[Gabbbbbbbbbbbb]

Recently I blew the dust of my ‘old’ Z1 and wanted to see what an upgrade to a fully discrete Opamp could bring.
I made a short review of my findings:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/zishan-family-z1-z2.22550/reviews

I've been using mine for the past year with the 49720HA. It's been great. (no dust)

 

[Gabbbbbbbbbbbb]

Oh no, the Machines attacked my poor old Zishan Z1! (Burson V6 vivid)
(The sound is quite surprising to me actually, though I need more listening time to form a coherent opinion..)

 

[raabje]

Oh no, the Machines attacked my poor old Zishan Z1! (Burson V6 vivid)
(The sound is quite surprising to me actually, though I need more listening time to form a coherent opinion..)

Ha, nice one! I did the same with my DSD, I had to cut the extension wires and make them longer with my amateur solder skills. I have the V6 vivid outside the case too. I use this DSD only in the house, too fragile to walk around with.

 

[Gabbbbbbbbbbbb]

Ha, nice one! I did the same with my DSD, I had to cut the extension wires and make them longer with my amateur solder skills. I have the V6 vivid outside the case too. I use this DSD only in the house, too fragile to walk around with.

I've just read your review of the V6 with Z1, I'm a bit surprised by your opinion, I think the Z1 sounds pretty great with the V6, though I don't have the V5i on hand, but compared to the 49720HA that I've been using, it's a very noticeable improvement.

 

[raabje]

I've just read your review of the V6 with Z1, I'm a bit surprised by your opinion, I think the Z1 sounds pretty great with the V6, though I don't have the V5i on hand, but compared to the 49720HA that I've been using, it's a very noticeable improvement.

Well my result with the Z1 was, and it had already a Burson V5-i inside for a long time, that a V6 vivid didn't make a change. Not that I am aware off. I am 50 years old and maybe a little deaf already. I did not say the V5-i or V6 sound bad in a Z1, it does sound better than the stock opamp. Because I didn't hear any differences with the V5-i, I did not include the Z1 in my further testing. And the specs of the Z1 are a bit lower than my other Zishan players (but the sound is good). So I that was what I described. For me the V6 vivid in a DSD makes more sense.

49720HA, I think I have that one too, and maybe it is broken, I get distortion in the sound when I tried it.

My conclusion is, with Zishan players, a higher end opamp like Muses 01, 02, Burson V5-i, V6 vivid (compared to the vanilla stock opamp) makes a difference. But the differences between these higher end opamps in the Zishan players are difficult to expose. For me that is, with my old ears.

And I have moved further, something else has my attention. I have this Qudelix 5K DAC. It has a EQ in the software, and a list of presets for a lot of headphones. The EQ compensates the flaws in these headphones, the sound is corrected so it is more like the Harman target curve. With the EQ engaged, my Iphone with Tidal, and the Qudelix, gives a more pleasant sound than my Zishan players. My AKG 271 mk2, Beyer Dynamics 250DT, Grado SR80, Dali IO-6 all sound better with this EQ. So it it hard to go back to the Zishan players for me.

 

[raabje]

I wrecked the USB port of my Z1. It came loose. The 5 USB lanes are so tiny I cannot repair this myself. And I cannot solder under the USB port with my basic solder tool.

I am wondering if I strip the 2 black and red wires that go to the battery in the middle a little bit, I can attach the power wires of a striped USB cable (5 volt on red and blue cable). And then the battery can probably load again.

Other idea is buying a USB mini port as a breakout box, and connect the power lines of the USB connector with wires to the mainboard of the Z1, but the traces are so tiny, I am afraid to solder this myself.

Any advice for this problem?

 

[goodvibes]

heat gun if the parts won't melt. clean, tin rosin and flow.

 

[Merlin-PT]

@raabje
You can't connect the USB power supply wires to the battery.
There's an IC marked 4056 on the other side of the PCB to receive the USB power and to do the battery charge.
Search for TP4056 datasheet to know how it works.

Before the repair, you need to de-solder the battery wires from the PCB.
The battery is always connected to the 4056 even with the power switch off.

 

[raabje]

@goodvibes , thanks for the advice. I watched a movie on Youtube for this kind of repair and I think I pass this method by myself. But good to know it is possible, maybe I can find a repair man in my area, if the repair is not too expensive (the Z1 cost me 30 euro way back, too keep things in perspective).

@Merlin-PT , thanks, I checked the PCB and the datasheet, and I have located the two pins for the 5 volt + line, and ground, pin 3 (GND) and 4 (Vcc, input supply voltage), on the bottom side (TP4056 text facing upward). So the way I understand this, a work around could be to attach two extension wires on these pins, bring these outside the casing through the empty USB port hole, and connect this with small plugs to the red (+) and blue (GND) wires from the USB cable. And detach the battery before the soldering.

This TP4056 is a clever device, interesting to see the battery loading process is pretty sophisticated.

 

[Merlin-PT]

@raabje
Yes, those are the power supply pins.
You need to look at Z1 circuit, from your PCB photo, it looks like there is a diode, before the power goes into pin 4, probably for reverse voltage protection.

I'm guessing a good place to solder the USB power would be in that 10uF capacitor legs, at lower left corner of you photo.
I'm guessing the circuit from your photo, so you need to remove the battery and check with a multiplier if those points are connected to the USB power pads on the other side. (EDIT: You can also try to find any other place)

A better way, would be to solder the USB port.

 

[raabje]

@Merlin-PT , thanks! I do see a SS16 Schottky diode and the right leg is connected to the + pin (pin 4). So this is a spot I can attach an extension wire (edit: probably the other side to use this rectifier component). If I can find an easy place for the USB ground wire, I can do this myself. If I get solder that melts at a lower temperature, and flux to do it quick. The solder stuff I have at the moment doesn't melt easily.

 

[Merlin-PT]

@raabje
You need to follow the Vcc trace from the USB port to the 4056 pin 1, I think the diode is in series.
I'm thinking the Vcc goes from the usb to the diode, and then from the diode to the 4056 pin 1, but you need to verify this.

Looking at the Z1 micro usb connector, you could bend and cut all the pins you don't need from the connector, then you only need to solder the Vcc and GND pads. This way it would be easier to solder the connector back to the PCB.
I'm not sure about the ID pin, probably it's not connected, you need to verify that looking at the PCB.

 

[raabje]

@Merlin-PT

okay, thanks. I did some measuring and it seems the 4 holes on the PCB that connect the metal casing of the USB port are connected to ground pin 3 on the chip (with the battery still connected).

other side:

edit: I did a quick test with my stripped USB cable, and the blue led for loading the battery turns on when I connect these point, leftside of the diode and one of the ground spots. So I am going to the shop for some better solder and then this is an easy job.

 

[raabje]

This is the result, maybe not that handsom anymore, but it works. I can wind up the USB cable with an elastic belt at the back of the case.