[CrazyNikel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by igotyofire /img/forum/go_quote.gif these still selling dead on arrival? & which op amp should i get, i notice one cost a lil bit more

I would also like to know this.

Pairing with Denon 5000's or 2000's

 

[prospero21]

Hey all,

about 2 years ago I purchased a Zero dac. It has been working flawlessly for that whole period, untill last week. There's no more output on the HeadAmp aswell as in the RCA outputs. I hear the relays clicking when I switch input or when the dac receives a signal, but not a peep from the outputs.

I already tried switching opamps, but to no avail. Also checked the pcb for any obvious damage, but could find none.

Also sending it back to Lawrence is not an option, since the dac is over 2 years old and there's no warranty left on it.

Does anyone have any ideas ?

Really appreciate all the input you guys could give me !

Cheers !

 

[verynoisy]

A couple of weeks ago, after a few too many beers, I ordered a ZERO DAC-- forgetting that I'd previously read in the forums here that units were arriving defective. Well, mine arrived late and completely dead. I'm going to see if an engineer friend can discover what the problem is. To my mind, it's not worth paying $50 or whatever to ship it back for warranty repair. Maybe that's what they're counting on. Sigh.

 

[stang]

That's why I got it from the most reputable seller at the time. Forgot his name though. I paid a $30 premium and everything is still fine.

 

[zxc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by igotyofire /img/forum/go_quote.gif these still selling dead on arrival? & which op amp should i get, i notice one cost a lil bit more

Got mine from Ebay from a reputable seller around January 2010. Shipped in less than a week. Got the USB version with OAP627's. Sounds great. No issues what so ever. I hear absolutely no background noise at normal listening levels.

The unit is a lot nicer than I expected. Aluminum face plate, toroidal transformer, smooth volume knob, automatic source switching, etc. I really like the fact that rear RCA outs can output both line level and amped signal, controlled by a switch at the front.

I think, for the price, it is a great unit. I can see this being sold for $$$ if it had any affiliation with an English brand.

 

[verynoisy]

I finally got around to troubleshooting the Zero (2009 version) that was dead on arrival. The problem was the fuse! Interestingly, the bad fuse tested fine, so who knows what's going on there. I suppose the fuse could have been damaged during shipping, but that doesn't seem especially likely.

My reaction upon initial listening (with Grado 325is) is positive! I'm going to try to make some comparisons with the DAC in my Squeezebox 3 and M-Audio Audiophile 2496, and try it with different headphones. Which means a lot of annoying cable swapping...

 

[miyinan]

I am new to hifi stuffs. Is this a dac/amp combo. Do I need to connect it to external dac or amp? I am looking for an easy and simple setup (computer - dac/amp combo - headphone). Will this work for me?

 

[stang]

Yes it is an amp/dac combo. You do not need an external amp and/or DAC. Just run a USB, Coaxial or Optical cable from your computer to the Zero and plug in your headphones to the headphone out

 

[miyinan]

Thanks. I was considering HA NG98 too. But I am now leaning toward the Zero. Has anybody here ever tried NG98? I know they are a lot smaller than the Zero but use similar parts, are they any good compared to the Zero?

 

[JiggY]

First post on the forum, but here we go

So after having read a lot about the zero dac on this forum and also having listened to it at one of my friends house, I finally decided to buy it. The unit looks good and when it plays, it plays really well, except for the sound to be a little unbalanced L/R at low levels. However I have come across a problem which I cannot find help on fixing anywhere.

I use the zero on my pc (with a creative SB X-Fi card) to double as a headphone amp for my Denon AH-D2000's and a preamp for my stereo amplifier. The zero I have received is the 2009 model (with USB) and has been upgraded with the OPA627 opamps.

As until last week I have been using the "Speakers" setting in the windows 7 "sound" control panel, which has been working fine (and still is). However when I got my Denon's last week I noticed the option to set "SPDIF Out" in the "sound" options to "set as default device". I immediately heard an improvement in sound quality and therefore naturally wish to keep using this setting. However this is where the problem is.

When running the zero with the SPDIF out set as "default device" I hear a short, but loud, static "click" every time I start a music file on my computer, also when there is silence between individual songs in a playlist, and also when opening movies etc. Basically the static "click" occurs every time there is no continuous audio output through the SPDIF Out, so when an audio clip is played it starts with the static "click", then the song plays, and ends with a static "click" after it is over. This seems strange as there is no problem when using the "speakers" "as default device" setting except for overall lower sound quality of course.
To make things even more strange, if I open an audio file in say, windows media player, then stop it again, but leave the program open in the background, the problem seems to disappear for as long as I just leave media player open in the background.
I tried my dac at my friends place on his computer, and the problem was the same. However his dac (which is the old model without USB function) does not have this static "click" problem as mine does when using the SPDIF Out. So something seems to be wrong with my zero, except it can be fixed by leaving a song paused in windows media player.. Very strange, and annoying.

As a final note I can ad that the zero also plays a static noise when powering up for about 2 seconds. I don't know if that is normal or not, however that doesn't really bother me.

If someone has a solution to this problem or has had a similar experience with the zero I would be overly glad to hear how to solve this problem

Ps. I hope that this hasn't been posted before, at least I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[BmWr75]

OK guys, what's the verdict on this DAC/amp? I ain't got time to read 611 pages.

The headphones used will be Beyerdynamic 770/600s and Son MDR-V6s. Source will be Apple Airport Express running Apple Lossless files ripped from CDs.

 

[BmWr75]

Sorry-----double post-------latency is a bitch!!!!

 

[techenvy]

how does this fair against dac magic

 

[techenvy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JiggY /img/forum/go_quote.gif First post on the forum, but here we go So after having read a lot about the zero dac on this forum and also having listened to it at one of my friends house, I finally decided to buy it. The unit looks good and when it plays, it plays really well, except for the sound to be a little unbalanced L/R at low levels. However I have come across a problem which I cannot find help on fixing anywhere. I use the zero on my pc (with a creative SB X-Fi card) to double as a headphone amp for my Denon AH-D2000's and a preamp for my stereo amplifier. The zero I have received is the 2009 model (with USB) and has been upgraded with the OPA627 opamps. As until last week I have been using the "Speakers" setting in the windows 7 "sound" control panel, which has been working fine (and still is). However when I got my Denon's last week I noticed the option to set "SPDIF Out" in the "sound" options to "set as default device". I immediately heard an improvement in sound quality and therefore naturally wish to keep using this setting. However this is where the problem is. When running the zero with the SPDIF out set as "default device" I hear a short, but loud, static "click" every time I start a music file on my computer, also when there is silence between individual songs in a playlist, and also when opening movies etc. Basically the static "click" occurs every time there is no continuous audio output through the SPDIF Out, so when an audio clip is played it starts with the static "click", then the song plays, and ends with a static "click" after it is over. This seems strange as there is no problem when using the "speakers" "as default device" setting except for overall lower sound quality of course. To make things even more strange, if I open an audio file in say, windows media player, then stop it again, but leave the program open in the background, the problem seems to disappear for as long as I just leave media player open in the background. I tried my dac at my friends place on his computer, and the problem was the same. However his dac (which is the old model without USB function) does not have this static "click" problem as mine does when using the SPDIF Out. So something seems to be wrong with my zero, except it can be fixed by leaving a song paused in windows media player.. Very strange, and annoying. As a final note I can ad that the zero also plays a static noise when powering up for about 2 seconds. I don't know if that is normal or not, however that doesn't really bother me. If someone has a solution to this problem or has had a similar experience with the zero I would be overly glad to hear how to solve this problem Ps. I hope that this hasn't been posted before, at least I couldn't find it anywhere.

that is crazy weird man,, this unit just became a little less attractive,

so you have the 09 version, no need to upgrade opamp? and what are e specs on theeusb? 44.1 ?

 

[stang]

It sounds as if my Zero is the only good one. I also have the 2009 version with USB and OPA627