[CRITICALSHOT]

what is the benefit of having all that other stuff done? The battery life is the only thing I understood on nayparm site.

• 
  what does all this other stuff mean? And why would I want this stuff done?

What it means is that we should boycott Mr. W until he releases a custom Audio Note version of his mod. Since I own Audio Note gear I should get it first!

 

[nc8000]

What it means is that we should boycott Mr. W until he releases a custom Audio Note version of his mod. Since I own Audio Note gear I should get it first!

Well you could argue that what we get is for Audio Note since as far as I know it is a Nayparm modded 1A he is using to develop on

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

Well you could argue that what we get is for Audio Note since as far as I know it is a Nayparm modded 1A he is using to develop on

That mod is damn cool! I still call dibs!

 

[lmf22]

Has anyone tried driving any Focal headphones with the WM1Z? I'm interested in getting maybe a pair of Radiance or Clear MG but I'm not 100% sure how well it'll drive them, a few reviews kicking around seem to say it works fairly well.

Wondering if anyones actually tried it and can weigh in.

When I had the Focal Elear (80 ohm, 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz), my WM1A worked well with it. (I believe your WM1Z has similar output power.) The Radiance and Clear Mg has lower impedance and similar sensitivity, so I think they will work even better. I used the balanced output, but haven't tried the single ended output.

 

[Rukley]

When I had the Focal Elear (80 ohm, 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz), my WM1A worked well with it. (I believe your WM1Z has similar output power.) The Radiance and Clear Mg has lower impedance and similar sensitivity, so I think they will work even better. I used the balanced output, but haven't tried the single ended output.

Awesome, appreciate the reply. I'll probably be getting either the radiance or the og clear which have impedance around 35 I believe

 

[lmf22]

Awesome, appreciate the reply. I'll probably be getting either the radiance or the og clear which have impedance around 35 I believe

I believe the Clear is 55 ohm, according to Focal's spec sheet https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/catalog/document/clear_specification-sheet.pdf
Either way, I don't think you will have any problems driving the Clear on the WM1Z.

 

[MrWalkman]

The Shure SE846 goes very well from the single ended port with the WM1Z sound signature on my WM1A.

It's so good!

I wasn't using the Shure too much, in favor of the Sony Z7M2, but now I'll definitely use them more.

 

[audiojdm]

My thinking? You mean my understanding on how Amps work and the law of physics. My statement is pointing out an physical fact. That is not an opinion, it is how electricity works.

Software plays a role in it, that doesn't automatically mean it plays a big role. You can make two headphones that sound completely different, sound similar with enough EQ. With a fine tuned EQ you can force the Z7M2 to sound like a Z1R (or at least get very close to it).

Of course it is not a wrong statement that when you EQ the hell out of an Z7M2, the difference between the Z7M2 and Z1R is 90-95% Software. Because with Software you can get 90-95% of an Z1R (at least on the surface. With critically listening, it will show more differences).

Does that mean the Sound of the Z7M2 is defined by an EQ? No, of course not. Does that mean Software plays a big role in the sound of the Z7M2? Yes and no. It can play a big role, but that doesn't mean it does per se.

The WM1A can't do what the WM1Z can do because it lackes the capacitors and resistors to do it.

And what are 90-95% anyway? On what scale and in what terms? Compared with other DAPs, the WM1A sounds 90-95% like an WM1Z with stock firmware. Even the ZX507 sounds extremely close to an WM1Z. By that scale, getting an WM1A to sound 95% like an WM1Z is a pretty bad result because its pretty much 0% improvement.

I see you use WM1Z, so what is stock firmware are you use? have you ever try any mod firmware? I use the WM1Z(Midnight V2) I said it is better than stock( I use the EX-1000 and Ocharaku Kuro for now), but I cannot say it does not improve the sound on WM1A, because I don't have the WM1A. So if you try the mod MrWalkman on WM1Z I think it will improve too... comparison stock firmware and the mod is really different it can be better or worse depending on what version of stock firmware are you use and of course it is always back to your personal taste until you find the sweet spot(note all comparison stock and mods are direct, not eq, etc). What I agree here is the Mr.walkman mod WM1A makes the sound as close as the WM1Z the result they said is prety close but never the same as WM1Z. So if you are happy with your gear just love it don't hate it because someone makes the mod to bring more possibilities and options more than the SONY itself to max out the firmware out of WM1A/Z and finally match with your gear and playlist ^_^

 

[Redcarmoose]

I see you use WM1Z, so what is stock firmware are you use? have you ever try any mod firmware? I use the WM1Z(Midnight V2) I said it is better than stock( I use the EX-1000 and Ocharaku Kuro for now), but I cannot say it does not improve the sound on WM1A, because I don't have the WM1A. So if you try the mod MrWalkman on WM1Z I think it will improve too... comparison stock firmware and the mod is really different it can be better or worse depending on what version of stock firmware are you use and of course it is always back to your personal taste until you find the sweet spot(note all comparison stock and mods are direct, not eq, etc). What I agree here is the Mr.walkman mod WM1A makes the sound as close as the WM1Z the result they said is prety close but never the same as WM1Z. So if you are happy with your gear just love it don't hate it because someone makes the mod to bring more possibilities and options more than the SONY itself to max out the firmware out of WM1A/Z and finally match with your gear and playlist ^_^

Today I’m going to try the new firmware on the 1Z, let’s see?

 

[SebaE2012]

The Shure SE846 goes very well from the single ended port with the WM1Z sound signature on my WM1A.

It's so good!

I wasn't using the Shure too much, in favor of the Sony Z7M2, but now I'll definitely use them more.

I gotta give it a try, since I had been experiencing exactly the same use tendency as yours. I haven't used the SE846 in quite a while, favoring instead the Z7M2 when in the mood for setting up a somewhat less practical set of phones.

 

[MrWalkman]

I gotta give it a try, since I had been experiencing exactly the same use tendency as yours. I haven't used the SE846 in quite a while, favoring instead the Z7M2 when in the mood for setting up a somewhat less practical set of phones.

I tried "WM1Z" with Plus v2, MX3 region, and different DAC mode.

I also want to try it normally, without these additional options.

I am normally using the Shure when on the go, but they sound good now, better than usual

 

[terminaut]

I’m at the CanJam event and got to listen to the DMP-Z1 side by side with my WM1Z… Oh my.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I’m at the CanJam event and got to listen to the DMP-Z1 side by side with my WM1Z… Oh my.

Oh my, what? Good? Bad? Impressions please!

 

[terminaut]

Oh my, what? Good? Bad? Impressions please!

It was stunning. I went back to listen to it several times (and people were starting to call me out... "you again?!"). Until today, I was always thinking it's likely just a small incremental improvement over the WM1Z but that's not true at all... at least not when paired with my IER-Z1Rs and the 1950s cable.

 

[Kejusan]

I've moved on to WMOne/Bright/MX3 and now I get the sense of realism that some mention on this new CFW. Clarity is also on another level, I could almost understand what they're whispering in which I couldn't before. I couldn't still decide whether the bass is as tight/fast as FEv2/MX3 because the bass now is slightly less pronounced (Normal mode), which make it seems that FEv2 is more Neutral than Bright. Will try Neutral signature and compare afterwards but each CFW change I would feel very thankful that I've purchased this WM1A since I was VERY close to buying a new DX160 with all the praise in sounds and Lurker's FW mod when I happen to know about MrWalkman's CFW. Not to say that any of the other DAP's is inferior; if it would fit others needs then that's enough already, as the same goes with the lack of power or some audio purist will play down the sound coloration of Sony's DAP, but it fits me PERFECTLY and it is all that matters.

And during switching to WMOne, I took some time to listen to stock FW and I still don't regard them as any less inferior sounding, just a different sound that could fit into different music/mood.