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DECWARE HAS RELEASED A DAC!! ZDAC-1 - Page 4

post #46 of 107
4/7/10 at 1:21am
Well, I was the poster that linked Steve's notes. I don't mind that the boards were stuff in China.

I have a Gigaworks Dac on the way (purchased just before I saw this announcement). Natually being curious, I'd like the original picture that Steve posted to do a comparison.

FYI, the Gigaworks seller sells the DAC complete in a chassis with the OPA627 opamps for US$230 shipped. This thread on Stereo Net Australia shows an older version but you get an idea of the case you're getting the Dac with:

My new dac
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post #47 of 107
4/7/10 at 10:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete View Post


A lot of Western gear is OEM'd by Chinese manufacturers...it doesn't mean they sold out. The reality in this day and age is simple, manufacturing costs are much lower in China for no loss in quality of the end product. It's a matter of being able to compete in a price bracket that is already jammed full of competition. No ulterior motive implied but it's best to be honest about what's under the lid IMO. Not having internal pics invites doubt in these circles....

Peete.
I agree with you, Peete, but I also understand why Steve was irritated with the way people were already harping on this being just an OEM board stuffed in a chassis with no mods at a higher price. He went ahead and made very public exactly what he was doing in his DAC to earn the buyers money, so the prospective buyer could decide whether or not those things were potentially worth the money to him/her. In general I think Steve handled it pretty well.

That said, I have no interest in a DAC like this personally (just don't need one), and Steve has not replied to my email asking for a loaner to review.
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post #48 of 107
4/7/10 at 11:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
I agree with you, Peete, but I also understand why Steve was irritated with the way people were already harping on this being just an OEM board stuffed in a chassis with no mods at a higher price. He went ahead and made very public exactly what he was doing in his DAC to earn the buyers money, so the prospective buyer could decide whether or not those things were potentially worth the money to him/her. In general I think Steve handled it pretty well.

That said, I have no interest in a DAC like this personally (just don't need one), and Steve has not replied to my email asking for a loaner to review.
Agreed Sky, but Steve has been in this business a long time and I would have thought his skin was a little thicker than this....I'm pretty sure other boards had similar thoughts and maybe yet another similar tack here was the last straw for him ? I've been following his folded horn sub ( modded Jensen Imperial S.O.) design with great interest (and a little green with envy) for a number of years waiting until I have a room big enough to do them justice ...

I hope Steve sends you a review sample since the straight dope from an honest broker is always a welcome addition and it would go a long way towards Steve showing confidence in what he is selling. That's how I see it, right or wrong with absolutely no concern WRT to the DAC's provenance.

Peete.
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post #49 of 107
4/8/10 at 4:39am
So can someone email or post the pic which was originally on Steve's site? I wanted to do a comparision.
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post #50 of 107
4/8/10 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by shawn_low View Post
Did anyone save the image of the ZDAC internals?

Steve has pulled it off his website but I wanted to do a comparision. Thanks!
Jeez, I hope Decware realizes deleting their DAC's internal pics does not inspire too much confidence in the consumer. IMO they should have let the pics stand along with their explanation. Anyway, at least we can provide the pic of the Ebay Dac.

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post #51 of 107
4/9/10 at 3:17am
I think it's absolutely horrible that the manufacturer in China decided to "borrow" Steve's design and offer their own "version" of it at $120.00 on Ebay after mass producing tens of thousands of copies.
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post #52 of 107
4/9/10 at 9:20am
I just started reading this thread. When I first went to the site to see the dac I thought "for that price it's nothing special". Then I was surprise the read the first few posts of people really wanting one. Then came the internals of the ebay dac and everybody went "oh no". This could still be a great sounding dac, but on paper it doesn't seem to be anything special. But on the other hand, there have been dacs out there that surprised me. Maybe this could be one of them.
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post #53 of 107
4/11/10 at 6:58pm
Has anyone ordered and received this Decware dac? I wan't to make a decision on a dac..
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post #54 of 107
4/11/10 at 9:42pm
Steve and I are trying to work out a time for me to get a review loaner, but it may be a while. But we are discussing it.
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post #55 of 107
4/11/10 at 9:46pm
That's good news Sky !

Peete.
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post #56 of 107
4/14/10 at 11:15am

Pic of interior

There is the low res version of the internal guts of the ZDAC-1 on this page in the Decware forums:

Forums - The DECWARE ZEN DAC-1 is HERE!

I have one on order. I've been buying Decware components since 1998. Yes, this may not be "anything special" in some ways, but I do know that Steve has been working for years on a digital front end that he's proud of and I want to hear this. The attention to vibration isolation, buffering the signal and amplifying the signal should yield very accurate and listenable sound.
LL
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post #57 of 107
4/14/10 at 11:47am
Note that the transformer in his pic is MUCH nicer looking than the one in the Chinese OEM kit.
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post #58 of 107
4/14/10 at 12:05pm
The one account on the Decware Forum seems to be impressed, so I'll remain hopeful that this will be another "knock it out of the park" product. Plus, has Decware done anything to warrant this much criticism over a new product without hearing it first?
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post #59 of 107
4/14/10 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by purrin View Post
I think it's absolutely horrible that the manufacturer in China decided to "borrow" Steve's design and offer their own "version" of it at $120.00 on Ebay after mass producing tens of thousands of copies.
The Chinese DAC has been on eBay for a long time, before the Decware is announced. Not sure what you meant here.
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post #60 of 107
4/14/10 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skylab View Post
Note that the transformer in his pic is MUCH nicer looking than the one in the Chinese OEM kit.
Well, I think the case is that toroidals 'look' beefier, but in reality for whatever reason R-Cores are better technically, so I've heard. The eBay kit said it "upgraded" from a toroidal to an R-Core, so I guess it's better. Unless if they're lying
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