[Lépine]

I am tempted to take everything off the Sony that is hinting at being telemetry, telematics, telephony, or just plain old phone. You can tell Android is at it's heart a phone operating system so there might be a risk of some of these apps being core functionality? Or, Sony is just using the Xperia instance as the core and built the Walkman around it?

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I am tempted to take everything off the Sony that is hinting at being telemetry, telematics, telephony, or just plain old phone. You can tell Android is at it's heart a phone operating system so there might be a risk of some of these apps being core functionality? Or, Sony is just using the Xperia instance as the core and built the Walkman around it?

I would advise caution on this. Some apps cannot be disabled or removed, it will result in Walkman stuck in bootloop or non-ending booting animation.

This includes all wallpaper apps and Phone apps

 

[Lépine]

Ah, I was wondering about the wallpapers, thank you. I am happy where it is. And it would only be trying to satisfy my need to keep the Sony as pure as possible, which apparently has high risk. I'll not touch it anymore. I definitely would not want to have to figure out how to make a non-bootable device load in safemode.

I am quite satisfied with how it sounds and definite improvements in responsiveness to the UI.

Great advice you have provided for this nice player. Now if I can try some of these optimizations on the Hiby RS8! Enough tuning the Corvette onto the Huracan

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Ah, I was wondering about the wallpapers, thank you. I am happy where it is. And it would only be trying to satisfy my need to keep the Sony as pure as possible, which apparently has high risk. I'll not touch it anymore. I definitely would not want to have to figure out how to make a non-bootable device load in safemode.

It is quite a panic event to see the walkman in stuck a non-booting state(I have been there before). It can still be reseted back(with some button holding combination) but best not to go there if you can, who knows if the walkman is able to reset correctly or not.

One more suggestion, you can forcibly restrict apps from using the battery and wifi data in the background too. You can try doing this battery and data restriction for the non-audio/non-Sony apps that you cannot disable nor remove.

Also set the walkman to Airplane mode to ensure that sneaky google is not scanning your wifi and bluetooth in the background.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I believe there is a sonic improvement, but like I said it is not so obvious that I can remember the differences from 30 minutes prior to completing the uninstall of the majority of the bloatware. One performance metric that is quite obvious is not only the memory occupied by the my final resident applications, but also the increase in speed to complete tasks such as rebuilding the library from within the Sony app or scrolling through the songs and albums. Rebuilding the library must be close to 40% reduction in time. Scrolling through images is nearly 30% faster or more. So some of the idle apps definitely were taking up cpu resources that are now freed. I never saw the RAM saturated, but I imagine task handling must improve if there are less applications to prioritize or respond to system interrupts. With a goal to use the most minimal processor capable of running the Sony app, it makes sense to me that each additional task can impact the UI experience.

Just some food for thought, we are talking about seeking the highest quality sound reproduction from our higher end audio equipment.

Dynamic range is the loudest possible sound and noise floor is the quietest.

We already know that a quiet room has a background noise level of about 30db that we need to rise above. Even if the system is playing above the 30db room noise, the power supply in a DAC will mask the LSB if the peak-to-peak voltage of the noise in the power supply is not less than the voltage of the LSB.

In order for a DAC to actually resolve a specific bit depth the peak-to-peak voltage of the ripple in the power supply has to be lower than the voltage of the LSB. And in order for a DAC to resolve a specific sampling rate the speed of the power supply has to be faster than the sampling frequency.

Based on a 2.5V output of a single-ended DAC (about average), below are the voltages power supply noise must be below in order to hear the LSB:

• 16-bit LSB noise floor voltage = 76uV
• 20-bit LSB noise floor voltage = 4.75uV
• 24-bit LSB noise floor voltage = 0.3uV

https://www.mojo-audio.com/blog/the-24bit-delusion/

Noise from the Voltage ripples in the power supply needs to be as low as 0.3uv to fully resolve a 24bit signal of a 2.5V output. The walkman has only a 2V balanced output. So the voltage ripple requirements to fully resolve 24bits signal would be even more tighter/stricter. This doesn't even factor that you need very accurate timing requirements for the 96KHz/192KHz sampling rates.

Of course at this moment in time, no audio equipment can resolve full 24bit resolution but the point here is that we are trying to minimize DAC output errors, which can be caused by power supply noise generated from the Walkman SOC, Memory bus and other electronics inside, which we are trying to reduce by stopping unwanted processing/power draw that these bloatware is using.

 

[yaps66]

I did a rest to factory several times to locate the application. I am fine now. There is no downside other than loosing the accumulated time on the balanced port and single ended port data. Oh well

All’s well that ends well!

 

[Lépine]

Just some food for thought, we are talking about seeking the highest quality sound reproduction from our higher end audio equipment. Noise from the Voltage ripples in the power supply needs to be as low as 0.3uv to fully resolve a 24bit signal of a 2.5V output. The walkman has only a 2V balanced output. So the voltage ripple requirements to fully resolve 24bits signal would be even more tighter/stricter. This doesn't even factor that you need very accurate timing requirements for the 96KHz/192KHz sampling rates. Of course at this moment in time, no audio equipment can resolve full 24bit resolution but the point here is that we are trying to minimize DAC output errors, which can be caused by power supply noise generated from the Walkman SOC, Memory bus and other electronics inside, which we are trying to reduce by stopping unwanted processing/power draw that these bloatware is using.

I may not be able to clearly discern the audible improvement, but in theory I completely agree. If the reduction in time to rebuild a 13,000 song library is done in 40% less time, something has made the Walkman faster. It's working less in order to accomplish the same task.

I really like the Sony and this makes it better performing in some ways. The differences maybe more noticeable with other audio applications that I don't use, but other do. For so little cost and effort, this is definitely a must try.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I may not be able to clearly discern the audible improvement, but in theory I completely agree. If the reduction in time to rebuild a 13,000 song library is done in 40% less time, something has made the Walkman faster. It's working less in order to accomplish the same task.

I would think that the stock 1ZM2 walkman has already been very well tuned(sound wise, not system performance) by Sony out of the box, so the improvement might not be so discernable at first listen.

But do listen more carefully, some very well recorded tracks will show even more refined sound details, for example string instruments like violins can have even better clarity and smoothness. Try some DSD Albums if you have them, they tend to show the most improvements from changes in my experience. The improvement from debloating is more related to improvements to the purity and smooth refinement of the edginess of transient sounds(e.g. the sibilance sounds of vocals being even much less distracting, better defined). I think you may notice that after debloating, the listening fatigue from long listening sessions might come in much later.

Also have you tried Sensors off? This setting change seem to slightly affect the dynamics of walkman, just abit more strength/better detail to the micro transients.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Ah, I was wondering about the wallpapers, thank you. I am happy where it is. And it would only be trying to satisfy my need to keep the Sony as pure as possible, which apparently has high risk. I'll not touch it anymore. I definitely would not want to have to figure out how to make a non-bootable device load in safemode.

I am quite satisfied with how it sounds and definite improvements in responsiveness to the UI.

Great advice you have provided for this nice player. Now if I can try some of these optimizations on the Hiby RS8! Enough tuning the Corvette onto the Huracan

I would be in the opinion that most of these optimizations will be applicable to non-Sony Android daps, as long as they are running the same OS version or higher. @Whitigir has also applied some of these optimizations for his DX320 Ti and he has notice sound improvements from using the "Sensors off" tweak.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

I may not be able to clearly discern the audible improvement, but in theory I completely agree. If the reduction in time to rebuild a 13,000 song library is done in 40% less time, something has made the Walkman faster. It's working less in order to accomplish the same task.

I really like the Sony and this makes it better performing in some ways. The differences maybe more noticeable with other audio applications that I don't use, but other do. For so little cost and effort, this is definitely a must try.

Not just a reduction in database rebuild time, the walkman also boots up faster, just 40 seconds for my FW1.07:


Japanese youtuber WM1AM2:
Cold boot 50sec
Reset Boot 56.9sec

@Sonywalkmanuser debloated WM1AM2(FW1.07):
Cold boot 40sec
Reset boot 42sec

 

[Lépine]

Yes definitely less to load into memory helps with the cold boot up times. I think also opening the Sony app maybe quicker too from an already booted up hardware.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

Yes definitely less to load into memory helps with the cold boot up times. I think also opening the Sony app maybe quicker too from an already booted up hardware.

I think the biggest improvement is the quicker loading of album art in the Walkman music app. Also the silky fast text scrolling through the entire song listing that is free from judder/lag.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

@Lépine

Just some additional tweaks that can be applied if you intend on using your Walkman just for dedicated Walkman Music app playback(not using other streaming app/3rd party music app):

Settings > System > Developer Options > Standby Apps

Set all other apps to RARE

except these three to Active:
Music Player
Headphones
Sound Adjustment

Settings > System > Developer Options > Don't keep Activities > Toggle On

Settings > System > Developer Options > Background Process Limit > No Background Processes

Also for this last tweak(very optional in my opinon):

Settings > System > Developer Options > Suspend execution for cached apps > Toggle Enabled (reboot required)

What this settings does to apps:
https://source.android.com/docs/core/perf/cached-apps-freezer

Do note that enabling suspend execution will cause the walkman music app's album art to show up at slower rate when you first switch on the walkman display from standby mode. Try it out to see if you like it, it can be reverted back to defaults without issues.

https://www.reddit.com/r/oneui/comments/r9rqyp/enable_suspend_execution_for_cached_apps_saves_so/

samdash
·1 yr. ago
basically, android uses its power most of it's power on apps that are 1) on your screen 2) doing important crap in the background (playing music, downloading stuff, etc), anything else it puts in the cache. think of it this way - let's say Android is sitting at an office desk, with all of the important apps that are currently being used sitting on the desk (and taking up more power), when you switch apps, Android puts the unused app in a drawer - it's not using the main resources, but is in a special drawer (cache) from where it can be taken and launched super quickly in case you switch back to it.
the problem is that, while cached, apps can still use the processor and drain power that way. what this option does is it freezes apps that get put in the cache, resulting in less battery being used for apps you're not actually using.
the downside of this is that, when this option is enabled, the frozen apps take longer to launch. so if you like multitasking and switch from app to app often, you might notice a difference in speed. if you have a decent phone, it shouldn't be too bad, but I've seen reports ranging from "no difference at all" to "phone laggy to the point of unusable".
so just try it for yourself and see if you like it. sorry for the long ramble, hopefully that made it clearer.

 

[Sonywalkmanuser]

As for why it maybe hard/diffcult to hear sound improvements for some of us, I remember @Whitigir did have a discussion on this previously. Our brains do actively filter/tune out noises from sounds as well(cocktail party effect), so sometimes it might be harder to notice such distracting noises, artifacts, distortion in the music but do note that these unwanted noises/distortions can cause listening fatigue to set in faster or cause lesser music enjoyment/engagement(just think of why music coming from your PC onboard sound codec doesn't sound as enjoyable/musical as your Walkman for example).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect

MIT neuroscientists have now identified a brain circuit that helps us to do just that. The circuit they identified, which is controlled by the prefrontal cortex, filters out unwanted background noise or other distracting sensory stimuli. When this circuit is engaged, the prefrontal cortex selectively suppresses sensory input as it flows into the thalamus, the site where most sensory information enters the brain.

“This is a fundamental operation that cleans up all the signals that come in, in a goal-directed way,” says Michael Halassa, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the senior author of the study.

The researchers are now exploring whether impairments of this circuit may be involved in the hypersensitivity to noise and other stimuli that is often seen in people with autism.

Miho Nakajima, an MIT postdoc, is the lead author of the paper, which appears in the June 12 issue of Neuron. Research scientist L. Ian Schmitt is also an author of the paper.

Shifting attention

Our brains are constantly bombarded with sensory information, and we are able to tune out much of it automatically, without even realizing it. Other distractions that are more intrusive, such as your seatmate’s phone conversation, require a conscious effort to suppress.

https://news.mit.edu/2019/how-brain-ignores-distractions-0612#:~:text=MIT neuroscientists have now identified,or other distracting sensory stimuli.

 

[Lépine]

As for why it maybe hard/diffcult to hear sound improvements for some of us, I remember @Whitigir did have a discussion on this previously. Our brains do actively filter/tune out noises from sounds as well(cocktail party effect), so sometimes it might be harder to notice such distracting noises, artifacts, distortion in the music but do note that these unwanted noises/distortions can cause listening fatigue to set in faster or cause lesser music enjoyment/engagement(just think of why music coming from your PC onboard sound codec doesn't sound as enjoyable/musical as your Walkman for example).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail_party_effect




https://news.mit.edu/2019/how-brain-ignores-distractions-0612#:~:text=MIT neuroscientists have now identified,or other distracting sensory stimuli.

Or, it might be more about my ability to remember what it sounded like before changing everything All of these tips are great. And if the Sony is working less to playback off of SD cards, chances are that it's performing up to its full theoretical potential.

I have a RS8, SP2000, and the Sony WM-1Zm2. There all different, it's nice to get them to sound their best.