[feverfive]

Classic yes, Plus not so much as their are odd reverb issues with some albums, especially 70's rock where the intimacy of the vocals gets smeared. Midnight the treble is dialled back too much. Never tiring, yet fails to fully engage, switching to region E helps a lot, region J never offends yet becomes dull as the treble is rolled off and the dynamics reduced.

FEv2 does not have any such downsides as far as I'm aware and switching the WM1A from J to E becomes electrifying as the dynamics really open up across the entire spectrum.

Q-6

Re: treble w/ Midnight (especially Plus version)

My view as part of the relatively inexperienced unwashed masses agrees with this opinion. I tried Midnight (Plus) on J region the other night, and one album I am intimately familiar with, In Absentia by Porcupine Tree sounded veiled to me. I totally understand why treble sensitive users would favor this, but that most definitely is not me. I really preferred Midnight (Classic) over the Plus version; I'm rolling with Dawn (Plus) again and love it on J region.

I do have some of the older firmwares, and pretty sure FEv2 is among them. if so, I'll give that a shot tonight as I am intrigued by the praise it gets.

 

[aceedburn]

Classic yes, Plus not so much as their are odd reverb issues with some albums, especially 70's rock where the intimacy of the vocals gets smeared. Midnight the treble is dialled back too much. Never tiring, yet fails to fully engage, switching to region E helps a lot, region J never offends yet becomes dull as the treble is rolled off and the dynamics reduced.

FEv2 does not have any such downsides as far as I'm aware and switching the WM1A from J to E becomes electrifying as the dynamics really open up across the entire spectrum.

Q-6

Indeed. That’s the characteristics of those firmwares. FEv2 now known as Dawn has the DMP tuning and is more dynamic and live sounding. Midnight which has the Wm1z tuning is dialled back a little while adding more warmth but still doesn’t scrimp on details. Depending on your gear, midnight will complement bright sounding headphones or amps very well. And for warm sounding gear, Dawn will be beautiful. Takes care of both ends of the spectrum.

 

[Lookout57]

I had been running Midnight Plus on my 1A with the Solaris 2020 and DHC Clone Silver balanced for my nighty listening in bed. The other day I finally decided to finally listen to Midnight Plus on my 1Z (which is mainly connected right now via the dock to the TA). Wow, did the Solaris 2020 sound so much different. The bass was warmer and fuller than on the 1A.

So I decided to switch the 1A to Midnight Classic before changing regions (use J on both). Now the Solaris 2020 on the 1A sounds like it did on the 1Z on Midnight Plus, fun warm and engaging with great details and large soundstage. Now I can hear more of the low end from the bass drum on World Turning by Fleetwood Mac. Then on Helplessly Hoping by Crosby, Stills and Nash the soundstage is improved. I can clearly hear David Crosby on the left, Stephen Stills in the middle and Graham Nash on the right. On Plus I could hardly make out Graham Nash due to the thinner bass which made him blend in to the mix.

Yes, Plus is a special release, but using the Clone Silver (pure silver) with the Solaris 2020 is not a good fit for me on the 1A. The Clone Silver is a resolution beast and the Solaris 2020 has detailed highs. That makes this combo sounding at times artificial and dry.

So to sum it up. Plus is great if your IEM/cable setup doesn't provide a large soundstage and detailed highs. If your setup is like mine Solaris 2020 and DHC Clone Silver (or similar). I think Midnight Classic (I don't like the use of Classic in the name) is the better choice.

 

[Queen6]

Source files are important 24bit/96KHz works - Urgent on WM1A, region E, DMP-WM FEv2

Will blow your mind, as the Sax kicks in the track blooms.

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

Indeed. That’s the characteristics of those firmwares. FEv2 now known as Dawn has the DMP tuning and is more dynamic and live sounding. Midnight which has the Wm1z tuning is dialled back a little while adding more warmth but still doesn’t scrimp on details. Depending on your gear, midnight will complement bright sounding headphones or amps very well. And for warm sounding gear, Dawn will be beautiful. Takes care of both ends of the spectrum.

Midnight is treble shy, lacking air and extension. Midnight & Dawn can distort some tracks on Plus, FEv2 remains to be the better of the CFW to date...

Q-6

 

[feverfive]

Huh, after switching from (stock) Region E to Region J the other day, I noticed a new "MUSICCLIPS" folder under my Music directory on my microSD card. I deleted it within the player, but it persisted upon re-start. No biggie. However, I just reverted to Region E and that folder remains. Huh, I figured it was some Region J specific thing that would go away upon switching back to E. I just delated it upon re-booting after switching to E and also flashing to FEv2 CFW, so I'll see if it persists after next re-start. No big deal at all, just curious about it.

 

[snapandslide]

Midnight is treble shy, lacking air and extension. Midnight & Dawn can distort some tracks on Plus, FEv2 remains to be the better of the CFW to date...

Q-6

I think I agree with you on midnight being a tad treble shy - not really bothering me though!

Where can one find FEv2 now?

 

[colinharding]

Midnight+ all the way for me!!

Don't really listen to any of the others so this will rank as all my top 3

No issue here with the rolled off treble as I'm piping my main system through Western Electric transformers on the DAC output which rolls off highs around 10K anyway. WM1Z replicates my main system sound really well - absolutely love it. Pair it with Earsonics SM3V2 and it's sublime for my ears. Can't thank Mr Walkman enough for his efforts!

 

[nc8000]

Huh, after switching from (stock) Region E to Region J the other day, I noticed a new "MUSICCLIPS" folder under my Music directory on my microSD card. I deleted it within the player, but it persisted upon re-start. No biggie. However, I just reverted to Region E and that folder remains. Huh, I figured it was some Region J specific thing that would go away upon switching back to E. I just delated it upon re-booting after switching to E and also flashing to FEv2 CFW, so I'll see if it persists after next re-start. No big deal at all, just curious about it.

It gets created at boot time if the region is J. You can put video files in there and the Walkman can play the sound track of the file but not the video. I experimented a while ago with different file formats and some play and some don’t. Not something I intend to use.

 

[Steen Pihl]

DMP-WM1 FEv2 the gift that keeps giving


Dial it up to 11


Then speed it up


Take a break with a beautiful voice


Mono or stereo?


Back to modernity


Full circle...


Roots, locked in a loop with this one. Toyah, if you saw her live in the day you'd know...

WM1A handles all this and far more with ease thx to CFW, only a more powerful R2R DAP exceeds....

Q-6

Thank you, Queen6. You had me with these great albums and your enthusiasm! I was also curious about the reg. E / DMP-WM1 FEv2 combi, so I left Midnight on Reg. U and you’re absolutely right! Lots of emotion and engagement here! Enjoying this for now! Thank you for sharing!

 

[akãjerovia]

Rank your 3 favorite custom firmwares for the WM1A/Z

Here's mine :

1. Midnight Plus
2. FEv2 Plus
3. Project Z

1. FEv2 Plus
2. FEv2 +
3. FEv2 Mas...

Now been serious, it pairs so well to me with the MDR-Z1R, i don't even want to try Midnight. I'm waiting to hear Midnight v4 tho, if it ever came out.

 

[aceedburn]

Huh, after switching from (stock) Region E to Region J the other day, I noticed a new "MUSICCLIPS" folder under my Music directory on my microSD card. I deleted it within the player, but it persisted upon re-start. No biggie. However, I just reverted to Region E and that folder remains. Huh, I figured it was some Region J specific thing that would go away upon switching back to E. I just delated it upon re-booting after switching to E and also flashing to FEv2 CFW, so I'll see if it persists after next re-start. No big deal at all, just curious about it.

Yeah the MUSICCLIPS folder is created automatically when using J region. You can safely delete it anytime but if you’re on J region it will show up again on a restart. However since you’re now on E region, you can safely delete it and it wont ever show up again even after restarting unless you switch to J region again. Hope this helps.

 

[proedros]

i am on DMP-WM1 FE (Plus) at the moment (and for the last 2 months , as i am bored switching again and i like the sound)

can someone explain the differences with Classic , sound-wise ?

@Queen6 is this CFW the one you use atm ?

 

[aceedburn]

i am on DMP-WM1 FE (Plus) at the moment (and for the last 2 months , as i am bored switching again and i like the sound)

can someone explain the differences with Classic , sound-wise ?

@Queen6 is this CFW the one you use atm ?

FEv2? Or FE? Either way the plus version adds stage, more detail retrieval and overall more live and energetic sounding. Classic will always be slightly warmer, more laid back and yet details are discernible. Depends on what kind of attacks you like. Plus is like front row in a concert and classic is probably a few rows back.

 

[proedros]

FEv2? Or FE? Either way the plus version adds stage, more detail retrieval and overall more live and energetic sounding. Classic will always be slightly warmer, more laid back and yet details are discernible. Depends on what kind attacks you’re like. Plus is like front row in a concert and classic is probably a few rows back.

thanx bro