[Ori]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daggerlee So if I'm understanding this correctly, bridge the two solder points indicated by the red circles, and remove the solder bridge indicated?

Correct!
Do not do anything other than this. The wires at the IEC connectors are fine.
I must say it once again. There is high voltage

in that circuit, so make sure you don't short anything by mistake.

Double check everything before you plug it in!!!

 

[daggerlee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ori Correct! Do not do anything other than this. The wires at the IEC connectors are fine. I must say it once again. There is high voltage in that circuit, so make sure you don't short anything by mistake. Double check everything before you plug it in!!!

The soldering has been done...turned it on, nothing is burning, the lights are all on, looks good! Thanks again! Just a question though, is it supposed to make a clicking sound when you turn it on?

 

[tianguis]

daggerlee:

Yup, the click is normal. It's a relay.

Regards,
Larry Welsh

 

[Ghislain]

Joined the 'modded Zhaolu 2.0' club - I can confirm the difference between the stock one and the modded one - glad I did

Thanks to the contributers here on the forum! It has been ages since I did my last soldering but everything went smooth

Next step? May be the discrete output mod (Zapfilter)

 

[HumanMedia]

One of the tweaks to my DAC 1.3 involved twisting the AC cable inside the chassis to the fuse/switch block, to reject EMI. Since the plug can go in either way on the fuse/switch block I lost track of how it was originally oriented.

Its AC though so it doesnt matter right?

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago, I changed some plug ends on some power cables and afterwards everything sounded terrible - bad bass, harsh treble. maybe the plugs just needed break in. 125 hours later no change. On ChrisH's advice I checked the polarity of the AC cables I had changed and sure enough one had the active and neutral swapped. Fixing it brought back the sweet treble and bass (?!)

I dont understand how this can make an audible difference (AC right?), but fixing the polarity of outlets, cables and equipment is at least known to some:

http://www.boundforsound.com/tweak.htm


So back to my Zhaolu, how can I determine which way the plug should be oriented?
Mine has the chassis grounded but no circuit ground tied to the chassis.
I guess I can do it by ear, but is there a better way of measuring the circuit ground to actual ground potential?


Any advice from the Head-Fi Jedi?

 

[Sean H]

Perhaps someone will chime in with a more technical answer for you but I'd just do it by ear. This was the case with the original Rega Planet years ago too. It has a two blade plug with no ground plug and of the two blades neither was polarized. However having it plugged into the wall one particular way obviously sounded the best.

 

[Azure]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 Well I'm going out of town next week for a few weeks, so I'm trying not to even think about the Zhaolooser101. But as we all know that's not always easy to do.

Have you received it yet? Impressions?

 

[fntms]

I don't really want to take out the four infamous caps with a solder (my Z 2 has already broken down once and I don't wanna lose my warranty with Eddie) but would still like to short them to see if I can hear a difference. Is there a quick and dirty way involving no solder? I was thinking of drawing a line with a pencil (like in the good old days of cpu overclocking...) between the connectors underneath the pcb...

Edit: I actually just got a soldering iron, and I'll try my luck bridging the caps with some wires from a RJ45 cable....


Also, how do you unscrew the original headphone amp ? I'm having problems unscrewing the volume control, I can't get to the screw! do I have to unscrew all the front side?
Thanks!

 

[udo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fntms Also, how do you unscrew the original headphone amp ? I'm having problems unscrewing the volume control, I can't get to the screw! do I have to unscrew all the front side? Thanks!

Pull off the knob.
Unscrew the ring around the remaining stub.
Remove screws inside the box.
Remove standard headphone amp.

(from memory, this was how I could remove the hpa from my D2.0)

 

[Sinwerm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fntms I don't really want to take out the four infamous caps with a solder (my Z 2 has already broken down once and I don't wanna lose my warranty with Eddie) but would still like to short them to see if I can hear a difference. Is there a quick and dirty way involving no solder? I was thinking of drawing a line with a pencil (like in the good old days of cpu overclocking...) between the connectors underneath the pcb... Edit: I actually just got a soldering iron, and I'll try my luck bridging the caps with some wires from a RJ45 cable.... Also, how do you unscrew the original headphone amp ? I'm having problems unscrewing the volume control, I can't get to the screw! do I have to unscrew all the front side? Thanks!

There is a link to a great soldering tutorial in this lengthy thread somewhere... I looked but could not find it for you , sorry. I would suggest that you open up an old (broken) electronic component pull out the board and practice a bit just to be more confident if you need to , just check around the house. Yes the cap mod is a must btw , you will notice a difference , really.

 

[fntms]

Yes, thanks, I had actually found the thread (it's @ pages 20-23 of the "Zhaolou received" thread).

I did it!

I just bridged the caps with small copper wires from a Cat5 cable. Not that hard to do, but it's not too clean looking...anyway, it works!
As for the sound, yes it does seem cleaner, smoother, some grittiness in the highs are not present anymore (although the burn in I'm currently doing is also helping a lot I feel after about three days).

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure Have you received it yet? Impressions?

I believe it's at my house, but unfortunately I'm still out of town, probably for another week. Believe me when I say that I'm as interested in hearing this DAC as much as anyone.

 

[philodox]

Can't wait to hear your impressions Steve. You are in for a real treat.

 

[swt61]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Can't wait to hear your impressions Steve. You are in for a real treat.

I will definately post my impressions and pics w/ the new faceplate once I get back home. I think I'll be home next weekend.

 

[looser101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swt61 I will definately post my impressions and pics w/ the new faceplate once I get back home. I think I'll be home next weekend.

In case other zhaolu owners missed it:

ZHAOLOOSER 101 impressions and pic

-R-