[Excavation]

True. Sometimes you come to a point where you feel what you have is simply so good that you can’t think of having something better. It’s always about personal contentment and individual needs.

Agreed. Ive been there, When i first got my Walkmaan even. Impressions didn't start off the best. On stock FW i was rather dissapointed to see my heavily modified phone had better sound in almost every single way compared to the A55. This FW really saved me.

Currently only 2 things my phone does better.
Those 2 things being:
Low End (Bass/Beats)-Theyre just so full and impactful with so much depth to them. Also gets really low frequencies too.

Soundstage- It is extreamly wide and some sounds can be far, far off in the distance while others are in or around your ear. It is by far the most dynamic soundstage I've ever heard. Its a very strong holographic sound too with plenty of warmth and liveliness coming from the music.

But the Walkman has consistency and true to life sound.

 

[RobertP]

N/A

 

[ducnsh]

My 1A will come tomorrow, I have read and prepared Midnight CFW and I think it can be easily installed follow instruction. I have 2 questions hope you guys can answer:
1/ I have heard about J region, E region, etc so what is it and how to change it?
2/ Does CFW affect to output power?
Many thanks!!

 

[nc8000]

My 1A will come tomorrow, I have read and prepared Midnight CFW and I think it can be easily installed follow instruction. I have 2 questions hope you guys can answer:
1/ I have heard about J region, E region, etc so what is it and how to change it?
2/ Does CFW affect to output power?
Many thanks!!

1. Regions are changed with the Rockbox nwdest tool and affect the sound plus enable/disable various features
2. No

 

[ducnsh]

1. Regions are changed with the Rockbox nwdest tool and affect the sound plus enable/disable various features
2. No

So can I understand that it is the sound tuning or just an addition component?
By the way, can you give me the link of Rockbox tool?
Thank you very much!

 

[nc8000]

So can I understand that it is the sound tuning or just an addition component?
By the way, can you give me the link of Rockbox tool?
Thank you very much!

https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/SonyNWDestTool

sony tunes their devices slightly different for each region and also enables/disables certain features for specific regions, like there is a volume limiter and no high gain on EU models, the BT remote is only supported for some regions and so on

 

[Star Mastering]

I started off with just onboard audio from laptops, including my favourite but outdated VAIO DSD. I was limited to 24/48 on the newest laptop, and felt intense frustration. No DSD under $100 either. All that changed in 2020, when, what had only been a pricey COZOY TAKT PRO in 2018, exploded into an entire market of audio dongles. DSD128 became reachable with just up to $30. Thanks to Apple removing their jacks. It should become clear that desktop DACs have less meaningful purposes when far smaller devices are now cheaper and even perform better. But dongles weren’t enough. DSEE HX AI existed. And after mrwalkman’s comeback, shortly after my request, the mods finally got me into walkman, a very difficult device to get for a reasonable price in many places. Then I grabbed whatever ultra-budget Sony earphones I could get, including IER-H500A, EX150AP/255AP Black, EX150AP Mint Green, ZX110 and MH410c both with EQ. All were $14 or $20 or free.

Regarding the MDR-EX750/IER-NW750N, IER-H500A /IER-NW500N, IER-NW510N distinction, they are all Walkman A series specific earphones. Some could do binaural recording with Xperia. NW510N is the 6 mm driver IEM for NW-A100 series, with a strange shape that hides in the ear. MDR-EX750 is notable for its balanced circuit connected to a single ended plug. It is not clear whether later iterations had the same balanced circuit, or whether NW750N, its walkman version, had this. Or whether the sound improves due to it. But it is remarkable that my experience with using IER-H500A with A55 matched another user’s with their IER-NW500N. Perhaps due to A55’s incompetence, they’d stopped listening to it via other headphones, until they dropped into a Sony store and tried NW500N. Somehow the 9 mm driver IEM works well with A55, from a non-critical layperson’s perspective.

When would a person be able to tell that the combination is good? Perhaps it is no different to any other combination so long as it is also a 9 mm driver with similar specs. Perhaps it is the fit with the ear that differed. But overall, the effect is to allow A55 to playback sources without causing any dissatisfaction, and to have the user begin to feel that the A55 is really a music toy. Perhaps not outrightly fun or warm sounding but definitely something to play with rather than a professional sound.

 

[robiceli]

I mean. I've certainly been anticipating new FWs but at the same time I've been in no rush either. After all my current FW setup is far better than the stock, I cant complain even if Midnight/Dawn or any other firmware never comes to the A50 Series.

Hell to me that just tempts me to invest in a WM1.

The A50 sounds awesome on MK1 paired with my XBA-Z5 and I can't imagine something else to sound better than this. Sure, the WM1 might have a better build quality but is it worth the extra cost? For me personally, it isn't. But hey, if you have extra cash to spend on a DAP that's better build but sounds 98% identical to the A50 (modded of course), go ahead.

By the way, did I mention the A50 is more pocket friendly compared to the WM1?

 

[nc8000]

Yes the A55 with a MrWalkman fw really is a very good player that I could easily live with as my only source if I had to

 

[Lpm3134]

hi, any news from Mrwalkman?

 

[aceedburn]

hi, any news from Mrwalkman?

He’s fine. I speak to him regularly. Just not been very active in the firmware scene lately. He’s settled back nicely in his home in Romania.

 

[LightBlue77]

Huh.. he's Romanian? Cool!

 

[Excavation]

The A50 sounds awesome on MK1 paired with my XBA-Z5 and I can't imagine something else to sound better than this. Sure, the WM1 might have a better build quality but is it worth the extra cost? For me personally, it isn't. But hey, if you have extra cash to spend on a DAP that's better build but sounds 98% identical to the A50 (modded of course), go ahead.

By the way, did I mention the A50 is more pocket friendly compared to the WM1?

I would expect more of a gap between the A55 and the WM1, that just comes with me assuming better sound for the price. Especially if using the balanced jack. Not to mention im also not sure how DMP-A50R compares to say Midnight, Dawn as A55 is currently my only DAP other than my phone.

If the A55 is really that close with FW made to mimic the WM1 or DMP-Z1 and it actually sounds pretty close to the device itself then I actually dont see the point of spending an additional 800-1000 USD. I just figured some things FW can't change and from upgrading youd get noticeably better sound from the hardware of such a premium device.

 

[nc8000]

I would expect more of a gap between the A55 and the WM1, that just comes with me assuming better sound for the price. Especially if using the balanced jack. Not to mention im also not sure how DMP-A50R compares to say Midnight, Dawn as A55 is currently my only DAP other than my phone.

If the A55 is really that close with FW made to mimic the WM1 or DMP-Z1 and it actually sounds pretty close to the device itself then I actually dont see the point of spending an additional 800-1000 USD. I just figured some things FW can't change and from upgrading youd get noticeably better sound from the hardware of such a premium device.

Oh the 1A (though I have not heard it) and 1Z (mine is further hw modded) are clearly better, but the A55 (especially with one of the modded fw) really is a very good player and amazing value for money. Had I had the A55 with the MrWalkman fw first I might never have bought the 1Z as the A55 would have been good enough for my travel needs (and likely never have bought the IER-Z1R either as my 11 year old JH13 are really good with the A55), but the modded 1Z with IER-Z1R is another league but also many times more expensive. If I was really strapped for cash the A55 plus Blon Mini would still have allowed me to thoroughly enjoy my music

 

[Excavation]

Although i should note that i instead need to get better headphones or IEMs before I even decide to invest in a better/different DAP. My current IEM only supports APTX which is limited to 352kbps 16bit.

Along with that my other headphones are all not made for music apart from the other few i have setting around. Even then, those are all bass and treble and no mid so theyre just as bad. My IEMs are really by far my best sounding yet.

I just need to get me an LDAC set or go back to good old wired because as it sets im actually having to trick the Walkman with a BT adapter so i can even use some of the settings. Which limits that AptX down to SBC. Im really kinda ripped off in every way if i go BT.

Im pretty early into all of this Hi-Res stuff so I hardly have any flacs as all my music is way down at 256kbps mp3 so for all i know they might not be the purest mp3s, may sound better when i actually get them in actual flac. Im far away from getting the full experience most likely of what the A55 can offer.

This A55 just has to get me through next year so that I can thoroughly test and get a better ideal of its sound.