Sony NW-WM1ZM3 i NW-WM1AM3

The new models succeed the NW-WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2, introduced in 2022, which themselves continued a tradition established by the original WM1Z and WM1A in 2016. From the beginning, Sony approached these players less like ordinary portable electronics and more like miniature high-end audio components. Their development involved the sort of attention to materials, grounding arrangements, internal wiring, power supply design, and mechanical construction normally associated with expensive stationary equipment. Sony even explored the effects of different chassis materials and conductor types, treating the enclosure as an active part of the electrical design rather than merely a protective shell. That philosophy has survived several generations, and the new players take it further still. Instead of concentrating primarily on processing power, connectivity, or additional software features, the engineers have revisited practically every part of the signal path, from the power supply and digital circuitry to the headphone amplifier and the mechanical structure holding everything together.

The more extravagant of the two is undoubtedly the NW-WM1ZM3, a player that makes the average luxury smartphone look almost modest. Its chassis is precision-machined from oxygen-free copper with a purity of 99.99%, commonly described as 4N copper, and finished with gold plating. The rear panel also uses oxygen-free copper, while specially treated gold-plated screws connect the different sections of the enclosure. If this sounds like the sort of construction detail more likely to appear in a boutique amplifier than a portable music player, that's precisely the point. According to Sony, the copper chassis and carefully engineered connections form an important part of the grounding and shielding system, helping minimize electrical interference and provide a more stable operating environment for the audio circuitry. The manufacturer attributes improvements in bass control, soundstage width, and high-frequency refinement to these measures. Naturally, the audible significance of such construction details is something that can only be established through careful listening and measurement, but the amount of engineering involved is difficult to overlook.

Sony has also retained one of the more unusual features of its previous flagship designs: premium internal wiring supplied by Kimber Kable. Thick conductors from the American cable specialist are used in the signal path between the amplifier and the balanced headphone output, drawing on solutions previously employed in Sony's extravagant DMP-Z1 transportable digital music player. The intention is to minimize resistance and preserve signal integrity while limiting unwanted interference. It's a level of attention that might seem excessive in a device whose entire internal signal path measures only a few inches, but excessive is perhaps the wrong word when discussing a product positioned so far beyond the mainstream portable audio market. This is Sony's interpretation of a no-compromise personal music player, and the company has clearly decided that even small improvements are worth pursuing.

Of course, building a portable device around a substantial block of copper has certain consequences. The NW-WM1ZM3 weighs approximately 670 g (1.48 lb), considerably more than most smartphones and many conventional portable music players. That makes it rather difficult to describe as pocket-friendly, at least in the traditional Walkman sense. You could certainly carry it around, but slipping it into the pocket of a lightweight jacket is unlikely to be the most comfortable experience. Then again, someone considering a gold-plated music player costing several thousand dollars probably isn't choosing it for its ability to disappear inside a shirt pocket. The appeal lies in its substantial construction, exclusive materials, and the idea of owning a dedicated piece of high-end audio equipment that just happens to be portable.

The NW-WM1AM3 takes a more restrained approach without abandoning the underlying philosophy. Its main chassis is constructed from aluminum alloy rather than solid copper, reducing the cost and weight while retaining a rigid structure. The rear panel, however, is still made from gold-plated oxygen-free copper, providing the grounding and shielding benefits Sony considers important to the design. In many other respects, the two models share the same technical foundations, including the amplification architecture, digital processing technologies, and several of the improvements introduced in this generation. The distinction is therefore not simply between an expensive player and a cheaper one with fewer features. Instead, Sony has created two interpretations of the same high-end concept, with the flagship employing more elaborate materials and construction methods. Whether those differences produce a substantial audible advantage will be one of the most interesting questions for anyone comparing the two models.

Inside both players, the power supply has received a particularly thorough redesign. Sony has replaced the single large solid-polymer capacitor used in the previous generation with two substantial capacitors, separating the power delivery requirements of the digital and audio sections. The purpose is to reduce interaction between circuits that operate under very different conditions. Digital processors, memory components, and wireless interfaces can generate rapidly changing electrical loads and high-frequency disturbances, while sensitive audio circuitry benefits from a stable, low-noise supply. By giving different sections more independent energy reserves, Sony aims to reduce interference and improve the response to sudden changes in the musical signal. Hand-soldered oxygen-free copper wiring is also used to deliver power to selected components, bypassing portions of the printed circuit board where the engineers believe a more direct connection is advantageous.

The improvements continue in the output filtering circuitry. Sony has fitted a larger inductor wound with high-purity 4N copper to the L-C filter associated with the balanced output of the digital amplifier. The conductor has a flattened cross-section, which the company says reduces resistance and distortion while improving the precision of signal reproduction. The digital section has also received more substantial shielding in the form of a machined oxygen-free copper block. This component is approximately 34% heavier than its counterpart in the previous generation and is intended to reinforce the digital ground while limiting the transmission of interference from processors, memory, and other high-speed circuits into sensitive audio sections. The overall design incorporates carefully selected capacitors, voltage regulation components, and other parts chosen to maintain stable operating conditions and minimize electrical noise.

All this attention to power delivery and interference suppression is particularly interesting because a modern digital audio player is, in some respects, a rather hostile environment for sensitive analog circuitry. The same enclosure contains processors running complex operating systems, wireless communication modules, digital storage, a display, and the circuits responsible for driving headphones. These components do not necessarily operate with the same electrical requirements, and maintaining a clean separation between them can be challenging when everything has to fit inside a portable device. Sony's approach is to address the problem through a combination of circuit layout, shielding, grounding, and power supply architecture rather than relying on any single component to solve it. Whether the result justifies the extraordinary price of the flagship is another matter, but the construction demonstrates how seriously the company treats the engineering challenges involved.

At the heart of both players remains Sony's proprietary S-Master HX digital amplifier. Unlike a conventional architecture built around a separate DAC followed by a traditional analog amplification stage, S-Master HX employs a digital amplification approach designed to process high-resolution signals and deliver them to the headphone outputs with minimal unnecessary conversion. The system supports native DSD playback and provides both conventional and balanced headphone connections. In the new generation, Sony has introduced a look-ahead noise shaper, a signal-processing technology designed to anticipate quantization noise and optimize the way it is distributed during digital processing. According to the manufacturer, the result is improved transient response and greater precision when reproducing rapid changes in the musical signal. Those changes could be particularly relevant to percussion, sharp attacks, and complex passages where the ability to preserve small details without introducing unwanted artifacts becomes important.

Users can choose between three modes of the new noise-shaping system, allowing them to experiment with different processing characteristics according to their preferences and the music being played. This is a welcome addition because Sony has traditionally offered an unusually broad selection of sound-adjustment technologies in its more ambitious Walkman models. The new players also retain the DSD Remastering Engine, which converts PCM material into a high-frequency DSD stream operating at 11.2 MHz. Sony believes this processing can give digital recordings a more natural, analog-like presentation. That description should not be interpreted as a guarantee that converting everything to DSD will automatically improve fidelity, of course. It is a processing option, and the preferred result will depend on the recording, associated headphones, and individual taste. Nevertheless, the fact that Sony continues to develop these technologies shows that it sees digital signal processing as an important part of the listening experience rather than merely something to be avoided in the pursuit of theoretical purity.

One particularly useful improvement concerns the availability of DSD Remastering. In previous generations, certain processing functions were primarily associated with music played through Sony's own application. The new models extend DSD Remastering support to audio from third-party applications and streaming services. That matters because a dedicated music player in 2026 cannot realistically ignore the way people access recordings today. Even enthusiasts with extensive collections of high-resolution files may spend a significant amount of time exploring music through online services, and having the same processing options available across different sources makes the system considerably more coherent. Sony has therefore managed to improve the specialist audio functions without requiring owners to abandon the convenience of modern streaming platforms.

Both models run Android 16, providing access to compatible music applications and streaming services through Wi-Fi. This represents a considerable departure from the original concept of a Walkman as a device designed primarily to play music stored on physical media or internal memory. The modern player is essentially a dedicated audio computer, capable of handling local files, online libraries, wireless connections, and sophisticated digital processing. Bluetooth 5.4 is included, with support for codecs such as LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive, AAC, SBC, and LC3. These options allow the players to work with a wide range of wireless headphones, although the greatest attraction of such expensive devices will presumably remain their wired connections. Both feature a conventional 3.5 mm headphone output and a balanced 4.4 mm output, allowing owners to take advantage of compatible high-end headphones and in-ear monitors.

For listeners interested in the technical capabilities of the headphone outputs, Sony specifies a maximum output of 60 mW per channel into 16 ohms through the conventional connection and 250 mW per channel into 16 ohms through the balanced output, under its specified high-gain measurement conditions. These figures illustrate the advantage of using the balanced connection with suitable headphones, although they also show that Sony has not designed the players simply to produce the highest possible power figures. There are portable headphone amplifiers capable of considerably greater output, but sheer power is not necessarily the primary requirement for efficient in-ear monitors or many portable headphones. Sony has concentrated on the quality of its amplification circuitry and the electrical environment in which it operates, leaving users to decide whether the available power is sufficient for their particular headphones.

The supported file formats are equally comprehensive. FLAC playback extends to 24-bit/384 kHz, while WAV and AIFF files can be reproduced at resolutions up to 32-bit/384 kHz. Native DSD playback is supported at rates up to 11.2 MHz, and the players can handle numerous other common audio formats. The flagship NW-WM1ZM3 comes with 256 GB of internal storage, while the NW-WM1AM3 provides 128 GB. Both include a microSD card slot, allowing owners to expand their music libraries without relying entirely on streaming or repeatedly transferring files between devices. That remains an important feature for anyone with a large collection of high-resolution recordings, particularly since DSD albums and other demanding formats can occupy substantial amounts of storage. The players can also function as external USB DACs when connected to a computer, adding another useful application that helps distinguish them from ordinary portable music players.

Sony has made the interface considerably more contemporary as well. The 5-inch displays used in the previous generation have been replaced by larger 5.5-inch Full HD touchscreens with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The increased screen area provides more room for browsing albums, navigating streaming applications, and displaying artwork, while the updated hardware platform is intended to make the interface feel smoother and more responsive. Anyone who has used an older Android-based digital audio player will appreciate why that matters. There is little enjoyment in owning a beautifully engineered audio device if scrolling through a music library feels like operating a computer from fifteen years ago. The improved display and interface should make the new Walkmans more pleasant to use, particularly for listeners who regularly switch between local files and streaming applications.

Thankfully, Sony has also retained the physical playback controls along the side of the enclosure. Volume adjustment, track selection, and other essential operations remain accessible without having to wake the touchscreen or navigate menus. It's a small detail, but one that makes considerable sense on a dedicated music player. Smartphones have trained us to accept touchscreens as the universal solution to every interface problem, yet when a device is used primarily for music, properly positioned physical buttons can be faster, more reliable, and considerably more convenient. Sony also allows users to customize the Walkman home screen, while the familiar cassette-inspired playback interface remains available as a nostalgic reminder of the brand's origins. Considering how far the company has traveled from the original portable tape player, it's rather charming that a digital device costing several thousand dollars can display an animation resembling the cassette mechanism that started it all.

Battery life remains competitive despite the extensive audio circuitry and increased display size. According to Sony, both models can provide up to 35 hours of playback when reproducing 128 kbps MP3 files through the built-in music application. With 24-bit/96 kHz FLAC material, the quoted figure is approximately 33 hours, while offline playback through third-party music applications can reach up to 31 hours. Actual results will naturally depend on the file format, output connection, volume, processing settings, and software being used. More demanding formats and certain wireless configurations may reduce endurance, but the published figures suggest that the new Walkmans should remain practical for extended listening without requiring constant recharging. That's important because even the most dedicated audiophile is unlikely to enjoy carrying around a substantial copper music player if it also needs to be connected to a charger every few hours.

Sony has also revised the packaging, removing conventional plastic elements apart from certain coatings and adhesive materials. The change forms part of the company's broader efforts to reduce plastic use in consumer electronics packaging. It's not the most exciting feature of a premium Walkman, admittedly, but it reflects the reality that manufacturers are increasingly expected to consider the environmental impact of their products, including those aimed at relatively small specialist markets. The more substantial question concerns the devices themselves. A dedicated music player is unlikely to become obsolete as quickly as a typical smartphone simply because its camera, mobile connectivity, or general computing performance no longer meets current expectations. On the other hand, an Android-based player still depends on software support and application compatibility, particularly if streaming is an important part of its intended use. These are considerations worth keeping in mind when investing this much money in a portable digital component.

The arrival of the NW-WM1ZM3 and NW-WM1AM3 also raises a broader question about the future of dedicated digital audio players. At the affordable end of the market, smartphones have effectively taken over. Their processors are powerful, their displays are excellent, and with a suitable USB DAC or headphone amplifier, they can form the basis of a remarkably capable portable listening system. There is no denying that a modern smartphone connected to a well-designed external DAC can deliver outstanding measured audio performance. But that's not really the audience Sony is targeting here. The Signature Series is intended for enthusiasts who want an integrated, purpose-built device, one in which the power supply, amplification, digital processing, mechanical construction, and operating interface have all been developed with music reproduction as the overriding priority. Whether that approach makes economic sense is another question entirely.

It is also difficult to ignore how unusual these devices have become. The original Walkman was revolutionary because it made personal music listening more accessible. The new flagship occupies almost the opposite end of the spectrum. It is expensive, heavy, made from elaborate materials, and designed for a relatively small audience willing to pay a considerable premium for specialized audio engineering. Yet there is a certain continuity between the two. Sony still believes that listening to music deserves its own device, rather than simply being another feature squeezed into a multifunctional gadget. The difference is that today's flagship Walkman is no longer about taking a handful of cassette tapes on the train. It's about carrying an entire high-resolution music library, a sophisticated digital audio processing system, and a carefully engineered headphone amplifier in one substantial enclosure.

The NW-WM1AM3 will almost certainly be the more realistic choice for most enthusiasts, combining much of the flagship's technology with a less elaborate chassis and a considerably lower price. The NW-WM1ZM3, meanwhile, is designed for customers who want the most ambitious interpretation of Sony's portable audio philosophy, right down to the gold-plated copper construction and Kimber Kable wiring. Whether the flagship offers an audible advantage substantial enough to justify the difference in cost will require careful comparisons under controlled conditions. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this announcement is that Sony is still willing to develop products of this kind at all. In a world where music has increasingly become another background activity performed by smartphones, the Japanese company continues to insist that listening deserves its own specialized equipment. And judging by the amount of engineering invested in these new Walkmans, it has no intention of abandoning that belief anytime soon. The flagship NW-WM1ZM3 is priced at $5,899 in the United States, €4,999 in Europe, and £4,299 in the United Kingdom. The more affordable NW-WM1AM3 carries suggested retail prices of $2,999, €2,499, and £2,099, respectively. Info and photos by Sony.