The "mod your Zhalou" Thread

[BobMcN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by C37 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hello Bob, could you post some pics of what you've done please? There are none ( or unusable ones ) in the diyAudio forum for these mods- And as reading text with no diagram or pics is open to confusion...One of the things that attracted me over here is how well documented everything is in this thread...thanks!

There have been a few more posts on that thread with some better pictures now, so you should be able to follow along. I have to say that the latest set of changes has made a very dramatic improvement in this DAC.

Basically the new changes to the analogue board on the 2.5 use an op amp followed by the second op amp (remember, each chip is a dual op-amp) to regulate the DC servo. This entails pretty much a rewiring of the board an elimination of many of the components, so it's not trivial. But the results are very, very good. The weight has come back into the music, and the bass is punchier and deeper and more refined than before. Same for the top end; extension without excessive ting and not digital sounding at all while keeping the wide soundstaging and deep imaging that the Zhaolu is famous for.

Enjoy,
Bob

 

[C37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMcN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have to say that the latest set of changes has made a very dramatic improvement in this DAC.

Hi bob, i figured it out with some help at DiyAudio. Just completed the full psu mod- It's like having a new dac attached to the zapfilter... amazing !

 

[Ech0]

Received the Zhaolu 2.5A a couple of days ago. I detached the headphone amp and replaced the opamps with LM4562's. I also changed the power cord for a little better one I had laying around. The DAC PCB was loose and barely attached to the case, was an easy fix. The volume knob seems to drag a bit, but, I don't care as I'm not using it anyway. I probably should pull the boards out a inspect them a little closer. I noticed a couple of the resistors seem to be poorly soldered on to the board.

As far as playback goes it's an improvement over the sound card I was using before (cheap pci card).

I read in this monster post somewhere that some of the caps are undersized or are cutting it close. I would change them out if I knew which ones they were. I don't really want to desolder a bunch of stuff off the board needlessly.

Good thread took a long time to read, but, worth it. Thanks.

 

[C37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ech0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Received the Zhaolu 2.5A a couple of days ago. I detached the headphone amp and replaced the opamps with LM4562's. I also changed the power cord for a little better one I had laying around.

Hi Echo, for your own safety please make sure your ground connector from mains is attached to the case, it's not on the stock zhaolu ( make a search in this thread)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ech0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read in this monster post somewhere that some of the caps are undersized or are cutting it close. I would change them out if I knew which ones they were. I don't really want to desolder a bunch of stuff off the board needlessly.

The most obvious case where i've seen this is the 25 V G-luxon 2200uf on the psu right on the left from conn 1 coming from the trasformer. it gets 25,5 V from the diodes, so better change it to a 35v quality one.
check this : diyAudio Forums - Zhaolu DAC - a good value DAC? You might consider bypassing the caps in the analog stage ( very well documented here) etc etc...

It's been one year i've had my zhaolu now and made several waves of tweaks: zapfilter, psu, grounding, etc.etc. Each has brought benefits- and i'm enjoying my music more and more. I cannot think of a single piece of equipment who has brought me so much fun in the process, for such a long time...

 

[Ech0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by C37 Hi Echo, for your own safety please make sure your ground connector from mains is attached to the case, it's not on the stock zhaolu ( make a search in this thread) The most obvious case where i've seen this is the 25 V G-luxon 2200uf on the psu right on the left from conn 1 coming from the trasformer. it gets 25,5 V from the diodes, so better change it to a 35v quality one.

Thanks for the tips C37. I guess I'll be opening up the DAC sooner than I expected.

I do remember reading about the ground issue and forgot to write it down as a "to do" item. I may also have some suitable caps in the garage.

I need to work on my digital out from my sound card a bit. I'm using alsa / linux with my media pc and one of my programs isn't cooperating.

 

[BobMcN]

I've modded my 2.5C with info on this thread as we;ll as a lot of changes to the power supply board and output stage posted by Kevin, that can be found here:

diyAudio Forums - Zhaolu DAC - a good value DAC?

I Finally got a chance to put my modded Zhaolu 2.5C up against some strong competition. This DAC has been modded per post #303 and a few others here recommended by Kevin. It has the CD DAC chip in it and the 4562 op amps in the output stage.

I also replaced the power supply filtering with a "Felix" power conditioner, as described by Paul Kap on many threads at AudioCircle. In fact, Paul was at this showdown and brought his Zhaolu 2.0 DAC along to compare also.

So, what did we put it up against? A Remyo CDP-777. We used this as the transport and just flicked back and forth between the 777 and the Zhaolu - a very easy compare. Here's a link to a 6-Moons review of this $17,000 CD player, which some reviewers think may be one of the best in the world:

6moons audio reviews: CDP-777 by Combak/Harmonix

So how did it fare? There were subtle differences, but in a nutshell I believe we all agreed that if we walked out of the room and back in again we wouldn't be able to tell which player was playing.

So, what were the subtle differences?
- There was a slightly better inner dynamic on the Reimyo, like the difference between f and ff or p and pp.
- The broad dynamics were pretty close with the Reimo having a better bass, which is where it manifested mostly. The Zhaolu was ever so slightly light sounding in the midbass and lower midrange, but that could also be the op-amps I chose, and so can be adjusted.
- There was a very slight veiling on the Zhaolu's. The leading "ting" of cymbals was not quite as sharp and pronounced.
- Also, the Reimyo had better decay of notes, letting them fade away more naturally.

Am I picking nits here? Yes, the differences were very subtle and probably not noticeable at all except that we had a direct A-B compare via a switch.

The bottom line, this DAC, which I have maybe $300 into, stood up incredibly well against a state of the art $17,000 player. Not bad for this little champ.

The difference between the 2.0 and 2.5C was even more subtle, with a bit more detail and transparency going to the 2.5C, but I'm sure Paul will be addressing this in his unit to bring them closer together.

All in all, both of us were very happy with the outcome, and the owner of the Reimyo was glad that there were differences, but with a $16,700 difference in price I think I'll stick with the Zhaolu for now.

Next discussion topic, are high $$$ digital players one of the biggest scams in audio?

Enjoy,
Bob

 

[C37]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMcN /img/forum/go_quote.gif I also replaced the power supply filtering with a "Felix" power conditioner, as described by Paul Kap on many threads at AudioCircle. In fact, Paul was at this showdown and brought his Zhaolu 2.0 DAC along to compare also.

hi Bob, Thanks for sharing the "felix" tip, this will be the next thing i will try on the zhaolu.

Regards,
Thomas
PS: what happens when a product is selled by an "audiophile" reseller in the same country?
For example, take this: Maplin > Mains Socket Tester
and the exact twin brother here: 230V Socket Tester : Make sure your mains wiring is correctly...
notice any similarity?

Except...the price tag gone up 300%...

That's what i call a scam...

 

[C37]

They even have the nerve to put it under the "offers" tab of their website, what would it be otherwise, 400%?

 

[spenphonic]

A bit of a noob question:

Past bypassing the analog-board caps, replacing the op-amps, and replacing the RCA connectors, but before getting a Zapfilter, which mods are effective in the Zhaolu D2.5C?

Which kind of wire is best for modding, and how can I rewire the DAC for better acoustics?

Thanks for helping out,

-S

 

[spenphonic]

A bit of a noob question:

Past bypassing the analog-board caps, replacing the op-amps, and replacing the RCA connectors, but before getting a Zapfilter, which mods are effective in the Zhaolu D2.5C?

Which kind of wire is best for modding, and how can I rewire the DAC for better acoustics?

Thanks for helping out,

-S

 

[BobMcN]

If you're willing to go farther then follow the link I left in an earlier posting a few pages ago to a thread at DIY Audio.com. There are numerous places to improve the power supply board ground scheme as well as a complete rewiring of the output stage to make more efficient use of the op amps. There's even a small but effective tweak on the digital board replacing some surface mount caps.

Good luck,
Bob

 

[keyid]

try listening to this budget dac with a zapfilter! hope to post a good diy info on installing it, all the info is on this huge thread though.

 

[sid311]

Quick question for all the Zhaolu masters out there. I plan on upgrading my 2.0 CS4398 with a ZapFilter soon and was wondering what other mods I can make in the meantime. I've already blocked the caps near the opamps, removed the headphone amp and replaced the RCA outputs. I have read most of this thread and it seems that awhile back Ori had mentioned that any type of BlackGate mod would be useless once the ZapFilter is in place. Does this go for the BlackGate replacement near the power supply? Can anyone suggest more modifications that can be made that will further enhance the sonic qualities of this fine DAC?

-sid

 

[Dominat0r]

Just pulled the trigger and got a upgraded Zhaolu coming in the mail...for details on upgrade and pics, click here

 

[aircondition]

I'll soon get a ZHAOLU 2.5A (european/chinese Version w/ 230Volts) and plan on upgrading with the LCAudio ZAPfilter MK2.

Can I install a ZAPfilter (with a 120V [!] Schottky PSU, plan to buy from partsconnexion) in the 230V ZHAOLU, by just rewiring the ZAP's Torus Transformer in another way? Or are there any parts on the PSU that need to be replaced?

So far after reading most of this thread I assume it should be possible to install the 115V ZAP-Psu in a 230V Zhaolu, as probably LCAudio designed the ZAP-PSU with both 'electricity worlds' in mind

(and it is only connected differently to the transformer)

I'm looking forward to your replies, regards, aircondi