[psikey]

New settings: Hi-Res streaming off, everything off except DSEE Ultimate (soundstage is notably improved) Works for me

This is what I'm currently doing as I'm only using Walkman player with my own FLAC/DSD files or Spotify at the moment.

As I understand it from posts on here, with HiRes set you loose bit-perfect output with the Walkman app as everything is output at 32/192. So a 24/88 MQA would also be upscalled to 32/192.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I feel that DSEE Ultimate with Hi-res streaming mode is able to recreate that enveloping spacial soundstage that you hear when you attend an acoustically well designed concert hall and with you sitting in the middle front row. The magic comes when the audience starts to clap, cheer and whistle. The whistling part has very clearly defined soundstage height. The audience feels beside you, with the cheering coming from side and back of your ears.

Much of the sound positioning magic comes from enabling Hi-res streaming mode. You can hear this spaciousness even on direct source mode. What DSEE Ultimate does is that it adds on more clarity, texture and definition to the softer sounding claps and as well as more speed/edge/bite to the transients.

I would think getting the optimal volume level with your headphones/IEMs is even more crucial with DSEE Ultimate enabled as it also enhances transient sharpness and presents a higher level of peak dynamic that isn't present when you listen to your typical 16bit audio files previously. If you set too high volume, you might find dsee ultimate can suddenly make your familar 16bit music sound overwhelmingly loud.

For my case, I find that with DSEE Ultimate, IER-M9 works better in low gain mode. Low gain mode has a more neutral sound which then DSEE Ultimate can add it's own AI controlled tonality/transients/bass boost/loudness boost or whatever Sony dsp trickery into the music.

 

[psikey]

OK just spent some time really focusing on some 16/44 FLAC music in quiet relaxation, listing to each track Direct and then with DSEE and with both my SE846's and K10U my ears can't resolve any difference so I'll save a bit of battery life and stick with Direct.

Direct sounds superb to my ears and I keep HiRes setting off too unless I use something like AmazonHD or Tidal.

 

[Star Mastering]

Not to mention 'height' needed 22.1 channel speakers mounted above your head to achieve, but we just use IER M9!

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

In my opinion, Soundstage height is really difficult to reproduce with 2 channel audio. Not many stereo audio system can reproduce this in a very defined manner or even present it at all.

You really need floor standing speakers with big listening room to have this soundstage height present in full, your dac does play a very important role in presenting the soundstage height in better definition as well.

Bookshelf speakers usually are weaker at presenting soundstage height but maybe well optimized near field speakers can achieve this height effect well.

I would think a multi speaker system like Dolby Atmos is more easier to achieve this soundstage height for most small rooms.

This also includes IEMs and headphones, not all are able present soundstage height in it's full rendition. Some are partial presentation while others have very limited presentation.

I am not exactly sure why soundstage height is presented differently across headphones/IEMs but this is something I have noticed over the years.

 

[Star Mastering]

My take on Vinyl Processor:

Arm Resonance: adds a resistive/rubber banding effect to bass and treble response. Bass feels more rumbling, slightly delayed but slightly stronger slam and Treble has a more splashier sparkle at expense of transient speed.

Turnable: adds smoothness, warmthness and more intimate soundstaging

Surface noise: adds a very soft random dither like scratch noise to the treble which reduces the edginess of transients

Standard: Combination of the above three effects.

https://www.sony.jp/feature/products/vinyl/?s_pid=jp_fsl_vinyl_feature_vinyl

After reading this article thoroughly and listening to the different Vinyl processor effects for half a day.. I finally understood the function of this DSP effect.

It injects a predefined set of non-linear dithering like noise across the frequency spectrum and adds bass dampening/response delay into the music. Somehow this effect makes music more relaxing to listen to over longer periods.

It's like adding film grain/aging effects to your video/photos. Instead of a high resolution video/image, you are presented with a fuzzier video/image.

The DC phase linearizer sounds like the bass increases a little. When I listen to classical music, the overall balance is lost, so I turn it off.

I only listen to classical music, but when I turn Vinyl processor on, my feet naturally move to the music. In other words, the sound becomes fun. This doesn't happen when I turn it off. I don't really understand the sound quality, but rather it seems that the music is more enjoyable when it is turned on,
When off, individual instruments are separate.
When turned on, the individual instruments are teamed up.
Off shows the beauty of individual instruments. But the degree of perfection as music is higher when it is on.
However, the difference in sound quality cannot be expressed in words.
So this feature is not obvious at first glance.
This function seems to have an element that makes the treble noisy for some reason.
Also, the music feels flat.
It seems to go well with rhythmic songs in particular. On the contrary, off is good for things like cello solo or enjoying the sound of an instrument.
Vinyl processor - I don't understand the difference some days.

If I pursue the "best setting" too much, I won't find the correct answer, so I'll use DSP according to my mood.

 

[osiris1]

In my opinion, Soundstage height is really difficult to reproduce with 2 channel audio. Not many stereo audio system can reproduce this in a very defined manner or even present it at all.

You really need floor standing speakers with big listening room to have this soundstage height present in full, your dac does play a very important role in presenting the soundstage height in better definition as well.

Bookshelf speakers usually are weaker at presenting soundstage height but maybe well optimized near field speakers can achieve this height effect well.

I would think a multi speaker system like Dolby Atmos is more easier to achieve this soundstage height for most small rooms.

This also includes IEMs and headphones, not all are able present soundstage height in it's full rendition. Some are partial presentation while others have very limited presentation.

I am not exactly sure why soundstage height is presented differently across headphones/IEMs but this is something I have noticed over the years.

I think soundstage is difficult in headphones... there is no distance from sound source to ears, and there are no walls, ceilings, floors to bounce sound. in any event, it is mostly a perception/illusion of sound and everyone will hear it differently. even if you hear the same thing at different times, you will perceive it differently.
also, i think height is something we don't usually pay attention to in our daily life. most sound is likely within our immediate radius.

 

[seanwee]

I feel like we are forgetting binaural audio. That stuff is amazing.

Regular 2 channel audio is recorded for speaker setups, not iems/headphones which is why we can never achieve speaker like sound without processing.

A binaural audio processor or dsp would be groundbreaking.

 

[Chainring]

I hadn't looked into binaural audio before and just checked it out. Mimicking a human head with microphones for ears. At a simplistic level, it's what people are using to measure frequency response curves of headphones with the dummy heads, though the source differs. Any good sources to check it out?

 

[seanwee]

I hadn't looked into binaural audio before and just checked it out. Mimicking a human head with microphones for ears. At a simplistic level, it's what people are using to measure frequency response curves of headphones with the dummy heads, though the source differs. Any good sources to check it out?

Look for barbershop binaural

 

[osiris1]

Look for barbershop binaural

I tried this before. pretty cool.

binaural recordings remain small though.

 

[Vitaly2017]

hey zx507 lovers!

So I been playing around and my zx507 now at around 80 hours threw of burning in.

Here are quick brief impressions.

- I find zx507 an impressive little beast of a dap. You have the ability to tweak the sound to your mood flavor even preferences via a multitude of really strongly established dsp and functions, high resolution audio, dsee hx and the rest which I dont use.

- high resolution audio, this feature is very interesting when set off your transported into a world of fun pleasures and airy bass. The music gets more fluffy airy, bass less tight, maybe a bit more vocaly forward, easier treble as well.
Also it feels less holographic but more intimate with a big fun factor increase.

When you enable this feature things change quiet a lot to a point that this zx507 surpassed the sharpness, clarity and definition of wm1a! Yep I got both on hands I do intensive a/b! This feature makes zx507 more blacker background, tighter bass, sharp clarity and imaging.
This is like a super boost mode for maximum quality.

So when looking for fun set it off or for quality and precision on...

- I also tested Bluetooth and used wm1a in ldac from galaxy s9 vs zx507! With Spotify premium. I found zx507 to offer the best fidelity and spund quality in Bluetooth ( quality priority was set )
Also Spotify sounded the best directly of zx507 rather via Bluetooth to wm1a.

- overall zx507 has deeper sub bass and stronger slam vs 1a. More clarity&definition. Treble a slight little bit more higher.
A very dark background vs 1a, on 1a you can hear more hiss.

By now I started to prefer my zx507 over 1a after 3 days but in the beginning I was hesitant and preferred to stay with 1a tought more time goes zx507 is stealing me away from wm1a


Gear used, Tia Fourte Noir and Tia U12T with 64a premium silver cable, eartips symbio F ( foams )

@DCaudiophile

 

[Dapman]

You can't recreate the sound of a live concert at home. Ever. Once the sound enters the microphones all becomes a record. You can listen to a beautiful sounding system, the music you like will sounds very good, but it won't be like a live concert. You will hear the sounds that the sound engineer has put in front of you, you will hear the micro details that he wants you to hear, micro details that you will never hear on a live concert. You can enjoy a recorded music a lot but recorded music can't replace the emotions from a live concert. Ever.

PS Excuse my English.

Won’t be as good as the real one, but I can recommend “Hans Zimmer-Live in Prague“ blu ray, I am not sure its the first one but a rare disc to have a concert in Dolby Atmos. Best enjoyed in full atmos set up, but 5.2.2 or 7.2.2 would suffice to mimic the crowd and height. I put .2 in middle as dual sub will sound amazing. I am sure there are ways to decode that track on PC and enjoy in your quality headphones/iems. My friend has that track in his walkman and it sounds great.

 

[XP_98]

hey zx507 lovers!

So I been playing around and my zx507 now at around 80 hours threw of burning in.

Here are quick brief impressions.

- I find zx507 an impressive little beast of a dap. You have the ability to tweak the sound to your mood flavor even preferences via a multitude of really strongly established dsp and functions, high resolution audio, dsee hx and the rest which I dont use.

- high resolution audio, this feature is very interesting when set off your transported into a world of fun pleasures and airy bass. The music gets more fluffy airy, bass less tight, maybe a bit more vocaly forward, easier treble as well.
Also it feels less holographic but more intimate with a big fun factor increase.

When you enable this feature things change quiet a lot to a point that this zx507 surpassed the sharpness, clarity and definition of wm1a! Yep I got both on hands I do intensive a/b! This feature makes zx507 more blacker background, tighter bass, sharp clarity and imaging.
This is like a super boost mode for maximum quality.

So when looking for fun set it off or for quality and precision on...

- I also tested Bluetooth and used wm1a in ldac from galaxy s9 vs zx507! With Spotify premium. I found zx507 to offer the best fidelity and spund quality in Bluetooth ( quality priority was set )
Also Spotify sounded the best directly of zx507 rather via Bluetooth to wm1a.

- overall zx507 has deeper sub bass and stronger slam vs 1a. More clarity&definition. Treble a slight little bit more higher.
A very dark background vs 1a, on 1a you can hear more hiss.

By now I started to prefer my zx507 over 1a after 3 days but in the beginning I was hesitant and preferred to stay with 1a tought more time goes zx507 is stealing me away from wm1a


Gear used, Tia Fourte Noir and Tia U12T with 64a premium silver cable, eartips symbio F ( foams )

@DCaudiophile

Do you compare the WM1A with the latest modded firmware (DMP) or 3.2 stock ?

 

[emilsoft]

Has anyone tried the wm1a with custom firmware (autumn or winter) - how does it compare to zx507?