Sony Walkman custom firmware (non-Android)

[Excavation]

There are nothing that works quite like Walkman ONE. All older firmware versions have been removed because they weren't near as good (for most) there are a few who choose to stay on stock or revert to A50R (or something of that sort) or FEv2 both of which have been long since removed at least 3 years ago.

I can tell you ive reverted back to stock based firmwares numerous times and still always come back to Walkman ONE for the same reasons even despite the loss of VPT and the radio. But i dont know if i even still have those backups lying around.

But ill just say before Walkman ONE no firmwares had more than one signature and they were much less refined. I dont even know which one the WM1Z tuning would be most comparative to.

 

[Excavation]

The WM1A has arrived much quicker than i expected considering it had to go across the world, but i am very pleased with its condition for the cost.

Right now its still on stock 3.02 right now, I think ill keep it like this for a couple days unmodified and get a feel for the device and then its back to testing a bunch of different configurations until i find the right one.

From my few minutes listening to it though, the device sounds incredibly good stock as is, at least comparative to the hardware of the A55. I wonder how much more its going to change once i start getting into Walkman ONE.
and then ill try to carry over the much higher gain addon and see what that does.
Lots of testing ahead.
Thank you all, the WM1A is pretty heavy as is after only carrying an A55, so i can only imagine what the gold brick wouldve actually felt like.

 

[antdroid]

i also just got a WM1A again, and got the custom firmware installed on it. I am digging the Midnight Neutral + J3 + PlusV2 + high gain setting right now. Sounds pretty good with the Symphonium Titan and Subtonic Storm. I am pushing the upper ends of the WM1A's volume limits, but the CFW's high gain setting helps a lot!

 

[Hinomotocho]

The WM1A has arrived much quicker than i expected considering it had to go across the world, but i am very pleased with its condition for the cost.

Right now its still on stock 3.02 right now, I think ill keep it like this for a couple days unmodified and get a feel for the device and then its back to testing a bunch of different configurations until i find the right one.

From my few minutes listening to it though, the device sounds incredibly good stock as is, at least comparative to the hardware of the A55. I wonder how much more its going to change once i start getting into Walkman ONE.
and then ill try to carry over the much higher gain addon and see what that does.
Lots of testing ahead.
Thank you all, the WM1A is pretty heavy as is after only carrying an A55, so i can only imagine what the gold brick wouldve actually felt like.

I think you'll adapt and come to realize it sits beautifully in your hand - perfectly weighted, with smooth edges and the top taper design offering some grip. I used to prioritize the smallest, thinnest profiles for Walkmans (check the A840) but was happy to trade off on the size factor for sound quality, although the 1Z weight has its drawbacks.
Also, if you look at many of the comparative daps they are MASSIVE.

 

[Excavation]

I think you'll adapt and come to realize it sits beautifully in your hand. I used to prioritize the smallest, thinnest profiles for Walkmans (check the A840) but was happy to trade off on the size factor for sound quality, although the 1Z weight has its drawbacks.
Also, if you look at many of the comparative daps they are MASSIVE.

Ive noticed that. Wht WM1 for me is essentially the perfect size, and thats coming from somebody with incredibly small hands, most devices are impossible for me to use one handed because most of the time i cant even get my hand around them. Partly why i went with an a55, it felt like a good size, and it was but between the rounded edges and sharp corners that too was kind of annoying, but the WM1 has neither of those problems and I have more to hold onto.

I already think its well worth the tradeoff in weight for the sound, the soundstage is just so much more.. spacial and dynamic and not as 'compressed'. The A55 i thought already sounded great, but its one of those things where you just dont know what your missing until youve heard it.Every now and then I would get in this mindset that my phone sounds just as good, sonetimes a little better than my A55 with Walkman One because of running AutoEQ which helped balance alot of its problems out so there were periods where I wouldn't even touch my A55 all that much lately.
But after the WM1A its not even in the question. Its certainly going to become my goto choice of listening. It reminds me of the very reason I got an A55 to start with.

 

[antdroid]

I was just saying this on a discord server a few hours ago.. re holding the WM1A after not using it for years... It's really the ideal size for my hands. It feels great, has a sleek and polished look, screen is appropriately sized, and the UI is wonderful. If they just remade this with slightly more power and usb-c ....

I also complain that these new daps are getting larger and larger and it's unwieldy to handle. I just sold the dx320max and obviously that's humongous but my "normal" sized DAP is the FiiO m15s and it's huge too and I only operate it when it's laying on my desk and it definitely is not comfortable to carry around. It's the same dimensions as the new M2 Sony models.

So yes, I love the size and the firmware options are great!

 

[DynamicEars]

I was just saying this on a discord server a few hours ago.. re holding the WM1A after not using it for years... It's really the ideal size for my hands. It feels great, has a sleek and polished look, screen is appropriately sized, and the UI is wonderful. If they just remade this with slightly more power and usb-c ....

I also complain that these new daps are getting larger and larger and it's unwieldy to handle. I just sold the dx320max and obviously that's humongous but my "normal" sized DAP is the FiiO m15s and it's huge too and I only operate it when it's laying on my desk and it definitely is not comfortable to carry around. It's the same dimensions as the new M2 Sony models.

So yes, I love the size and the firmware options are great!

Nice, does the WM1A have enough power to drive Storm properly?

Just curious have you try the ibasso DC Elite? Like to hear your impressions if yes, I bought it 2 weeks ago and wowed.

 

[Excavation]

After using this device for a while, I honestly haven't touched my A55 since, but its also considerably worn out. On stock 3.02 I think the WM1A sounds better than the A55 on Walkman One at least by my hardware and the tuning I settled on when I did all the testing originally.

With Walkman ONE that lead becomes even more obvious. I wasn't too much of a fan of super high gain on the A55, but on the WM1A it makes everything else come to life. So far a tuning I'm really liking is Neutral, MX3, PMV=1 with Super high gain on but im indecicive between using MX3 or J3 both are just so good.
As far as volume I set around 60- 70 with Super high gain off or around 15-25 with it on


Overall extremely satisfied with the WM1A so far other than a little problem ive recently ran into, thats the downside of buying used... If it becomes problematic I might have to send it back.

Can the buttons be cleaned/replaced? The volume down periodically becomes very stiff and stops clicking and then randomly starts working again.

 

[antdroid]

Nice, does the WM1A have enough power to drive Storm properly?

Just curious have you try the ibasso DC Elite? Like to hear your impressions if yes, I bought it 2 weeks ago and wowed.

I am playing around with tuning again. I am now liking WM1Z + MX3 + High Gain + PMV2 (although I havent tried it with 1 yet).

As for Storm, yes, it does support it pretty well. For some of the tuning options, it does reduce the dynamics, but I think that's more the tuning than the power requirement. The WM1Z and bright tunings work pretty well though.

With the High Gain enabled in settings, I am usually hovering around 85-100 depending on the track on low gain on the player. Subtract 10 when on High Gain mode.

So yes, I am enjoying Storm with it a lot. The Symphonium Titan is also pretty inefficient, and it is close to the same volume settings with this player too.


As for the DC Elite - I have not tried it yet! I did own the DX320 Ti Max for a while, and absolutely loved the sound of it. It's my favorite portable source that I have heard. I thought about getting the Elite, but I decided to buy the Questyle M15i instead, and I am really liking it as well.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

After using this device for a while, I honestly haven't touched my A55 since, but its also considerably worn out. On stock 3.02 I think the WM1A sounds better than the A55 on Walkman One at least by my hardware and the tuning I settled on when I did all the testing originally.

With Walkman ONE that lead becomes even more obvious. I wasn't too much of a fan of super high gain on the A55, but on the WM1A it makes everything else come to life. So far a tuning I'm really liking is Neutral, MX3, PMV=1 with Super high gain on but im indecicive between using MX3 or J3 both are just so good.
As far as volume I set around 60- 70 with Super high gain off or around 15-25 with it on


Overall extremely satisfied with the WM1A so far other than a little problem ive recently ran into, thats the downside of buying used... If it becomes problematic I might have to send it back.
Can the buttons be cleaned/replaced? The volume down periodically becomes very stiff and stops clicking and then randomly starts working again.

How did you get Super High gain on the firmware? I only have High Gain

 

[Excavation]

How did you get Super High gain on the firmware? I only have High Gain

I was able to test out an earlier version of it a few years back when the community was active on the A55 which I used for a while but had to disable once my hold switch broke and I completely forgot I had somewhere in the files, I only found retrieving data from my HDD and organizing everything backed up off the A55. I originally had to disable it because I very easily could've killed any hardware I had hooked up to it with a loose switch.

I decided to try it on the WM1 after finding it again, which in itself is a bit risky because that's the kind of thing that bricks devices and causes boot-looping and whatnot but fortunately it didn't.
Although last I heard (some time ago) is its changed to not being controlled by the switch anymore and a little turned down, there must be some reasoning for that, most likely heat/battery drain or some other bug I've not encountered yet, has to be a reason it hasn't been released. I just wanted to see what would happen on the WM1.

 

[DynamicEars]

I am playing around with tuning again. I am now liking WM1Z + MX3 + High Gain + PMV2 (although I havent tried it with 1 yet).

As for Storm, yes, it does support it pretty well. For some of the tuning options, it does reduce the dynamics, but I think that's more the tuning than the power requirement. The WM1Z and bright tunings work pretty well though.

With the High Gain enabled in settings, I am usually hovering around 85-100 depending on the track on low gain on the player. Subtract 10 when on High Gain mode.

So yes, I am enjoying Storm with it a lot. The Symphonium Titan is also pretty inefficient, and it is close to the same volume settings with this player too.


As for the DC Elite - I have not tried it yet! I did own the DX320 Ti Max for a while, and absolutely loved the sound of it. It's my favorite portable source that I have heard. I thought about getting the Elite, but I decided to buy the Questyle M15i instead, and I am really liking it as well.

I love my WM1A with similar setting, WM1Z but j3 region, high gain, plus V2 mode. It was my on the go player (M17 mostly stays at home because of the size and weight) until I received my DC-Elite, the dynamic attacks, soundstage, imaging and layering are above the WM1A. It mimics the characteristic of DX320Ti, like mini version of it (albeit the power isn't the same). You have to try it yourself.

 

[proedros]

been using an older FW on my OG wm1a , however i am expecting a nayparm wm1a in a few days so i think i will finally use the Walkman One FW on it

any guys with NP mod wm1a , which FW is the best to your ears ?

 

[justsomesonyfan]

been using an older FW on my OG wm1a , however i am expecting a nayparm wm1a in a few days so i think i will finally use the Walkman One FW on it

any guys with NP mod wm1a , which FW is the best to your ears ?

I go back and forth alot between-
wm1z
mx3
plus mode v2
no additional changes

And

dmp z1 (bright)
J3
Plus mode v1
gain = 1
dac = 1

 

[Steen Pihl]

been using an older FW on my OG wm1a , however i am expecting a nayparm wm1a in a few days so i think i will finally use the Walkman One FW on it

any guys with NP mod wm1a , which FW is the best to your ears ?

I’ve been back & forth on 3.02 and the ONE. Currently, I’m totally enjoying WM1Z on J3 with V2 & high gain! With DC phase lineaizer on Type A low and arm resonance on. You will experience an extended performance from that mod.