Ordered mine today. I guess im in for quite the wait?
post #271 of 9242
12/24/07 at 2:51am
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Well, maybe not so long. I ordered mine (2nd) on the 16th and Lawrence thought I'd be in that first batch of 50, but I wasn't. I got an email from him and he said the next batch should ship on the 26th or 27th. Maybe you'll get lucky and be on the tail end of this next batch!! Have a happy holiday!
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Seems it might be. He just emailed me with the tracking number and everything. Looking good.
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Me too, but I have to remember, he's got 50 to ship out. I expect the email sometime today.
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| Dear Sir , I am sorry I omit your order due to so many orders. I'll compensate my fault with a free of charge OPAMP upgrade to DY2000 which it have a characteristic as smooth as silk , rich tube sound . Analog device DY2000 (dual, ceramic) Price: US$20 Comment : These chips makes the sound more valve like than the tube sound ever did if that can possibly make any sense! Melodious, slightly laid back and warm yet it brings out every last bit of detail from a recording. Overall a very nice sound. A kind of hybrid valve and solid state mix which gives the best of both worlds. Nice smooth valve like mids and highs with lovely solid state bass oomph . This is the Op amp for those who prefer a valve like sound but would also like a solid state bottom end delivery. With this Op amp you can have your cake and eat it. Smooth as silk. I hope you can accept it . And the next batch will come next week . Thank you very much ! Best regards, Lawrence |


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Turns out he just forgot mine (perhaps because I ordered by emailing him direct/didn't go through eBay)
Pretty cool ![]() I emailed back to ask him if he'd include the original op-amp in the box so I can hear/compare with the original Zero sound - he agreed but said to just be careful as installing it wrongly can break the DAC.. will bear that in mind ![]() Will see how I get on with it (anyone here know much about this DY2000/ceramic?), but biggest benefit I reckon is that now I'll have two single-dual adaptors (got an AD797 + brown-dog adaptor still in the post from HK/USA as well). Also can anyone here offer any advice on which way round might be best to try the two replacement amps? (i.e. which in the preamp and which in the headphone stage/what difference it makes?) |
Don't be shocked if the OPA2604 makes you want to listen to it more. It can do that!
I have a feeling the AD797s will blow us both away!! 
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The AD797 is not unity gain stable. You shouldn't use in the Zero's analog stage. Instead you might be able to use it in the headphone amp (I might try myself).
This DY2000 sounds interesting. I want it too. ![]() |
If the headphone stage was the only do-able situation, would you have to have two sets then?

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Well, I asked Lawrence about the AD797s and he said it was an excellent upgrade. He has it listed on his "cheat sheet" of upgrades too.
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| Dear Sir , Personally I like DY2000 but the bass is less than 797. Western people like rich bass and it is different from Asian . If you like bass , 627 is the best . The op-amps used are generally of poor quality, corrupting the analogue signal, having a disastrous effect on the sonic capabilities of the CD player. The effects are a smearing of detail, reduced dynamics, congestion of instruments on complex music passages causing a mass of sound, rather than a spacious, airy, sound stage. The quality of the mid-high frequencies is particularly poor, where the mid-band is brittle and aggressive, and higher frequencies are edgy, cold and fatiguing to listen to. The following op-amps produce the poorest results; NE5534, NJM2114, NE5532, NJM4558, NJM4560, AD711, AD712, LM833. The performance of op-amps from different manufacturers varies considerably. Therefore, selecting a single type of op-amp to meet the parameters required for the analogue output stage involved analysing data sheets and conducting many listening tests. The important parameters for sound quality are high speed (or bandwidth) low THD, fast settling, and low input noise. The most natural and musical sounding were FET-Input types as opposed to bipolar. Burr Brown OPA 627 BP(single, ceramic) on Browndog adaptor Price: US$28 each (Total US$56 for 2 singles) Browndog adaptor $5 Total: $61 Comment: Two words sum this chip up........ "absolute class" This is single chip and it was necessary to fit two single channel 627's onto a single to dual Browndog adaptor which Adapts two single-channel DIP-8 op-amps to a dual DIP-8 pinout. These 2 single channel op amps absolutely trounced anything that had gone before them ..... the width of the soundstage, the clarity and the sheer presence make this my choice of op amp for use in the Chiarra without a shadow of a doubt. The sound is just so "clean", so "natural", so "musical" and so "detailed" with the 627's on board. The Burr Brown 627 "is" headphone heaven....... absolute class act. LM4562(dual, ceramic) Price: US$30. Comment : A "Very" revealing chip, sound similar to the OPA627 but puncher around the edges. I found this chip gave out "way" too much information for my liking. It is analytical to the point that certain pieces of music can become impossible to listen to, especially bad recordings, it reproduces every last detail / imperfection with microscopic accuracy which, at times, can be detrimental to the overall enjoyment of the music. For those that love a warts and all insight into the music then this is the star of the show but it may not be to everyone liking. It may be an op amp which can beat OPA627. Burr Brown OPA2604 (dual, ceramic) Price: US$10. Comment: OPA2604 sounded very warm, very laid back and very easy to listen to but slightly veiled in the detail department. "Chocolaty" and "syrupy" though a good easy to listen to Op amp., This may just be what the doctor ordered for those who like a laid back, thick, chocolaty, easy going and easy to listen to sound. Linear techonolgy LT1057(dual, ceramic) Price: US$20, Comment: Without a shadow of a doubt this op amp is the star of the the centry. Easy to listen to, easy to pick out every last detail and ever so natural. There was an ethereal quality to the sound that only ever heard on high quality loudspeaker based systems. It's hard to put what this op amp does into words but listening to the sound with it on board is as close to headphone heaven. Very analytical. Linear techonolgy LT1028(single, ceramic) on Browndog adaptor Price: US$15 each (Total US$30 for 2 singles) Browndog adaptor $5 Total: $35 Comment: It provided very similar results to the LT-1057 but each component of the sound was treated to an additional air of realism and effortless delivery that was immediately evident. Linear techonolgy LT1028(single, metal) on Browndog adaptor Price: US$25 each (Total US$50 for 2 singles) Browndog adaptor $5 Total: $52 Comment: It provided very similar results to the LT-1028 but the sound is ten times better LT-1028 with their punch , detail , range of frequency ….. especially the naturality. Analog device AD797 (single, metal) Price: US$25 each (Total US$50 for 2 singles) Browndog adaptor $5 Total: $52 Comment : Smooth, highly analytical, warm, uncoloured, laid back yet all detail is present (and then some) Very electrostatic quality to the sound with that super solid state bass underpinning the proceedings without overwhelming them. Start and stops are followed by an inky black silence and the timbre of the drums is very realistic indeed. Something that is very evident with this op amp is it's inherent ability to provide accurate timing which I really do like! There is no bass overhang, the drums start and stop as they should and, as a result, the timing is pretty much spot on. This is like listening to music with a stethoscope with the metronome ticking away in the background but it also adds a touch of valium to make the experience very bearable and extremely enjoyable. Analog device DY2000 (dual, ceramic) Price: US$20 Comment : These chips makes the sound more valve like than the tube sound ever did if that can possibly make any sense! Melodious, slightly laid back and warm yet it brings out every last bit of detail from a recording. Overall a very nice sound. A kind of hybrid valve and solid state mix which gives the best of both worlds. Nice smooth valve like mids and highs with lovely solid state bass oomph . This is the Op amp for those who prefer a valve like sound but would also like a solid state bottom end delivery. With this Op amp you can have your cake and eat it. Smooth as silk. Analog device DY2000 (dual, metal) Price: US$35. Comment : It provided very similar results to the DY2000 ceramic but the sound is ten times better with their punch , detail , range of frequency ….. especially the naturality. Thank you very much ! Best regards, Lawrence |
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Hi guys, i just wanted to ask, can i use this dac just on it's own without using the headphone amp? I already have a headphone amp which i want to connect to the dac as well as my cd player. Will this all work together ok?
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