Sony Walkman custom firmware (non-Android)

[xoxiax]

Ok so this is just with one track but one I often use now to test SQ - a brilliantly produced, hi-res recording with everything from deep bass, to Pink Floyd-esque guitars and soaring sax - it really does demonstrate DAP/IEM capability for me. I must say, it was a tough battle - I had to listen to the track at least 5 times on each device - especially 1A vs 507. It would be better if I tested maybe another couple of genres but I don't have time tonight. All listening via my DUNU SA6. Apologies also for my lack of technical language in describing my findings!

They came out in an order I guess I would have expected -

NW-WM1A (DMP-WM1 FE Plus) - the winner (88 hours on the clock - EU device but uncapped and set to J)

There is more detail, soundstage and overall sense of 'emotion' to the music. The sax comes in on the test song around 4.30, it really grabs me and brings a smile to my face in a way unlike the others. I feel overall that there is a better emphasis across high, mid and low and just the overall delivery sounds spectacular. I noted also, especially vs the ZX300, I can continue to pump the volume up and enjoy the extra decibels - on the ZX300, it becomes harsh and I can't tolerate. Overall, I feel like I'm listening to a high-end device.

ZX507 (no hour clock but I would estimate 300+ now - Asia Pacific device)

I love this player and I find the warm nature of it's signature is stunning. I would say I actually prefer it to the stock 1A but with custom firmware, it does change things - definitely a greater sense of detail, soundstage etc as noted above - I had observed this difference even on 1A stock but it was too bright then (this could be to do with burn-in also as still less than 100 hours on the 1A). The emotion is there on the 507 and the warm signature is so easy to listen to, just a really smooth sound that I can listen to for hours.

ZX300 (Project Z Plus) (1445 hours on the clock - EU device uncapped and set to J)

The ZX300 is definitely behind both, it sounds brighter and maybe a little lifeless in comparison. I don't get that same sense of 'wow' as I do on the others - the emotion I noted in the 1A just doesn't show up in the same way. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds great but doing this A/B/C test does show up the differences. Again though, it could probably do with more genres tested - I suspect the ZX300 might do better on more vocal, acoustic genres.

As I think I've said in the thread already, I can't see the ZX300 getting much use now but I still wouldn't part with it - those 1445 hours clocked up represent a lot of happy listening at home, on holidays, work trips, buses, trains, walks etc etc!

Test track:

Many, many millions of thanks for your generous answer! And specially for that "lack of technical language" that highlights the feelings provided by each machine when listening to music. That subjective thing called pleasure doesn't know much about objective measurements and, from my point of view, sharing in common that diverse subjective perceptions we all have is the furthest we can achieve in this forum while trying to approach the final goal of all this neurotic hobby: finding the equipment that fits our tastes (and wallet possibilities) to enjoy our music (well, at least supposedly, because being honest with ourselves different consumerism pathologies that allow us evasion and displace from other life's matters would have a strongest explanatory power about what we are doing here...).

Reading you and considering different opinions spilled on the forum since all this mods revitalized the non android Sonys, my impression (just speculative, only the people that has all the daps can confirm it) is that the most benefited player from Mr. Walkman's intervention has been the WM1A, whose hardware was maybe the less exploited (i don't know if my poor english tricks me here, i want to express that the software took less advantage of it's possibilities) with the custom firmware and tuning.

It seems that the massive response from WM1A owners describes now a bigger gap with it's follower (ZX300) and a closer one with it's reference (WM1Z), resolving a problem of underused potential...But maybe there are different impressions that i'd love to know...

 

[hungryewok]

It seems that the massive response from WM1A owners describes now a bigger gap with it's follower (ZX300) and a closer one with it's reference (WM1Z), resolving a problem of underused potential...But maybe there are different impressions that i'd love to know...

That's what's been bugging me with stock WM1A. It sounded so close to ZX300 in direct comparison that paying almost triple (I bought a ZX300a for $450 from joybuy) seemed ridiculous.

 

[MrWalkman]

Sorry for no ZX300 release yet, but I'm having some rough time doing anything basically, and I'll also have to "relocate" to another country soon.

As for A30, not having the device makes it hard getting the A50 firmware run on this device. I plan on working on another way to install a ZX300-based firmware on the A30, which should help with A36/A37 (32GB/64GB) issues when doing the reverting to stock process. This way will also work for A40/A50, and should make the "An error has occurred" messages go away.

Hopefully I'll manage to have Midnight and Dawn for ZX300 released this week, as well as having the Project Z/DMP-WM1 FEv2 sound on Midnight/Dawn for ZX300 and WM1A/Z, and maybe also have what I was thinking of calling simply "After Midnight"/"After Dawn", which would be Midnight/Dawn with the same "Classic" mode sound, but with a different "Plus" mode.

I also had an idea about a version of these mods for "advanced" users, where you could go and edit some parameters in a file located in the internal storage, which would let us change the region without using the destination tool, or allow us to choose between the current "Plus" mode or the different "Plus" mode I was mentioning above, for example.

Other possible changes could be:
- the color of the icons - the firmware on these devices support 5 colors (including the normal white one) for the icons in the "start" screen, the ones for "Folder", or "Recent Transfers", for example
- maybe enabling a mode where you would have region U for the sound, but region E for the interface - this would allow someone to have the U region (or any other regions), but also have the "BT Remote" feature enabled in the menus for example (will have to test if it would really work in terms of the sound actually having the U region characteristics) and the "Language" option in the menu

The "advanced" mode would be something for later though, but I think it could be possible.

 

[pr0b3r]

Sorry for no ZX300 release yet, but I'm having some rough time doing anything basically, and I'll also have to "relocate" to another country soon.

As for A30, not having the device makes it hard getting the A50 firmware run on this device. I plan on working on another way to install a ZX300-based firmware on the A30, which should help with A36/A37 (32GB/64GB) issues when doing the reverting to stock process. This way will also work for A40/A50, and should make the "An error has occurred" messages go away.

Hopefully I'll manage to have Midnight and Dawn for ZX300 released this week, as well as having the Project Z/DMP-WM1 FEv2 sound on Midnight/Dawn for ZX300 and WM1A/Z, and maybe also have what I was thinking of calling simply "After Midnight"/"After Dawn", which would be Midnight/Dawn with the same "Classic" mode sound, but with a different "Plus" mode.

I also had an idea about a version of these mods for "advanced" users, where you could go and edit some parameters in a file located in the internal storage, which would let us change the region without using the destination tool, or allow us to choose between the current "Plus" mode or the different "Plus" mode I was mentioning above, for example.

Other possible changes could be:
- the color of the icons - the firmware on these devices support 5 colors (including the normal white one) for the icons in the "start" screen, the ones for "Folder", or "Recent Transfers", for example
- maybe enabling a mode where you would have region U for the sound, but region E for the interface - this would allow someone to have the U region (or any other regions), but also have the "BT Remote" feature enabled in the menus for example (will have to test if it would really work in terms of the sound actually having the U region characteristics) and the "Language" option in the menu

The "advanced" mode would be something for later though, but I think it could be possible.

That sounds interesting to me. If tinkering a little bit with the files have goes with clear instructions, I'm up for it. Also, given it won't be too much of a risk. All for the improvement of sound without pushing the device too much to its limit. Patiently waiting for the development, @MrWalkman.

May you get your stuff organized without too much of a hassle. Thanks and good luck on your future plans!

 

[MrWalkman]

That sounds interesting to me. If tinkering a little bit with the files have goes with clear instructions, I'm up for it. Also, given it won't be too much of a risk. All for the improvement of sound without pushing the device too much to its limit. Patiently waiting for the development, @MrWalkman.

May you get your stuff organized without too much of a hassle. Thanks and good luck on your future plans!

The parameters file will work with a startup script, and that script will also include routines for what to do if something is not ok (maybe even generate a file including an error message after startup completes, for example).

The parameters file would look something like this:

# Color setting
# 0 = White
# 1 = Red
# 2 = Blue
# etc.
color=0

# Plus mode
# Normal "Plus" mode = 0
# New "Plus" mode = 1
plusmode=0

# Region setting
# Available regions are: J/U/etc.
region=J

# Enable BT remote regardless of chosen region
# 0 = No
# 1 = Yes
btremote=1

At least for me this would be really really easy to work with, from an end-user perspective.

If the "color" option would be missing somehow (deleted from the file), then the default color would be chosen, which would be 0 (White), for example.

 

[Kalnet101]

Got to install the DMP-A50 FEv2 firmware easily on my brother's windows laptop. Will be enjoying it from here on out with the Starfield! Thank you so so much for the firmware MrWalkman!

 

[aceedburn]

Sorry for no ZX300 release yet, but I'm having some rough time doing anything basically, and I'll also have to "relocate" to another country soon.

As for A30, not having the device makes it hard getting the A50 firmware run on this device. I plan on working on another way to install a ZX300-based firmware on the A30, which should help with A36/A37 (32GB/64GB) issues when doing the reverting to stock process. This way will also work for A40/A50, and should make the "An error has occurred" messages go away.

Hopefully I'll manage to have Midnight and Dawn for ZX300 released this week, as well as having the Project Z/DMP-WM1 FEv2 sound on Midnight/Dawn for ZX300 and WM1A/Z, and maybe also have what I was thinking of calling simply "After Midnight"/"After Dawn", which would be Midnight/Dawn with the same "Classic" mode sound, but with a different "Plus" mode.

I also had an idea about a version of these mods for "advanced" users, where you could go and edit some parameters in a file located in the internal storage, which would let us change the region without using the destination tool, or allow us to choose between the current "Plus" mode or the different "Plus" mode I was mentioning above, for example.

Other possible changes could be:
- the color of the icons - the firmware on these devices support 5 colors (including the normal white one) for the icons in the "start" screen, the ones for "Folder", or "Recent Transfers", for example
- maybe enabling a mode where you would have region U for the sound, but region E for the interface - this would allow someone to have the U region (or any other regions), but also have the "BT Remote" feature enabled in the menus for example (will have to test if it would really work in terms of the sound actually having the U region characteristics) and the "Language" option in the menu

The "advanced" mode would be something for later though, but I think it could be possible.

Well that’s a hell of a lot you have on your plate. Take it easy mate. Prioritise your Health and take care of yourself first. Everything else can wait. Holler if you need any assistance as usual.

 

[xoxiax]

Sorry for no ZX300 release yet, but I'm having some rough time doing anything basically, and I'll also have to "relocate" to another country soon.

You don't have to say sorry, take your time, man, we'll receive it with delight when it comes. All your ideas for the future mods sound promising... Thanks!

 

[WilcoRoger]

Regarding the ZX300 based fw for A30 (NOT the DMP-A30 - I think this one was called A30 Reloded, which involved installing 2 .upg files)

Now that I had access to a Windows machine, I used the windows installer. I don't know if others faced the same issue, but the bottom of the menus disappear, because there's a new volume indicator strip and some file info on the top of the screen - this pushed the reset menu out of reach (actually it was just hovering below the "horizon" so with the knowledge where it is it could be activated)

The strange thing is that using the straightforward scsitool method (as I did before) this issue doesn't appear, there's no "volume strip" and the full menu structure is readable.

 

[Cherub]

Sorry for no ZX300 release yet, but I'm having some rough time doing anything basically, and I'll also have to "relocate" to another country soon.

As for A30, not having the device makes it hard getting the A50 firmware run on this device. I plan on working on another way to install a ZX300-based firmware on the A30, which should help with A36/A37 (32GB/64GB) issues when doing the reverting to stock process. This way will also work for A40/A50, and should make the "An error has occurred" messages go away.

Hopefully I'll manage to have Midnight and Dawn for ZX300 released this week, as well as having the Project Z/DMP-WM1 FEv2 sound on Midnight/Dawn for ZX300 and WM1A/Z, and maybe also have what I was thinking of calling simply "After Midnight"/"After Dawn", which would be Midnight/Dawn with the same "Classic" mode sound, but with a different "Plus" mode.

I also had an idea about a version of these mods for "advanced" users, where you could go and edit some parameters in a file located in the internal storage, which would let us change the region without using the destination tool, or allow us to choose between the current "Plus" mode or the different "Plus" mode I was mentioning above, for example.

Other possible changes could be:
- the color of the icons - the firmware on these devices support 5 colors (including the normal white one) for the icons in the "start" screen, the ones for "Folder", or "Recent Transfers", for example
- maybe enabling a mode where you would have region U for the sound, but region E for the interface - this would allow someone to have the U region (or any other regions), but also have the "BT Remote" feature enabled in the menus for example (will have to test if it would really work in terms of the sound actually having the U region characteristics) and the "Language" option in the menu

The "advanced" mode would be something for later though, but I think it could be possible.

No need to be sorry as you did not left us (i.e. not WM1 user) "naked" in the cold, we already have those wonderful FEv2 and ProjectZ/A50Z to enjoy our music ! (and try to figure out which one we prefer )

Good luck with your moving, as changing living place in the same country can already be challenging, I guess changing country is a real adventure...

 

[MrWalkman]

Regarding the ZX300 based fw for A30 (NOT the DMP-A30 - I think this one was called A30 Reloded, which involved installing 2 .upg files)

Now that I had access to a Windows machine, I used the windows installer. I don't know if others faced the same issue, but the bottom of the menus disappear, because there's a new volume indicator strip and some file info on the top of the screen - this pushed the reset menu out of reach (actually it was just hovering below the "horizon" so with the knowledge where it is it could be activated)

The strange thing is that using the straightforward scsitool method (as I did before) this issue doesn't appear, there's no "volume strip" and the full menu structure is readable.

I think you installed something else, based on the WM1 firmware. Only that one has the bar volume and the file info thing. The resolution on WM1 players is 854x480 compared to 800x480 on the other players, hence why the interface doesn't fit on the screen correctly.

Are you sure that the UPG file installed via scsitool is the same as in the Windows installers?

 

[WilcoRoger]

Oh, that might well be the explanation - I have now so many fw on the hard drive that it was only a question of time to get confused

 

[fiascogarcia]

Oh, that might well be the explanation - I have now so many fw on the hard drive that it was only a question of time to get confused

One thing that helped me was to save all the zipped FW folders under a master folder, then to copy the one I want to use to an empty working folder, and unzip and install from the working folder. Just a thought.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I'm now onto Midnight+ amazing.

 

[gsora]

Wow didn't know WalkmanOS had a firmware scene!

I tried researching during the years for stuff like this but nothing came up, looks like my Google skills needs refinement

@MrWalkman I wonder if you could give us some technical infos regarding how you mod WalkmanOS firmware, last time I checked there was some nasty encryption involved.

This is just nerd curiosity though, don't want to start a competition