[glitch39]

Posted the same in the DIY section, but wanted to bring the same attention here. Again, BIG thanks for P.Peete

I had my zero Franken'ed a while back. however, due to unforseen circumstances, I had to stop the burn-in

Propos to P.Peete who was there to assist me at every turn. His responses were thorough and educational.

I took at few additional modifications, namely:

* on the PSU section, I upgraded the 2 x 1000uf with 2 x 2200uf, doubling the capacitance offered to the PSU.

* I isolated chassis ground from audio (PCB) ground. The eath HDAM was grounded to audio ground.

* on the V+ and V- to the HDAM, I soldered a 1000uf cap to each voltage leg (total 2 caps) using audio ground for common ground. Idea is to stabilize further the voltage to the HDAM.

with that, I powered on the Zero -

Wow. bigger soundstage but not by much. Then I noticed the bass is less. Much less. I had to take it apart again to see if I grounded wrong some of the caps. Nope, everything checks out. I listened to it throughout to monitor the changes. At around 70 hours, when things were not changing, I PM'ed Peete. True enough, he predicted that I was at about 75 hours. What can I say - he's done this many times that he knows the behavior of the Franken already. Then he also gave me the other behavior to expect as I go through the burn-in process.

I was so excited about this that I told myself: Heck, let it burn in without further monitoring. So I did. Let it sit there for another 40+ hours. Now at 125 hours, the separation is even wider - I mean bigger soundstage. I'm liking this. Bass is back is where I started before the mods. But the details in the music - amazing. GREAT mids. Timbre is much better. I used hi-res CD from Santana's Oye Como va. Instrument layering is amazing. I've had the Keces 151, MD-10, Yulong - they all sound very digital compared to the Franken. The Franken is that good.

I have another 120 hours to go through before it finally stabilizes. Can't wait to complete it. Peete has told me what to expect further - more bass (Yes!), even bigger soundstage (Yes!) and sparkling highs (Yes!)

If everything works out, then this raised the bar significantly for my next source. I'm excited.

 

[Chrisdroogies]

Hello Everybody,

I've just completed my frankenZero project yesterday. Everyting went smooth exept for one PIO... I was a little nervous to proceed since my zero was a few weeks old only.

So I started with the power supply section than I've put the board back in place to test it. It was working fine! Than I decided to go further. I'm an electronic tech and I'm not at my first project but I founded hard to solder some PIO caps maybe due to the big legs. I recommand to twist and route the PIO caps legs by following the pictures included in the project and THEN solder them. I did the mistake of moovin one PIO once it was soldered and "BANG!!" i broked one "donnut". I needed to splice and repair... Everything was done and I was anxious to test...

I then put back the frankenzero in the chain. WoW!! Very nice sound was coming thru my headphones !! I was using GLite to comment the DAC section. Everthing was more extended, relax and clear with more separation. I don't have HDAM upgrade wet! I know I'll have to wait a couple hundred of hours before the whole thing grows up but the sounds is considerably better. It worths it no doubt.

Tank you very much P.P. for your time and accomplishment. I will comment on the sound once it's completely burned. I also wonder wich HDAM to get (earth, sun...). Input would be greatly appreciate. Sorry for my English!

Cheers!

Christian

 

[mbd2884]

Its incredible 580 pages on this DAC/Amp. Just amazed how huge this thread is.

 

[helicopter34234]

This is a follow up on the status of my dead Zero. The last I heard from wsz0304 was 1/14/09 when he told me to check to see if it was the OPAMP or the DAC board itself that was fried. I emailed him back 1/14/09, 1/20/09, 1/29/09 all friendly and insquiring if a warrentee replacement DAC board will sent. He might just be busy but my guess is that after having received his good feedback from me, he simply doesn't care enough to lose money to make me happy. I will give it until about 2/15/09 and then try sending a little more forceful email, possibly mentioning that other Head-Fi members are listening in on my situation and then I will probably give up. Luckily I was screwed twice with the Zero (first by Lawrence) and had a spare DAC from another Zero to fill in on this one, so I do have a functioning Zero. However, it is scary that these things can die after a few months. Wsz0304 seems to be the best bet to order from in that he is quick to make the customer happy in the event of receiving a DOA unit, but I after he receives the ebay feedback he has little incentive to honor the warrentee. Such is life dealing with small eBay sellers.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Thanks guys...when it works the mod is quite a leap over stock. It is a tricky person to complete but as Chris says pre bend the leads before soldering so there is no "tension" on them.

Sorry to hear all the other failures...that's too bad because there is mucho performance to tap from this little guy.

Peete.

 

[prinz]

i've ****ed up toslink input and there's no place in Poland where I can buy another one

But, everything has the bright side.. Franken has time to burn in, until new TORX179 optical input will come.. from CANADA :] omg

i also bought AKG K601, but i'm almost sure that ZEROs amp wont have enough power to drive them properly.
Anyway.. my impresions still to come

regards.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by prinz /img/forum/go_quote.gif i've ****ed up toslink input and there's no place in Poland where I can buy another one But, everything has the bright side.. Franken has time to burn in, until new TORX179 optical input will come.. from CANADA :] omg i also bought AKG K601, but i'm almost sure that ZEROs amp wont have enough power to drive them properly. Anyway.. my impresions still to come regards.

Lawrence has them too....

How many hours so far prinz ?

Peete.

 

[MadMan007]

I tried searching but came up with either waay too many or too few results. I need to know: What exact volume pot do I need to upgrade from the stock one? As much detail as possible please

- ohms, windings, voltage, blanced, whatever; I wouldn't know if there are 'good' or 'bad' versions of a given part numbertoo, and please any way to know if it might be a fake etc.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

The one that Lawrence Chan sells...it's a tough to find NOS Alps pot...the regular Alps RK27 is too big.

This is an old pic.....but anyway...

Peete.

 

[Currawong]

The Zero can drive K701s, but you don't get their massive soundstage. For that you require a better amp.

 

[MadMan007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif The one that Lawrence Chan sells...it's a tough to find NOS Alps pot...the regular Alps RK27 is too big. This is an old pic.....but anyway... Peete.

Thanks. Too bad about the RK27 they are common. Did you get yours from Lawrence, or do you happen to know the model # or something else to use as a search term? If not what's a substitute, I just want something better to replace the stock pot.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I got it from Lawrence.

Peete.

 

[Burninate35]

Can the zero drive the akg k240m?

I am pretty sure that the answer is no but I am totally out of options. I feel like it would be cheaper to buy new headphones then to power these headphones.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burninate35 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can the zero drive the akg k240m? I am pretty sure that the answer is no but I am totally out of options. I feel like it would be cheaper to buy new headphones then to power these headphones.

The 600 ohm versions ? I have the K240M 600ohm...and the Zero doesn't do a good job at all driving those....better to get new cans and start over I'd say. The difference between the K240 and HD650's is vast in terms of SQ...they are far easier to drive than the older 600 ohm AKG's ..although not an easy can to amp either (fully that is).

The amp I'm currently evaluating really grabs the 650's by the balls...the audio-gd Compass. The Jaycar DIY kit amp also does a fair job for a lot less money than the Compass.

Peete.

 

[helicopter34234]

Sorry for all of the updates but I did finally get a response from wsz0304. He emailed me back tonight, apologized for late response (exactly 3 weeks late) due to the Chinese New Year, and agreed to send me a replacement if I split the shipping cost and pay $10 shipping. So I would say I am pretty satisfied and just wanted to clear wsz0304's name. It is pretty honorable for him to uphold his warrentee because like I said, he has no incentive after getting his ebay feedback.