Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 31

Btw, could it be fatal to the dac if the opamps are inserted the wrong way? I guess they all have the text written the same way, so it should be an easy task?

After reading all 56 pages of this thread, I am seriously considering purchasing a Zero primarily for a headphone amp for my Denon D1000's. I have a few questions, but first the setup .... I am listening to a Panasonic portable CD player -> Line out to a Penguin Cafeine -> Denon D1000. Nice sound but slightly deficient in "Wow" if you know what I mean. Would the Zero with a suitable source improve the Wow factor?

I would also need an optical source. I have a JVC XV-S500 DVD player with optical out. Would that be a suitable source for playing CD's? If the player is sending a digital signal, how much effect does it have on SQ?

I also have a M-Audio 2496 card in a computer which also has optical out that I could use as a source; but, the overhead/noise of running a computer to play CD's seems a bit overkill.

I could also buy a CD player with optical out (thank you very much Head-fi) if anyone has any suggestions.....

Shopper: Have you received your Zero yet? If so, how would you compare the sq of it compared to that of your P2?

We need comparisons to some amps here. Since some people are getting their amps now, after burn in, this is a must.

The headphone output IS the preamp output. If you connect to the rca output on the zero it is like connecting to your cd/dvd player. At that point you are just using the zero as a dac, not a preamplifier (not that there is anything wrong with that). If you want to use it as a preamp you need a cable to convert from the headphone jack to rca inputs on your amp (most likely). That same cable is what most people would be using to connect their computer to their stereo or to convert any headphone signal to stereo rca and costs only a few dollars. Not trying to offend anyone if that seems too basic to be posting here. I was going to buy a nicer cable just for that purpose before my zero stopped functioning Lawrence has contacted me, unfortunately his ideas are things I've already done: ie push the reset button on the inside, leave the unit unplugged for a day to see if the caps discharge and it resets itself. The unit seems to function fine as far as powering up, switching inputs etc but bottom line no sound.

In that case you are using the JVC as a transport. I don't know anything about that model but there are tricks you can do to improve any transport as far as dampening it internally and externally, shielding, etc so that it picks up all the info from the disc. There is probably a cheap dvd player or older cd player that everyone says is the best for using as a transport but I don't keep up with that. My plan is to use an external cdrom drive eventually.

So you're saying you can use this as a pre with an amp with gain controls using the rca outputs? I didn't detect a change in the rca output level when activating the headphone amp (which is also labeled preamp) but I didn't get to use it very long. As far as being careful it's just a little too late.

Well I contacted Lawrence again and this is what he said when I mentioned using the zero as a pre via the headphone output jack.

He's certainly a friendly guy and this makes me feel a bit better about not being responsible for this thing not working. I just didn't know how else you would use it as a preamp since the volume control doesn't affect the rear output.

Edit: I have heard of hooking up a source directly to an amp and listening at a set level I've just never tried it and I didn't think that was what the preamp function of this unit was referring to.

Where can I get a hold of one of these?