Sony NW-WM1A Review (Digital Audio Player)

[Billy Budapest]

This guy obviously came in to add links to another forum (head-fi, to which I belong as well) to drive traffic there, so that people will read about the Sony there instead of here. This is often done when another forum (in our case, ASR) gets regularly indexed by Google bots.

I suggest that Redcarmoose’s posts in this thread be deleted because they don’t add anything constructive and apparently were planted to divert readers from this forum to head-fi.

 

[RealityCheck18]

You had me running for the door with "proprietary" and "delicate" cable

Shame, oh well--Sony has been on the ropes for years and is trying the mystical and shiny over solid engineering. Some years back they came out with "audiophile memory cards" or nonsense across those lines. I would assume the engineers would come through with such an expensive DAP that would last for years and take serious abuse--use traditional cables and have people actually use it, complain, refine the product and get it right.

Proprietary means disposable--or you take it in the shorts for stupid things like cables etc. That is fine if your gear is a fashion statement or throw it in the landfill every 2 years striving for the latest in gadget fashion--is that what Sony is going for?

Sorry Sony, your brand image now means video games so no automatic pass with audio equipment. The Sony ES stuff was decent but that was many moons ago as your brand faded away over time. Since Onkyo/Pioneer is circling the drain, it would of been cool if Sony gave a shot at making good, solid higher performance gear with an eye for customer support. Of course, Sony has always been the poster child for screwing up things that were sure things but lack of paying attention to the customer screwed them in the end. Beta, DAT, Mini-Disc and they finally won with BluRay just as the world went to streaming--good luck next time!

It is odd that Sony used engineering budgets to make proprietary cables and poorly operating software. Maybe if they saved some money on using common cables they could of done the software right the first time? Well, with software you can beta test it on the consumers and they can download the properly working stuff when you get around to writing it--the curse of the early adopters is strong in software.

If I spent real money on a DAP, I would expect to actually use it long after the warranty expired. Delicate cables break and you are attached at the hip to how ever long the manufacturer prefers to continue to make the cable. Well, if there is money in it than our pals in China will knock you off which is a good thing. I have a DeWalt 36V battery pack for my industrial grade power tools--DeWalt quit supporting them after 10 years. Luckily, our pals in China will take my old packs, install new A123 cells, do a load test on them and send them back ready to go. My sawzall and circular saw get a second life, I should be good for another 10 or 15 years. Needless to say, I need another drill and DeWalt gets the pass as I know one company that still offers batteries, parts and service on tools over 20 years old.

As the old saying goes, "You can buy better but you can't pay more!" Oh well, the last time I bought anything from Sony was in the 90's and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. My son bought the Playstation so that don't count!

Thanks again to ASR, a great source to keep disposable/proprietary crap out of my system.

 

[PeteL]

I have two pair of headphones I use regularly. I prefer the Sennheiser 650 when I am in a quiet environment. I used them to master a few live recordings I made. I use them when I want a "second opinion" on something that seems odd through my speakers. Occasionally, I just use them to listen to music, though I prefer speakers.

I also have a pair of Sony noise cancelers (WH1000XM2). They are great in the gym, airplane, coffee shop -- all the places I don't go anymore! And they are nice to listen to. Usually, I use them through Bluetooth, because in those places, the cord is a nuisance.

My impression is, I can really hear fine differences using the Senns. Not so much using the Sonys. So even with ANC headphones, I don't understand the value in ultra-fidelity portable players. Obviously, that's a subjective conclusion, and obviously, other people disagree. Everyone spends their audio money the way that they see fit.

I wasn't really serious about ANC, just joking about the fact that the places he would need a DAP are too noisy environment for serious listening. That's one way to make it quieter... WH1000x in BT mode uses it's own dac and it's own amp, obviously there is not much the player can do to make it better. I personally use IEMs, I feel mine have enough isolation to appreciate music in most situations.

 

[velasfloyd]

I have two pair of headphones I use regularly. I prefer the Sennheiser 650 when I am in a quiet environment. I used them to master a few live recordings I made. I use them when I want a "second opinion" on something that seems odd through my speakers. Occasionally, I just use them to listen to music, though I prefer speakers.

I also have a pair of Sony noise cancelers (WH1000XM2). They are great in the gym, airplane, coffee shop -- all the places I don't go anymore! And they are nice to listen to. Usually, I use them through Bluetooth, because in those places, the cord is a nuisance.

My impression is, I can really hear fine differences using the Senns. Not so much using the Sonys. So even with ANC headphones, I don't understand the value in ultra-fidelity portable players. Obviously, that's a subjective conclusion, and obviously, other people disagree. Everyone spends their audio money the way that they see fit.

There is some valid use cases for good quality daps. I have one I use myself:

- I like to use my headphones and listen sessions in the night in my bed. I dont want to have a computer there. So I carry my dap and my Beyer Amiron or other and enjoy there. I would love to use my iphone, as the software is 200000 % better than any dap, but sadly, and this is the main reason for me to have a dap, it has no prev/play/next physical buttons. I need the blind control as I dont want to open my eyes and see the screen to change to the next song. Now, some of you will say to use this cables with the mic control.... the problem is that they are no nice to me, as you have to make a double or triple tap to make stuff.... and if you want to re-listen the last 10 seconds so to say, you need to make a double tap plus another tap and hold.....

Now, I did my tests and for me, the iphone, any dap, a transparent dac+amp desk...... all sound the same.... so I will never spend more than 100 or 200 in any dap. As for me is only for the easy use and convenience.

 

[Mike-48]

I personally use IEMs, I feel mine have enough isolation to appreciate music in most situations.

Oh, that certainly is a case I forgot. The IEMs I tried made my ears itch so much, I was happy to get the Sonys. I suspect that if I'd tried custom molds, I would have had a better experience.

 

[PeteL]

Oh, that certainly is a case I forgot. The IEMs I tried made my ears itch so much, I was happy to get the Sonys. I suspect that if I'd tried custom molds, I would have had a better experience.

Interestingly, I have a pair of customs, that I bought, thinking I wanted customs, but never liked them, so for me a waste of money in this case, but I shouldn't generalise of course, just a bad decision, purchasing a product on paper only, never really reviewed and listened too, but my bad purchase shouldn't hold people back, the fact that they are customs is not the problem, the frequency response is... I use Grado GR10e, they are excellent, but also tiny, confortable and I like the fact that they don't "look" that fancy. Nobody knows at the gym that your earphones are expensive.

 

[M00ndancer]

As the old saying goes, "You can buy better but you can't pay more!" Oh well, the last time I bought anything from Sony was in the 90's and I don't expect that to change anytime soon. My son bought the Playstation so that don't count!

Confession time: I'm a SONY owner. I own and use the following Sony products:

PS2
PS3
PS4
Sony Blu-Ray player
KDL-55W829B
KDL-40w5500
MDR-1000x
MDR-1a (1:st gen)

And I totally agree about Sony loosing it's way. Just think about all the faults with the Sony stuff I own:

PS2, The original didn't survive long. Really crappy quality. The Controllers as well. Now I use a slim PS2 and a converter with an ergonomic PS4 controller wirelessly.

PS3, this is the second one. The first one died 4 times, the last time I couldn't revive it with re-flowing the chips. The second PS3 wasn't much better, the laser diod died 2 months after the warranty expired and had to be replaced. So Why keep that? Well first of all the games, and then the simple fact that it is the best upscaler I have for DVD and the best Blu-ray player in the house hold despite having a much recent dedicated player.

PS4 is used 90% as a streaming media player. Things like Netflix, Youtube, Prime Video and from time to time used for games by me (When I can lure the wife away from it) But I have to say it works perfectly.

The KDL-40w5500 is my low-latency gaming TV. PS2 with component video, PS3 on HDMI for gaming (have to "borrow" it from the our living room when I want to play games) Is it perfect? No, lots and lots of black uniformity problem, all thanks to the old crappy CCFL backlight is. But the lag and response is top of the line still.

KDL-55W829B Our current living room TV, nothing to say about it really, price/performance ratio perfect. Old, no 4K, HDR. The thing I miss the most is the HDR. But the Smart-tv function is so bad and slow it's embarrassing. Just another example of good hardware and sup-par software implementation. Typical Sony.

MDR-1000x First gen NC headphone from Sony, really good sound, great battery-life, surprisingly good ANC. But what the hell were they thinking?
First, the microphones is so good that the slightest sound, wind makes it impssoble to talk to anyone one over the phone, had to get a V-moda mic cable to able to talk to anyone. (No, the MK3-4 is no better) Secondly, who thought that using then as a headset (mic and headphone) in windows degrades the sound to 8-bit 8 kHz audio is a good thing? Third, if you use the 3.5mm you loose all control over things like volume, but you can still use the ANC Settings? Forth, why can't you use anything DAC/AMP when charging them?

MDR-1a (1:st gen) My absolute favorite headphone, I love the sound and comfort. But, I'm on number two. Why? Crappy quality and engineering. The first set had two be repaired twice before the laws in my country forced them to exchange them for a new set. But no, the item is out of stock so we will replace them them this MDR-1a Mk2 (So not the same sound...). I finally got my money back and bought a new pair of the old stock.
End of story, no no no. The quality is still bad, the paint is flaking off. I'm scared to death that the hinges will brake (as the old ones). But the sound, suit me like a glove and the comfort is unreal. New pads and the sound is even better. A good Sony product, no. The execution is so bad. But you will have to pry them from my dead cold hands.

Sorry for the rant. I still want my old Sony back. All those fantastic Walkmans, amps... Still miss my DD2, to bad that it didn't survive the 10:th crash to the hard floor. I was young and clumsy, ok?

 

[Xulonn]

my antidiluvian steam punk alternative.

Wow Frank - you've got one of these??? /s

 

[raif71]

This was released in 2017 and cost less than $200. Not a DAP but portable devices whose performance surpassed this $1200 device existed even back then, at far cheaper prices.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sd-dac-and-portable-headphone-amplifier.3507/

This is from 2018 https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...o-measurement-of-lg-g7-thinq-smartphone.4468/

Sorry, this thing is just bad.

I suppose in 1 year, a lot can change for the "better". I don't own the wm1a coz it's too expensive but I have the a45, a105, zx300 (used) and pha-3 (used). I find that a45 and a105 suffer from a lack of power amp wise with senns6 series and I have to pair them with external dac/amp.. a45 with pha-3 and a105 with fiio A5. zx300 is ok (not great though) coz it has the 4.4mm balanced jack.

 

[M00ndancer]

zx300 is ok (not great though) coz it has the 4.4mm balanced jack.

And to add more pain to the injury, my MDR-1a was advertised to have balanced out. It has, but only if you get the really expensive 4.4mm cable. Way to go Sony. At the time it was more expensive than the headphone. (I got the headphone in a sale)

 

[raif71]

And to add more pain to the injury, my MDR-1a was advertised to have balanced out. It has, but only if you get the really expensive 4.4mm cable. Way to go Sony.

I see. I got the mdr-1am2 and this was provided with a 4.4mm cable.

 

[wasnotwasnotwas]

Wow Frank - you've got one of these??? /s

View attachment 97298

Captain Nemo wants his communicatron back.

 

[M00ndancer]

I see. I got the mdr-1am2 and this was provided with a 4.4mm cable.

Optional upgrade on the am1....

 

[sarumbear]

It is not only Sony that lost the plot. Almost all Japanese consumer equipment has. I think the reason lies in their inability to write software that creates what most consumers expect from a user interface (UI). Before software owned the world all you had to plan for is placing a large volume control, a balance control near it, some tone controls pots and a few switches. The UI was how the power switch felt and whether the LED colours are easy to understand if the device is on or on standby. There wasn't any menu anywhere!

To argue my point look what happened to the Japanese mobile phones of 90s. They were miles ahead of Nokia or Ericsson. The Emoji that is so ubiquitous now was on Japanese mobiles back in the 90s. Why do you think only Emoji has survived and now there are almost no Japanese manufactured mobiles that use their own software. They all run Android!

Further to argue my point, why do you think Japan couldn't follow up their market hegemony on VCRs? Because digital video recorders required software, which they cannot write.

Software took their market away, their products dwindled and their precision manufacturing proves was lost. There is no more a flow of feedback from a vast dealer network. This is why we are seeing such a silly design.

Thanks for listening.

 

[PeteL]

It is not only Sony that lost the plot. Almost all Japanese consumer equipment has. I think the reason lies in their inability to write software that creates what most consumers expect from a user interface (UI). Before software owned the world all you had to plan for is placing a large volume control, a balance control near it, some tone controls pots and a few switches. The UI was how the power switch felt and whether the LED colours are easy to understand if the device is on or on standby. There wasn't any menu anywhere!

To argue my point look what happened to the Japanese mobile phones of 90s. They were miles ahead of Nokia or Ericsson. The Emoji that is so ubiquitous now was on Japanese mobiles back in the 90s. Why do you think only Emoji has survived and now there are almost no Japanese manufactured mobiles that use their own software. They all run Android!

Further to argue my point, why do you think Japan couldn't follow up their market hegemony on VCRs? Because digital video recorders required software, which they cannot write.

Software took their market away, their products dwindled and their precision manufacturing proves was lost. There is no more a flow of feedback from a vast dealer network. This is why we are seeing such a silly design.

Thanks for listening.

The UI on this is miles better than any DAP from China, and China has never been stronger on the HIFI Market than now. Actually, that may be right that we are not in the Golden Age of Japanese HIFI, but products like this, at least show that tey are still a player, at least they try, and they do have their followers, we may judge this based on this crowd criterias here, but it does have the industrial design, and arguably the user experience of a high end product. I would be surprised, if there are many dap over 1k$ that sell more worldwide, I don’t have the data to prove this, but realistically, Astell and Kern are a much smaller market in he same segment, who else? Yeah, granted it’s not a reference as the 80’s walkman was, Apple grabbed that spot with the IPod and never looked back, and phones took over. sure, t could have been Sony, it hasn’t, but this whole theory of japanese poor at coding is a bit far fetch. Did Samsung became Samsung. because of their expertise at UI? they´re Corean and use Android too you know, it’s not about Japan, It’s about The GAFA owning the world, in this era, your theory is a bit much...

 

[Sanlitun]

I have searched for that word on Sony's webpage:
higher model NW-WM1Z (price $3,199.99}: word not found
TOTL model DMP-Z1 (price $,,99): word spotted!
"Audio perfection, wherever you are"

Would love to see measurements of the DMP-Z1 or the trusty TA-ZH1ES. The latter has been my main headphone rig for a couple of years now. It sounds great but I suspect it measures poorly.

 

[Xulonn]

Have you ever watched a master guitar builder pick out a piece of wood for a $7000 jazz guitar?

This Sony appears to be a rather expensive, under-performing, but built like a tank, DAP.

And actually, I do know a lot about picking wood for expensive guitars, in addition to being into audio since the days of monaural audio and vacuum tube gear back when I was a high school student in Chicago in 1958, and working as an usher for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the Fritz Reiner era.

But I am also intelligent enough to know the difference between creating music and seeking maximum accuracy to the recording with an audio playback system. I trust Amirm and his reviews, and ther is a reason that we have such a great mix of members from around the globe here at ASR. Some of the ASR regular contributors are musicians in addition to being engineers and scientists in audio and related fields, so there are many credible voices to be heard here.

But about my knowledge of guitars and wood...

In the early days of my "retirement" from IT/network administration administration and also technicals sales, I worked for four years with Kris Worden, currently one of the woodworkers at Alembic Guitars in Santa Rosa, California. His boss, Bob Nelson was the president of the local woodturning club I belonged to - Wine Country Woodturners. In 2007, Kris had left Alembic and was working at the Santa Rosa (franchise) Woodcraft store, where we became friends, and where he mentored me in my quest to become an exotic hardwoods specialist. When I started working at Woodcraft to supplement my Social Security pension, Kris gave me his traditional "welcome to the woodcraft staff" presents, one of his little 6" long signature oval lift-lid boxes - with my choice of purpleheart for the oval insert on the top. I brought it with me when I retired to Panama in 2012.

Kris went back to work at Alembic about one year before the Woodcraft store closed for good in 2011. Shortly after returning to Alembic, he and Bob gave me a complete tour of the facility. Alembic had started out as an idea during the early days of the Grateful Dead, at their rehearsal room in Novato, California. If you want to read an wonderful and detailed story about the origin and early days of Alembic, read this LINK story from a 1973 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. (Doug Irwin, who at one time worked with Alembic, was a Sonoma County luthier who also built guitars - and modified Alembic guitars - for Jerry Garcia.)

Alembic 6-string guitars list for $8K to $30K and custom instruments can cost even more. The current Jerry Garcia "Tribute" model starts at $22K, and the Telluride (photo below) is a custom version of the Tribute. The "Telluride" looks like it is based on Garcia's "second favorite guitar", the "Tiger". Follow this LINK for more information and photos of the incredible details of this instrument at the Alembic website. It likely has excellent feel and tone as well as a spectacular and elegant appearance with its blend of cocobolo (a local exotic true rosewood wood that grows here in the Panama rainforest) and other exotic hardwoods highlighted with incredible inlays and 24K gold-plated fittings.

There are probably other, much cheaper guitars that sound as good as this Telluride. And there are likely expensive guitars that don't sound very good or have a good feel. But unlike guitar characteristics, I want my audio playback electronics to reproduce music accurately - not add another layer of coloration.

 

[Billy Budapest]

It is odd that Sony used engineering budgets to make proprietary cables and poorly operating software.

That sounds like you are talking about Apple! Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple, but iTunes has always been a GUI nightmare.

As for Apple proprietary cables, take your pick. The worst one was made about 15 years ago. That was the cable for their Pro Speakers which claimed to be only compatible with the Mac Pro and Mac Cube because they supposedly delivered power to the speakers’ built-in amps. It turns out that was total hogwash and the speakers did not have built-in amps. The cable only contained a chip with the sole purpose of detecting whether the speakers were connected to a Mac Pro or Cube and muting the speakers if they were not. What a ridiculous waste of engineering resources.

Anyway, I am not really sure what is going on at Sony because they tout their engineering excellence and they are widely perceived to have regained some of their luster from their late 1970’s-early 1990’s heyday, but that really doesn’t seem to be the case.

For example, I own four Sony flagship products: the Sony Bravia A1E OLED TV, the str-za5000es receiver, the str-za810es receiver, and the ubp-x1000es disc player. The A1E is a great TV, but the OLED panel it is based on—the heart of the TV—is made by LG, and is the exact same panel used in LG TV’s. As far as the other ES products I own, the 5000 certainly is a weighty receiver, has plenty of power, and sounds great in the home theater context. However, I bet it measures not-so-well. As for the 810 and 1000, there is no way you would think they were ES products on weight, sound, or feel. They don’t ooze ES quality like Sony of yore. I’m not sure what ES means to Sony these days . . .

 

[sarumbear]

...this whole theory of japanese poor at coding is a bit far fetch.

Name me a successful Japanese software product or a consumer product that relies on software.

 

[maverickronin]

Name me a successful Japanese software product or a consumer product that relies on software.

2/3 of the game console industry...