Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 146

You can buy from souperman

I have to differ somewhat from what other have said based on my own experience.
The ZERO does seem to drive the 701s pretty adequately. I have been using this combo with the stock op-amps.
The downer is the lack of adequate bass, which is not necessarily ZERO's fault.
The mids and the highs are fluid and engaging. The details are great.
But the bass is no where near where it should be, even to a non-BASS head like me. Its very subtle and controlled. Might be good for some kinds of music...

So be very careful with source and amp matching with 701s.

I have been using it in a similar fashion.
Computer toslink > ZERO > H/K Stereo reciever > Dana 630 desktop speakers

I always have the HPs plugged in. Whenever I want to listen thru the cans - I use the button on the ZERO, which cuts off the input to the H/K and into the HPs. I almost never use the volume knob on the Zero - its set at a comfortable listening level for the HPs.

The question I have for the veterans here is - Is there a combinations of Opamps that will help with the bass on the 701s? And I dont even want a SLAM just adequate bass.

My 701s currently have about 200+ hours on them. The Zero has about 100 hours.

The stock op-amps, especially the pair of 5532 on the amp board are pretty much universally panned by anyone who's rolled anything else into the sockets. That isn't to say that the amp is a great match with 701's with other chips, but I'm sure it can be noticably improved.

I have 627's in the DAC and LT1364 in the amp - but I don't use the amp section with anything but RS-1's and not with them very often.

Zero has arrived!

My wife called and The Box has arrived. I'll go home and take a quick look and after a couple errands I'll unpack and try it out with the laptop.

Question: I have a Monster Cable RCA cable. This should work OK for S/PDIF, right?

More posting after first impressions with the HD-650s!

Audio cables don't work well, if at all, as digital cables. They are generally the wrong impedance. A Video cable, if 75 ohm, will work fine.

I am not sure I understand what that means?

I might have to do that eventually!
I really like the looks and the fit on the 701 though

Question: I have a Monster Cable RCA cable. This should work OK for S/PDIF, right?

Are you talking about a co-ax? If so yes..The Zero comes with a optical cable

The RCA works. I guess it is coax.

How do you have this set up?
Computer > Zero >HPhones

After three long weeks of waiting (3/7-3/24, is that less? ;-), my little Zero arrived today. This is my first attempt at owning better than mid-fi audio.

I had already bought the Sennheiser HD-650s (big splurge), and had enjoyed them a lot with just my 3G iPod and mostly MP3s.

First thing I did was take the lid off. Had to see it for real after looking at Penchum's pics a million times. Looks fine; I think the xformer may be different - less diameter and taller, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it looks clean and red and pretty. I can post pictures later if anyone wants to see even more Zero guts.

I tried an old DVD player's coaxial output with a Monster Cable RCA, but that didn't work, so I took the Zero over to the laptop, plugged the RCA into the S/PDIF plug, and pressed play on a bach goldberg variations/gould/zenph/binaural/Aria/foobar2k. Still nothing. Oops, "Optical" was pressed. Try the "Coaxial" button silly...there's something...wait, is the sound coming from the computer speakers? I'm hearing something like a sound stage... I lifted one side of the phones off my ears, and no, the sound is coming from the phones. wow. More volume. turn everything around me off. Send the kids to bed. Less light around the area (does anyone else find light distracting more than a bit?). More listening. Grabbed whatever was near: Dire Straits, Elivs (Costello), S&G, Toto, Chick Corea.

To these tin ears, this is easily the best sound I've ever owned, and maybe the best I've ever heard, even compared to my buddy's $20K+ speaker system.

I am very happy. Can't wait to try out all my music.

Penchum: thanks a lot for all your work on this thread; I'd not have bought the Zero if this thread with all your commentary had not been here.