Walkman M2 modifications

[Whitigir]

Disclosures: this is a simple guide for DIY. If you need more informations, please post up. Also, please share with us what other upgrades you have done as well! Enjoy modding !

One of the primary way to improve your Walkman M2 is by upgrading the internal wires. And the 1A M2 will benefits with a better price performances ratio, since the 1A and 1Z have the same internal build but with different chassis and Kimber cables for 1Z. The differences don’t only stop there, the 1Z is using 22Awg Kimber cables, which consist of different strands, different sizes between strands and internal pvc fibers. Anyways, the conductivity surface of the Kimber is actually about 23Awg. In the mean while, the 1A M2 has OFC with 26Awg. Therefore, the differences in technical is very real.

For me, I optEd for 24 AWG ultra pure Gold (not Goldplated) for my 1Z M2. The price is much more expensive than your jewelry grade Gold, which has more impurity. Soldering pure gold is not easy, and if you are not enthusiastic enough, the gold will be vaporized and fuse with your solder to become an alloy instead of staying to be a conductor wires. Therefore, please take your time, pay attentions, control your temperatures if you would like to use pure gold, otherwise, please carry on.

Sony explicitly mentioned about the usage of the newer power supplies reservoirs.


But what if you want even more harmonics ? In the while still be using the responsiveness of the Polymer from Sony ? I would be using an electrolytic for this harmonics. That means it would slightly affect the sound signatures overall. Especially when Sony is using class D amplifications with the voltage as close as the battery can provide as much as possible. The capacitors normally running at 3.6-4V

By adding parallel electrolytic capacitors, I further improve the responsiveness of the reservoirs by lowering ESR. Using basic switching Power supply calculator available from online websites, we have a values of 10-100uF that is available to be playing around with. Different values will have different effects on the overall signatures. So is the brand and the kind of the capacitors. It is all due to the dissipations factors, the tangent parameters and result in co- responsiveness overall. You can not tell the differences until you listen to them for yourself. I recommend wiring DIP sockets to easily plug-in and removing capacitors for testi by trials/errors and what you would like the most. Just make sure you don’t allow anything to short out during these sessions.

Each capacitors will exhibits a solid and stable signatures at about 1-2 hours burn in. So I usually burn in for 2 hours before switching to others, continuing burning in for all 6 different kinds. Listening over and over again. I finally arrived at the Nichicon Audiophile grade UKW 16V/100uF for better upper bass, and upper mid textures fidelity. Hard wired in with Hakugei top of the line Ultra Pure silver / Gold plated Litz wires.

The next problems is that Sony design and built are as always, very neat and tight. But they are very important so, because speaking of class D is speaking of Vibrations, frequencies, switching effects…etc. so, it is at utmost importance to have these components to stay as fixated as possible, dampening vibration and minimizing motions as much as possible.

For all that said, it is best to be using the internal plastic frames and work around for the better fit of the additional component. Carefully running the wires in a way that it stay away from the very sensitive S-Master as far as possible. Also away from other analog components.

Here it is, the result of it. Also using transparent Electrical liquid tape for insulation and physical dampening properties.

A very simple mod, but with great results and actually a lot of research’s just for it.

To anyone who would love to DIY , I just want to note that these capacitors are polarized. The Negative is on the balanced out side. Please do not short them out during the process.

The improvements: better separations, layering and micro dynamics . The details from upper bass and upper mids are with better expressiveness and more vivid. It also results in a larger and deeper soundstage overall.

Finally, I recommend you to not play around with your unit if you can not take the risks. Your warranty will be voided and all repairs will cost money from Sony. Also, there are no available parts for these players yet.

To anyone who has the balls and capable, cheers! And enjoy your mod! Walkman will hugely improve with internal wires upgrade and this PSU reservoir strengthening.

***also note*** for people who would love to upgrade the internal wires. Symmetrical is very important to class D amplifications. It is also one of the main upgrade point from M1 to M2 and between 1Z to 1A M2. The 1A M2 has one Channel with shorter length than the other in comparison to 1Z M2 which uses Kimber cables and have all 4 wires to be at equal length. The first generation 1A and 1Z both has 1 channel with shorter length than the other. Therefore, please keep in mind when you upgrade your wires, keep them at as equal length as possible . Additionally, please try to have the wires to stay as fixed as possible. You can see my pure gold wires with additional foam spacers to have it stay as fix as possible even when it is solid cores. The better and the more solid they are, the better

 

[zephyrstar]

Your threads are always super interesting! Would love to hear the difference this makes but no way I have the guts to try it myself.

 

[audionewbi]

So you kept it after all.

 

[Whitigir]

So you kept it after all.

Walkman is fun to have for sure , with great quality and reliability

 

[ttt123]

Cross post from the WM1Am2 thread.
*********************************************

I've read multiple impressions about the positive results from those Ground pin adapters which use the Ground from the 3.5mm socket to Ground the 4.4mm Ground pin, to make me curious about trying it out myself.
As I'm OK with DIY, my thoughts went towards adding a Ground internally, instead of using an adapter. This would be cheaper and simpler, and would also avoid an extra mechanical connection in the chain, caused by the extra male/female socket, and wiring.
I hesitated, as there was the question of why Sony did not do that. Surely they would have grounded the 4.4mm if there was a need?
- One reason may be that it creates a bit of static when unplugging the 4.4mm plug if a Ground is present on the 4.4mm Ground terminal.
- Another is that there is theoretically no need for the ground if not using a shielded cable. The Ground then "theoretically" does nothing.

So I gave in to the urge, rationalizing that I could always reverse it easily if I ran into any negatives.
So I opened it up and used a multimeter to look for a Ground that I could use. Turns out there is a Ground on the 4.4mm socket, close by.
I added a short wire, Cardas solid flat copper, that I had a couple of feet of. (The insulation shrank from the heat while soldering, so looks a bit sloppy.)

The result? It does sound better in dynamics, stage, detail, background, as other people have observed. Worth doing? Yes, well worth the small amount of work involved, is my personal observation. This is of course subjective, as I cannot easily switch it in and out multiple times to test it. And I am OK with going with my subjective feel. i.e. Not having a double blind verification does not affect my belief in what I am hearing. (If I am wrong, I am happy to be fooled!)
So for those people who do not believe without a double blind test/verification, please disregard.

I work backwards from these situations, where I do not have an explanation for why it should affect the sound before I try it. After I try, and I do hear the difference, I then try to theorize on possible reasons. My speculation is:
- damps RF that is present on the cable wires, as the block of metal on the 4.4mm plug which is now grounded, will absorb and reduce the RF. Obviously not as much as a shielded cable would, but the same general principle applies. This in turn results in lower noise, and anytime you can reduce noise, it has a positive effect. I speculate that this is what I am hearing.

I think of this as being similar to double wiring (bi-wiring) a speaker. Electrically, there is no difference, but there is a definite difference due to the difference in the signal configuration/path.

The Ground wire is the small wire at the top right corner on the 4.4mm socket. The other white 4.4mm wires in the photo were previously modded with Mundorf .5mm solid silver with 1% gold wires.

 

[andrewski]

Cross post from the WM!Am2 thread.
*********************************************

I've read multiple impressions about the positive results from those Ground pin adapters which use the Ground from the 3.5mm socket to Ground the 4.4mm Ground pin, to make me curious about trying it out myself.
As I'm OK with DIY, my thoughts went towards adding a Ground internally, instead of using an adapter. This would be cheaper and simpler, and would also avoid an extra mechanical connection in the chain, caused by the extra male/female socket, and wiring.
I hesitated, as there was the question of why Sony did not do that. Surely they would have grounded the 4.4mm if there was a need?
- One reason may be that it creates a bit of static when unplugging the 4.4mm plug if a Ground is present on the 4.4mm Ground terminal.
- Another is that there is theoretically no need for the ground if not using a shielded cable. The Ground then "theoretically" does nothing.

So I gave in to the urge, rationalizing that I could always reverse it easily if I ran into any negatives.
So I opened it up and used a multimeter to look for a Ground that I could use. Turns out there is a Ground on the 4.4mm socket, close by.
I added a short wire, Cardas solid flat copper, that I had a couple of feet of. (The insulation shrank from the heat while soldering, so looks a bit sloppy.)

The result? It does sound better in dynamics, stage, detail, background, as other people have observed. Worth doing? Yes, well worth the small amount of work involved, is my personal observation. This is of course subjective, as I cannot easily switch it in and out multiple times to test it. And I am OK with going with my subjective feel. i.e. Not having a double blind verification does not affect my belief in what I am hearing. (If I am wrong, I am happy to be fooled!)
So for those people who do not believe without a double blind test/verification, please disregard.

I work backwards from these situations, where I do not have an explanation for why it should affect the sound before I try it. After I try, and I do hear the difference, I then try to theorize on possible reasons. My speculation is:
- damps RF that is present on the cable wires, as the block of metal on the 4.4mm plug which is now grounded, will absorb and reduce the RF. Obviously not as much as a shielded cable would, but the same general principle applies. This in turn results in lower noise, and anytime you can reduce noise, it has a positive effect. I speculate that this is what I am hearing. I think of this as being similar to double wiring a speaker. Electrically, there is no difference, but there is a definite difference due to the difference in the signal configuration/path.

The Ground wire is the small wire at the top right corner on the 4.4mm socket. The other white 4.4mm wires in the photo were previously modded with Mundorf .5mm solid silver with 1% gold wires.

I haven't soldered since I was 14. I would like to attempt this, but won't. Thanks for sharing. I won't stop thinking of doing this

 

[ttt123]

Just getting around to posting this mod, that was actually done Oct 2023. Just in case people are curious.
This is the Relay Bypass mod.
- The white wires hanging off the MB are from the previous mod, where I replaced the wires from the MB to the 4.4mm socket. These are now removed.
- After reviewing what was done previously on the latter stages of the WM1A/Z mods, I realized that the Relay Bypass was the latter stage, and more advanced, wiring mod, and what I should have done on the 1A/Zm2 instead of the simpler wire replacement. This is also what the current modders are doing on the 1A/Zm2.

This Relay Bypass mod uses a wire from the output coil, direct to the 4.4mm socket.
- This bypasses the weak Relay contacts. The relay contacts oxidizing have been known to cause channel imbalance, or signal dropout, in the WM1A/Z. It is a bad weakness in the signal path, caused by the insertion of the relay into the signal path.
- Also bypasses multiple solder contacts, relay springs/solder, and MB traces
- Simplifies the signal path from a combination of about 10 solder points, different metal transitions, MB traces, wires for each signal.
- This is replaced with a wire from the coil to the 4.4mm (composed of 2 solder points, and 1 wire). So a much simpler, and cleaner path. And using a higher grade wire.
- The wire used is from a Brise UPG001 IEM cable. I liked the sound, but found the cable too stiff. So cut it up to use for the internal connection.

This is the wiring mod for the Walkman that is really worth doing. An overall improvement to multiple areas. Dynamics, micro/macro detail, etc. And the signal will not degrade as the relay contacts age/oxidize.

And it is actually easier to do.

 

[audionewbi]

Now, I wish someone can do this mod for me. I don't see npaudio have M2 on their site.

 

[ttt123]

Now, I wish someone can do this mod for me. I don't see npaudio have M2 on their site.

If you can find a local technician, who does repairs on DAPs, and provide the connection points/details for the 4 wires, it is easily doable.
And NPAudio will definitely do this, along with capacitor replacements. Just ask him.