[Garzhad]

the RCA out put can use output to speaker and headphone AMP.

the build in headphone jack of ZXR is no good for me (I got a AUNE S2 PANDA MKII AMP for my th500RP)

so if you wana prove some worth for ZXR better use it with headphone AMP but not the build in HEADPHONE JACK.

Meh. One of the main sticking points for a highend soundcard is to have all the necessary parts rolled into one convenient package along with the gaming features. If yer gonna need a $400 amp you're better off getting a Z or other cheap card from asus or creative that has gaming features and using an optical out to a schiit stack. Hell for $400 you can just buy a Creative X7.

 

[pauladisc]

Meh. One of the main sticking points for a highend soundcard is to have all the necessary parts rolled into one convenient package along with the gaming features. If yer gonna need a $400 amp you're better off getting a Z or other cheap card from asus or creative that has gaming features and using an optical out to a schiit stack. Hell for $400 you can just buy a Creative X7.

is 230$ new on amazon. I got a used one here with 4 OPA V5I buidl in for 200$.

Creative X7's headphone jack is not good either. (for me)

the only good on zxr is the RCA out put or SPDIF out.

and the creative driver.

is the best , you have to give him that.

 

[Elocai]

So you've got the ZXR+V5i's for 200 Bucks and you dont like it?

I liked the Z alot so i bought the ZxR (99€).
IMO the Z is superior to the ZxR in soundquality, so I'll try V5's and the coupling mod to see where the sound goes.

One problem I had were emmissions from the gpu so i used an EMI Shield from another soundcard to sandwich the zxr now the sound is more clear and has less/no noise.

 

[pauladisc]

So you've got the ZXR+V5i's for 200 Bucks and you dont like it?

I liked the Z alot so i bought the ZxR (99€).
IMO the Z is superior to the ZxR in soundquality, so I'll try V5's and the coupling mod to see where the sound goes.

One problem I had were emmissions from the gpu so i used an EMI Shield from another soundcard to sandwich the zxr now the sound is more clear and has less/no noise.

I am saying that I love it.

but you have to use it with a AMP through RCA output


Z is "nothing" compare to ZXR if you know what I talking about.

 

[Garzhad]

I am saying that I love it.

but you have to use it with a AMP through RCA output


Z is "nothing" compare to ZXR if you know what I talking about.

I wouldn't exactly say Nothing. If you dont care for swappable op-amps and are going to use your own dac/amp stack anyway the Z is a much cheaper way to get the gaming features through your current audio setup.

 

[Elocai]

I have both, and in stock configuration, with stock amps the Z beats the ZXR IMO. The ZXR tends to be more harsh in the highs leading to listening fatique, also the bass is undefined and bloated on the zxr. Z is cheaper, but also has a better balanced sound, better highs and less listening fatique. I compared the Z to the 1150, ZXR, U7, Fatality Champion - the Z beats them all. Less Distortion, Harmonics, darker Background and everything is well defined. So ZXR (stock) is just bad, compared to the Z.

The ZXR with Burson V5's sounds alot better, the harsh highs been soften away even if sound is accidently played to loud it doesnt hurt my ears. Sound is just better overall, less distortion and darker background. So the upgrade was worth it. And now it's of course better than the Z.

So what did you compared the ZXR to say the Z is "nothing"? I mean you've desribed that you never heard a stock ZXR as yours came with V5i's already build in.

 

[Garzhad]

I have both, and in stock configuration, with stock amps the Z beats the ZXR IMO. The ZXR tends to be more harsh in the highs leading to listening fatique, also the bass is undefined and bloated on the zxr. Z is cheaper, but also has a better balanced sound, better highs and less listening fatique. I compared the Z to the 1150, ZXR, U7, Fatality Champion - the Z beats them all. Less Distortion, Harmonics, darker Background and everything is well defined. So ZXR (stock) is just bad, compared to the Z.

The ZXR with Burson V5's sounds alot better, the harsh highs been soften away even if sound is accidently played to loud it doesnt hurt my ears. Sound is just better overall, less distortion and darker background. So the upgrade was worth it. And now it's of course better than the Z.

So what did you compared the ZXR to say the Z is "nothing"? I mean you've desribed that you never heard a stock ZXR as yours came with V5i's already build in.

I would HOPE its better than the Z when it's 4x the cost, otherwise you just waste a ton of money. Thing is, you could also get an external SChiit stack or other DAC/Amp combo for that $440 price tag. Is it worth it compared to other options you have at that price? Does it beat a schiit stack? Does it beat a G5/E5 with an external amp? There's a lot of other things you can get for $440, which is the biggest concern.

I've also thought back on what paula said about the headphone out sucking. It's the output impedance, isnt it(probably among some other things, but ive heard alot about how the Z cards have atrocious output impedance though not as bad as Asus)? It's high on all of them, and bypassing that and using an actual quality amp would be significantly better, so now I think I understand her on that. Though im wondering if you really need to go for the ZxR for that; a Z using RCA outs to a good amp should do very well too I think. Perhaps not as well as ZxR with v5i's but at $330 cheaper well, you get what you dont pay for.

 

[thesmokingman]

Anyway, i'd like to pose a question to all the ZxR/STX 2 lovers here; how well does the bare/cheap op-amp modded ZxR/STX sound cards compare to dedicated DAC/amp setups like a Schiit stack? Is the stack worth the ~$300 price premium over the soundcard? Or are there other solutions that offer quality equal to or better than the modded soundcards for equal or cheaper price?

Dedicated soundcards are for more than just music as they can carry a lot of processing power for not only surround but game features as well. The mic control features are convenient if you do a lot of match play, so is the positional audio for that slight edge. People who go with dedicated stacks are imo focused on music. Soundcards are a compromise in general but you get a zillion features for the compromise.

 

[Garzhad]

Dedicated soundcards are for more than just music as they can carry a lot of processing power for not only surround but game features as well. The mic control features are convenient if you do a lot of match play, so is the positional audio for that slight edge. People who go with dedicated stacks are imo focused on music. Soundcards are a compromise in general but you get a zillion features for the compromise.

For a more money you can get the best of both, though. Especially if you can get a SB-Z for cheap on ebay; from what I gather surround sound works through optical out, so you can toslink out to a dedicated quality stack, for better quality in every metric on top of surround sound and gaming features. And all you'd have to do is click the off switch for the gaming features for a perfect music playback setup.

IMO though, for a budget-conscious types(kinda me) that seems pretty pricey and (somewhat) unnecessary.

All told the DACS the cards use actually seem pretty decent(and, lets be honest, only paying ~$80 to get a decent DAC and all the gaming features is a pretty good deal). The only problem is the high O/I, generally crappy headphone amplifiers. So the logical, 2nd best solution is using a Z with lineouts to something like an O2 Amp for much better quality especially on lower impedance headphones. Paula came to that conclusion, and while it took Me awhile to do so, now I see Why.

 

[Ricard]

My motherboard does not recognize the ZxR card, I'll go for the Asus

 

[gug42]

After a long time, I finally replace the TI 5534P by a pair of Philips / Sigmatics NE5534N
So better ! Really ! So far to think that it could make a such difference : sound is more clean, precise, less charps, bass more deep and clean.

Well I just find a pair of JRC 5534DD in my desk ... any interest to replace the Philips NE5534N ? worth to mount them ?

I have AD827SQ in I/V section. They are really really good : clean, dynamics, deep and thight bass, high are good, separation is excellent.
I will try to replace with :
- muses8920 (reputation of another sound signature, less detailed but rounder/warm)
- And the recommanded UPC4570

 

[Onik]

just bought the Sparkos SS3601 and also ordered ss3602 for ZXR

anyone did try the SS3601 with LME49710HA Single to DIP8 Dual Opamp on ZXR??

and Also is there any good software for Audio analysing??

 

[Alienns]

Got LME49720, NE5534, OPA2604, OPA62x sometihng Muse01, Muse02 Burson V1, V5 and V6.
Btw, Muse02 is far the best OpAmp for that money 4.5$ each. Today they cost much more, probably with reason.
But Burson V6 is better than rest, there is no more bass or more high, but sound is natural as should.

 

[Onik]

SPARKOS SS3601 in Buffer and 4 LME49710HA with dual to mono setup, and it sounds more natural. now I am thinking to do the germanium 12uf CAP MOD, cant wait for my new Soldering station I will give my full review after the CAP MOD.

 

[Red Dragon]

I bought a ZxR and based on the advice in this thread, I also bought Burson V5i op amps.

I am not an audiophile and I had no idea what I was doing when I tried replace the stock op amps.

I bought this IC extractor to do the job: https://www.amazon.ca/HV-TOOLS-HV85...R94/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1516339246&sr=8-2&
However, taking out the stock op amps with that tool was a nightmare. The main problem is that there is very little space between the op amp sockets and the cylindrical parts of the sound card that resemble batteries. I could not fit the tool around the op amps properly. When I finally did manage somehow to yank out the stock op amps, most of the time their pins got bent to Hell because half of them were still stuck in the socket in a horizontal position as the other half of them jerked out in an awkward vertical-diagonal angle. The op amps now look like a spider that has had the lower half of its legs crushed.

Later, when I tried to put the Burson op amps into the empty sockets, that was a second nightmare. Usually when I tried to line up the pins with the pinholes, and then press down, the op amps would not go down. I was terrified that I was going to wreck the pins before the op amps were installed. Somehow, after spending a lot of time with each one, I eventually managed to get them all installed without damaging them. That felt like a miracle.

Now I'm worried that if I ever have to take out my Burson op amps, I am going to wreck the pins in the same way that I did to the stock op amps.

Can anyone give me guidance about how to not wreck the pins when/if I take the op amps out?

Likewise, can anyone give me guidance about to guarantee I won't wreck the pins when I try to put new op amps into the empty sockets?

Are there any types of professionals who can perform those tasks for me for a reasonable fee (like $30 or less)? If so, what is the name of their occupation?

As for the sound: IMO the ZxR sounded like garbage with the stock op amps, but it started to sound amazing after I installed the Burson op amps.