A bundle of DAPs! (review for Sony NW-WM1AM2, discussion of others)

Milkman76 · November 22, 2022, 2:41am

So we went nuts and started buying DAPs and IEMs. I think this is something many of you are very familiar with, and so I dont need to defend myself or make excuses in front of you. =P

I decided the 2 kids should also have DAPs and earphones, so we grabbed 2 Shanling M3X DAPs and 2x pair of Audio Technica m50x phones for them. My wife wanted a DAP and I thought she would enjoy the Monarch MK2 IEM, so we bought the Sony Walkman NW-WM1AM2 and MK2. We tried to buy the Walkman NW-WM1ZM2 but this wasnt available anywhere for 2 months, so I went for the $2000 cheaper 1AM2. I… I dont regret this… at all. Nope. Not one bit. In fact I dont even think about that all the time. No.

I wont be writing about the Shanling DAPs yet because they havent been opened. They are Xmas presents, so Ill write about them after Xmas.

The Sony DAP was originally for my wife, but she decided she did not like the weight of the device, and opted to take my L&P W2 DAC + her phone + MK2 instead of the DAP. The weight and feel of the WM1AM2, in my opinion (being an old cassette and CD walkman owner), is perfect. The weight of the Sony is 10.5oz, or about 300 grams. The body of the unit feels very substantial and is usually icy cold when you touch it, being made of solid textured aluminum. My wife, however, wanted something smaller.

Product info for the Sony WM1AM2:

This is the best portable music device Ive ever put my hands on. I realize there are many out there that have upgrades over this DAP, but the DAC and amp + android computer inside this are my happy place lately. The caps in this DAP require 200 hours burn-in, and we are at about 150hrs as of now.

Pros:
-physical shape + ergonomics are great. The minimalist side controls are flush against the body of the unit, and the PLAY/PAUSE and VOL+ buttons have braille texture so you can feel them in the dark. Power button is on a small raised shelf, separating it from the other controls.
-OS controls and navigation are speedy and the android device at the heart of this DAP does not feel slow or under-powered. It will play videos, games, etc, and system I/O performance is good.
-comes with 128GB internal storage
-USB 3.1 + fast internal storage makes dumping large piles of files quick and easy.
-supports most formats including the contentious MQA.
-audio quality is pristine, stable, and clear, and the various filters and enhancement features (rolloff filters, full EQ, DC phase linearizer, DSD remaster, DSEE, etc with sound profiles) allow enough personalization to make most listeners happy. This unit can put out 250mW on the bal out, which is enough to even push my DT 1990s headcans, and blasts IEMs into my head. I can get all the dynamics I want from this DAP, whether warm and heavy or analytical and precise.
-totally black sound floor, internal electromechanical switch. Switch makes a satisfying ‘TICK’ when amp turns on.
-charges fast if you have a fast charger.
-can be used as PC DAC.
-expandable microSD
-BT has LDAC
-THE CASSETTE TAPE SCREEN!! When you use the Sony internal player, after 5 seconds it switches the screen to animated cassette tapes with your title and track displayed on the tape label!!! I LOVE this little feature. =P
-My subjective thoughts “it sounds like a Marantz hifi inside my head” (we have the marantz 30 series in the other room)

Cons:
-Real battery life is hilariously out of sync with what is published by Sony. Unless you buy the wrong headphones, you will always use this DAP in high gain mode so forget anything but the high gain specs. I get max 5 hours with hires, high gain STREAMING, and I get about 12-15 hours playback of local hires files. No idea where they get “35 hours 192k/24bit DSD playback” from. This is consistent every time I use and charge the unit. Sure - if you only play local 128k MP3 files in low gain mode with $25 sony earbuds with the screen off, you might get 40hrs. Otherwise plan on 5-15.
-screen is a little dim outside, even with max brightness.
-Google Play store has crashed the DAP 3x in 3 days. I was browsing the store and the screen flickered and then rebooted. It did this 2 other times. Hasnt done it since. Stable otherwise.
-windows explorer sometimes acts weird when you are accessing the device from your desktop. It will show empty internal memory, and then when you reconnect the files are all back.
-25GB of the 128GB internal memory is filled with a bloated android 11 install, leaving you with about 103GB for your music. I feel like this could be streamlined and cut down a bit…

Overall we are super happy with this DAP and it has improved our listening experience, and it has allowed me to save my phone’s batteries when we take long trips by car. Honestly, I continue to think about the much more expensive Sony NW-WM1ZM2 that I was about to buy, and if we wind up acquiring this some day, I will certainly come back and compare it to the 1AM2. I HAVE to know!!

Gothique · November 22, 2022, 9:47am

Very cool write up. Look forward to the next part about the Shanlings.

Milkman76 · January 12, 2023, 8:37pm

Update about the Sony NW-WM1AM2 and Shanling M3X DAPS-

Sony-
I was mistaken about the cause of the crashing/rebooting. Turns out, when you add a large external memory card (I added a 512GB microSD) and add 20-30GB of music to it, the device needs to build its database again, and this takes a few minutes. The device crashed when I was trying to do stuff on the google play store while the database was building. It has not crashed AT ALL since then. I love this DAP(used always with my Dark Magician or Monarch MK2 IEMs), and still have a long term plan to add the NW-WM1ZM2 to our collection as well, but this wont happen until later this year at best.

Shanling M3X-
So I havent had time to fully review the Shanling M3X, myself, but my kids are raving about them. I have PARTIAL feedback on them, from the setup side of things.

The M3Xs are modified android devices under which you already have root access, and you have to do some manual apk installs of google play, and then manually add a google account if you want any google service. Otherwise, the device ships in basically “standalone” mode.

Pros-
-no built-in google bloat, and very little bloat at all.
-Easy to setup as a hires file player.
-dark/silent noise floor
-Has bal and unbal 4.4mm and 3.5mm outs
-Good sound features, including hi/lo gain, EQ, single or dual DAC mode, and other audio enhancements that I will get into later when I have a chance to listen to them for a bit.
-pushed my kids’ ATH m50x headcans just fine, with medium volume(50) being enough.

Cons-
-slow charging(4 hours from 10%, no matter what brick we use).
-Built-in Shanling music player makes adding large numbers of files to playlists really annoying, and doesnt seem to want to allow “add folder” to playlist operation. (Maybe Im missing something and will find it later?)
-It is both PRO and CON (depending on person) that google account services are not available without some work. I prefer this. You may not. Adding google play services and downloading something like foobar2k might help.
-Navigation is a little sticky sometimes, with the screen not registering touch, but its just a little low on sensitivity I think.
-volume knob to the side feels cheap, like it may turn on its own if you bump it.

I cant say much about the audio quality of these yet as the kids have had them constantly. They love them! I have heard a little music on them through my kids’ Audio Technica m50x and it sounded full and clear, but that was about 5 minutes. Later, Ill connect our IEMs and other headcans to it and do more.

Deleeh · April 2, 2023, 10:14pm

Hello,

I wasn’t sure where to put this.

Yesterday I heard the Shangling M6 ultra in the hi-fi shop with the Letshouer Z12.
Its counterpart was the M6 2021.
If my wife had played along, I would have taken the Ultra with me.

Purely in terms of operation with Android 10, the Ultra was very pleasant.
Whereas the M6 21 was a bit slow to respond.
It ran smoother with the Ultra and did what you told it to do at the touch of a button.

I also found the Ultra’s Bluetooth bidirectional capability great.
This means you can operate the Ultra via Bluetooth with your smartphone once the connection has been established.
At least it worked smoothly with the Samsung S10+ and I could control my Tidal playlist with my smartphone.

There was no sound interference or anything like that via Bluetooth in the listening room.
And it was convincing in terms of sound via Bluetooth.

In general, purely in terms of sound, it drove the Z12 unbalanced amazingly well.
From a purely emotional point of view, it was as if I were in my media room listening to music.

Everything was so clear, structured and full and also juicy in sound.
It was really fun to listen to.

The M6 21 in comparison was not as clear and distinct as the Ultra, but not necessarily bad in sound.
Maybe a bit more reserved and less full but musical enough.

The Ultra is well worth the price. Technically with 4 Akm chips, ozilator chips and redesigned amplification it should be on your list.

My Iem’s are certainly not the best, I admit that openly.
The way the Ultra drove the Planar driver was amazing.
Before that I had heard the Lcd 2c on the Mcintosh mha 200.
I later liked the Z12 better with the Ultra.
It was somehow the better Lcd 2c.

I have been looking for a dap for a long time, also a dap that is free of ESS chips.
The M6 ultra is certainly a good contender for the midfi range I would guess.
Since the operation also seems to be somehow intuitive.
The volume pot is made of plastic, but it gives a good feedback and also regulates sensitively.