Picture Sunday: Sony WM1Z Walkman

Disclaimer: Today on Picture Sunday, we present you the Walkman WM1Z. This sample unit is shipped to me from Sony Japan. Big thanks to Masayuki Morioka from Sony Japan and also thanks to Sony Turkey marketing team for reaching me and handing me the unit in person. 

You can check out all of our Picture Sunday posts HERE.

THE GOLD WALKMAN – WM1Z

When you want to achieve the utmost sound quality, you need to not shy away from using top quality materials and internals. Sony WM1Z is a result of that according to Sony Engineers. That’s because Sony set them free to use whatever they like to get to the highest level of sound. Tempted by that, they created this great portable (well, almost portable)  player that gives a pure musical joy.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The WM1Z is no doubt an impressive DAP. It’s not on the analytical side as you can guess, instead it sounds like an analog device. It’s warm and meaty and you can even call it “colored” to some extent. If your aim is to get a musical DAP this is the top of the mountain. It has wonderful bass notes, especially with the deepest tones of instruments. Generally the sound has a nice delicious weight, without overly doing so.

Don’t let this impression make you think like it lacks the technical capabilities. This is the exact point that makes WM1Z so special. While being a highly musical DAP, it sounds amazingly refined and it has every kind of technical prowess you can think of. Dynamism, resolution, fully black background, seperation, intimacy, soundstage, everything..

Of course the one DAP that people will usually compare is the WM1A, the standart aluminum version. The difference between them is apparent to me. WM1Z is ahead on timbre, refinement, dynamism, resolution and in terms of giving the smallest information across the spectrum it’s amazing. So there’s of course a noticable difference. The biggest difference though is the sound character. WM1Z sounds fuller and more dynamic, putting you inside of a musical perfection and you just sit back and let yourself go. If you listen to an emotional song, you can even cry for it. That’s how beautiful WM1Z’s sound is.

Stay tuned on Headfonia and you’ll see the full review of WM1Z soon!

4.5/5 - (34 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

15 Comments

  • Reply July 16, 2017

    Olivia Stone

    “Stay tuned on Headfonia and you’ll see the full review of WM1Z soon!”

    nice joke guys, just like the iSine review … stay tuned :))

    • Reply July 17, 2017

      Berkhan

      Let’s be thoughtful 🙂 We have lots of gear to cover and sometimes their turn comes after a long time.

      • Reply July 17, 2017

        Olivia Stone

        sorry,
        waiting to see your review anyway

        • Reply July 17, 2017

          Berkhan

          My WM1A is going for a screen repair or replacement. WM1Z will come first 🙂

  • Reply July 16, 2017

    Clarence

    Looking forward to the WM1Z in-depth review, a comparison with the SP1000 would be nice too.

    • Reply July 17, 2017

      Berkhan

      I don’t have the SP1000 I’m afraid.

  • Reply July 16, 2017

    Brandon

    I have just bought the WM1A, using the Sony PHA-3, Z1R. I am just getting into the Audiophile world, believe it or not I spent the last 2 months reading (3-4 hours everyday) reading on this site and head-fi, from portables to amps, and of course headphones, then I went out to some high end audio stores to actually listen to what everyone has talked about or put their 2 cents in on. So my starting point is the 3 items listed above, I have never been so overwhelmed with joy in listening to music, I believe I put my money in the right spot to start. I did have the AK70 but returned it for the WM1A. This WM1Z as tempting as it was pull the trigger on, I thought to myself and what you guys here mentioned in the guides (its better to have 3 headphones than just 1) So looking at this WM1Z price point, I could get a Sen.-H800D and the Sen – Desktop AMP for the price of this 1 player. Look forward to hear the review on this compared to the WM1Z, I absolutely love this WM1A.

    • Reply July 17, 2017

      Berkhan

      A lot of times people who start the hobby pay too much on the wrong stuff for them. We call that an experience to find the right gear for your preferences. But it’s nice to hear from you that you find them right from the start.

      Enjoy the WM1A. It’s a great DAP.

      • Reply July 18, 2017

        Brandon

        Thank you, today I went into a high end audio shop and I wanted to play around with AMP’s to see what you were talking about with SSD AMPs and Tube AMPs, I did learn something because while I was testing the AMP’s I was switching between the LC2, HiFiMan HE1000 v2, Grado P1000e and LCD X. First off, I found out that Tubes are in no way shape or form my type of AMP, so that made me happy. The other is I really love the PHA-3 and Deckard AMP. I played 3 songs that really hit all the notes and style I am looking for in sound. Bought the LC2 today, Z1R for pretty much everything else and LC2 for my classical and Irish music. Its been worth every penny.

        • Reply July 18, 2017

          Berkhan

          So it seems you’re a solid state amp guy 🙂

          Btw, I also liked the PHA-3 and Deckard amp. Deckard especially sounds so good.

          • Reply July 19, 2017

            Brandon

            You are correct sir! Haha, the Deckard amp is really nice! I do have one question if you don’t mind. I was looking to upgrade the cables for my Audeze headphones and I wanted to be able to get one set that has the 3.5mm headphone jack at the end and one with the 4.4 balanced at the end so I can use my Sony WM1A without an amp if I have to. Can you point me in the right direction of cables that I can get that will improve bass, hights, mids , that are $450 (each) or less please, everyone claims they have best but I dont even know where to start. I would be willing to even buy used! Thanks.

            • Reply July 19, 2017

              Berkhan

              Maybe buy one cable and use a 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter?

              Regarding the cable choice, I don’t know which cable would be better for your Audeze but in terms of companies, you might wanna look at Effect Audio and PlusSound.

              Keep searching! I hope you’ll find what you want.

              • Reply July 19, 2017

                Brandon

                Thank you for your assistance! The search begins.

              • Reply July 19, 2017

                Brandon

                Sidenote – I spent 3 hours this morning on some LCD-XC’s, I had it connected to the Deckard………I think I heard God this morning…Audeze also updated their cables that they send out to people by the way, the change went into effect 3 months ago.

  • Reply July 22, 2017

    Sarnia

    You can’t use a 3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter, going single ended to balanced won’t work and may damage your DAP.

    You can go 4.4mm balanced to 3.5mm single ended but no adapters are available yet.

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