The Continuation Of The Sony Walkman 1Z/1A Thread!

Apr 27, 2025 at 9:49 AM Post #6,076 of 6,101
I am lucky that Steve was able to repair my W1. I have 88.5 you're with it.
 
Apr 28, 2025 at 1:55 PM Post #6,077 of 6,101
Is there any advice if I'm trying to get the most analogue and musical sound out of WM1a on Mr Walkman software One? Thanks.
 
Apr 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM Post #6,078 of 6,101
Apr 29, 2025 at 6:54 AM Post #6,079 of 6,101
Apr 29, 2025 at 9:37 PM Post #6,081 of 6,101
so I received yesterday my WM1A repair and revived, but the playback time was erased down to zero what I did first before in certain my micro SD card was to uninstall Mr. Wildman over uninstall the Sony stock 3.02
 
Apr 30, 2025 at 4:17 AM Post #6,082 of 6,101
so I received yesterday my WM1A repair and revived, but the playback time was erased down to zero what I did first before in certain my micro SD card was to uninstall Mr. Wildman over uninstall the Sony stock 3.02

first thing to do is thank steve for fixing your sony , seeing he had a huge issue with his kid and still found time to fix it for you

good manners will go a long way (if you thanked him in private , ignore this message)

regarding nayparm mods, i really hope that steve continues to offer his awesome mods , my modded wm1a is simply fantastic

2000 hours of usage and going strong and in love with it.
 
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Apr 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM Post #6,083 of 6,101
So, about 8 months ago I picked up (out of curiosity) a WM1A from the classifieds. I was bitten by the 'Sony housesound bug' pretty hard and soon it was followed by a ZX707 (JP) and an IER-M9, which I also both picked up on HF. Although I thought I was done 'Sony shopping' after that, recently an imho amazing WM1Z deal popped up in the classifieds and I simply couldn't resist 😅

20250430_115358.jpg

Enjoying the heck out of it by now, while testing various iems for synergy over here these days. What a superb (MrWalkman firmware mod was pre-installed on this one) sound: rich, full bodied with lots of details and an amazing (both width & depth) soundstage => totally loving it so far!!! :)
 
Apr 30, 2025 at 11:27 AM Post #6,084 of 6,101
congrats @Kerouac , now you got me looking for a used 1z myself

curious whether is it too heavy for outdoor use ? i put my 2 1a together and it was heavy but not that heavy

i also need to find people who have 1z and nayparm 1a and chime in on how different these 2 are sound wise

still , a bargain that 1z of yours , enjoy :)
 
Apr 30, 2025 at 11:54 AM Post #6,085 of 6,101
congrats @Kerouac , now you got me looking for a used 1z myself
Thanks and sorry 'bout that man 😅

curious whether is it too heavy for outdoor use ?
Although I was afraid beforehand that it might weight too much for practical use beforehand, in reality it doesn't bother me at all, now I have it here. Yes, it does weight almost double compared to the 1A. But it also has exactly the same size and footprint as the 1A, which makes it easy to carry around in a pocket, while listening. I even like the fact that it feels so solid because of the extra weight and the Sony case that came with it delivers great protection, as it's still easy to navigate the buttons on the (open) side of that one.

...people who have 1z and nayparm 1a and chime in on how different these 2 are sound wise
I'm also still a bit curious about that myself 🤔
 
Apr 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM Post #6,086 of 6,101
congrats @Kerouac , now you got me looking for a used 1z myself

curious whether is it too heavy for outdoor use ? i put my 2 1a together and it was heavy but not that heavy

i also need to find people who have 1z and nayparm 1a and chime in on how different these 2 are sound wise

still , a bargain that 1z of yours , enjoy :)
There is no sound difference. Especially if you get them both modded.
A stock 1Z will always sound better than a stock 1A. It uses litz wire instead of stranded. Stranded wire is garbage.
I've played around with all possible combinations of wires, metals constructions, geometries etc.
SilverGold foil, with every capacitor, front/back bypassed with film caps is the highest possible iteration of this player to my ears.
It sounds magical.
Sadly you lose the single ended output, but there is a way around that as well if you want to keep that functionality.
20250427_135037.jpg

20250417_124507.jpg
 
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Apr 30, 2025 at 1:26 PM Post #6,087 of 6,101
been thinking this last few days

is there another dap in the last decade that has been so much (in a good way) transformed through mechanical mods and new software like 1a/1z have ?

been 9 years since its release and seems to me like it is still a solid/valid option for top tier daps (and the value for money is pretty pretty good , considering the prices you can now find a used 1a/1z for sale)
 
May 1, 2025 at 3:54 PM Post #6,088 of 6,101
been thinking this last few days

is there another dap in the last decade that has been so much (in a good way) transformed through mechanical mods and new software like 1a/1z have ?

been 9 years since its release and seems to me like it is still a solid/valid option for top tier daps (and the value for money is pretty pretty good , considering the prices you can now find a used 1a/1z for sale)
I have about 30K invested in my 2 channel system.
Everything is tuned and modded/tinkered to the max.

When I'm using my portable WM1A modded DAP/ IEMs, there is no drop-off in sound quality whatsoever. I don't care if this thing is 9 years old, it still stands at the top of the heap of truly portable players for me.
DMP-Z1 being the sole exception... and that's not pocket friendly either.
This player is a once in a 25 year kind of product.

as long as they keep making batteries for this thing, I'm good to go.
 
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May 3, 2025 at 5:33 AM Post #6,089 of 6,101
congrats @Kerouac , now you got me looking for a used 1z myself

curious whether is it too heavy for outdoor use ? i put my 2 1a together and it was heavy but not that heavy

i also need to find people who have 1z and nayparm 1a and chime in on how different these 2 are sound wise

still , a bargain that 1z of yours , enjoy :)
I think you can save your money because once more that I don't think that a 1z it's not that different sound wise from the WN1A one due to the stick mod. I listened extensively to my mouth it WM1A side-by-side to my DMP and I honestly the sound difference was too small. It was so close to the DMV that I said wow if I had mowed my WN 180 before buying the DMP I just have saved my money.
 
May 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM Post #6,090 of 6,101
So it is nothing against Steve that I removed the golden ui walkman one firmware. Put more out of fear from the failure so I am back on stock Sony software I tested at first FW 3.01 and I didn't like it with my NP audio mode W1A as I found it to be two of us heavy almost us you use the same. Megabass button found on those cd players. So I went to FW 3.02 and I ended up liking it but some of the magic from the Walkman one is lost. I know what is on stage feels pretty natural.

How cold I achieve a similar sounding natural to Mr. Walkman firmware using the following profile tuning wm1z region j3 altdac
I think this configuration is just by @nc8000 but I want only to use external tuning or one of the early FWIZWM1A-dmp or chamaleon
 

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