Zhaolu 2.0 ARRIVED!!! IMPRESSION INSIDE! - Page 20

Usually people always use Coaxial due to cheap construction of the optical components mounted on the pcb, I believe the justification is less jitter introduced with coax?

Well, I always use coaxial, havent compared with my Zhalou though.

Sure. Even the lousy coax that came from Eddie was better then a cheap Toslink (whom all seem to perform just about the same). A good coax is way better then the freebie...
Just cause the Zhaolu costs only $150 doesn't mean it should be used with a $10 coax... Think of it as a $1000 DAC!

Has anyone compared this to the micro DAC? I read all of this thread & some of the other one. Just wondering.....

Received my D2 (CS-4398) a few days ago. I can safely say that this change in source has had a huge effect on my setup. Not surpisingly i guess since i was previously using analog out from an X-FI card. Anyway, the increased detail is amazing.

One thing i find a bit disturbing is the quality of the headphone out compared to my Mapletree Ear+ HD. I say disturbing because i find that they compare quite well in terms of sound quality. The D2 can be a bit harsh sounding right now, but i have hardly burned it in at all. The Ear+ is better, with a warmer sound and more depth, but not nearly enough to justify its price difference IMO. I dont know if this says something about the D2, the Ear+ or my ears.

I`m certainly getting the upgraded amp when its available, i have a feeling that i might sell the Ear+ after that.

I have a question regarding the blackgate upgrade. Since i ordered mine before they were available, are they available seperately and how difficult would it be to install them myself?

I have the blackgate upgrade, but unfortunately can't tell you too much more. The screws are screwed in too tight for me to take a look under the hood I wonder what I'm going to do when the headphone amp upgrade comes out.

[QUOTE=Bobs]One thing i find a bit disturbing is the quality of the headphone out compared to my Mapletree Ear+ HD. I say disturbing because i find that they compare quite well in terms of sound quality. The D2 can be a bit harsh sounding right now, but i have hardly burned it in at all. The Ear+ is better, with a warmer sound and more depth, but not nearly enough to justify its price difference IMO. I dont know if this says something about the D2, the Ear+ or my ears.

I`m certainly getting the upgraded amp when its available, i have a feeling that i might sell the Ear+ after that.QUOTE]

Hi Bob - You may have seen me making similar comments about my Mapletree Purist tube amp and the Zhaolu headphone amp. However I have the upgraded discrete headphone amp. I agree, the difference isn't huge between the Zhaolu discrete and my Mapletree purist but I have found that it's most definitely due to the fact that it's Grado cans because they are easy to drive. I see you use HHF-1's and I use HF-1's (soon to have HHF-1's myself). Do you use any other cans?I am a little surprised that even the stock amp isn't that far off from the Mapletree but Grado's really aren't that hard to drive. I think the stock or discrete amp both benefit so much from being connected directly to the DAC. I think driving something like HD650's one would see much greater differences between the stock amp and a dedicated amp but again with Grado's less so. Hang on to your Mapletree and compare it closely to the discrete amp when you get it as I have found while they are very close the Mapletree exhibits some nice tube goodness that is so musical and pleasing that it's very appreciable.

So has noone compared to the Micro DAC?? I'm really wanting to know!!

Thanks for the reply Sean. I have read your previous posts where you compared the Ear+ to the upgraded amp, i was still surprised when i heard the stock amp for the first time. I have only tested with Grados(HHF-1 and RS-1), i will bring my DT-880 back from work tomorrow, i might notice a bigger difference with them since they are quite hard to drive.

Good luck on your HF-1 upgrade, i said goodbye to my RS-1`s yesterday, i just like the sound of the HHF-1 better. That fact became even more clear to me after getting the D2.

Not many people have Zhaolu 2.0s and MicroDACs.

IMO, they are not in the same league. MicroDAC is a portable unit compromised for space and battery life.

So are you saying that the Zhauolu is better? I have a Micro DAC & it comes pretty close to my unmodded Sony 555es cdp - when I use it as a transport. I'm trying to decide between having the 555 modded - about $600 -- or to try the Zhaualou first to see how much further up the chain I get from the Micro DAC.

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...light=microdac

Post # 4.

You are welcome.

I won't answer that question since I havn't taken each for a spin.

But then it's like looking at the inside of a Porsche vs. Cooper mini engine. I don't need to ride either of them to say which is more powerful and faster

I believe that's the older unit though.

I thought my older unit is better than my Overture unit. It's hard to make comments really because all units are different.

Thanks Andrew -- I had done a search & read that but it didn't give a whole lot of info. I was hoping someone had made a little more detailed comparison -- but I guess not. It doesn't sound like its enough of an improvement to spend the $'s on.

See, that's true, but with audio stuff, I'd say synergy plays a big enough role that just throwing a bunch of quality parts together does not necessarily mean better sound; also, even a technically more detailed DAC may not sound very good to many ears (for example, the SA5000s are very detailed, but many find them harsh; I for one could not listen to them without a very tubey amp). I've heard a Zhaolu 1.3, my own upgraded Zhaolu D2, and a MicroDAC, but I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention when I heard the other two because I was too busy worrying about headphone comparisons. :/