[Hales]

Ended up with the LT1364 with a heat sink in the DAC and LM4562 in the headphone amp. I am not having any heat problems so far on any of the chips. Soundstage imaging and note decay are top notch. Lots of little details are unmasked now. I can echo the experience of hearing new things in albums that I have heard hundreds of times.

Tried all LM4562 but it was fatiguing to listen to with HD600's. I let the 3rd chip burn in for 72 hours before giving up on the setup.

I also have RF filters on the incoming AC and the ribbon going to the control panel up front. Filters are inside the amp. The power and control ribbon are also independently routed to not touch each other. Not sure of why, but this seemed to give me back the sound of cymbals instead of white noise.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeBuLLeT /img/forum/go_quote.gif hey everyone I was just wondering but how much of an improvement has this upgraded Zero been compared to a stock Zero. Also with all the money spent on a zero couldn't you use that money to start off with something better instead of getting something cheaper and upgrading it or does this upgraded zero just gets drastically better or is the Price/performance still better than anything in this price range?

The original stock Zero is of decent enough quality, to compete with other DAC/Amps that cost twice the money. Some say even higher, but I try to keep a "realistic" view on this. With the "HeadFi Deal", where the DAC Opamp is upgraded to OPA627AU's on an adapter, and the headphone amp Opamps are upgraded to LT1364's, the sound quality of the Zero jumps up much higher than the original one, for the same original cost of $139.

For many, this "HeadFi Deal" has become the new "stock" Zero. With an additional self upgrade to the "Earth" HDAM in the DAC socket, the DAC output improves greatly, and the headphone amp output improves greatly. You don't have to upgrade the LT1364's in the headphone amp.

It is very easy to get caught up in this "mod" and "upgrade" fever going on. The ones I mentioned above are PROVEN and have similar results no matter what headphones you use. With the current deal on the HDAM's (Buy the "Earth" and get "Sun" for free), the monies are pretty easy to part with.

Several of us are buying 2 "Earths" to get 2 "Suns" free, so we can try them in the headphone amp as well.

In the end, the "HeadFi Deal" Zero is a much improved DAC/Amp and a steal at it's current price. With just one "Earth" HDAM in the DAC section, you can make your speaker system super happy, and also benefit from the improved output of the headphone amp. It is so little money, that most can't help recommending it.

The price/performance ratio started out great, and with very low cost upgrades, jumps very high. There hasn't been a comparison on this yet, but eventually someone with another brand of DAC/Amp will get around to it.

 

[ccschua]

Wow Penchuum cant resist the temptation to do comparisons with other DAC. I was at first reserved with the ZERO DAC and OPA Earth/Sun.

For the Price that you pay for, I bet no other DAC can sound that great. I also heard PP has some mod to make the ZERO/Earth go one mile further.

I started with the speaker system, I dont even want to go back to OPA 627 for the moment.

I hope Gavin can give us some review on the buffer.

 

[kejar31]

I got my tracking order from Kingwa and it looks like my OPA-Sun and Earth are already in the US. I hope to get the timmarow or the next day.

 

[ScottieB]

OK - never got a tracking number, but on my way out the door this morning I bumped into the DHL man! This is the fastest I've gotten anything from China so far - less than one week to NYC! It's gonna be a long day at work, though...

 

[kejar31]

Update: It looks as though I will be getting the package today!! WOW that is crazy fast, considering that it was shipped from China on Monday and will be in my hands in Urbana/Campaign IL on Wednesday.

 

[ccschua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottieB /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK - never got a tracking number, but on my way out the door this morning I bumped into the DHL man! This is the fastest I've gotten anything from China so far - less than one week to NYC! It's gonna be a long day at work, though...

Yes. That's indeed a long long day. How wish to be playing the music now.

come ya with the review, and sit tight.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alxwang /img/forum/go_quote.gif It looks fine. Now I try to read some book about Electricity circle - last time I touched it was in university - LOL. Mr He's suggestion is I should find all of replacement and try them one by one to find out the sound I like. It is time for crossing hand now: If I go ahead to do this find/replace/test project I have some concern: 1. cost. It will need a lot of pouches. 2. Solder job - I do not think too much solder job on the board is good idea. 3. What I can get at last - does it worth? I mean if the headphone amp design is bad .... So before anything started I am doing some research: Take a look at this one: н¨ÍøÒ³ 1 It called IBM - and they are used in the headphone amp н¨ÍøÒ³ 1 I am not sure whether it will works yet. I just want to make sure which way is better now. Anyway it will be done on my 2nd Zero. The zero I have now will be done when earth/sun in and move to my office.

Impressive module.....to be fair the H/Amp in the Zero isn't bad considering it's a throw in. Just want to keep things in perspective.

That headphone amp may be just what I'm looking for as the SS (don't want to listen to tubes all the time) amp

If that makes any sense...

Peete.

 

[indianbraker]

well iv decided that i want to incorporate this dac to my cars system...im thinking of having the music playing from my macbook to the zero dac through optical cable and then through the rca inputs on my headunit....this is being done for testing purposes to see the difference in sq...im going to be testing mp3s and lossless o ya i have some Polk SR6500 in custom vented kickpanels and one sr124 subwoofer....let me know what you guys think of this experiment...gonna be busy for the next week but ill get around to it soon.

 

[kejar31]

Just make sure you get a good inverter.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

The car environment is an awful place for acoustics, imaging,eq the list goes on...but it's fun to have good audio in the car so.......try it out and see

kejar31 has a valid point...get a good inverter. You may have ground loop issues and other problems. It's tough to guess really what the result might be. Give it a try and report back...for all I know it might be really really good...

Peete.

 

[viscosity]

ordered 2opa-sun & 2opa-earth... will hopefully have them soon when im back at newpaltz

 

[AudioPhewl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whats the optimal voltage to run these things at or does that matter (as long as it's within spec) ? Thoughts on that Alex ? Thanks, Peete.

15.614858v. Anything else will yield an awful sound.

[size=xx-small]Just kidding, folks

[/size]

~Phewl

 

[Enthusia]

I just received my upgraded volume pot from Lawrence.

Little review

The new volume pot has a longer shaft and is much more precise with the rotation, instead of a smooth motion when turning it, it has little clicks instead. The only cons is that I am getting a little static, trying to fix that right now and I need a new volume knob due to the longer shaft.

edit: fixed static, the ground wire was not soldered on properly.

 

[AudioPhewl]

Take a hacksaw to your shaft? Trim it a little, file the rough edges off, and keep the "stock" look...

~Phewl.