[FourT6and2]

Has anybody else experienced transformer hum with this thing?
 
I'm looking into this unit (the V.2 version) and a few others:
 
DacMagic Plus
Stealth DC-1
Music Hall DAC 25.3
Matrix Audio Mini-i Pro
 
Won't be using headphones though. Need a DAC to go between my laptop and powered studio monitors via balanced XLR/TRS.

 

[LajostheHun]

I had my Zdac for almost a year, and it produces nothing but pure music, the way it should be. No hum, sibilance, or any other nasty artifacts like pops and clicks. Works flawless everyday so far. Use it mostly as a dac, and connected to a Ifi Ican amp. A fabulous  combo IMO.

 

[RelayerCR]

"bright sound", mh, you should review and research about all your componentes and cables. I use Pangea Audio power cord and usb cables, Kimber Cable speaker cables, interconnect and digital by DH Labs. I get natural high and mid sounds, no sibilance or bright sound at all, very musical.

 

[tvnosaint]

I,'ve had mine for 18 months. Never one problem. It has a very nice midrange, not the last word in resolution, bass or treble extension. But its a solid beginner for sure. I use it much more often as a dac. The amp stage isn't powerful enough for my orthos. Not really. Its fine with more efficient Hps. I love it with the Focal spirit classics, its pretty good with the Q701. I prefer that combo to the Matrix m stage . But I still prefer the Lyr with all hps.(except the FSC) The dac has a very easy sound slightly warm with no sibilance. At the cost one could do much worse. I haven't heard anything in its price range I would take over it as an all in one unit. Great versatility too. USB, optical and coaxil connects as well as the rca's. I will have mine forsome time to come even though I upgraded everything, just for its versatility and reliability. Solid unit.

 

[dmhenley]

I have had my zdac (v1) for nearly a year, and have had no issues. 
My experience with it mirrors many here - a warm, musical dac with little to no hash or harsh high frequencies. 
It's less resolving than the dac in my ALO Pan Am- only comparison I can currently make.
An excellent entry level dac - 

 

[tvnosaint]

I'd like to add I never have drop outs with the unit. It's plug and play easy with windows environments

 

[soundquest]

I realize that the Zdac is not the "latest and greatest" out there, but after 30 years in audiophile land, I can tell you 100% that this dac is an overachiever and a fine value. It is a stone cold bargain on the used market. If you want an extremely musical dac that simply sounds great with a wide variety of music and doesn't exaggerate a frequency zone, you'd search long and hard to find a significantly better dac at this price point. FWIW, the dac in my main system is the phenomenal Comet Exogal, yet still I really like the Zdac. 

 

[pdferguson]

Thanks for your comments. I don't have a lot of high end experience to compare it to, but I have been very happy with the Zdac (v.2) in a desktop audio system. I think it is a very underrated product.

 

[hallom]

Has anyone compared the sound of CEntrance DACmini CX to Parasound Zdac v.2? Both the DAC and the headamp. I don't mean to ask "which one is better", but what is the sonic difference between them?

 

[housekrl]

I have been listening to my new zdac for about a week now. Definetly a major upgrade to the Dacmagic 100 or the v-dac. Very happy with the sound sig of this dac. A bargain even at full price.