[chengsta]

Quote:

I'm looking to upgrade from the fiio e6. Can the ZO2.3 handle different genre's of music well or should i look at the e11?

at yellow +, in my experience, rock, metal, jazz, classical, vocals, and things with wind instruments will sound really dull and muffled.  I think the zo2 is only good with genres like hip hop, dance, techno, trance, the beaty type of music.

 

[uzunaruto]

Ok I see, this sounds like the type of amp to get with neutral or bright (think thats the right term) sounding headphones only then?

 

[chengsta]

pretty much.

 

[quisxx]

pretty much.

I disagree, but like I said its sugestive. How I/he hears things, and how you hear them will be different.

 

[uzunaruto]

I'll probly end up with one anyway since It seems like a handy little device to keep around. I've bought a few "bass enhanced" claimed headphones/iems that were no such thing.
 
Thanks for the help you guys

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

I'll probly end up with one anyway since It seems like a handy little device to keep around. I've bought a few "bass enhanced" claimed headphones/iems that were no such thing.
 
Thanks for the help you guys

These are for sure bass enhancers.  No doubt. 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

These are for sure bass enhancers.  No doubt. 

 
+1, this device adds a big boost of bass without ruining the rest of the range concidering the big boost it adds. Now we're talking like entry-lvl bassy headphones about M50 or so headphones being able to turn into something about XB500 levels of bass while sounding much much better while at it too. With my Q40 + ZO I have even significantly more bass than stock XB500 for comparison's sake while it sounds MUUUUCH better at the same time too. That's why I love it, a basshead's dream.

 

[krismusic]

RPG Wizard. Would you agree that the Zo is great for electronic big beat stuff but maybe not for female vocals and the like? Horses for courses.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

RPG Wizard. Would you agree that the Zo is great for electronic big beat stuff but maybe not for female vocals and the like? Horses for courses.

 
I'm satisfied with anything I throw at it, maybe it's synergy between the headphone and amp dunno or maybe it's just my preference. The ZO has this ability to make it more analog sounding and I'm a fan of analog sound (ie the opposite of crispy digital "raspiness" Grado-style sound but organic more mellow sound). The ZO is very source dependant though as it seems to be an analogical built amp as far I understand it which isn't usually the case (the signal being processed digitally and back to analog output like FiiO amps etc), if source is of good quality, the output from ZO will also be very good quality, particularly noticeable when I had the Soundblaster ZxR installed comparing it to Realtek onboard, the fine detail, texture was kept nicely intact when ran out of the ZxR card versus the onboard chip, very big difference.

 

[krismusic]

Interesting. I'll have to listen to it more. I also feel that it imparts a nice analogue "organic" sound. I guess I mean non digital. Your saying that the Zo operates in the analogue rather than digital domain makes sense. I find the warmth and weight a bit too much with my IE8's. Which is hardly surprising. The Zo is much better with my ACS T15's which are much less bass oriented so yes definitely synergy is key. I still prefer the IE8's, Arrow amp combo though. More balanced and natural to my ears. The Zo is a great little thing to have and well worth the modest price but I would not want it to be my only option...

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Interesting. I'll have to listen to it more. I also feel that it imparts a nice analogue "organic" sound. I guess I mean non digital. Your saying that the Zo operates in the analogue rather than digital domain makes sense. I find the warmth and weight a bit too much with my IE8's. Which is hardly surprising. The Zo is much better with my ACS T15's which are much less bass oriented so yes definitely synergy is key. I still prefer the IE8's, Arrow amp combo though. More balanced and natural to my ears. The Zo is a great little thing to have and well worth the modest price but I would not want it to be my only option...

 
Well that's why I'm thinking it will be hard for me to switch headphone because synergy is so great atm with Q40, it's also of course source dependant, funnily the ZO2.1 (louder, slightly more bass, slightly more midcentric vs ZO2.3) works just excellent with Realtek onboard (a bit recessed mids) but works not so great out of ZxR (a bit too muddy, slightly overpowering midbass and slightly too much lower mids, too little highs) , ZO2.3 again works pretty good from ZxR but not so well with Realtek onboard chip (too little mids, slightly too much highs for my liking leading to very slightly thin sound for my taste, want more "meat" / organic thick sound ) with the Q40 headphones.... so yea synergy is an important matter. At least I have both ZO2.1 and 2.3 so I can pick whichever works better with the source as to when I need more mids and more powerful bass I reach for ZO2.1 and when I need more highs I reach for ZO2.3. Also ZO2.1 tends to work pretty well with weak sources while ZO2.3 generally works pretty great with already pretty nicely powered source due to 2.1 having a bit higher gain. Same can be said for the headphones, headphones such as XB500 is such a bad fit with ZO2.1, suprisingly ZO2.3 sounds even quite nice with XB500 (as long as you keep to like level 2-3 max or the bass gets quite overhelming). ZO2.1 = generally better with higher ohm or less sensitive headphones or not bassmonster headphones (50 - 150 ohm or so) while ZO2.3 works quite fine with low ohm / sensitive headphones in comparison and can sound quite okay also up to "bassmonster"-lvl headphones at lower bass levels.
 
Well that's my observations so far.

 

[krismusic]

Hmmm. I was thinking tonight that it would be great if there was a "Zo" for mids. Personally I find that the most critical area and of course compromised in the IE8's. same with the Arrow. Has bass and treble boost. I wish it had mid boost! Regarding source it sounds like you have some good knowledge of laptop options. I'm not too informed technically. I use an iPhone 4S which I prefer to my iPod. But interesting that you find the Zo muddy with some sources. That might be my issue. The IE8's are frustrating though. I have custom tips for them which are very good and the Arrow seems to prevent the bass smearing the mids as much as un amped would just like more detail and "presence". Anyway. Good talking to you. Hope others got some info from my waffle.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Hmmm. I was thinking tonight that it would be great if there was a "Zo" for mids. Personally I find that the most critical area and of course compromised in the IE8's. same with the Arrow. Has bass and treble boost. I wish it had mid boost! Regarding source it sounds like you have some good knowledge of laptop options. I'm not too informed technically. I use an iPhone 4S which I prefer to my iPod. But interesting that you find the Zo muddy with some sources. That might be my issue. The IE8's are frustrating though. I have custom tips for them which are very good and the Arrow seems to prevent the bass smearing the mids as much as un amped would just like more detail and "presence". Anyway. Good talking to you. Hope others got some info from my waffle.

 
You had needed the sound of ZO2.1 in your config it appears, then you'd get nicer mids in that particular pairing. But ZO2.1 doesn't work well with IEMs though why it was discontinued due to excess hissing / too loud output volume. I'm actually suprised how nice vocals sounds like on Realtek onboard + ZO2.1 + Q40. Very nice female vocal performance for the source concidered.
 
BTW, probably at some point in future there will be still a ZO3 with "Full-range SmartVektor technology" meaning both bass + treble control. Remains to be seen how exactly the curve profile for the treble range is configured though if it also leaves a gap there at say 500Hz - 2kHz or so especially.

 

[krismusic]

Yes. When you mentioned the attributes of the 2.1 I thought that sounded like a good option. Hiss would rule it out though. I only use IEM's. I have heard about the proposed 3.0 and will be very interested. I would always be up for buying new products from Digizoid. Even with my reservations. They are producing some very interesting technology. Definitely more than a gimmick.

 

[jms209]

Sorry if it against the rules,but didn't want to post this on the sell/trade forum.
 
I have a Z02.3(used for 3 months) and was planning on selling it on ebay.
How much do you think I can get for it?
Seems that it is not a fast selling item,so don't want to waste my time posting the item if nobody would buy!