I disagree that Zishans sound good. They don't stand a chance against companies like Shanling.
But I'm also wondering what exactly is a fake part? How is a typical consumer even supposed to know what one looks like?
When's the last time you opened any non-Chinese company made electronic item and seen if there were "fake parts" inside?
Really depends on wich shanling and what zishan.
DSD ak4495 (older version with volume knob) sounds alot better then my shanling MO (both cost about 100 bucks new) but the mo sounds better then the z3, and the z1 with upgraded caps and a few mods sounded better then the fiio x1 mkii (fiio was around 100 bucks, z1 cost 50 bucks with upgrades) so it really depends.
The problem is the ak4495 dsd sound better then the ak4497 dsd, and the ak4490 dsd was also better then the 4497....
Seems the company doesn't really get better with newer products, the h1 was complete trash, crazy distortion after half volume, that's when I decided to stick with ibasso, in my opinion they wipe the floor with any player in there price range
But some people like darker, other people like brighter, and some like more fun
I would take a zishan dsd over pretty much any player in its price range.
Shanling doesn't make anything decent for around 100 bucks, neither does fiio or hidizs
But if your willing to go to 250 or 300 bucks, then zishan doesn't compete
Only exception is if you happen to use very sensitive multi b.a. Iems, then zishan high output impedance makes everything sound off
But for large cans, 400mw makes the zishan rule in the budget level