[Azure]

Ah, I didn't realize that "via" was an electrical term (Looked it up on wikipidea).

So, I just connect two wires from the 2 places you marked on the zapfilter to these 2 blue points (Does it matter which wire goes to which pad?):
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...czapfilter.jpg

 

[looser101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azure Ah, I didn't realize that "via" was an electrical term (Looked it up on wikipidea). So, I just connect two wires from the 2 places you marked on the zapfilter to these 2 blue points (Does it matter which wire goes to which pad?): http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...czapfilter.jpg

Nope. See the first white plug that comes from the IEC. I soldered my wires there, under the board. No it doesn't matter which wire goes where.

-R-

 

[udo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by looser101 The Zapfilter 2 is a high quality, universal DAC output stage so it will work on just about anything. A high quality, well designed, discrete output stage will always trounce an opamp stage IMO. So I suspect the benefit will be just as great. Do you have a pic of the internals of the 1.3 so I can see?

Some pics are on the zhaolu site but also this form has seen a few.

 

[daggerlee]

Just ordered my Zapfilter from partsconnexion.com

Right now they are out of stock and expect stock in a few weeks. But the good news is that they are having a 'dogs day' sale, it's a pretty sizeable discount. They have a tollfree number that you can call or you can e-mail them and get a quote.

 

[stryker]

Has anyone acutally heard the Oritek discrete output mod to this DAC? There's a modded one on A'gon and I was thinking of trying it.

 

[RogerWilco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stryker Has anyone acutally heard the Oritek discrete output mod to this DAC? There's a modded one on A'gon and I was thinking of trying it.

Thats a good friend of mine selling the dac.Overall he prefers the sound of the Citypulse-DA7.2x now.

 

[Sean H]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco Thats a good friend of mine selling the dac.Overall he prefers the sound of the Citypulse-DA7.2x now.

Have you heard the Citypulse yet, Roger?

 

[HumanMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco Thats a good friend of mine selling the dac.Overall he prefers the sound of the Citypulse-DA7.2x now.

Very interesting. Especially considering that its in the same ballpark price wise as a Z2.x with Ori Output or Zapfilter output.

I am especially interested in how any of these compare to a CI Audio VDA.2 at roughly twice the price. The VDA.2 uses the superior, high-output 1794 and a far more minimal and cleaner output stage - so it should sound better right? but twice-the-price better?

 

[stryker]

I had the chance to audition the VDA-2 shortly after selling the modified Music Hall with ZF that Sacd lover sold to me. The VDA-2 is excellent and I would easily consider it again, especially for the money. In fact, the only reason I did sell it was becuase I cam across a battery-powered 16-chip DDDac that was superior to both of these sources. Its output comes straight off 16 parallel chips into an Auricap then on to the jacks. No Zap Filter, no opamps, nothing but an Auricap.

I preferred the VDA-2 over the Zap Filter output, at least the one on the Music Hall 25. Sacd Lover has said that the Music Hall with Zap Filter was not as good as his sacdmods 555ES which I assume might have been better because the 555ES uses a balanced, current output dac versus the unbalanced voltage dac in the MH. Matt had to add a resistor and what he needed to do with the output just seemed like a little too much tinkering. It also had a lower voltage output than the 555Es so you needed more gain in your amp or preamp, which I did not like. Lately I've been less impressed with the ZF although it's absolutely a superior to opamp analog stages. It's supposed to be a little temperamental to install.

 

[RogerWilco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean H Have you heard the Citypulse yet, Roger?

I have not heard it yet sean.I may pick one up soon.Been so busy lately looking at new homes with my wife have not had much time for audio.

 

[bordins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco Thats a good friend of mine selling the dac. Overall he prefers the sound of the Citypulse-DA7.2x now.

Never known about his preference.

 

[Mazuki]

I put in three LM6171 into my Zhaolu D2C. I think they resolve more than the stock OPA2604. I am thoroughly enjoying them. Soundstage is wider, more detail, very nice!

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogerWilco Thats a good friend of mine selling the dac.Overall he prefers the sound of the Citypulse-DA7.2x now.

That's not Larry selling his Zhaolu, is it?

Anyone have a Citypulse DAC in SoCal for a mini-meet vs. my Ori Zhaolu?

 

[RogerWilco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L That's not Larry selling his Zhaolu, is it? Anyone have a Citypulse DAC in SoCal for a mini-meet vs. my Ori Zhaolu?

No Jon--that is my friend bill--he is who originally told me about the Zhaolu and ori.


He said that the Ori Zhaolu is very good ,but the Citypulse is more resolving in the midrange(hard to believe) and more slam on the bottem.I have not yet heard the Citypulse so i have no idea.

I just know if the Citypulse can do this added with the imaging of the Zhaolu then there might be another winner

Keep in mind too--my friend bill is only 2 channel audio using his computer as a transport.

 

[tianguis]

Roger, Jon:

There is considerably better resolution and bass control with the 7.2x than my modded Zhaolu 2.0. Over the past three weeks, I've switched them in and out of my system many times, as they sit next to each other, using the same cabling, running off a Felicia balanced power supply. Each time, the 7.2x has impressed with more air, blacker background, greater space. Imaging and instrument placement is far better with the 7.2x.
I'm not slamming the Zhaolu: it's a fine DAC, especially at the price. I loved it. It's outperformed some high-buck DAC's at Raves where I've demoed it. However, I prefer the 7.2x by a wide margin.
The 7.2x takes some serious break-in time. It responds well to heat cycling: run it hard for hours, turn it off and allow to cool, turn it on. Each time there's a "perceived" difference. It "blooms" at about 100 hours but continues to improve. Mine has about 200 hours on it.

Regards,
Larry Welsh