[Rob49]

This Z PLUS is amazing. The ZX300 is at a level that I would not have thought possible.

All I can say is that this is truly "Magic", from @MrWalkman, to be able to get the ZX300 to sound this good.

Yesterday, i had an enjoyable ZX300 player that cost me less than £400 in Amazon sale.....overnight, @MrWalkman turned that player into one that costs thousands ! UNREAL !!!

 

[nijfi]

I now have a used ZX300. First impressions are a bit mixed, but mainly very good.

The size came as a bit of a shock, even though I'd read about the measurements. It's much more portable than I'd imagined! Build quality and feel in the hand is just like I thought I'd be getting... Top notch! Although the buttons aren't quite as big as I'd imagined.

That matte screen is just so lovely! It was a big factor in me buying it, along with the UI and build quality. It lives up to everything I'd hoped for. Same goes for the UI. A joy to use!, And drag and drop from my Linux pc is very quick for file transfers.

Sound is my little mixed bag. Yes, it's good, but comparing it with my Cowon, the Cowon actually stands up really well I think, considering the price differences between the two. A little play around, I think I realise that I'd got the Cowon just how I like it with my custom EQ, and although I still like the Sony with Direct On, I may end up playing with EQ here again too.

I've resisted the urge to load it up and sit in for long listening sessions at the moment as I'm trying to sort my music library out once and for all and over come some tagging issues I've been having. I did manage to get an album on the Sony finally with the artwork showing, but I now need a batch converter in Linux to change all my jpegs from progressive to baseline, so work still in progress there.

I'm quite excited to hear about this latest mod from MrWalkman. It sounds fantastic! But I'm not great sometimes with following instructions, so I'm going to hold off until I've mastered my tagging, loaded up the ZX300 and got familiar with it, then I'll have a go at getting the Z firmware on it. Hopefully then I can sit back with a smile on my face and really enjoy the music.

 

[nijfi]

P.S. As regards to sound. I should add that I've only tried the unbalanced out so far. I have a balanced KBear limpid pro cable on order for my NF Audio iems. Will soon order a balanced cable for the Hifiman Edition S too.

 

[MrWalkman]

I've resisted the urge to load it up and sit in for long listening sessions at the moment as I'm trying to sort my music library out once and for all and over come some tagging issues I've been having. I did manage to get an album on the Sony finally with the artwork showing, but I now need a batch converter in Linux to change all my jpegs from progressive to baseline, so work still in progress there.

I'm quite excited to hear about this latest mod from MrWalkman. It sounds fantastic! But I'm not great sometimes with following instructions, so I'm going to hold off until I've mastered my tagging, loaded up the ZX300 and got familiar with it, then I'll have a go at getting the Z firmware on it. Hopefully then I can sit back with a smile on my face and really enjoy the music.

Just a heads-up, all artwork will work fine using one of the two custom firmware available, but it's up to you if you want to go and convert them all

Enjoy your ZX300!

 

[nijfi]

Just a heads-up, all artwork will work fine using one of the two custom firmware available, but it's up to you if you want to go and convert them all

Enjoy your ZX300!

Ooh, this is interesting! So all my progressive jpegs will show up, just like they do in the Cowon? No need to convert to baseline?

If this is the case, then I can stop the, so far fruitless, search for a batch converter and keep the jpegs as they are. Although I still need to get fully to grips with Kid3, which looks promising for tagging art to each track within an album. I'm hoping to master Kid3 and ditch puddletag, as I messed up in puddletag when I moved onto tagging every track rather than just the first track as album cover.

 

[AlexCBSN]

Zx300 with project Z on plus mode... maaaaaan, this is a fun setup, there’s a peak definitely in the 3k area, but it doesn’t bother me, actually the stock zx300 sounds veiled imo, but with this firmware clarity and with dmp fev2 made this a fun and dynamic player

Outstanding work as always @MrWalkman, this one is a 4 step further update. I couldn’t enjoy much FE V2 cause of work but before installing PZ I listened for about 20 minutes and then updated it, i can tell the difference in the clarity.

 

[pr0b3r]

Just a heads-up, all artwork will work fine using one of the two custom firmware available, but it's up to you if you want to go and convert them all

Enjoy your ZX300!

Not entirely familiar with Linux but can't you use a virtual machine there? Say you're able to install a macOS, then I'd recommend using Metadatics. It's a breeze to use for tagging music, even searching for artwork files is easy. Let's hope you'll eventually sort everything out. And don't miss out on @MrWalkman's custom firmwares. If I were you, I'd spend enough time on the stock firmware to familiarize myself with its sound. Once confident enough to try, I'd give a go for either the DMP-300 FEv2 or Project Z custom firmwares. Best of luck!

 

[jwbrent]

Ooh, this is interesting! So all my progressive jpegs will show up, just like they do in the Cowon? No need to convert to baseline?

If this is the case, then I can stop the, so far fruitless, search for a batch converter and keep the jpegs as they are. Although I still need to get fully to grips with Kid3, which looks promising for tagging art to each track within an album. I'm hoping to master Kid3 and ditch puddletag, as I messed up in puddletag when I moved onto tagging every track rather than just the first track as album cover.

Kid3 is a pretty versatile application and easy to use after you get to know it.

 

[nijfi]

Not entirely familiar with Linux but can't you use a virtual machine there? Say you're able to install a macOS, then I'd recommend using Metadatics. It's a breeze to use for tagging music, even searching for artwork files is easy. Let's hope you'll eventually sort everything out. And don't miss out on @MrWalkman's custom firmwares. If I were you, I'd spend enough time on the stock firmware to familiarize myself with its sound. Once confident enough to try, I'd give a go for either the DMP-300 FEv2 or Project Z custom firmwares. Best of luck!

I'm afraid I'm not a very advanced Linux user, and I've zero experience with Mac's or anything to do with Apple. But thanks for the thought.

That's a really good tip to familiarise myself with the stock ZX300 sound first. I can see your reasoning exactly. Enjoy what I've got first, then when I do move on to FE2 and then Project Z, I should appreciate it even more. I have patience, and it's a great line of thinking, so I'll be taking that advice. Thanks.

 

[ttt123]

Trying Project Z this evening. (changing from MrWalkman FE v2)

- Z CLASSIC - Smooth, a bit laid back. Less micro details than FE. Less involving sound. Good, smooth, but the music does not pull you in.

- Z PLUS - Big change. Good layering, micro detail, 3D stage. Involving, emotive sound. "Musical". Bass is lower and more solid. Hard driving tracks work, without getting too "busy", and does not lose cohesion and clarity. Layering of the different elements is very good, and they all work together as a whole, with no over emphasize on any element. There is a richness and depth to individual notes, (which I think is a result of good micro details/harmonics), which, to me, is one of the factors that makes music involving.
Slight sibilance on some hard vocals, but I am not sure if that is from the recording or the DAP. A minor niggle given how good the overall sound is.
Busy songs with lots of treble energy, have a bit of an edge, which could be tiring over longer listening sessions. This is an area the WM1Z excels in. It has a buttery smoothness.(quoting @Redcarmoose )

From memory, the sound is like what I hear from the WM1Z . The WM1Z is (I believe) smoother/richer, but the tonality is very similar.
Most important, the sound is involving, emotional, musical. But still smooth, detailed, with no harshness.

This Z PLUS is amazing. The ZX300 is at a level that I would not have thought possible.

All I can say is that this is truly "Magic", from @MrWalkman, to be able to get the ZX300 to sound this good.

SETUP:
- ZX300 with Romi mod / High Gain: ON / Direct Source: ON / 4.4mm -> Hansound Kimera hybrid cable -> ier-z1r with flipped earbuds (no-name earbuds, flipped inside out)

- Comparisons (from memory) to WM1Z: with v4 Romi Black Gate mod

The results being so good on the ZX300, I felt I had to see what the latest FWs did for the WM1Z. I was quite curious, and expectant, that it would move the WM1Z up from where it was previously
- Tried Project Z (Plus, then Classic) - Classic was better for me. Forward sound, emotive/immersive was missing
- and then FEv2 (Plus and Classic) - Plus was better, and suited better than P_Z. More emotive/immersive, but micro dynamics, and emotion were still lacking.
On both the Project Z, and the FE v2, I am missing note richness, micro dynamics, and sometimes micro detail. Music was not pulling me in, but left me as an observer, not involved.

Switched back to the @Whitigir sound tuning, Solis5ZU. On 3.02 , Region J. High Gain: ON , Direct :ON
This tuning has major synergy for my DAP. I believe it complements and reinforces the Romi Hardware mod that is on it.

I theorize that the stock hardware needs more drive, which the FE v2 provides, so the FE v2 firmware works well with stock hardware, but winds up being too much for my modded DAP, and on my DAP, I am seeing it has less micro details/dynamics.

Listening again with Solis5ZU, the sound is rich, immersive, smooth, but with good micro detail/dynamics. Good PRAT. Each note/voice inflection tells a story, pulls you in.
The differences are small, but they make a big difference on whether the music can pull you in, or not.

So I was disappointed that the new Firmware did not work out for my hardware, but happy to refresh what my WM1Z could do, and reminded again of how fussy synergy is. And that no 2 systems are exactly the same, so the results can be unpredictable.

 

[MrWalkman]

The results being so good on the ZX300, I felt I had to see what the latest FWs did for the WM1Z. I was quite curious, and expectant, that it would move the WM1Z up from where it was previously
- Tried Project Z (Plus, then Classic) - Classic was better for me. Forward sound, emotive/immersive was missing
- and then FEv2 (Plus and Classic) - Plus was better, and suited better than P_Z. More emotive/immersive, but micro dynamics, and emotion were still lacking.
On both the Project Z, and the FE v2, I am missing note richness, micro dynamics, and sometimes micro detail. Music was not pulling me in, but left me as an observer, not involved.

Switched back to the @Whitigir sound tuning, Solis5ZU. On 3.02 , Region J. High Gain: ON , Direct :ON
This tuning has major synergy for my DAP. I believe it complements and reinforces the Romi Hardware mod that is on it.

I theorize that the stock hardware needs more drive, which the FE v2 provides, so the FE v2 firmware works well with stock hardware, but winds up being too much for my modded DAP, and on my DAP, I am seeing it has less micro details/dynamics.

Listening again with Solis5ZU, the sound is rich, immersive, smooth, but with good micro detail/dynamics. Good PRAT. Each note/voice inflection tells a story, pulls you in.
The differences are small, but they make a big difference on whether the music can pull you in, or not.

So I was disappointed that the new Firmware did not work out for my hardware, but happy to refresh what my WM1Z could do, and reminded again of how fussy synergy is. And that no 2 systems are exactly the same, so the results can be unpredictable.

Nice!

What matters most is that you found something that works for your player.

 

[jb2unique]

@MrWalkman

Does the mod apply when listening over BT? I'm curious to try on the 1000X M4. Please excuse if this has already been asked/answered.

 

[MrWalkman]

@MrWalkman

Does the mod apply when listening over BT? I'm curious to try on the 1000X M4. Please excuse if this has already been asked/answered.

Hey, no, it only applies to sound coming out of the headphones port.

 

[GreenBow]

@MrWalkman and everyone, because this post is aimed for everyone.

I think I skimmed over modded firmware updates in the past in this thread. I guess because I was would not have used modded stuff in case I invalidated warranty.

However I paid more attention to the recent posts about MrWalkman's modded firmare. I mean how could anyone miss it; the posts are great. .... I do however have concern and still would not use MrWalkman's modded firmare, until I knew how it worked.


What worries me is that it sounds like MrWalkman has upped the power-output. I don't mean in output volume. I mean in terms of more speed of power to sine-wave that the DAP makes. That's based on the reports of reduction in battery life, and descriptions of audio enhancements that I saw. I am probably totally wrong, but I don't intend on changing any potential system power changes. ... I mean I don't know. Maybe MrWalkman's new firmware is a better algorithm for the DAC. I have no idea.

However using more power is enough for me to be cautious. More power may mean there is more current running in parts of the DAP, than it is specified for. Meaning a potential in shortening the time to failure of components.


I am probably just being a dark cloud about it though. It's probably all good.

 

[superuser1]

I am probably just being a dark cloud about it though. It's probably all good.