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Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Nov 22, 2008 at 2:06 AM Post #7,966 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm personally recommending the Moon, because of the greater soundstage. That being said, "soundstage" in headphones is an illusion of slight differences in EQ.

With the D2000s though, how long have you had them? They tend to be a bit harsh in the treble initially, which goes away with some hours of use.


Well I don't have Denons, but with my closed phones (the Beyer DT-250 80ohm version) I really liked what the Moon did for them. Opened up soundstage a lot and seemed to give more bass punch than the Earth. But honestly you can't really go wrong with any of the HDAMs (including the Sun, IMO).
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 3:12 AM Post #7,967 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by syg /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The Zero in itself is a great unit for the price, but I'm of the persuasion that its builtin headphone amp section just doesn't compare to a real, separate amp. I recently purchased a Heed CanAmp to pair with my K701, but even with my '05 DT770 the improvement is phenomenal. That said, I'm extremely happy with the Zero as a source.


Here's what I'm listening to presently.

Vista 64 >> HT Omega Stryker 7.1 SC SPDIF >> Zero DAC >> LD MK V >> Senn HD650

I'm burning in everything at present at various stages of maturity, all new though.

Zero Has HDAM and LT1364. It is very easy to move the Senns from the LD MKV to the Zero. The Zero ain't Bad! Going to add a DV 337SE to the mix in the Next month with a separate Identical Zero. If you are looking for a DAC and a Head amp that's Pretty good and don't want to hobby it up, you can stop at the Zero. But that ain't what this forum is about is it??
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 3:13 AM Post #7,968 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by solessthanthree /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I feel bad for posting this in here, but I've spent the last two weeks reading three hundred of the pages in this thread as well as some others. From what I've read the Zero should be able to drive the 80ohm DT770s but I purchased the 250ohm 05 consumer edition and the bass is far weaker than I had imagined. Can anyone with experience with the 05 DT770s connected to the Zero without a dedicated amp comment on this?

I heard some people had good experiences with this setup but it's not happening for me. I've gotten the suggestion to pick up a dedicated amp but I'm skeptical at the moment but I'm willing to try it out.

I'm seriously considering selling these, but as my first real set of cans, I'd feel terrible for ending my hifi experience this early
frown.gif
but I think I'd be happier finding something more fitting.

Anyways, any suggestions or comments would be very much appreciated. I'd really like to find that 'thundering' bass everyone's talking about
beyersmile.png



If the 770's are new, you might wanna try burning them in for a few days before deciding on the bass
I felt the same way as you did when i got mine, but after 3 days of burning in the bass was a lot stronger and had more impact
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 3:15 AM Post #7,969 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by kiljim /img/forum/go_quote.gif
If the 770's are new, you might wanna try burning them in for a few days before deciding on the bass
I felt the same way as you did when i got mine, but after 3 days of burning in the bass was a lot stronger and had more impact



I had the same phones, you are right, it gets better, but not better enough.
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 3:40 AM Post #7,970 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm personally recommending the Moon, because of the greater soundstage. That being said, "soundstage" in headphones is an illusion of slight differences in EQ.

With the D2000s though, how long have you had them? They tend to be a bit harsh in the treble initially, which goes away with some hours of use.


I got it used (about 4 months old) and it was recabled with the D5000 cables. How would the earth compare to moon?
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 6:44 AM Post #7,972 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by ciphercomplete /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Whats the best volume knob mod? I am quite sick of the cheapo stock knob.


have a look at this :

http://www.partsconnexion.com/catalo...sandknobs.html

KNOBS-64392Solid Brass - matte silver, 6mm - shaft diameter with Allen/socket screw mount26$22.95

It may not be the cheapest option, but I know some folks in the forum using these for their Zero and they are very happy..
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 4:36 PM Post #7,973 of 9,388
do you guys mainly use the spdif to the zero or use a usb -> spdif converter? which one would entail better results?
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 7:32 PM Post #7,974 of 9,388
Which one would entail better results?

Out of the choices presented - SPDIF and SPDIF - I'm going to take a stab in the dark that SPDIF will win hands-down...
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 7:49 PM Post #7,975 of 9,388
Quote:

Originally Posted by athenaesword /img/forum/go_quote.gif
do you guys mainly use the spdif to the zero or use a usb -> spdif converter? which one would entail better results?


It only matters if you are going to do something like kernel streaming or ASIO. USB might not have enough bandwidth for ASIO so if you are going to go that route you should go with spdif without the usb conversion.
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 7:50 PM Post #7,976 of 9,388
Nov 22, 2008 at 9:02 PM Post #7,977 of 9,388
Hello all!

Some weeks passed after receiving Zero, but it is still some bad things with it.
First of all I resoldered Elna cap in the right position. Then downloaded RMAA and did some tests. My setup was AC'97 optical out connected to Zero, HDAM in the DAC and 2*NE5532(because one of the LT1364 is dead) in the HeadAmp.
THD+noise:

Intermodulation distortion:

As you can see results are very bad.
After that I inserted LT1364 in the DAC position instead of HDAM.
THD+noise:

Intermodulation distortion:

This is much better.
After more tests I understood that problem is HDAM. Then I inspected it with multimeter and I have a feeling that some transistors are inverted:

And maybe one of these (I'm not sure):

Please, someone, help me understand what's wrong with my HDAM. I think I'd beter fix it myself than ship it to Lawrence.
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 10:51 PM Post #7,978 of 9,388
My first gen HDAM has copper shielding covers on it so I can't confirm or deny the orientation of the transistors you have pointed out Baltozar.

Send these pics with your questions to Kingwa at audio-gd. It's likely he'll be the one person that could answer your inquiries (most likely his schematic these were assembled with ).

I don't see a ground wire on your module ...where is it ? DaMnEd found the module measured rather badly with the ground wire unconnected and cleared up considerably with it grounded. The odd thing though is the differences between grounded and ungrounded is inaudible in listening tests. I leave mine alone and have at times had them grounded and ungrounded...haven't really heard a difference.

IMHO at least. Since I swap modules on a regular basis it's easier for me to leave these wires loose for convenience sake. Once I settle on a permanent installation I will solder in the ground wires for good because it looks better
smily_headphones1.gif


Peete.
 
Nov 22, 2008 at 10:55 PM Post #7,979 of 9,388
Nov 22, 2008 at 11:25 PM Post #7,980 of 9,388
Just got the Zero, and I'm finally looking at HDAMs now.

Does anyone use HDAMs in the Zero HeadAmp? Does it make any difference over LT1364s?

I've read a few difference forums/websites, and some people suggest going with HDAMs in the HeadAmp, while others say that's a bad idea. Could someone shed some more light on this, please? DaMnEd in the Zero Mod thread said it was a gamble going with 3x HDAMs in the Zero, and I was looking for more opinions on this.
 
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