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Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 95

post #1411 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davve View Post
Here's som pics! one of the chip got some soldering on it. I don't know if everything seems okay.
Is that just resin that has heated up and ran?
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post #1412 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mp101 View Post
Mines not behaving wel either, that aside, I did notice that if I push the preamp button now (to light up the Phone LED) the volume to my LittleDot MKV is adustable with the volume on the Zero, it didnt do that before, only since I have installed the LT1364's
Mine did the same but with the stock opamps too. I don't think nothing is wrong.
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post #1413 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
That's a new one for sure! What happens when you power off and power back up? Does it reset itself to normal behavior?
I had posted that my unit was doing this when I first got it. If you hook up an separate amp to the RCA outs, then push the "Preamp" button to light up the green "Phone" light - you then can control the volume going out to your separate amp.

Penchum, I had agreed with you when you indicated that I just keep the volume knob on the Zero at minimum (zero) and let the external separate amp do the volume control. This is what I have been doing all along and it works fine.

So, for me, it has always functioned in this manner. I now have the 1469 in the DAC with 2 LT1361's in the headphone amps.
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post #1414 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by edguetzow View Post
I had posted that my unit was doing this when I first got it. If you hook up an separate amp to the RCA outs, then push the "Preamp" button to light up the green "Phone" light - you then can control the volume going out to your separate amp.

Penchum, I had agreed with you when you indicated that I just keep the volume knob on the Zero at minimum (zero) and let the external separate amp do the volume control. This is what I have been doing all along and it works fine.

So, for me, it has always functioned in this manner. I now have the 1469 in the DAC with 2 LT1361's in the headphone amps.
OMG

I am so sorry! What an idiot I was! When you told me that, I had my amp hooked to the Zero, so I pressed the phones, got a green light, and my amp was silent. I took that to mean it was "not connected", that is, until I just gave the Zero volume knob a twist!!

Here is what is happening. It behaves like this until you plug in another set of headphones into the Zero. As soon as you do this, it cuts off the pre-out completely.
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post #1415 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:30pm
Thread Starter 
As far as I can tell, having it in this "variable" output mode, seems clean and clear. I don't believe it will hurt anything and it actually is kind of nice, if your amp doesn't like the normal high output of the Zero. What do you think? This would help with using a portable amp as a desktop amp, for sure.
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post #1416 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by edguetzow View Post
I had posted that my unit was doing this when I first got it. If you hook up an separate amp to the RCA outs, then push the "Preamp" button to light up the green "Phone" light - you then can control the volume going out to your separate amp.

Penchum, I had agreed with you when you indicated that I just keep the volume knob on the Zero at minimum (zero) and let the external separate amp do the volume control. This is what I have been doing all along and it works fine.

So, for me, it has always functioned in this manner. I now have the 1469 in the DAC with 2 LT1361's in the headphone amps.
Do you like this combination better than the others?
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post #1417 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mp101 View Post
Mines not behaving wel either, that aside, I did notice that if I push the preamp button now (to light up the Phone LED) the volume to my LittleDot MKV is adustable with the volume on the Zero, it didnt do that before, only since I have installed the LT1364's
Quote:
Originally Posted by davve View Post
Mine did the same but with the stock opamps too. I don't think nothing is wrong.
I'm sorry, both of you guys. I should have understood this much earlier. No, I don't think anything is wrong. It has been wired this way and we just didn't know it was a "feature". Normally, there would be no need for this, but if you had a portable amp, that you wanted to use as a desktop amp, you could hook it up to the pre-amp outputs (RCA) and go into this variable mode and not overdrive the portable amp. I just tested my MK1 with it, and it was great to back down the output, so the volume control on the MK1 had some maneuvering room!
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post #1418 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
As far as I can tell, having it in this "variable" output mode, seems clean and clear. I don't believe it will hurt anything and it actually is kind of nice, if your amp doesn't like the normal high output of the Zero. What do you think? This would help with using a portable amp as a desktop amp, for sure.
Thats exactly what I thought, every time I listened to it (Zero) I plugged in phones, hit the button and turned up the volume, I never had phones in the MKV and the Zero at the same time.

I just thought that when the preamp button was on it reduced the volume to the phono out sockets, but all the time it was controlling the volume.

So i guess the statememt that it is a pre-amp is true. Its all good
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post #1419 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:47pm
No problem, Penchum!

As far as the photos of davve's board, it is hard for me to tell. The resin is discolored (?) in the first photo. I don't like seeing the resin on the chips in the other pictures either. Could just be the photos.

davve, do the solder points look burned or otherwise unusual? It is hard for me to tell from the photos. Either they didn't clean up the board or the resin could be discolored from heat. Did you smell anything?

Also, this may be dumb question, but did you try a different set of headphones with the Zero? Maybe your phones (heaven forbid!) got fried instead of the Zero!

Stay positive and hope for the best! At least Lawrence responded to you rather quickly!!
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post #1420 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:54pm
Thread Starter 
The very bottom pic, the bottom chip, might be worth cleaning off to see if the surface of the chip shows signs of overheating (melting,smudging). It looks a little bumpy to me.?
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post #1421 of 9226
2/9/08 at 8:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
Do you like this combination better than the others?
Yes! So far at least!

I tried the 1364 in the DAC position but the bass was boomy and formless - without structure or "loose". With the 1469, the bass is big but controlled and tight. It doesn't seem to affect the midrange either. Highs are more clear and defined for me too.

I will be listening to this for a while before trying the something else. Mind you, I am not using the headphone out as I am using my Gilmore. But the few times I tried the 1361's they were very comparable and almost as good for me as the Gilmore - but not quite!!
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post #1422 of 9226
2/9/08 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by edguetzow View Post
No problem, Penchum!

As far as the photos of davve's board, it is hard for me to tell. The resin is discolored (?) in the first photo. I don't like seeing the resin on the chips in the other pictures either. Could just be the photos.

davve, do the solder points look burned or otherwise unusual? It is hard for me to tell from the photos. Either they didn't clean up the board or the resin could be discolored from heat. Did you smell anything?

Also, this may be dumb question, but did you try a different set of headphones with the Zero? Maybe your phones (heaven forbid!) got fried instead of the Zero!

Stay positive and hope for the best! At least Lawrence responded to you rather quickly!!

What is resin? maybe resin is normal? I have my DV connected to my AP192 so my HD650 is working.
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post #1423 of 9226
2/9/08 at 9:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
The very bottom pic, the bottom chip, might be worth cleaning off to see if the surface of the chip shows signs of overheating (melting,smudging). It looks a little bumpy to me.?
I thought the same thing about the chip in photo #2 as well.
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post #1424 of 9226
2/9/08 at 9:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penchum View Post
The very bottom pic, the bottom chip, might be worth cleaning off to see if the surface of the chip shows signs of overheating (melting,smudging). It looks a little bumpy to me.?
I have cleaned it, it seems okay.
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post #1425 of 9226
2/9/08 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by davve View Post
I have cleaned it, it seems okay.
Good. I just wanted to make sure. The only other thing you could check is to look closely at every chip's top surface for a tell-tale sign of head damage, usually a circle spot that has turned to liquid and cooled. Then I guess look closely at the fuses, and connections. Let me know if you find anything suspicious.
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