[phalanger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmos.gr /img/forum/go_quote.gif We will know for sure in 1 week or more Maybe sub woofers will explode or X-Fi lol

Nah if its a functional capacitor it will work fine. Question is whether it will do much better then the original.

And yeah I couldve put those caps on the backside, but I'm not sure it would look 'better' perse not like i see it very often anyway

I had the powercap on the other side for a while but then it used two PCI slots. But to be honest it was mostly cause I didnt realize it was going to be such a tight fit with them, started to become apparant on the 3rd cap so decided to just try and squeeze them in there

 

[cotdt]

If you guys are driving headphones directly, the AD9632 would be a better choice than the LM4562.

 

[Cor33]

Hey guys, I have to say this is greatest thing I've ever found...thanks alot cotdt. I have all the parts needed and I'm almost ready to go, I just have one stupid question that I couldn't find in the thread and that is - which side (on the board) is positive/negative for the capacitor, the gray or black, I'm guessing the black is negative but just making sure.

....and one more thing is that when while I was taking off the old capacitor the heatsink on my card (DSP chip) came off, now if I am not using the crystallizer or any of that other crap would I really have to worry about that heating up?

when I'm done this mod I'll tell you what I thought of it to add to the comments, I'm a little nervous though I've never solder such small electronics before....

 

[cotdt]

you're welcome,
nah the heatsink is just a marketing gimmick. the DSP chip doesn't really get that hot. the older version don't even have the heatsink at all.

 

[Herbal]

Cor33 - You can put the heatsink back on quite easily.

Just get some thermal paste and paste up the X-Fi processor and then clean a small section from each corner, apply a good bit of superglue to each corner and then hold down the heatsink onto the processor for a bit while the superglue takes hold. If you ever need to take it off a little twisting and it should pop off.


Happened to my card, stuck it back on and not had any issues.

 

[Cor33]

cotdt- ya I figured it probably didn't get that hot, and actually I've heard its the older cards that have the heatsinks, now they don't come with one...I guess the newer cards are better with heat.

Herbal-Thanks thats a good idea, I might do that just to be safe...

 

[cmos.gr]

Quote:

which side (on the board) is positive/negative for the capacitor, the gray or black

Gray = negative ( - ) at pole of the cap

@phalanger

I solder it on the ''back'' side for 3 reasons.
1) It wont fit cause of some other smd there
2) last pci on the motherboard so it wont fit to case
3) No other PCI cards to worry about

 

[Cor33]

thanks cmos.gr Its soldered on now...

I finally finished modding it, I can't belive I actually did it either...my hands were shaking like crazy ha... this sounds amazing!...now I have to let the blackgate burn in....and I was looking to buy a DAC in the 300-400 area! thanks again for this guide....awesome!

 

[kirimaru]

replacing the caps of psu really improve the sound quality.
i just replaced 12v,5v,3.3v lines caps and the sound was better then i expected,
first of all the music sounded more clean and soft,it sounded more opend with more sence of space,better positioning of instruments and bass is fuller and extended.

 

[phalanger]

Interesting. At the risk of somewhat deviating off topic, Im curious what rating caps were they? And what type of caps did you replace them with?

 

[]|[ GorE]

The placebo effect is very strong in this thread.

 

[DSlayerZX]

not quiet sure what you mean by that.
The improvement of changing opamp and capacitor are pretty well known through out the DIY forum.
Some people report that they felt there is a difference by shielding the card with anti static bag which cost... nothing.

 

[cotdt]

]|[ GorE, if you used better headphones than the muddy Koss UR40, then perhaps you will notice differences more easily. With the Koss UR40s, all my equipment sounded the same, because it is so muddy.

 

[DSlayerZX]

ahhhh.... codtdt, seems like you have changed your headphone @@

but anyway, may I ask, how much does your Zhaolu cost... thinking of getting a new source at the beginning of next quarter, but then... can't decide

 

[cotdt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DSlayerZX /img/forum/go_quote.gif ahhhh.... codtdt, seems like you have changed your headphone @@ but anyway, may I ask, how much does your Zhaolu cost... thinking of getting a new source at the beginning of next quarter, but then... can't decide

Yeah I really like these new Denons. They are a mix of HD650 and K701. The bass is very nice, and it has a big soundstage though not as big as the K701's. But I really like these, more so than even the K701.

My Zhaolu was $129 stock but now it sounds nothing at all like it originally did. The upgrades costed $240 or so. With shipping and everything it's around $400 total. It doesn't use opamps at all. I haven't heard any sources that I've liked better. This is definately the source to get, because it has so much modding potential.