HeyManslowdown97
500+ Head-Fier
Ok, I believe I figured it out the differences between the A40 vs A50 vs WM1A.
So with the WM1A there’s more transient sound which makes the music more natural and 3 dimensional “lifelike.”
The A40 vs the A50 I believe the main difference in the hardware is that the power caps go from 47uf coupling in the A40 to 100uf coupling this helps the bass response remarkably!
Before @MrWalkman firmware which added all the dsp, eq, and tuning the player had reached their ceiling in stock. However, with them in the firmware this gives them more ways to sound better!
The 6 DC Phase Linearizer DSP is simply remarkable. It gives you that rumble bass thats felt rather than heard.
With low frequencies in default I find that the bass gets bloated, bleeds and distorts especially during congestion parts in the music. That’s why (for me) I eq those frequencies down to prevent that from happening and use the DC Phase Linearizer settings (low, standard and high) but this is more like a “bandaide” or a “work around” to make up for the hardware deficiencies
I do think if it were possible to mod the hardware increasing those power caps up to say 220 ufs, you would get very close to the flagship in transients and detail minus the better balanced circuitry on the flagship models. How much I’m not sure but it would make a difference in the lower frequencies for sure that require more VREFs!
So with the WM1A there’s more transient sound which makes the music more natural and 3 dimensional “lifelike.”
The A40 vs the A50 I believe the main difference in the hardware is that the power caps go from 47uf coupling in the A40 to 100uf coupling this helps the bass response remarkably!
Before @MrWalkman firmware which added all the dsp, eq, and tuning the player had reached their ceiling in stock. However, with them in the firmware this gives them more ways to sound better!
The 6 DC Phase Linearizer DSP is simply remarkable. It gives you that rumble bass thats felt rather than heard.
With low frequencies in default I find that the bass gets bloated, bleeds and distorts especially during congestion parts in the music. That’s why (for me) I eq those frequencies down to prevent that from happening and use the DC Phase Linearizer settings (low, standard and high) but this is more like a “bandaide” or a “work around” to make up for the hardware deficiencies
I do think if it were possible to mod the hardware increasing those power caps up to say 220 ufs, you would get very close to the flagship in transients and detail minus the better balanced circuitry on the flagship models. How much I’m not sure but it would make a difference in the lower frequencies for sure that require more VREFs!
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