[Vamp898]

I own the TA. Surprised you’re selling all the Sony stuff. Good luck with the sale. My only next items are the DMP and M9. For now, happy with what I have.

The WI-1000XM2 are so rarely used because I use isolating IEMs, I have just no use for them anymore.

The IER-M9 don't fit my ear well, no matter what I do. I have not gave up on them but I have no big hope anymore, sadly. But who knows. I ordered Spinfits, maybe they can change my mind. I love their sound, but I can't enjoy them the way they are now.

The WM1Z is not in the best condition (bought it as a demo unit) and gets replaced soon with a successor

The TA-ZH1ES was a mistake I'm not selling that one. Changing that right now, thanks for the notice!

 

[MatthewWeflen]

From whisper (30dB) to hair dryer (90dB) is still only 60dB of dynamic range. And I can tell you I never want my headphones to sound as loud as a hair dryer. 30-70 is the range I would want my music to live within.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

The files are sourced from various CD's. The albums with the biggest swings are on the Decca Sound: The Analogue Years 53 CD Boxset.

I will be ripping my Decca Sound stereo box soon!

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I must admit that I'm surprised that the max dB swing would be 26dB, I would have imagined that something like a classical symphony where at one point only a piccolo flute is playing quietly and the next moment the full orchestra plus an organ is playing at full blast would have more than 26dB difference (Saint-Saens Organ symphony). Also Telarcs 1812 overture with church bells and real live cannons ought to give much bigger swing (for this one I had the original lp and the grove distance and swings is clearely visible to the naked eye when the cannons go off)

I think the reality is that most listeners want their music to be neither that quiet nor that loud. I have several recordings of the Organ symphony (the best I think is the Living Stereo Charles Munch/BSO rendition) and who wants to be blasted out by the organ, or to be constantly turning up the volume for lower passages?

It's the difference between recorded and live performances, I think. Listening in the orchestra hall might give you more like 40-50 dB of range.

The Sibelius Violin Concerto is the piece that, in my memory, has the greatest DR (the opening trilling strings vs. the full strength of the orchestra) And on the database, the greatest measurement is still only 20dB.

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

I must admit that I'm surprised that the max dB swing would be 26dB, I would have imagined that something like a classical symphony where at one point only a piccolo flute is playing quietly and the next moment the full orchestra plus an organ is playing at full blast would have more than 26dB difference (Saint-Saens Organ symphony). Also Telarcs 1812 overture with church bells and real live cannons ought to give much bigger swing (for this one I had the original lp and the grove distance and swings is clearely visible to the naked eye when the cannons go off)

Saint-Saëns: Symphonie Nr. 3 "Orgelsymphonie"; Poulenc: Orgelkonzert @ 48/24 has a 19db swing.

 

[Queen6]

A lot of specifications & numbers are simply pushed for sales and marketing, as bigger & better for many sells. WM1A/Z certainly doesn't sound bad to me, never has done and likely why I'll likely retain my own WM1A as there are many facets to a portable DAP.

In the ideal scenario one would like to have top class sound, specifications, build quality and measurements that confirm the same. Overall I simply prefer what I like, the specification & measurements are of interest. Above all for me it's the sound signature the player presents and Sony has a specific house sound and superb execution of their hardware.

Sites such as Audio Science Review have their purpose and they too have improved on the review format over time, as ever constructive criticism helps. As has oft been said you can get great specification & measurements, however if the sound signature is not to your taste it's all irrelevant. Lotoo PAW Gold Touch is a good example having top end Spec & measurements, equally if one doesn't care for the DAP's reference sound signature the rest is moot...

Q-6

 

[Quadfather]

A lot of specifications & numbers are simply pushed for sales and marketing, as bigger & better for many sells. WM1A/Z certainly doesn't sound bad to me, never has done and likely why I'll likely retain my own WM1A as there are many facets to a portable DAP.

In the ideal scenario one would like to have top class sound, specifications, build quality and measurements that confirm the same. Overall I simply prefer what I like, the specification & measurements are of interest. Above all for me it's the sound signature the player presents and Sony has a specific house sound and superb execution of their hardware.

Sites such as Audio Science Review have their purpose and they too have improved on the review format over time, as ever constructive criticism helps. As has oft been said you can get great specification & measurements, however if the sound signature is not to your taste it's all irrelevant. Lotoo PAW Gold Touch is a good example having top end Spec & measurements, equally if one doesn't care for the DAP's reference sound signature the rest is moot...

Q-6

I want that gold brick.

 

[Queen6]

I want that gold brick.

Is a different sound, mostly engineered in software with a stronger bias towards the Sony house sound. Custom firmware will get you to 90% the same on WM1A. That said if you want WM1Z then there is no substitute

Q-6

 

[Quadfather]

Is a different sound, mostly engineered in software with a stronger bias towards the Sony house sound. Custom firmware will get you to 90% the same on WM1A. That said if you want WM1Z then there is no substitute

Q-6

It's perty.

 

[Queen6]

It's perty.

Truly is, yet impractically heavy. If had money to burn I'd have one just for the look

Q-6

 

[Hinomotocho]

I actually prefer the black of my 1A as the solid black background makes the logo, controls and album art pop out, but I could well appreciate the gold as my mind could associate it with the step up in price and sound quality.
Firmware improvements aside, from opinions shared from the threads I'm taken by the description of the 1Z's bass, treble and soundstaging. Apart from a Cowon S9 the Sony sound always won my ears over, moving on and up from the A15 > ZX100 > ZX300 > WM1A and having appreciated each step up I am drawn to the idea of the upgrade, if it doesn't come to be the 1A will do me just fine.

The Nayparm mod is very appealing and from what I have heard he is a good person to deal with and his work is outstanding but as he is on the other side of the world the shipping cost and factors are a deterent, also, although it was not his fault for some issues, and he stood by his work correcting the issue, I would favour peace of mind having a stock 1Z.

 

[Vamp898]

[...]mostly engineered in software[...]

I think it is mostly due to the different hardware.

The WM1Z uses different capacitors on the backside and different resistors in the whole design.

The used capacitors play the biggest role in Sonys house sound.

And of course the different chassy. According to the Design Team, they already tried to release an ZX2 in an gold plated ofc chassy because in experiements, it showed the best sound. But they weren't able to mass produce one and so delayed, but never dropped the idea.

Fun fact, after booting up the WM1Z, it takes up to 4 minutes until all capacitors and only then, it provides the full sound quality

 

[nc8000]

G

I think it is mostly due to the different hardware.

The WM1Z uses different capacitors on the backside and different resistors in the whole design.

The used capacitors play the biggest role in Sonys house sound.

And of course the different chassy. According to the Design Team, they already tried to release an ZX2 in an gold plated ofc chassy because in experiements, it showed the best sound. But they weren't able to mass produce one and so delayed, but never dropped the idea.

Fun fact, after booting up the WM1Z, it takes up to 4 minutes until all capacitors and only then, it provides the full sound quality

Going by what's been achieved by MrWalkman with his modded fw it does seem that a big part of the difference happens in software

 

[Vamp898]

G

Going by what's been achieved by MrWalkman with his modded fw it does seem that a big part of the difference happens in software

Thats like saying "You can just buy an MDR-Z7M2 and EQ it to make it sound like an MDR-Z1R"

Of course you can, of course it will sound similar but the changes between the MDR-Z7M2 and MDR-Z1R are not software/EQ. You can bridge that gap with software, but thats something different.

According to 原田 紀, the Software Designer of the WM1 Series, the WM1A and WM1Z use the exact same firmware. If he is not lying (and i assume that, they use the exact same firmware file and, as mentioned later, it would make no sense in the first place).

Of course you can EQ an WM1A to sound similar to an WM1Z. You could EQ an FiiO M11 Plus LTD to sound similar and depending on what headphone you use, you maybe never hear a difference.

Everyone who ever built an DIY Amp knows, that the biggest influence on the sound is due to the choice of capacitors.

Why should Sony make themself the hassle and use different capacitors and resistors for the WM1A and WM1Z when they could have done the same in Software. The different use in capacitors already do the job, they already make them sound different. It is physically impossible that they sound the same due to the hardware.

I think thats a bit of dream thinking of people who don't want or just can't afford an WM1Z but can afford an WM1A and want the piece of calm that with the software fix, they sound so close, they no longer have to think about getting an WM1Z. And i can feel with them. The WM1Z is insanely expensive but it is the way it is. The MDR-Z1R is also very expensive but still, there is no way to get the Z1R sound without buying a Z1R, no matter how good you can EQ the Z7M2.

Its cool that MrWalkman was able to improve the WM1A sound, but that doesn't mean, that the changes in WM1A/Z are in software.

 

[MrWalkman]

Its cool that MrWalkman was able to improve the WM1A sound, but that doesn't mean, that the changes in WM1A/Z are in software.

Oh, but they are! Also, EQ has nothing to do with any improvements brought by these mods. Sony relies a lot on brilliant sound processing to achieve the sound signatures on these players.

I'll comfortably say this every time: the differences in sound signature between 1A/1Z are created mostly in software (about 90-95%). The rest is indeed the different capacitors/resistors.

If you want to tell yourself that this is not true, that's your choice, of course. It would be best maybe if you'd have both 1A and 1Z players and you could do a side-by-side comparison, while both players have the same firmware installed.

To realize how software is so important for these players you could try the Midnight v2 mod (based on the 1A/Z firmware) on a player like A30/40/50, and you'll notice how much better it will sound.