[Spirit2]

Is it easy to change the DAC and amp chip?

 

[souperman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spirit2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it easy to change the DAC and amp chip?

Yes. You pull it out and plug it in.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerEaves /img/forum/go_quote.gif The more time I put on my Zero, the more impressed I am. Right now I have about 4 hours actual listening, and about 30 hours of pink noise burn in on the unit. Everything just sounds so natural and musical. I've also found that it makes poorly recorded music (Think reggae, early blues recordings, etc), much more listenable on my K701s. Hard to put my finger on why, but basically I find myself LISTENING, rather than thinking 'oh, this is hissy/flat sounding, etc. I have only two complaints on the unit, both quite minor. 1 - I wish the 3 smaller buttons (input select, headphone switch) extended a bit beyond the face of the unit. This would make them easier to activate. This is more noticeable because of the great feel and 'thunk' of the power switch. 2 - The volume knob rotates a bit too easily for my tastes...a slight slip of the finger can turn the volume up quite a bit. A bit of drag here would be nice. Just enough to make the motion feel more solid.

Hi TylerEaves,
The board that has micro-switches for those three buttons, is a stubborn little Bast_rd. It is the one I had to remove and change the resisters on. When re-attaching it to the backside of the faceplate, it did not want to screw up tight to the faceplate. This caused the buttons on the front, to be less extended. It took three tries before I finally got it screwed on tight and the buttons work better. You might take a look at this to make them better.

Also, replacing the existing volume knob with a heavy aftermarket knob (brass), makes it smoother and less easy to turn quickly.

Have a good one!

 

[souperman]

Anyone have pictures of the back of the unit?

 

[kwekeugene]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TylerEaves /img/forum/go_quote.gif I honestly don't know yet. I'm bring the 225s home from work tonight and give it a listen.

Thanks Tyler, I really appreciate it

No rush, take your time...

 

[sorcer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadhill /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi, New to this forum... (but having followed it for months) Just got an email from Lawrence for an order placed on the 17th february : Will be shipped this week (It took no more than 12 hours to get an answer from him) (it was already supposed to ship a week ago ) Might reassure everybody in the same expecting position...

I ordered mine last Friday (3/7). I sent Lawrence an email through eBay, and he answered quickly:

"Highly probably next week and I'll let you know by email"

That sounds promising.

P.S. Ordered Sennheiser HD-650s Yesterday from Amazon for $309. Yikes!

P.P.S. Anyone have 650 time on the Zero?

 

[Spirit2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by souperman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. You pull it out and plug it in.

Thanks for your help. Do I need to get one opamp for the DAC and two for the headphone amp? What opams is recommended for beyerdynamic? I have the DT770 PRO 80 ohm.

 

[Seba]

I have now received e-mails from Lawrence finally.

He suggested that I would pay half of the price for new OPA627's and DY2000 metal (48$ total). I'm a bit sceptic because I don't believe that is right.

So, word of advice: Do NOT buy op-amps from Lawrence unless you really have to. If they will broke, you'll have to pay for the replacements.

 

[Andreas_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwekeugene /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sounds awesome! I have a Zero on the way now, how does the the Zero perform with the SR225? My setup would be "MacBook > Zero > SR225"

I'm used to listen to SR225 on Zero with two op amp combos:
- 1469 DAC and 2 x 1361 AMP
- 1364 DAC and 2 x 1361 AMP

I like them very much on 225, the first combo has a warmer sound than the second, but I think I like the second more. 1361 in dac gives you a tad more detail and instrument separation, a little bit wider stage and seems to be brighter due to the less extended low end frequencies.

I can't tell anything about the stock combination, because I was very impatient to try different op amps(Penchum fault

) and I'm very proud of these two, greater SQ than I expected before ordering Zero.

 

[fl00r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sorcer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ordered mine last Friday (3/7). I sent Lawrence an email through eBay, and he answered quickly: "Highly probably next week and I'll let you know by email" That sounds promising.

Don't want to spoil your good mood Sorcer, but this was exactly the same he wrote to me (a couple of weeks back).

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/3896217-post1990.html

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seba /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have now received e-mails from Lawrence finally. He suggested that I would pay half of the price for new OPA627's and DY2000 metal (48$ total). I'm a bit sceptic because I don't believe that is right. So, word of advice: Do NOT buy op-amps from Lawrence unless you really have to. If they will broke, you'll have to pay for the replacements.

If I'm reading you right, that is a big price drop compared to what it was just 2 months ago. The other thing is he sells the BP version, which is the best.
I'd have to find the email, but I'm pretty sure a pair of OPA627's on an adapter was $67 back then.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sorcer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I ordered mine last Friday (3/7). I sent Lawrence an email through eBay, and he answered quickly: "Highly probably next week and I'll let you know by email" That sounds promising. P.S. Ordered Sennheiser HD-650s Yesterday from Amazon for $309. Yikes! P.P.S. Anyone have 650 time on the Zero?

That's a great price you got on the 650's! There a quite a few using them with the Zero, or with the Zero to another amp. I've got almost all my hours on the Zero with the HD-650. LOVE IT!

 

[Seba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penchum /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I'm reading you right, that is a big price drop compared to what it was just 2 months ago. The other thing is he sells the BP version, which is the best. I'd have to find the email, but I'm pretty sure a pair of OPA627's on an adapter was $67 back then.

No, 48$ isn't the normal price. Lawrence offered me new set for half the price because of the broken op-amps. To be honest, I don't care for the DY2000 at all. The short moment I listened to it, it sounded too smooth for my MKIV SE. I like my recent op-amps very much.

Today I swapped LT1469's to Zero's headamp and boy I'm having fun. I have listened the whole evening with Zero and kept Little Dot turned off.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seba /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, 48$ isn't the normal price. Lawrence offered me new set for half the price because of the broken op-amps. To be honest, I don't care for the DY2000 at all. The short moment I listened to it, it sounded too smooth for my MKIV SE. I like my recent op-amps very much. Today I swapped LT1469's to Zero's headamp and boy I'm having fun. I have listened the whole evening with Zero and kept Little Dot turned off.

It does make a nice combo, for sure. Do you like the DAC output though? That should be where this combo excels too.

 

[kmel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seba /img/forum/go_quote.gif Today I swapped LT1469's to Zero's headamp and boy I'm having fun. I have listened the whole evening with Zero and kept Little Dot turned off.

Up to now I have used the stock opamps, but today I switched to DAC=OPA627 and AMP=LT1469.
Hmmm... I tried it for hours, but didn't like the bass with the HD-650.

Then I switched to AMP=LT1361. What a great combination and I have to do so much burn-in hours...