[estreeter]

The mighty X1060 is notorious for hissing with sensitive IEMs, but I've never seen a single complaint from the owner of fullsize phones - it certainly didnt bother me in the slightest. I guess there is a first-time for everything, but anything which hisses loudly enough to impact my fullsize cans would have so many other problems that I simply wouldnt use it as an amp anyway. We need to bear in mind that we are dealing with uber-obsessives here - that doesnt negate the issue, but it may well be that Joe Average simply plugs the ZO2 into his DAP, cranks up the bass and goes 'Whoa ! This is like, totally, awesome !' ...........

 

[rezel]

That's great to hear, since I'll be listening to the Pro 900 mainly. Thanks 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well I tried it with all my headphones and only with XB500 which is the easiest driven/most sensitive headphone I've come across I heard a little bit hiss with. Even AKG K518DJ which specs 32 ohm an 115dB sensitivity was completely silent. Sennheiser HD212 pro specced 32 ohm 112 dB or so had possibly the faintest possibly hiss you could ever hear, I had to listen very carefully to hear it. 
 
So I think you're only going to hear it faintly with the most sensitive headphones around.

 

[Il Mostro]

Quote:

No kidding.  Not so bad with headphones, but I cannot use my iem's with it.  

I'll second this.  In addition to the high degree of coloration and the loss of transparency and detail mentioned in regard to my ER4S, I decided to try them at the office today with UM3X.  Setup was MBP to Zo2 via USB DAC cable (the slick little job with the embedded Wolfson DAC inside the cable).  The Zo simply does not have sufficient  attenuation for sensitive IEM's -- way too load even at the very lowest volume setting.  It will not play nice with my intended purpose, the ER4S/iPod, so I am undecided whether to:  (a) flip it; (b) give it to my nephew; or (c) buy a Nano and just use it as a highly colored but highly isolating compact kit with my ER4S.  
 

 

[Grev]

I want mine already so I can hear what all this fuss is about.
 
Hopefully it won't blow my headphones...

 

[SkinnyPuppy]

http://www.amazon.com/Koss-155954-VC20-Volume-Control/dp/B00001P4XH/ref=pd_sbs_e_4
 
unless i can find an impedance adapter 1/8 to 1/8 this is what i'm getting tomorrow.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Now I saw the low battery indicator for the first time, basicly it blinks at the bottom of the lightbar, it also goes automaticly into bypass mode like advertised and luckily this time it goes rather silently with only a quick kind of rather silent distortion noise to it. The few times it happened with ZO1 in middle of a gaming session it often scared me a bit from the sudden loud pop so this is a nice change.
 
FYI I woke up at like 11 AM and it's been powered on all the time and been in use almost the whole time since then and now it's 3 AM here, that's 14 hrs, not bad and then I don't know if it was fully charged or not but it seemed that way (well close anyway). The LED is still glowing so I suppose it's not completely empty but the battery isn't charged enough to be able to play some music as it goes back into bypass mode if trying to turn it on. So this is very welcomed feature / improvement.

 

[esanthosh]

I for one bought this solely based on the huge expectations built by impressions regarding unmatched synergy with EX-1000 + the bass boost it provided to bass light IEMs. So, both issues - hiss + high volume levels - are a bit of a concern. That said, I now know what to expect. I am no longer expecting a "magical, miraculous, mythical, Zuper" ZO 2, but a $100 sound processor that might enhance the sound, but has some serious issues. Once it lands sometime in the next 2-4 weeks, I am going to give it sometime and match it with different combinations of sources, IEMs / Headphones and see how it goes. Nothing is perfect and it's not the first time my huge built-up expectations got crushed by reality. But, here's hoping that ZO2 is worth the fair chance I am going to give.

 

[SkinnyPuppy]

Quote:

I for one bought this solely based on the huge expectations built by impressions regarding unmatched synergy with EX-1000 + the bass boost it provided to bass light IEMs. So, both issues - hiss + high volume levels - are a bit of a concern. That said, I now know what to expect. I am no longer expecting a "magical, miraculous, mythical, Zuper" ZO 2, but a $100 sound processor that might enhance the sound, but has some serious issues. Once it lands sometime in the next 2-4 weeks, I am going to give it sometime and match it with different combinations of sources, IEMs / Headphones and see how it goes. Nothing is perfect and it's not the first time my huge built-up expectations got crushed by reality. But, here's hoping that ZO2 is worth the fair chance I am going to give.

Just buy a volume control/impedance adapter.

 

[SoulSyde]

Quote:

Just buy a volume control/impedance adapter.

Those are two separate things.  One is a potentiometer, the other a resistor.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

It's a shame about the hissing/gain/high volume issue because without that it would be a very good $100 product with a large crowd to appeal to. I really hope one day ZO will be the "perfect" product (relatively speaking ofc, for ~$100 it's a pretty good deal and it wouldn't be a stretch if it costed a little more as long as everything worked as expected) I've been hoping for, so close now, just need to get some gain switch optimized for IEM/headphones 8 - 50 ohm use as well as a higher gain lvl about same as now for >50 ohm headphone use.
 
I have a few small suggestions for improvements but I'll be sure to take my time first with ZO2 before I'll send the feedback.

 

[esanthosh]

Quote:

Just buy a volume control/impedance adapter.

I already have an impedance adapter.
 
Regarding volume control, isn't that the primary reason I waited all these months for ZO2 and not go for ZO1? Not a big fan of adding too many things in the path.
 
I will wait for ZO2 to arrive and give it sometime before coming back to this thread. Can't speculate any further on something I've not heard

 

[SoulSyde]

Quote:

I already have an impedance adapter.
 
Regarding volume control, isn't that the primary reason I waited all these months for ZO2 and not go for ZO1? Not a big fan of adding too many things in the path.
 
I will wait for ZO2 to arrive and give it sometime before coming back to this thread. Can't speculate any further on something I've not heard

 

[SkinnyPuppy]

Quote:

Those are two separate things.  One is a potentiometer, the other a resistor.

 

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Regarding volume control, isn't that the primary reason I waited all these months for ZO2 and not go for ZO1? Not a big fan of adding too many things in the path.
 

Agreed, and this is what Violectric has to say on the subject of potentiometers:
 
Why is a good volume pot essential ?
 
A volume potentiometer is a mechanical control element, which can be obtained on the market at any low price. Meanwhile it is often replaced by electronic circuitry, exhibiting essential disadvantages concerning dynamic range, noise and distortion. Conductive-plastic resistive tracks, high-quality multitap wipers and separated chambers for the individual sections are highly desirable for sophisticated applications, and high quality is inevitable to ensure trouble-free operation for years. Since the market for really good pots is a small one, manufacturers like Noble or Panasonic don't offer these any more. A current sample of top of the line pots is the RK27 by ALPS, which is used inside HPA 100 and HPA V200.
 
Clearly, I wasnt expecting an ALPS pot in the ZO2, but a volume pot isnt a trivial addition.