rockbox tool

P.S. You DON'T need to factory reset to activate J tuning! Don't reset or you will lose your clocking hours. Just restarting will suffice.
After changing to J, please run ANY firmwares again for your device to apply to the J FW. Restarting your device, u will find a new certificate item showing up at the bottom of setting's page, proving your FW is now the Japanese version. At the same time, u lose the ability to change language to others, but keeping your current language (such as English). Because Japanese FW initially doesn't support multi-language selection.

Upgrade methods: first make sure your device is on official 3.02. The mods are all based on the official 3.02, keeping all its vested functionalities. If u upgrade from any other official versions the installation will fail, though no harm will incur at all. The upgrading speed is much faster than official upgrade since only the tuning parts are being written in. The process is perfectly safe for your device, and you can always run the other mod to substitute, or revert back to the official FWs anytime by running their exe.

Choose the correct version for your device model to install. All devices except JP model and EU model should choose Universal. Unfortunately I cannot compile and maintain Mac versions.

***
***

Well, I think in order to not have this post buried, please quote every time :wink:

I also put it on modifications thread first post
 
Mar 3, 2020 at 9:24 AM Post #33,134 of 45,723
Enjoy it guys !! As promised
Thanks again. There’s a dmp z 1.02 firmware in this folder as well dated 3rd March. Is is the same as the earlier one or a new version?
 
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