[Dark Helmet]

You mean bad synergy with z1? Or you didn't tried yet?

What kind of improvement did you notice?

Better detai, clarity, and wider soundstage, which really helps the ZS3 out as they do not have a very wide soundstage.

 

[noknok23]

Thanks.i add that opamp to my list

 

[endia]

You mean bad synergy with z1? Or you didn't tried yet?

i didn't tried, waiting for Z1..

 

[james-O-hifi]

I think he meant 2604.

yup, I did. Sorry.

I did some late night testing last night because my Walnut V2 had arrived and I wanted to play around with it and interestingly burn-in really seems to be a thing with the Walnut because I have to revise my opinion I posted earlier. The Walnut is dark but it's also very dry. The sound doesn't bleed anywhere, it's very well controlled and very very likeable.

Here my testing notes:

Stock Walnut vs Stock Z1
The Walnut wins here by far. It's resolves better, has a drier bass and an overall vintage-audio feel. The Zishan feels like behind a curtain,

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2143
The Z1 is getting better here. Better clarity, but still the Walnut wins.

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2604
Badaa, the Z1 suddenly get's a nice resolution, better clarity and a good feel. However, for me, the bass bleeds every once in a while... Not so cool. It's not huge, it's just a little noticeable every once in a while.

Z1 with LME49270NA
Now comes the interesting part. In my tests two days ago i really like the LME best, yesterday it was on second place fore me, because although resolving better, it controlled the bass worse than the OPA2604. I'm really curious about this and I'm going to watch this issue.

Anyway, conclusion Walnut vs Z1.
These are two different players with different sound signatures. The Walnut sounds like 70ies hifi (very likeable sound) the Z1 sounds like a 2017 PA. The Walnut is warm, it's sound wraps around you like a nice blanket, the Z1 is more resolving and wants to wow you with an explosion of a million details. The Walnut is like a glass of good red wine while the Z1 is like that fizzy white wine. Two different things and I wouldn't want to miss either of them, For now I'll give my Walnut to a friend who's going back to the States tomorrow keep the Z1 and order a V2S but that's solely because of the modability and the DAC mode of the Z1. It's not a preference for the sound signature. Waaaah, can I please have both, in one device: The clarity and airyness of the Z1 and the warmth of the Walnut. Sigh...

 

[Dark Helmet]

yup, I did. Sorry.

I did some late night testing last night because my Walnut V2 had arrived and I wanted to play around with it and interestingly burn-in really seems to be a thing with the Walnut because I have to revise my opinion I posted earlier. The Walnut is dark but it's also very dry. The sound doesn't bleed anywhere, it's very well controlled and very very likeable.

Here my testing notes:

Stock Walnut vs Stock Z1
The Walnut wins here by far. It's resolves better, has a drier bass and an overall vintage-audio feel. The Zishan feels like behind a curtain,

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2143
The Z1 is getting better here. Better clarity, but still the Walnut wins.

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2604
Badaa, the Z1 suddenly get's a nice resolution, better clarity and a good feel. However, for me, the bass bleeds every once in a while... Not so cool. It's not huge, it's just a little noticeable every once in a while.

Z1 with LME49270HA
Now comes the interesting part. In my tests two days ago i really like the LME best, yesterday it was on second place fore me, because although resolving better, it controlled the bass worse than the OPA2604. I'm really curious about this and I'm going to watch this issue.

Anyway, conclusion Walnut vs Z1.
These are two different players with different sound signatures. The Walnut sounds like 70ies hifi (very likeable sound) the Z1 sounds like a 2017 PA. The Walnut is warm, it's sound wraps around you like a nice blanket, the Z1 is more resolving and wants to wow you with an explosion of a million details. The Walnut is like a glass of good red wine while the Z1 is like that fizzy white wine. Two different things and I wouldn't want to miss either of them, For now I'll give my Walnut to a friend who's going back to the States tomorrow keep the Z1 and order a V2S but that's solely because of the modability and the DAC mode of the Z1. It's not a preference for the sound signature. Waaaah, can I please have both, in one device: The clarity and airyness of the Z1 and the warmth of the Walnut. Sigh...

So do you have the LME49720HA or the LME49720NA?

 

[nesty]

I auditioned z1 vs v2s a week ago and my ears tells me z1 has the better soundstage, clarity in mids vocal, balance bass and highs. v2s sounds laidback. For this reason I choose z1. Last night I replaced the default opamp with 2134 sounds bright. I'll try 2604 next.

 

[Dark Helmet]

When swapping opamps if you guys can let everyone know what headphones, iem's, etc.. you are using that would be great. To go one step further and describe the characteristics of the headphones, iem's etc.. in question, would help to identify opamp synergy. I will do the same.

 

[macky112]

yup, I did. Sorry.

I did some late night testing last night because my Walnut V2 had arrived and I wanted to play around with it and interestingly burn-in really seems to be a thing with the Walnut because I have to revise my opinion I posted earlier. The Walnut is dark but it's also very dry. The sound doesn't bleed anywhere, it's very well controlled and very very likeable.

Here my testing notes:

Stock Walnut vs Stock Z1
The Walnut wins here by far. It's resolves better, has a drier bass and an overall vintage-audio feel. The Zishan feels like behind a curtain,

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2143
The Z1 is getting better here. Better clarity, but still the Walnut wins.

Stock Walnut vs Z1 with OPA2604
Badaa, the Z1 suddenly get's a nice resolution, better clarity and a good feel. However, for me, the bass bleeds every once in a while... Not so cool. It's not huge, it's just a little noticeable every once in a while.

Z1 with LME49270HA
Now comes the interesting part. In my tests two days ago i really like the LME best, yesterday it was on second place fore me, because although resolving better, it controlled the bass worse than the OPA2604. I'm really curious about this and I'm going to watch this issue.

Anyway, conclusion Walnut vs Z1.
These are two different players with different sound signatures. The Walnut sounds like 70ies hifi (very likeable sound) the Z1 sounds like a 2017 PA. The Walnut is warm, it's sound wraps around you like a nice blanket, the Z1 is more resolving and wants to wow you with an explosion of a million details. The Walnut is like a glass of good red wine while the Z1 is like that fizzy white wine. Two different things and I wouldn't want to miss either of them, For now I'll give my Walnut to a friend who's going back to the States tomorrow keep the Z1 and order a V2S but that's solely because of the modability and the DAC mode of the Z1. It's not a preference for the sound signature. Waaaah, can I please have both, in one device: The clarity and airyness of the Z1 and the warmth of the Walnut. Sigh...

Is your V2 came with a soldered opamp? That would be what we referred to "V2.1", and it has 2604 soldered on, this would make sense to your comparo here. And yes on the first two posts of this thread, it was recommended to burn in Walnut for more than 80hours

Even if your Walnut came with socketed opamp, and without a Hold switch, that opamp is RC5532, which is different than stock Z1's NE5532. But if your Walnut is this "V2.2" you would've noticed it has a DAC mode. Original V2 or aka V2.0, has a Hold switch and a socketed NE5532

I am still burning in my z1 but I am under the impression that a dedicated DAC in z1 would sound better than an SoC in Walnut series. Will report back after I give my z1 and V2.1 a good listen this long weekend on my PortaPro, Monoprice M1060, 1more Triple IEM, ZS3, ZST. Also I have LME49860 49720 and AD825 opamps and Zishan DSD to throw into the review mix

 

[james-O-hifi]

So do you have the LME49720HA or the LME49720NA?

ugh, you're right, thanks for asking: I have the NA! LME49270NA. I didn't realize there were two versions.

When swapping opamps if you guys can let everyone know what headphones, iem's, etc.. you are using that would be great. To go one step further and describe the characteristics of the headphones, iem's etc.. in question, would help to identify opamp synergy. I will do the same.

You are absolutely right, we should do this. As I posted in https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/new-zishan-z1-dsd-player-thread.844417/page-26#post-13501769 my test equipment consists of the Sony MDR-1000X closed ANC headphones, the Rock Zircon IEMs and now also the Monk+.

Is your V2 came with a soldered opamp? That would be what we referred to "V2.1", and it has 2604 soldered on, this would make sense to your comparo here. And yes on the first two posts of this thread, it was recommended to burn in Walnut for more than 80hours

Even if your Walnut came with socketed opamp, and without a Hold switch, that opamp is RC5532, which is different than stock Z1's NE5532. But if your Walnut is this "V2.2" you would've noticed it has a DAC mode. Original V2 or aka V2.0, has a Hold switch and a socketed NE5532

This info is gold. My walnut came with a soldered opamp and no hold switch! So it must be the OPA2604. Oh boy, that really makes a lot of sense! Thank you for pointing this out. I haven't found the time to dig through the Walnut thread yet.

I'm still impressed with both players, although I gave the Walnut to my friend today (his comment, "Oh my, earcandy, earcandy" ).

I have a suggestion for the OPAMP rolling and the comments we have here. What about a Google spreadsheet, where we collect all the comments about the different OPAMPS we all tried out?

A list like this: https://docs.google.com/a/maul.at/s...ebdgtcfLcr5gfaaGEZ1pr-UbHGI/edit?usp=drivesdk

What do you think?

Feel free to add your ratings and comments

 

[Dark Helmet]

ugh, you're right, thanks for asking: I have the NA! LME49270NA. I didn't realize there were two versions.



You are absolutely right, we should do this. As I posted in https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/new-zishan-z1-dsd-player-thread.844417/page-26#post-13501769 my test equipment consists of the Sony MDR-1000X closed ANC headphones, the Rock Zircon IEMs and now also the Monk+.



This info is gold. My walnut came with a soldered opamp and no hold switch! So it must be the OPA2604. Oh boy, that really makes a lot of sense! Thank you for pointing this out. I haven't found the time to dig through the Walnut thread yet.

I'm still impressed with both players, although I gave the Walnut to my friend today (his comment, "Oh my, earcandy, earcandy" ).

I have a suggestion for the OPAMP rolling and the comments we have here. What about a Google spreadsheet, where we collect all the comments about the different OPAMPS we all tried out?

A list like this: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ll48xgmjXF9tlkrbOtb3rqFMSmhqZ5_71JEkOgQaEgM/edit?usp=sharing

What do you think?

Feel free to add your ratings and comments

The LME49720HA is circular and has a metal can. It's supposed to sound better than the NA. I have few on the way. Also from my understanding the HA is going to be discontinued.

 

[Dark Helmet]

The KSC75 on parts express headband sounds excellent with the Z1 and the LME47920NA. I pretty much dismissed it with the OPA2604. Sounded too dark and lacking separation and detail with the 2604.

 

[dkfuel]

I was testing my Z1 with some test dsd files downloaded from the internet and every so often I got blurbs of digital static from the left or the right channel. Same files tested on a different player (Hishan) did not have any of those anomalies.

Is this simply because it has less than 80 hours playback and is not fully burned in yet? It only has about 30 hours. Or is it just the nature of the beast?

I can provide a link to the test files if anyone is interested. They are from the Oppo website (pleasing music but horrid vocals.)

 

[Drakis]

Can anyone explain me what LO "hole" is for in the Z1? I've seen headphones connected to PO port.

 

[Holypal]

Can anyone explain me what LO "hole" is for in the Z1? I've seen headphones connected to PO port.

LO stands for line out. It means the analog signal right after the DAC (digital to analog converter), and before feed into the amplifier section.

LO usually has constant output voltage level, and can be feed into other amplifiers, for headphone or speakers.

 

[Drakis]

LO stands for line out. It means the analog signal right after the DAC (digital to analog converter), and before feed into the amplifier section.

LO usually has constant output voltage level, and can be feed into other amplifiers, for headphone or speakers.

Ok. I get it. Thanks.