Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 78

So I bought a converter and its working great now. Buying a converter seemed like an easier process than returning it.

So far I like it but I wish the bass was a bit louder. I don't really get a tight seal around my ears, I have a odd shaped head or something and there is a small gap behind my ears kind of on my jaw. If I press it tight around my head it is a lot better but I can't really be doing that all the time.

PHOTO!

Thanks Penchum.

Is there such a thing as a matched pair of OPA627? I'm not so sure myself as they should be the same (if they work).

eBay have some at around $15 a pair, I have some free samples of the LT1361CN8, LT1364CN8#PBF (only ones they had), LT1469CN8 coming from Linear, and some browndogs from Cimarron.

The Little Dot may move to the bedroom, so I want the Zero to sound as good as possible on the amp side too, I might start with a pair of LT1364's on the browndog first (after the Zero has burnt in), then I migh try a pair of OPA627's on the DAC.

Cheers all

My Zero was delivered yesterday to work looking at the tracking info. Didn't have chance to pop in yesterday to pick it up so am going in later on.

Also received some Sennheiser HD650's off ebay today with a Cardas cable upgrade to go with the Zero.

I've also orderd some samples from Linear Technology lastnight:
LT1364CN8#PBF x 1
LT1469CN8#PBF x 2

Luckily i didn't order them off the net last week as i was going to pay £30 before i found out about the free samples .

I don't have the P5K though it is an Asus board, the ultimate DDR2 of the P35 chipset: Asus Blitz Formula Republic of Gamers!
Should be an excellent overclocker. The reason why my CPU won't OC more than 25% op to 3.0ghz is that I got the Q6600 with B3 stepping by mistake - DOH! Should have had the G0 stepping of course, but that's just life sometimes. I'm going to get a replacement pump from TT(rated for 80,000 hours MY ASS!) though they're on backorder everywhere. It just happened that I did all my research thoroughly as I alsways do on all the components except for the liquid cooling system. I should have known better. But I had never used anything but air cooling up until then and I just wanted it simple, so I ordered that case with a complete water cooling kit. But you never want anything to do with the complete kits! You want to buy all the components seperately, and mostly don't have to worry about compatibility at all since ½" tubing is pretty much standard now (3/8" tubes is the lesser used inferior standard). Anyway I think I'm gonna stop now, I could go on about computer hardware all day long
I think I'll get the computer running at leats 2 weeks before the zero arrives, is that enough time? What is the expected burn-in time of Sennheiser HD600?

Well picked up the Zero from work.

Them blue LED's on the front are bright!!!! It's also a fair bit heavier than I was expecting.

It has certainly stopped the noise from my Livewire IEM's when listening back via Computer -> Optical -> Zero. With the Livewires it sounds OK to me (keep in mind this is my first amp / dac). With the HD650's I recievied today it seems a bit darker, bass was good on Prodigy's Smack My Bitch up though.

So far I am preferring the sound from the Livewires. Hopefully when the Zero has burnt in and I get the new Op Amps I'll prefer the HD650's for home listening which is what I brought them for.

Got my Zero yesterday, 1/28, and haven't been able to stop listening long enough to post. I ordered and paid through eBay from Lawrence on the 11th, got an email from him on the 22nd with a tracking # and received it in Quebec 6 days later. So 16 days start to finish and I never once sent him an email.

Now, this is my first headphone amp and I'm listening with Allesandro MS-1's, which are a big upgrade over my 20 yr old Signet's, which finally died. So, I have an Apple Airport, optical out to the Zero, and I am floored by the sound. I had goose bumps yesterday while listening to everything from Led Zeppelin to Bill Evans to Massive Attack to Cake to Kenny Burrell. This unit uses the stock Op Amps and hasn't been burned in and to my uneducated ears sounds phenomenal. I hear old familiar songs like I've never heard them before.

I left it running last night but forgot to plug in the laptop and the battery lasted about 1 1/2 hours so total burn in time might be about 12 hours now. Seriously, you mean to tell me this will sound better in a few days?

After having tried the MS-1's for $99 and now the Zero for $174 (both delivered prices) I can't even say, 'damn you Head-fi', because for under $300 I have achieved sonic nirvana. And please don't tell me otherwise :-)

Collected my Zero from customs today. I haven't listened to it almost at all, my friend tested his SA5000's (my old phones) from Zero + LD MKIV SE.

Those leds on front panel are very bright

First... thanks have to go to Penchum for his wonderful review. Without his review I never bought the Zero.

Yesterday the HD650 arrived and today the Zero... perfect timing :-)
I sensed that the Zero would be deliviered only after reading all the pages of this thread, never before.

I opened the Zero to check all cables and looked for loose ICs and did the "wiggle test" on the cables. All fine... nothing happened on the way to Germany.
Switched the Zero to 220V and powered it up.
Wow... these blue LEDs are bright. Too bright I think, they will have to be modified to the intensity of the green LED.

Found a "mute" and a "reset" button. I think it's nice to have "Mute" on the front.

My first impressions with the Echo Audiofire as source: Damn fine listening device, never heard so much details before. Bass is there, it looks (hmm... hears) like the highs and the middle frequencies aren't well developed yet.
Cannot await the end of the burn-in.

Now both items are in the 1st stage of burn-in: 4 hours quiet music.

I was impatient and swapped OPA627's and LT1364 for my Zero

I can hear slight noise when I turn the volume high from Zero. The noise reduced when I swapped those op-amps but it is there still. Though I can crank my Grado's for only 10-11 o'clock because the gain is a bit high.