[Enthusia]

Excellent write-up, very thorough. Be sure to tell us how the Earth and Sun sound, especially with your hd650, which I know you will get soon

 

[fishkill62]

A great review Gavszero. I too have purchased from Audio-GD and they are an impressive outfit. Hope to receive my hdams soon...

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavszero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey there fellow Zero owners. I'd like to introduce myself , my name is Gavin and reside in Brisbane Queensland Australia . I was introduced to the Zero by a friend and I was intreged with the potential it had with opamp rolling . I'm probably one of the rare one's that burned in the zero for 120 hours before doing any critical testing . I followed the advise of the forum to buy the stock Zero and burn it in so I could use the stock system as a benchmark . I can also say while waiting for my Zero from Lawrence i've now read this whole forum from page 1 and have leant a lot before even getting my unit . First impression of the stock unit in the first 5 minutes was average as expected , after clocking 120 hours I found it still pretty good for the price and good value for the money . Now to try some opamp rolling, I had the opportunity to borrow the OPA627's for the DAC and I got myself a pair of Sample LT1364's also reccommended by many people in here . I did a non stop 60 hour burn in for these IC's and From this setup I found a hugh difference and liked it even more with the OPA627's . I've currently rolled in a set of LM4562's ( Also samples ) in the DAC & Amp and like the open sound stage tight lows and detailed highs . I feel for some one on a budget the LM4562's would also be a good starting point for free samples . After reading about how happy people were with these opamps , out comes the Hdams . That caught my interest as to further improve and my friend got a set from Lawrence. After he put 70 hours burnin on the Hdams I got a chance to listen to them , I like them very much indeed , so much so I ordered a set from Audio- GD н¨ÍøÒ³ 1 I emailed them to order the Dual OPA Earth for $50 delivered to Australia . Yesterday he emailed me that he has sent it and guess what He also sent me the Dual OPA SUN as a pressent I asked for him to extend the lead to 100mm giving a little more to play with compared to the stock 50mm lenght. This place seems to be very professional with emails and paymant was easy through Paypal with a 4% charge of $1.70US . I've also taken the advice of this forum to get the DAC the way I want it before working on the amp section. At pressent I'm up in the air as to which set of headphones to get , I've had the opportunity to listen to the AKG 701 with about 200 hours on it . They are great sounding headphones but I as many in the forum have found them a bit lean in the bottom end though very detailed in the mid to upper range , to a point it can sound a bit too clinical . So for me I was going to get the Sennheiser HD650's . I haven't been much of a headphone person but having the zero has given me more interest in this area . Anyway I'm egerly waiting for the OPA-EARTH and OPA-SUN's hdams from Audio-GD to try out and to also purchase a set of HD650's eventually ... Gavin ...

Well done Gavin!!

At first the HDAMs seem like another curse, then you listen to them mature and "POW!" your hooked!! Super detailed! I'm running the HDAM in the DAC and LT1364's in the head amp, and the combination is very nice with HD-650's. Keep us informed!!

 

[pincellone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavszero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey there fellow Zero owners. I'd like to introduce myself , my name is Gavin and reside in Brisbane Queensland Australia . I was introduced to the Zero by a friend and I was intreged with the potential it had with opamp rolling . I'm probably one of the rare one's that burned in the zero for 120 hours before doing any critical testing . I followed the advise of the forum to buy the stock Zero and burn it in so I could use the stock system as a benchmark . I can also say while waiting for my Zero from Lawrence i've now read this whole forum from page 1 and have leant a lot before even getting my unit . First impression of the stock unit in the first 5 minutes was average as expected , after clocking 120 hours I found it still pretty good for the price and good value for the money . Now to try some opamp rolling, I had the opportunity to borrow the OPA627's for the DAC and I got myself a pair of Sample LT1364's also reccommended by many people in here . I did a non stop 60 hour burn in for these IC's and From this setup I found a hugh difference and liked it even more with the OPA627's . I've currently rolled in a set of LM4562's ( Also samples ) in the DAC & Amp and like the open sound stage tight lows and detailed highs . I feel for some one on a budget the LM4562's would also be a good starting point for free samples . After reading about how happy people were with these opamps , out comes the Hdams . That caught my interest as to further improve and my friend got a set from Lawrence. After he put 70 hours burnin on the Hdams I got a chance to listen to them , I like them very much indeed , so much so I ordered a set from Audio- GD н¨ÍøÒ³ 1 I emailed them to order the Dual OPA Earth for $50 delivered to Australia . Yesterday he emailed me that he has sent it and guess what He also sent me the Dual OPA SUN as a pressent I asked for him to extend the lead to 100mm giving a little more to play with compared to the stock 50mm lenght. This place seems to be very professional with emails and paymant was easy through Paypal with a 4% charge of $1.70US . I've also taken the advice of this forum to get the DAC the way I want it before working on the amp section. At pressent I'm up in the air as to which set of headphones to get , I've had the opportunity to listen to the AKG 701 with about 200 hours on it . They are great sounding headphones but I as many in the forum have found them a bit lean in the bottom end though very detailed in the mid to upper range , to a point it can sound a bit too clinical . So for me I was going to get the Sennheiser HD650's . I haven't been much of a headphone person but having the zero has given me more interest in this area . Anyway I'm egerly waiting for the OPA-EARTH and OPA-SUN's hdams from Audio-GD to try out and to also purchase a set of HD650's eventually ... Gavin ...

I'm a suspicious mind, by nature. The manufacturer link, the additional HDAM as a present, the first post...

I don't buy it dear Gavin Chen from Down Under. Neither the "pressent" nor the "payament" persuaded me to think differently...

Too easy to do this.

I hope that's not true, but IMHO this sounds more like an ad, than a review...

Where are we heading to guys?

I'm eagerly waiting for Penchum's unbiased review of the Zero mods, as for the rest this thread is growing too big and the questions are always the same ones. A FAQ is needed. It would solve a lot of troubles. No newcomer is able to go through the whole thread at this stage. It's huge! That's why most of the questions are always the same...

 

[gavszero]

Hi Pincellone, I can understand you been suspicious as after reading the whole tread I came across many times about a person called Andrea and about any 1 post or review on opamps would be suspicious. I am not that person and not a Chen

But yeah because of many people saying that Lawrence has run out of Hdams I thought i'd let the forum know where I ordered mine from and hope it goes smoothly as I haven't got them yet . Will report on the postage time to Australia at least . After all I got the link from this forum. The pressent thing I guess was a bonus for me anyway and was suppriced been my first purchase from them . Maybe what he did worked as I sounded like an ad to you . I was excited what can I say I'm getting a free Hdam

Just thought I'd give my experience with my first DAC and the opamps I've tried and want to get the Hdams after hearing it perform in my friend's Zero. If the person in this forum didn't put this link for the cheaper discreet opamp I'd be paying almost double the price .. I was originally going to buy from Burson Audio in Melbourne Australia but they want $150aus . I'm on disability and had the time to read the whole tread believe it or not in 2 weeks off and on .. I'm kicking myself not marking the pages with important mods like the Alps Volume pot upgrade, certain opamp combination's etc . Could have logged a list of what page to go to to answer the FAQ .

Anyway I hope I become less Suspicious as time goes by .

Cheers,
Gavin ...

 

[ScottieB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavszero /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi Pincellone, I can understand you been suspicious as after reading the whole tread I came across many times about a person called Andrea and about any 1 post or review on opamps would be suspicious. I am not that person and not a Chen But yeah because of many people saying that Lawrence has run out of Hdams I thought i'd let the forum know where I ordered mine from and hope it goes smoothly as I haven't got them yet . Will report on the postage time to Australia at least . After all I got the link from this forum. The pressent thing I guess was a bonus for me anyway and was suppriced been my first purchase from them . Maybe what he did worked as I sounded like an ad to you . I was excited what can I say I'm getting a free Hdam Just thought I'd give my experience with my first DAC and the opamps I've tried and want to get the Hdams after hearing it perform in my friend's Zero. If the person in this forum didn't put this link for the cheaper discreet opamp I'd be paying almost double the price .. I was originally going to buy from Burson Audio in Melbourne Australia but they want $150aus . I'm on disability and had the time to read the whole tread believe it or not in 2 weeks off and on .. I'm kicking myself not marking the pages with important mods like the Alps Volume pot upgrade, certain opamp combination's etc . Could have logged a list of what page to go to to answer the FAQ . Anyway I hope I become less Suspicious as time goes by . Cheers, Gavin ...

I have to admit I was pseudo-suspicious, too - although this write-up did have a distinctly different "feel" than Andrea's stuff... either way I'm VERY much anticipating your thoughts on the HDAMs. I've got my eye on the "earth" one, but would like to hear what you (and others) have to say first.

 

[Nedman]

I also have been told by Audio- GD that he is giving me both the sun and earth units. And I only paid for one [sun].

 

[ScottieB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nedman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also have been told by Audio- GD that he is giving me both the sun and earth units. And I only paid for one [sun].

Soundsl ike maybe now is the time to order, eh?

 

[Nedman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottieB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds like maybe now is the time to order, eh?

I have no idea if he's going to continue giving away two for one. But it would be worth a try.

 

[AudioPhewl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garret Jax /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you link to the actual post? Depending on screen resolution and forum settings, we don't all share the same number of posts per page - the link you provided lists a set of posts that don't address the LED brightness issue. Thanks Katanka!

Garret Jax - I've done this mod on my old unit. It's a doddle to do. Undo the 6 screws holding the top onto the chassis, slide it off. There are 2 screws holding the front of the faceplate on, and 3 holding the underside. Undo them all, pull off the volume knob and unscrew the retaining nut.

Withdraw the faceplate. 4 screws hold the LED PCB in place. Remove them, and you'll see 3 resistors parallel to each other. With a jewellers screwdriver pushed underneath one of them, touch the solder pad with a soldering iron. The resistor will lift out on one side. Grab the resistor with one finger and thumb, and pull whilst touching the other pad with the soldering iron.

Repeat for all 3 resistors. Use a solder sucker on the bare pads to ensure the new component will slide through easily. If you don't have one, then touching the pad with the soldering iron whilst trying to push the new component through should yield a positive result.

It would be far easier had the factory not wanted these units to be seen from space.

Replacement values - 3.3k is slightly too bright IMO. 4.7k gives a very similar brightness to the green headphone LED. 10k makes them illuminate still, but far more discretely.

I'm using 4.7k in mine(well, now my brothers). Makes a huge difference... the room is no longer illuminated like a church

.

Everyone - I've emailed Audio-GD, with a view to buying the Sun model of the discrete opamp. Given the low prices, I'd toyed with the idea of using one HDAM in the DAC and 2 in the headphone amplifier, but at the moment I think I'll just try the one out first. It's an unknown quantity until more people have tried it out, so I feel more comfortable parting with $33 + post for the one module and extension lead, rather than parting with $100 for three

.

~Phewl.

 

[AudioPhewl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can sure identify with the "old friend" syndrome, 3/4 of the equipment in this room with me, is from 1978 (ish). After I completed restoration work on most of it, I played Ted Nugent's first album with "Stranglehold" on it. I was immediately blow away by the exact same sound I remembered from back then. Not too many systems can sound as good as analog done properly. If you did entertain the idea of a second set of headphones, I think the HD-650's would be the easiest to get accustomed to. You would then have an old friend and a new friend. I'm pretty sure you'd find time to listen to both. When I added my HD-600's, I was worried I might not use them. I always seem to find time to listen to them, mostly because they are special in their own way.

I've had a couple of pairs of Senns now, and to be honest, I fancy going for something completely different. Because there's literally nothing wrong with what I've currently got... I fancy going for something else. I'd pretty much settled on the BeyerDynamic DT880, then started reading about the Denon AH-D5000s, and pretty much settled on them.

Long story short, I was in a motorcycle accident last December. I plan on banking the entire compensation sum, minus any pair of headphones I like. Whether they be £100 or £2000... less is always better though

.

Typical UK price is £500/$1000 for the D5k, so I'll likely be importing them...

There's a nagging part of me that known that I'll always prefer the overall experience of a good speaker system, and that I shouldn't blow a huge amount of money on headphones. Damned common-sense

.

~Phewl

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pincellone /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm a suspicious mind, by nature. The manufacturer link, the additional HDAM as a present, the first post...

Advertiser or no, I'm grateful for a more reasonably priced alternative to the Burson. The rest of you may already have been apprised of numerous alternate discrete opamps, but our dear Gavin posted the first link I'VE read, and that's worth it to me.

If any of the rest of you grab one of these, do let me know. I'm thinking of picking one up for my Fubar II, as if I didn't have enough to review as it was...

 

[jdog826]

hey guys been lurking in this thread for awhile. i recently bought a pair of beyer 770's from someone on this forum and now i'm thinking about getting one of these dac/amps. i like the idea of having a dac/amp in one unit that can accept a digital input. i don't plan on using my pc. i got some questions though. i plan on using my ps3/xbox360 as the source and running digital optical to the zero. is this possible? can the zero decode any signal i.e. dolby 5.1 and dts then downmix to stereo? is it as big as it looks in the pics? does it get hot? one more thing, anyone using hd650 with this unit? i think i might upgrade to them eventually. thanks in advance!
jason

 

[AudioPhewl]

Can't answer them all, but these I do know:-

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdog826 /img/forum/go_quote.gif is it as big as it looks in the pics?

220mm wide, 245mm long, 55mm tall, or thereabouts. It was dark when I did this, but they should be close.

Quote:

does it get hot?

Yes. Not stupidly hot, but certainly warmer than most CD players.

Quote:

one more thing, anyone using hd650 with this unit? i think i might upgrade to them eventually. thanks in advance! jason

Loads of folk use the 650 on here, so I'd say it's a safe bet that someone in this thread will be using them

.

~Phewl

 

[ccschua]

I am still waiting for my Sun and Earth to arrive. cant wait to give it a try. If u look at the osciloscope, it is amazing results.

here is where I got it. pls tell him to give dual output else it wont work on zero (or u have sound on 1 channel?).
http://www.audio-gd.com/enweb/pro/diy/OPA.htm

Also I am thinking of modding the power stage capacitor to Sanyo Oscon. can anyone tell me the value or the link to farnell component.