[nauxolo]

The cruel energy can't stay the actor.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nauxolo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Question about this amp: Is it normal to have sound 'leaking' through? When I put the sound through headphone amp mode, there is sound coming out of the back RCA L/R jacks still. Granted, it is much lower in gain and muffled, but still not isolated. Also, if I amplify this sound, would it be the same quality?

That's been mentioned before and is not unusual for a lot of Audio equipment. Additionally, why would it matter?

 

[nauxolo]

The stormy woman rhymes into the secretive picture.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nauxolo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just thought there might be something faulty with it, since I'm not familiar with many audio equipment. I just thought that since the headamp and the DAC are separate elements, that the switch would have either/or not both. I was also wondering if this leaked sound can be amped so that I can run both at the same time, essentially being able to hook up 2 headphones.

Hi,
Everything running out the DAC outputs(RCA) and the HeadAmp runs thru the DAC. The HeadAmp is not a separate and isolated path. You could amp it(RCA Crosstalk), but you wouldn't like the result I don't think.

PATHS

SPDIF >> DAC >> RCA Out >> Ext Amplified Speakers or HeadAmp
SPDIF >> DAC >> Zero HeadAmp >> Phones
SPDIF >> DAC >> Zero HeadAmp >> RCA Out >> Ext Amplified Speakers or HeadAmp, or Power Amp

The last path makes it where you can use the Volume control of the Zero to vary the level out. This passes the signal thru the Headamp before sending to the RCA outs.

 

[epsilon72]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif See my sig, we've got someone in China to build something which also has analogue input for HP amp, so you can bypass the DAC entirely. It's not as cheap as the Zero though, but we hope will be considerably better.

Aww it's not finished/on the market yet? Darn! I hope it turns out well when you're finished

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by K3cT /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is there a possible alternative for the Xitel USB-Optical converter? From a quick research, it seems that Kingwa from Audio-gd is developing such a unit but I cannot find the item in their site. I suppose it's still under development. This is the circuit board of the unit:

This part is for his high end stuff IIRC and not for a separate USB to SPDIF converter although I could be wrong about that.

Have a look at the Reference 1 DAC (an upgrade over the DAC8 using that board + chip) on his front page of the website.

Peete.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

That boppin' Hitler avatar cracks me up......

The Compass is supposed to be ready by Jan 22nd or thereabouts...not long now.

Peete.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Hey Les have you taken a crack at the kit yet ?

Peete.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey Les have you taken a crack at the kit yet ? Peete.

Hi,
Naw, the Holidays put the hold on a lot of stuff. Working up to it though. Thanx for asking.

 

[Miskari]

I'm a little confused as to the USB/SPDIF thingy. FWIR Zero has no usb input, just the digital. This means that I the optical cable would connect my soundcard with the Zero. Will that reduce the quality since my soundcard is 'in the way', would a usb connection be better (my understanding is that by using USB it would bypass my sound card completely) ?

 

[audio-gd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif This part is for his high end stuff IIRC and not for a separate USB to SPDIF converter although I could be wrong about that. Have a look at the Reference 1 DAC (an upgrade over the DAC8 using that board + chip) on his front page of the website. Peete.

We are still testing the separate USB to SPDIF converter , because we add the new funtion like up-sampling, SPDIF input, Optial input, we must sure up-sampling can be improve on SQ

 

[UncleDavid218]

So I need an amp for my K701s. Now I KNOW these need a better amp than this (so save it), but right now I'm focused on buying furniture for my new house and a new HT setup, etc. so I don't see myself spending more than $175 on an amp for my headphones now. I WILL in the future, I promise.

But between this and the Little Dot I+, what do you suggest? I normally wouldn't even look at a low end tube amp for these phones but it is a hybrid amp, which counts for something at least.

Let me say again, within the next couple of months I will buy a better amp (~$500) but for now I refuse to when I have other things to spend money on. Resell value is important because I'll sell it when I get a new amp.

 

[coredump]

Unless you have a good DAC get the Zero for sure. Even if you get a better amp you may want to keep the Zero for the DAC.

 

[UncleDavid218]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coredump /img/forum/go_quote.gif Unless you have a good DAC get the Zero for sure. Even if you get a better amp you may want to keep the Zero for the DAC.

I just sold something I wasn't really planning on selling and now my budget has been raised to $350. I was looking at the Darkvoice 336SE.

So for that price what might you suggest? Should I just go with the ZERO for now and down the road get a higher end amp and use the ZERO as a DAC?

I'm using my MacBook as a source so it's pretty garbage.

 

[nauxolo]

The usable blue expands into the parallel many.