Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp - Page 533

Can the DAC portion of the ZERO be the source of sound imbalance?

I'm sorry to step in and change the subject guys but I have a problem that I need you to help me solve it.

I have a sound imbalance and I was wondering if the DAC portion of the ZERO could be responsible. If so, I would have to purchase another DAC?

My Knob says thanx for noticing!

Zero arrived today (it shipped Tuesday and got here this afternoon, very impressed). My first visual impression was that this thing is MUCH larger than I anticipated. For whatever reason I got the idea that this thing wasn't too much bigger than a Sonic Impact T-Amp Gen2, boy was I wrong. Before hooking anything up I cracked it open to confirm the presence of the OPA627, which it did have, and that's where I ran into the first, and currently only, QC issue. The screwhole on the lower left hand corner (looking at the Zero from the front) was stripped. I had to guide the screw out with a flat head screwdriver.

As far as sound quality goes, compared to coming straight from the X-Fi, the Zero sounds just a tad bit sharper and more detailed but feels weaker (its doesn't seem as loud at a corresponding volume setting compared to the X-Fi). In short, it sounds great to me. I've only tried the headphone port once so far, and I got the impression that it didn't sound as good compared to plugging straight into the X-Fi, but then I probably need to give it some serious play time so it can settle in.

Just for the benefit of not having to sniff around the back of my computer anymore makes this an excellent buy for me. The sound quality is just a very pleasant bonus!

This is the RCA ground wire, correct?

ah ha. I can see the silver cable. the arrow u pointed is correct. there are 3 pins on the pcb, the mid one is ground and it is a better choice.

So I bought a fiber optic cable to connect my playstation, but it does not fit my zero. Do I need a mini-toslink adapter. One of those 3.5mm things?

Does anyone know where ZERO's I/V converter circuit is?

I don't think kernel streaming or ASIO will affect the output bandwidth. They are just ways to bypass the Windows KMixer, which contributes about 30ms latency into your output path, and it's not reducible. The bandwidth requirement for CD audio is 44.1K x 16 x 2, which is around 1.4Mbps, far from exceeding the limit of full speed USB 1.1 (12Mbps). So bandwidth should not become your major concern here. Budget USB/SPDIF converters tend to output mediocre SPDIF signal, mainly because of their cheap design and implementation. USB/optical devices also add another layer of AD/DA into conversion process, thus increase jitter. USB/coaxial converters are born better, IMO.

I'm surprised that your Zero did not come with a optical cable. Zero accepts ordinary toslink, not the mini-type. So you don't need the adapter. Try turn the plug until it fits ...

thanks for the clarification. so assuming i wish to use the zero with a laptop without spdif out, the best option would be to get a usb/coax converter? how much would a really good one cost?

Hello,
Do you guys know what the Volume control Pot's specs are. 50 or 100 KOhms?

USB Off-Ramp Turbo-2 ~$1000 ... I guess you don't want to spend 10x Zero price on a converter
Unfortunately, all USB sound cards I know with a coaxial output cost $200+. If you don't mind their high price tag, either M-Audio or EMU will serve the purpose very well, IMO. Personally, I use a modified SIIG USB SoundWave 7.1. I opened its shell and added a male RCA plug to directly couple CM102's SPDIF output to Zero's SPDIF input - no SPDIF cable required, yeah! It costs me less than $20 I know it's a rather crappy sound card, but to my ears, CM102's digital output sounds exactly the same comparing to the SPDIF from my M-Audio AP192 (~$150).

lol issit possible to mod the zero with a usb then hahah

HA USB TO SPDIF (coax) 2902

Cheap and does what is required.

I was thinking of putting the USB sound card inside Zero - it's tiny and bus powered, so should be very doable. But I didn't bother drilling the back of Zero, leaving it outside for now ...