[SebaE2012]

Yes, here I am. Basically, because I wanted to do the burn in for both SE and balanced before experimenting...i want to have a clear sense of the DAP as it is out of the box, before trying new flavors. Personal circumstances have hindered the process, but I very much look forward to discovering all there is to discover in MrWalkman's numerous custom fws. I think the player is fantastic in stock form. Can't wait to see what the new, custom fws bring to the table.

 

[Mindstorms]

Is there someone here still using the 1a with stock firmware and why?

what you want to know exactly? can you be more specific?

 

[Mindstorms]

Yes, here I am. Basically, because I wanted to do the burn in for both SE and balanced before experimenting...i want to have a clear sense of the DAP as it is out of the box, before trying new flavors. Personal circumstances have hindered the process, but I very much look forward to discovering all there is to discover in MrWalkman's numerous custom fws. I think the player is fantastic in stock form. Can't wait to see what the new, custom fws bring to the table.

Nice let us know wich you like the most and why!

 

[nc8000]

what you want to know exactly? can you be more specific?

If somebody are using their player on a stock fw rather than one of the modded fw, and if they are, then why

 

[SebaE2012]

Nice let us know wich you like the most and why!

Thanks! Will do, as soon as I've gone through a period of experimentation with the new fws. I'm curious as to whether people here have found, using the custom fws, synergies that were not as good or strong or not present at all using stock fw. This might have been talked about somewhere in the OS thread or in some of the pages I've missed here, so I apologize if that's the case. But it's an interesting take on using different fws... Does anyone have a preference as to the different custom fws when using SE846, XBA-N3 or Z7M2? The Z7M2 is the only one I can use with the balanced output.

 

[Scubadevils]

I'm very happy with Midnight Plus - mostly paired now with the IER-M9 and adore the synergy, I think in part as my unit is further burning in, about 130 hours on the clock now - when first out of the box, I found it a bit too bright and at times actually quite harsh - its so smooth now, there have been moments today trying various albums where I've been just blown away by the sound quality, quite literally never heard anything like it in my life... a big statement but true! I'm curious to hear Midnight V2, how can it get better?!

 

[Kejusan]

What's the brightest MrWalkman FW out there? Since I haven't listened to any other Sony DAP, I'm quite clueless when the sounds is described to be simillar as other Sony's DAP. Anywhere I could refer to for the sound signature of every MrWalkman FW available?

 

[Mindstorms]

What's the brightest MrWalkman FW out there? Since I haven't listened to any other Sony DAP, I'm quite clueless when the sounds is described to be simillar as other Sony's DAP. Anywhere I could refer to for the sound signature of every MrWalkman FW available?

none of them is bright except 3.00 chameleon wich is regular fw the work you are asking will be up to the task to valued man (there is no value in feedback here)... i dont think you will find that to be the case...
Mr. walkman tunes sound signature acording to his preferences. maybe you should pm him

 

[Hinomotocho]

What's the brightest MrWalkman FW out there? Since I haven't listened to any other Sony DAP, I'm quite clueless when the sounds is described to be simillar as other Sony's DAP. Anywhere I could refer to for the sound signature of every MrWalkman FW available?

My experience with the firmwares may differ from others as there are many variables.
My WM1A is switched to J region, and my Oriolus iems have quite a warm bassy sound. When Dawn and Midnight came out, coming from FE+ I found Midnight to be too smooth and Dawn to be a bit too bright, being the brightest one I had tried - nice details though.

 

[Mindstorms]

have you guys looked at this review?

 

[Queen6]

What's the brightest MrWalkman FW out there? Since I haven't listened to any other Sony DAP, I'm quite clueless when the sounds is described to be simillar as other Sony's DAP. Anywhere I could refer to for the sound signature of every MrWalkman FW available?

Try DMP-WM1 FEv2, you can also switch regions as some are brighter than others; CN, E & U.

Q-6

 

[firemess]

Hi guys, I have a dilemma and searching for help
I owned the WM1A some months ago and I had to resell it, but now I am decided to buy it again.

My dilemma is about the WM1Z : I have the possibility to buy a used WM1Z for 1200€, or a used WM1A for 700€.

Within custom firmware, the difference in sound quality seems to be smaller, but considering those prices, should I get the WM1Z or is it still overpriced comparing to the WM1A witch the custom firmwares?

I have campfire audio Solaris.

Thank you !

 

[SebaE2012]

have you guys looked at this review?

I haven't yet, but will. Thanks for sharing!

 

[costas23]

Hi guys, I have a dilemma and searching for help
I owned the WM1A some months ago and I had to resell it, but now I am decided to buy it again.

My dilemma is about the WM1Z : I have the possibility to buy a used WM1Z for 1200€, or a used WM1A for 700€.

Within custom firmware, the difference in sound quality seems to be smaller, but considering those prices, should I get the WM1Z or is it still overpriced comparing to the WM1A witch the custom firmwares?

I have campfire audio Solaris.

Thank you !

I had the same thought as you, however I own a wm1z and wondered if I could go cheaper and lighter with the wm1a without a compromise in sound quality. Especially with the custom fws the differences seem to become less and less, or so I thought. So I also asked some friendly hf-members who have both devices, wm1a & wm1z, and they said that there still is a difference in sq and that they liked the wm1z better, even with the same custom fws. For me that was enough to stay with the wm1z and not try the wm1a.
I can't say anything about the wm1a as I didn't hear it, but the wm1z is such an amazing sounding player, it just makes everything sound super sweet and incredibly musical. I never heard a source, desktop or portable, that sounds that good. I also own a zx300 with custom fw and the wm1z is the much better sounding player, so much that I still always carry the heavy thing wherever I go.

But as you had the wm1a and you were happy with it, just go for it. The wm1z is much heavier, so not really good for on-the-go and of course double the price.
Best thing is of course to buy both and decide for yourself, the prices you mentioned are really fair (especially the wm1z at 1200€), so you may not even make a loss if you sell the one you like less. And hey..... if you try them both, please let me know what you think, as I am still curious

 

[firemess]

I get that, but the logic is pretty straightforward here - and no graphs or anything, just logic.

You have two identical boards. The only difference is caps, wires, and resistors.

You replace the caps on a 1A board with other caps that are better than even the ones on the 1Z board, as well as the firmware.

Having all these in mind, it's a very very small percentage that a 1Z stock board would still be better than the modified 1A board.

I honestly don't see how that is hard to believe. @Lookout57 has both the WM1A and WM1Z, and he confirmed that with both players having the same modified firmware (from the DMP series), the difference between them is very small. Because the difference is small, it can easily be overcome by the 1A if the board is modded, and it also confirms that the boards are actually almost identical, and that software does the biggest part.

I had the same thought as you, however I own a wm1z and wondered if I could go cheaper and lighter with the wm1a without a compromise in sound quality. Especially with the custom fws the differences seem to become less and less, or so I thought. So I also asked some friendly hf-members who have both devices, wm1a & wm1z, and they said that there still is a difference in sq and that they liked the wm1z better, even with the same custom fws. For me that was enough to stay with the wm1z and not try the wm1a.
I can't say anything about the wm1a as I didn't hear it, but the wm1z is such an amazing sounding player, it just makes everything sound super sweet and incredibly musical. I never heard a source, desktop or portable, that sounds that good. I also own a zx300 with custom fw and the wm1z is the much better sounding player, so much that I still always carry the heavy thing wherever I go.

But as you had the wm1a and you were happy with it, just go for it. The wm1z is much heavier, so not really good for on-the-go and of course double the price.
Best thing is of course to buy both and decide for yourself, the prices you mentioned are really fair (especially the wm1z at 1200€), so you may not even make a loss if you sell the one you like less. And hey..... if you try them both, please let me know what you think, as I am still curious

Thank you for your thoughts

I finally bought the WM1Z, the price convinced me to give this player a chance.
I'll update you once I've tested it in detail, but for now the stock sound is really different (in a positive way) than what I remember on WM1A with Custom firmware (A/Z++ in Z mode).
But maybe it's also because I haven't heard from a good source since a while