I very seriously considered the WM1A myself. I auditioned it and one of my cans are Sony MDR-Z7 MkII which do sound nice together with the WM1A.
What stopped me is the lack of streaming. I do have a decent hi rez collection but I do streaming very often so I will look for something else. To be honest I`m not in a hurry, my old Fiio X7 Mk II still serves me well.
@Queen6 Nice write up on the DAP exploration. Your thoughts on the Fiio, mimick those of Zeos a bit. I recall a few of his Fiio reviews, which he liked quite a bit and mentioned some of the same cons as well.
Have you considered any of the Pioneer DAP's?
I have a Pioneer XDP 300R (black). I quite like it. The only cons I have with it is there is no case of any kind to be found for my model. The one that they did make for didn't have very good reviews because it covered the SD card ports. You had to take it out of the case to get to them. That would be a problem for me since I frequently remove the SD card to add new music to it. The other con is that I feel it is mildly underpowered. Though that can be corrected with a portable amp, as some Fiio makes.
Some of the pros I like about the Pioneer is that it is Japanese made. It even shipped directly from Pioneer in Japan. It has two SD card ports, balanced 2.5 mm and unbalanced 3.5 mm jacks and decent battery life. I extend the battery by keeping it in airplane mode all the time. It also has two DACs and two amps and the sound is very nice.
Something to think about and consider if you're still looking around for a DAP.
www.pioneerelectronics.com
I do stream music and find it excellent for music discovery, although overall I prefer that the albums are loaded on the DAP. I tend to travel a lot internationally as a factor of my profession. The price of microSD cards are ever dropping, so travelling with a decent sized library is easily enough achieved. The new Sony ZX500 is Android based, I did consider as the smaller capacity ZX505 (16Gb, ZX507 being 64Gb) is significantly cheaper than the WM1A. SQ wise I feel the ZX500 is a little too close to my ZX300, I also wanted to step up, not that pricing always equates to better SQ.
The M11 Pro is definitely a step up on the M11, sharing the same overall sound signature. I don't entirely agree with all Zeos says. Personally if already owning an M11 the Pro isn't a big leap in terms of what you'll get for your money. If looking for an M11 the Pro is the better DAP sonically for purely SQ, as it does present a near black background, with improvements in SQ being discernible.
Absolutely subjective; the M11 Pro executes perfectly, more so now FiiO have released a patch to allow Google Apps etc. What I feel or more to the point, I don't
feel is
engagement, best I can describe is that when listening, sonically the M11 Pro comes across as a Digital Audio Player. The WM1A comes across as a vehicle to present high quality music to the listener. To me WM1A delivers that factor at a very high level, the Sony is simply far more
engaging & organic, in todays very much digital age.
Sony DAP's have their own unique flavour, as Sony literally designs & produces it's own DAC/AMP chips and more. A big factor for the WM1A is the ability for the user to be able to tune the DAP to one's individual listening taste, which few others can. Admittedly this takes a little technical knowledge, however the benefits are tangible.
Sony's WM1Z, I'm unsure of as although Sony's current premier DAP, it's also warmer than WM1A. Admittedly I would want time to listen to the WM1Z in detail and consider the benefits if any (for my use). There is also the factor of the WM1Z's cost as undoubtedly Sony has a replacement in the works, equally Sony has had a good period of time to polish the tuning of both WM1A/Z...
Pioneer I've not looked at in any depth I'm aware of the brand, however little chance to audition.
Why DAP's & IEM's? As an expat travel is simply a factor of life, residential or rotational, although I did have a semi decent home system and still retain, it's now old, nor do the current room acoustics allow it to stretch it's legs. Modern DAP's & IEM's allow me to enjoy music regardless of my physical location. If I was to go back to a home focused setup, I'd likely opt for a far simpler purely stereo setup with high quality active speakers. I was very much considering, however started looking at modern DAP's and instantly saw the advantage as ultimately I can still pickup the speakers at a later date...
DAP's
Sony WM1A & ZX300 set to Japan region (J) stock 3.02 firmware, FiiO M11 Pro
IEM's
Campfire Andromeda, Dunu 3001 Pro, Westone W40 & AKG N40
Q-6