Walkman Owners: What are your stock player settings?

[seekadds]

Sorry for the noob question, but I recently switched from Neutron to the stock player on my Walkman F series, and I am wondering about the sound settings. 
 
Surround sound: I have this off. It seems to me much more like (bad) EQ presets than any kind of artificial 5.1 or 7.1, which would also be bad.
 
DSEE: I can't notice a difference, so I have this off.
 
Dynamic Normalizer: I have this on. I normally use ReplayGain, but this is better than nothing. I don't notice any decrease in sound quality from it. 
 
Clear stereo: Very minimal difference, so I have this off. 
 
Clear phase: This is the one I am mainly asking about. I realized I had it on. The difference is noticeable. The bass goes down a bit, but the 'clarity' does increase. I'm not sure if this is just an artificial treble boost. Either way, with my dynamic headphones, it can sound good, but with my balanced armature IEM's, it adds sibilance without any additional 'clarity.' The only thing a Google search turned up was "Turn this off to save battery." 
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[shch13]

I own a Walkman Z which is sort of like the predecessor of the Walkman F.
The only sound enhancements I use occassionally is the Dynamic Normalizer and DSEE/Clear Phase.

Dynamic Normalizer to my ears makes the volume more consistent between songs and within the song; so you can hear each of the little instruments in the background a bit more clearer by lining up the volumes of all different aspects of the sound. Useful but sometimes big bass drowns out all the other sound.

DSEE/Clear Phase, I know they are two different types of features but to me they seem to serve similar functions. To me, they're only useful on songs with low bitrate it removes a sort of grubbiness that you can hear with low bitrate songs (compared with 320k).

I don't think there is Clear Stereo on the Z, and I don't use Surround Sound. I don't turn use those settings most of the time, because most of my music is FLAC, high bitrate MP3s or AAC/M4A rips.

 

[HONEYBOY]

I keep everything off...

 

[senzen]

On NWZ-Z1060, Equalizer off, surround off, DSEE on, Dynamic normalizer on, Clear Stereo on; the last three I fiddled with, can't remember why I use them. Clear Phase is greyed out.

 

[AUDIOBREEDER]

  Clear Phase is greyed out.

Why is Clear Phase greyed out? UN-Checking the box wont grey it out.

 

[shch13]

Clear Phase is greyed out if the "Select Headphones" is "Other" in the Sound option of the Settings menu.
i.e. your not using the bundled Sony IEM's they gave with your Walkman. Probably trying to trick you into using Sony sets only.

I leave it to "Bundled" but still use other headphones or headsets with it anyway.

 

[senzen]

  Clear Phase is greyed out if the "Select Headphones" is "Other" in the Sound option of the Settings menu.
i.e. your not using the bundled Sony IEM's they gave with your Walkman. Probably trying to trick you into using Sony sets only.

I leave it to "Bundled" but still use other headphones or headsets with it anyway.

That's right! Thanks, I'd forgotten about that. I'm using the Sony XBA-4, which sound amazing with the Z, by the way... So still Sony headphones... Just tried with everything off, sounds great.

 

[ShohailXTR]

Use my E series with every enhancement turned off except for Clear Bass in the EQ.