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Review: ZERO 24 BIT/192KHz DAC/Headphone Amp/Pre-Amp
Sep 26, 2015 at 6:43 AM Post #9,363 of 9,388
My Zero DAC stopped working a while ago and now I'm looking to fix it. It is the non-USB version.
It just stopped working out of the blue. It powers on and the lights work, just no sound at all from either analog line out or headphone socket. I tried numerous combinations of optical, coaxial, RCAs, two different CD-players..
 
At first I thought that my crappy solder job had failed (I had two OPA627s on an adapter) but switching back to the stock opamp didn't do anything. How should I go about troubleshooting it?
 
Like I said, it just stopped working. One day it worked fine, the next day no sound. I didn't touch it in between.
 
Oct 1, 2015 at 9:47 AM Post #9,364 of 9,388
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lebullet said:
  My headphone amp has gone bad. Does anyone know where I can buy a replacement? I have to adjust how I insert the headphone jack and changing volumes creates loud-hiss.
Click to expand...

Maybe some basic troubleshooting will help:
http://tangentsoft.net/audio/trouble.html
 
Nov 3, 2015 at 10:13 AM Post #9,365 of 9,388
Hello!
My start setup was Yamaha CD-N500 as network receiver (gets flacs from NAS), Yamaha R-S700 as stereo receiver and Dali Lektor 2. I was really dissapointed sound after DAC in CD-N500 - pretty harsh, I could not  listen more the 10-15 minutes, so I bought small, not expensive but with good reviews dac SMSL 1955 (1st version with AD1955). After that  sound (instrumental, jazz, vocal, blues, some rock) became better. But I'm still looking for comfort, soft, velvet, enveloping sound.  Can Zero Dac help to find it or at least will be closer to it in comparing with SMSL? 
 
 
Mar 10, 2016 at 8:45 AM Post #9,366 of 9,388
I realize this thread is a bit old but just curious if anybody is still around. Worthwhile with HD600? I'm really not interested in totally modding it, maybe swapping opamps but not replacing the entire head amp. 
 
Alternatives would be Micca Origen/Schiit Stack/Aune X1S(way more expensive and less power). 
 
Apr 3, 2016 at 7:18 PM Post #9,367 of 9,388
nauhuri said:
  My Zero DAC stopped working a while ago and now I'm looking to fix it. It is the non-USB version.
It just stopped working out of the blue. It powers on and the lights work, just no sound at all from either analog line out or headphone socket. I tried numerous combinations of optical, coaxial, RCAs, two different CD-players..
 
At first I thought that my crappy solder job had failed (I had two OPA627s on an adapter) but switching back to the stock opamp didn't do anything. How should I go about troubleshooting it?
 
Like I said, it just stopped working. One day it worked fine, the next day no sound. I didn't touch it in between.
Click to expand...

My original Zero DAC headphone amp also just stopped working out of the clear blue recently.  Does anyone have a schematic for it?  I suspect it is the DAC board and not the power amp board because I can hear the hum from each channel through the headphones as I touch and probe the audio IC chip pins on the amp board. I can hear scratchy sound as I turn the volume knob so the amp portion is probably okay. It's the big main DAC board where the problem is.  I suspect it is most likely bad capacitors due to aging but have no idea which ones to start checking logically first.  A schematic diagram would really help. Anyone been down this path?
 
Nov 8, 2016 at 4:03 AM Post #9,369 of 9,388
How is it that there's no max power output info of this device nowhere? (im talking about the new zero 637 model) How can i know what headphones this thing is capable of driving,and how it would comare to say magni 2 or O2 in terms of power?
 
Dec 17, 2016 at 3:51 PM Post #9,370 of 9,388
Don't know if anyone is still reading this but I was away from Head-fi for some time and have been back recently... wondering what ever happened to Penchum (who started this thread) and Pricley Peete. Those guys basically got me started with headphone gear (and I haven't exactly changed much since really) and reading their old posts/reviews has been somewhat nostalgic. But they haven't been around much recently from what I can see, so I'm curious. Thanks for any info. PM is fine or here
 
Oct 12, 2017 at 7:16 PM Post #9,372 of 9,388
My Zero won't do from 176,4/2 to 192/24. When I input these sample rates the Zero distorces and clicks. Up to 96/24 it's perfect! Then, it's not true it suports 192/24. I doubt my unit is defective because what would cause this limitation??
 
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