I am currently having some out-of-the-box listening with the above gear. (For anyone asking, the ones at the bottom from left to right are A35, A16 and Hifiman SuperMini)
I am using Grado HF-1 modded with Turbulent Labs Hydra Go cable. These cans are - as expected from a mid-range Grado - are fun sounding with a transparent presentation. However, they are only moderately resolving records, and they do not present instruments with a meaty body that especially some reference headphones are capable of. (like a relatively cheap Audio Technica R70X)
The sound of HF-1 is definitely not analytical, so does not reveal the true potential of these players.
I had some A-B testing among various players, and even through Grado's, the difference between the low-tier Sony's and WM series is obvious.
My two years old Japanese A16 sounds obsolete compared even to A35, and the difference grows with WM series as expected. Reason i sold my A17
I am going to write more on the differences between A16 and A35 in the A30 series thread, however I can talk a bit of them compared to WM series.
I am currently using "WM series" on purpose, since these two players rise a class up from the rest, including ZX1.
A16, the worst of the bunch, simply sounds highly veiled and unrealistic compared to WM series which do present a very clear sound with percievably more realistic instrumental depiction.
You're dexcribing exactly what i felt with my ZX100 before it failed, had a very organic sound, bus like you say, I expect the WM1A i ordered to e far superior even to zx100
The area between the instruments in the sound of WM series Walkman's is successfully bordered with good channel separation and is filled with air, whereas in A16 the separation is not that clear, causing congestion especially in some more complex musical passages. Same as above with zx100 nice separation, but i bet the supercap does something to zx2 & WM1
The soundstage is more laid-back in A16, and the instrument size is quite smaller. They lack body. However, in terms of the size of the soundstage, A16 still keeps on doing a good job.
Agree with you on this the A10 does a better job in staging and sizing tan the so called "audiophile-grade" Fiio x3 first gen
In fact, all the Sony players here do a decent job in presenting a well-sized soundstage.
I didn't give much listen to A35, but at first look A35 seems to present a similar presentation to WM series (which I think is a good thing). It has a more forward sound than A16 with better separation and more pinpoint imaging. Yet, it simply lacks especially the performance of WM series in upper frequencies.
As expected the A30 is the new "mid-tier" i knew it won't handle higher frequencies as good as a WM series, i bet it's on the OS-CONS and FT-Caps
ZX1 on the other hand is also quite away from WM series, despite being a relatively clear sounding player itself. WM series simply have more body to sound and instruments, more detail, and more crisp, lifelike sound.
Over a decade I've listened to dozens of portable players, and I believe that "accurate" ambient detail is one of the main characteristics that set the upper class players apart from the rest.
There are players with somewhat boosted treble sections (like Ibasso DX90) which produces a sense of ambient detail, however mostly leading to some side effects in their sounds, like DX90 to sound -even very slightly- artificial.
Maybe this is one of the crucial differences between WM players here and the others. WM1A and 1Z present you with plenty of ambient detail ; the echoes in a studio record, back-side conversations that slipped into the record, or the talks between the crowd in live recordings. And these detail are presented very naturally ; they sound like real, not some digital simulation.
And despite the case that the players are in the baby steps of burn-in at the moment, I think this is also the very part that WM1Z shows its superiority over its cheaper sibling 1A.
1A sounds very detailed in upper registers and in "the ambient detail" section, but the detail as well as the instruments are presented more naturally with 1Z. I believe this difference would go up once you use more resolving cans, especially some sensitive iem / ciems. But, even with a mid-rier Grado there is difference right now, yes.
And for ones who may be curious, I used ZX2 for a couple of months last year, and 1A seems to be technically superior to it if I remember correctly. I published a very detailed review of Sony players on a Turkish site last year, and as far as I remember, the difference between A16 and ZX2 was not that dramatic compared to the one between A16 and 1A. However, my advice is to take this comment with a grain of salt for the moment.
(By the way, I must say WM players (especially 1Z) sounded a tad bit brighter from what I expected.) That's interesting in fact i tought copper made it warmer
And though my 1A and 1Z are capped, they provide enough listening levels (with direct sound mode) with 32 ohm / 98dB Grado's. They can sound plenty loud with iem's of high SPL.
, not to mention soundstage and presentation
