[u4coffee]

Long term lurker here, now joined to buy a secondhand WM1AM2 from another member.

Owned the WM1A for seven years, it’s had light use with just 600 hours recorded. I took it with me on a trip to Australia, expecting it to last the journey and it didn’t. 15 hours from Singapore to UK, using the WM1A to power my Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, and it didn’t last more than 8 hours, although I don’t think it was fully charged on takeoff.

Fortunately I had a Sony USB cable that I could plug into the armrest, although this did expose another issue. When I plugged the cable into the armrest the WM1A went into ‘creating database’ mode, annoyingly each time the cable was nudged (which was frequently due to those sat next to me), making it impossible to charge.

On my return home I decided to do three things:

1. I bought a WM1AM2 here, which I didn’t really want to because I prefer a dedicated player rather than an Android one. I can at least make a comparison.

2. I have done some battery testing:
a) Powering my HD700 headphones playing FLAC files at 85% volume I got 10 hours 20 mins.
b) Powering my IEMs playing FLAC files at 45% volume I got 14 hours 45 mins.
c) Powering my IEMs playing MP3 files at 30% volume I got 17 hours.
This seems to be about half the advertised life, although I never got anywhere near those advertised playing times even when new. Is this good or bad for a seven year old player? Is it time to renew? I have no idea.

3. I got my soldering iron out and made myself a USB-C to WM-Port adapter. I hacked a cheap cable, and soldered in a small female USB Type C breakout board. I only connected the red and black power cables, and chopped off the green and white data cables. It now means that I can charge with a USB C cable, and it doesn’t update the database each time it’s connected.

Now waiting for the Mark 2 to arrive. Do I keep the WM1A, the WM1AM2 or both?

​

 

[baskingshark]

Long term lurker here, now joined to buy a secondhand WM1AM2 from another member.

Owned the WM1A for seven years, it’s had light use with just 600 hours recorded. I took it with me on a trip to Australia, expecting it to last the journey and it didn’t. 15 hours from Singapore to UK, using the WM1A to power my Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, and it didn’t last more than 8 hours, although I don’t think it was fully charged on takeoff.

Fortunately I had a Sony USB cable that I could plug into the armrest, although this did expose another issue. When I plugged the cable into the armrest the WM1A went into ‘creating database’ mode, annoyingly each time the cable was nudged (which was frequently due to those sat next to me), making it impossible to charge.

On my return home I decided to do three things:

1. I bought a WM1AM2 here, which I didn’t really want to because I prefer a dedicated player rather than an Android one. I can at least make a comparison.

2. I have done some battery testing:
a) Powering my HD700 headphones playing FLAC files at 85% volume I got 10 hours 20 mins.
b) Powering my IEMs playing FLAC files at 45% volume I got 14 hours 45 mins.
c) Powering my IEMs playing MP3 files at 30% volume I got 17 hours.
This seems to be about half the advertised life, although I never got anywhere near those advertised playing times even when new. Is this good or bad for a seven year old player? Is it time to renew? I have no idea.

3. I got my soldering iron out and made myself a USB-C to WM-Port adapter. I hacked a cheap cable, and soldered in a small female USB Type C breakout board. I only connected the red and black power cables, and chopped off the green and white data cables. It now means that I can charge with a USB C cable, and it doesn’t update the database each time it’s connected.

Now waiting for the Mark 2 to arrive. Do I keep the WM1A, the WM1AM2 or both?

​

Hmm even for an aging DAP, its battery life depends on a few factors:
- wired versus wireless
- Hi res files (lossless) versus lossy
- screen on or off
- volume played at/transducer impedance/sensitivity
- whether other EQ or sound effects are utilized

I have a 2nd hand WM1A, it gets me about 17 - 20 hours on FLAC at moderate volumes, wired. I mostly use IEMs, and turn off my screen all the time, and disable all the sound effects.

However, I'm on the Mr Walkman mod (WM1Z version plus V2), which is supposed to extend battery life.

You can read about the free mod, which unlocks volume caps, gives 4 different sound packages (warm to neutral to bright), with additional goodies to play with: https://www.mrwalkman.com/p/sony-wm1a-wm1z-custom-firmware.html
There's a healthy discussion here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-continuation-of-the-sony-walkman-1z-1a-thread.944508/

The mod really is a gamechanger.

In my country, the WM1AM2 is volume locked, it is quite lame and cannot power more demanding gear. No mods for it too, so I'm sticking to the modded WM1A for sure.

 

[kumar402]

Are you running Sony DSP like DSEE etc ? Still 14hrs from a 7 year old DAP is good.
I feel screen usage has maximum impact on battery apart from DSD upsampling.

 

[u4coffee]

Thanks for the replies. I have been browsing the mod discussion this last couple of days, and slightly regretting my purchase of the M2. I will give the mod a go before deciding which to keep, or both.

Also I should add that I have always had the battery saving function switched on, and did the tests with this on. I really should have thought to switch this off for the flight. I am currently testing the WN1A after a full charge with battery saving switched off. At the moment it has been playing for 14 hours with one bar remaining, so probably will get to 17-20 hours.

That’s really not bad for a 7 year old DAP.

 

[kumar402]

Thanks for the replies. I have been browsing the mod discussion this last couple of days, and slightly regretting my purchase of the M2. I will give the mod a go before deciding which to keep, or both.

Also I should add that I have always had the battery saving function switched on, and did the tests with this on. I really should have thought to switch this off for the flight. I am currently testing the WN1A after a full charge with battery saving switched off. At the moment it has been playing for 14 hours with one bar remaining, so probably will get to 17-20 hours.

That’s really not bad for a 7 year old DAP.

WM1M2 is an improvement over previous version. Update to ver1.08 and engage DSEE Ultimate

 

[u4coffee]

Just run another test with battery saving switched off and got just over 19 hours playback. I think it’s safe to assume that the battery is in much better condition than I thought. The reduced playback on the plane probably the result of it spending much of the previous six months in a drawer.

Incidentally here’s a picture of my diy USB-C to WM Port adapter.

 

[u4coffee]

Update:

I’ve had my WM1AM2 for nearly two weeks now and do like it overall. It has given me the advertised 40 hours of play which is quite impressive. I like the sound, but cannot say that I prefer it to the WM1A, although cannot pretend to have the hearing now to really tell.

However, I can report a minor miracle. A few nights ago I fell asleep listening to some music on the WM1A, and when I woke up six hours later was surprised to notice that all the bars on the battery indicator remained. I kept the player running and it powered down after 32 hours. Thirty two hours! This was FLAC files on the internal memory (that might make a difference) at volume 40. Also the battery care was switched on, so only 90% charge to begin with.

I’ve just repeated the test and got the same battery life.

I think it’s correct to conclude that a few months sat in a drawer temporarily reduced battery capacity, and then a few full discharges and charges has improved battery health back to normal.

I have decided to sell the WM1AM2 because I prefer the dedicated music player rather than an Android device.

 

[kumar402]

Update:

I’ve had my WM1AM2 for nearly two weeks now and do like it overall. It has given me the advertised 40 hours of play which is quite impressive. I like the sound, but cannot say that I prefer it to the WM1A, although cannot pretend to have the hearing now to really tell.

However, I can report a minor miracle. A few nights ago I fell asleep listening to some music on the WM1A, and when I woke up six hours later was surprised to notice that all the bars on the battery indicator remained. I kept the player running and it powered down after 32 hours. Thirty two hours! This was FLAC files on the internal memory (that might make a difference) at volume 40. Also the battery care was switched on, so only 90% charge to begin with.

I’ve just repeated the test and got the same battery life.

I think it’s correct to conclude that a few months sat in a drawer temporarily reduced battery capacity, and then a few full discharges and charges has improved battery health back to normal.

I have decided to sell the WM1AM2 because I prefer the dedicated music player rather than an Android device.

you can use that Optimization guide and debloat the android to make it better.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sony-wm1am2-and-wm1zm2-android-walkman-optimization-guide.962975/

My Walkman is now 2 years old and I get 35 hrs or so with direct sound and screen off

 

[u4coffee]

I’ve done that with the M2 already, I just prefer the form factor of the M1.