[Merlin-PT]

Hello ! I am Looking for the people who own the same device Or similar. It’s dual AK4497. I had it moded by Sanmigel. He completely replaced the composite part as far as I know. Here are graphs kindly provided by Sanmigel.

http://player.ru/showthread.php?t=180748&p=3130287&viewfull=1#post3130287

Questions :

1. After the mod it sounds better , but still harsh, will this harsh sound go away after burning in?
2. Can’t find the firmware source, that’s ridiculous, is there a manufacturer who created this player, who must have firmware? I’d like to compare different firmware versions, how they sound, they may affect SQ as it was the case with Ibasso dx90.
3. Is it normal for this DSDs that it wont connect to PC as a storage? Only usb DAC function working, and music is transferred dedicated through sd card.
4. Who can share their expressions about sound stage, stereo width , etc? I am comparing this dsds with dx90 which is currently on the most musical but glitchy fw 2.0. And I must admit the dx90 sounding wider, softer, more highs, but less bass though. Thus comes the question, looking at those excellent parameters and graphs, by all logic, It is supposed sound better but subjectively doesn’t . Or it’s a matter of time and burn-in process, and FW as the experience proves. Has anyone compared the stereo width of these 2 players? Also by means of precise equipment.
5. Thanks a lot for your inputs!

1. Personally I didn't experience any HW eletronics "burn in" after a mod I've done in zishan.
In the occasionally (only 2 or 3 times) the sound was harsh and changed after a mod I did, I attribute it to the PCB washing still drying or PCB still dirty and it disappeared after a good wash and dry.
There are combinations of HW componets, bright headphones and source recordings that can produce a not melodic sound. Maybe the unit was modded/tunned with more melodic less dry headphones, I really don't know.
Regarding the headphones burn in, then yes, in some units the sound changes a lot for the better after the burn in, in some others there's no noticeable change.
2. Firmware source for your player is a baidu link and was supplied by Aliexpress sellers.
You could ask the shop were you bought it about the FW source or try here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-zishan-dsds-corner.826185/page-184#post-15653842
3. Yes. Personally I use fast microsd cards around >90MB/s and a fast USB3.x microsd adapter.

I don't have that player. Maybe others will have more to share.

 

[alnasique]

1. Personally I didn't experience any HW eletronics "burn in" after a mod I've done in zishan.
In the occasionally (only 2 or 3 times) the sound was harsh and changed after a mod I did, I attribute it to the PCB washing still drying or PCB still dirty and it disappeared after a good wash and dry.
There are combinations of HW componets, bright headphones and source recordings that can produce a not melodic sound. Maybe the unit was modded/tunned with more melodic less dry headphones, I really don't know.
Regarding the headphones burn in, then yes, in some units the sound changes a lot for the better after the burn in, in some others there's no noticeable change.
2. Firmware source for your player is a baidu link and was supplied by Aliexpress sellers.
You could ask the shop were you bought it about the FW source or try here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-zishan-dsds-corner.826185/page-184#post-15653842
3. Yes. Personally I use fast microsd cards around >90MB/s and a fast USB3.x microsd adapter.

I don't have that player. Maybe others will have more to share.

my player was modded by an educated engineer using precise equipment ,not by ear or using certain headphones, that’s why it sound sterile as a scalpel I guess. The job was done great. I just wonder if The SQ is gonna change over time.
2. The above link doesn’t work As well as Those with the badu Service .
I assume That Only available FW for dsds Is 0.5b, and 0.5c. Am I right? I wish there were a custom FW like that made by Lurker. Thanks for sharing

 

[Merlin-PT]

my player was modded by an educated engineer using precise equipment ,not by ear or using certain headphones, that’s why it sound sterile as a scalpel I guess. The job was done great. I just wonder if The SQ is gonna change over time.
2. The above link doesn’t work As well as Those with the badu Service .
I assume That Only available FW for dsds Is 0.5b, and 0.5c. Am I right? I wish there were a custom FW like that made by Lurker. Thanks for sharing

1. In my personal experience, I never had a well build with genuine components modern audio equipment (player/amp) that sound changed over time. At least I never noticed any significant changes.
The zishans I moded them when I received them and after that I never experienced any burn in effect.

2. I don't have that model, don't really know.

 

[alnasique]

1. In my personal experience, I never had a well build with genuine components modern audio equipment (player/amp) that sound changed over time. At least I never noticed any significant changes.
The zishans I moded them when I received them and after that I never experienced any burn in effect.

2. I don't have that model, don't really know.

That Russian engineer who modded it said the same thing - this burn-in effect is a mental thing.
Btw, please explain where is the turbo Switch On The dual 4497? I don’t have this item in the menu. I only have Full speed, and high quality/default mode switches. Thanks

 

[Merlin-PT]

Probably the dual ak4497 doesn't have a turbo function, but I don't know, I don't have one.

 

[alnasique]

Probably the dual ak4497 doesn't have a turbo function, but I don't know, I don't have one.

there is a switch there - default and high quality mode , I instinctively used the latter, and the battery lasted about 3hrs, so I guess this is the turbo (?) can anyone confirm my guess? Tanks

 

[slavalun]

there is a switch there - default and high quality mode , I instinctively used the latter, and the battery lasted about 3hrs, so I guess this is the turbo (?) can anyone confirm my guess? Tanks

4497, 4497 dual - do not have the "turbo" mode.

The "high quality" mode enables better processing of high frequencies, specifically their duration. The effect is clearly audible when using top headphones on which it can be heard and high-quality 24-bit recordings, with a well-recorded high-frequency spectrum.

 

[alnasique]

4497, 4497 dual - do not have the "turbo" mode.

The "high quality" mode enables better processing of high frequencies, specifically their duration. The effect is clearly audible when using top headphones on which it can be heard and high-quality 24-bit recordings, with a well-recorded high-frequency spectrum.

that’s good to know, thanks!

 

[alnasique]

In my opinion the main thing that needs to be done is to enable track reverse. I think the rest of the player is fine, but that feature alone is a deal breaker.

it also cuts the beginning of tracks if played Via cue. It’s very disappointing. I use mainly images +cue, and was buying this player to use them, I didn’t wanna break down every single album in pieces using medieval cue cutter, etc. I hope this issue will be resolved in new versions if there will be any. We need to wright a petition to Lurker , or other prominent developers. Please support, people. Thanks

 

[Themilkman46290]

I think first we would need to find out who makes zishan and try to get him to unlock the software.
I really liked zishan, I have bought 3 dsd. But there's only so much you can do soundwise through hardware, the rest needs to be done on the software side. So the dsd is awesome for a player around $100

But a used ibasso dx90 blows any zishan dsd out of the water, I haven't heard the new dsds, because after getting the peice of crap that is the Zishan gad h1, I diceded to give up on zishan.

For the price of the dsds ak4499 you could get a dx150 used, and nice amp mod for it, then wait a bit and buy the fidalizer app.

I got a chance to here a stock dx150 and it's much better then a stock dual ak4497 that I have heard

Basically, zishans are awesome below $200
But they no longer punch above there weight

 

[alnasique]

I think first we would need to find out who makes zishan and try to get him to unlock the software.
I really liked zishan, I have bought 3 dsd. But there's only so much you can do soundwise through hardware, the rest needs to be done on the software side. So the dsd is awesome for a player around $100

But a used ibasso dx90 blows any zishan dsd out of the water, I haven't heard the new dsds, because after getting the peice of crap that is the Zishan gad h1, I diceded to give up on zishan.

For the price of the dsds ak4499 you could get a dx150 used, and nice amp mod for it, then wait a bit and buy the fidalizer app.

I got a chance to here a stock dx150 and it's much better then a stock dual ak4497 that I have heard

Basically, zishans are awesome below $200
But they no longer punch above there weight

I must admit that.. dx90 is really superior to Zishan even a moded one, it sounds as you say for its price, but I still can’t hear air and wider stereo which dx90 provides. Zishan is too thick , dense, no air, a lot of bass though but still inferior in general. Kinda disappointed, will probably sell it. Unless a miracle happens and it burns in over time, or a magic software appears)

 

[Themilkman46290]

I must admit that.. dx90 is really superior to Zishan even a moded one, it sounds as you say for its price, but I still can’t hear air and wider stereo which dx90 provides. Zishan is too thick , dense, no air, a lot of bass though but still inferior in general. Kinda disappointed, will probably sell it. Unless a miracle happens and it burns in over time, or a magic software appears)

Yeah I know what you mean, I don't mind it's sound, specially for electronic music, but I realized there is no reason to grab it over a good used player.

I do feel it sounds better compared to anything in the budget segment, but I am surprised that there newer dsds cost so much more then the older dsd.
At around $100 bucks it's awesome, but at close to $200 it's not very impressive, I got a dx120 for $250 and its much better.
It's really too bad the Zishan company refuses to unlock the programming (probably has a lot of code borrowed from other companies and doesn't want to get caught) . Honestly I feel it could be better but without the software tweeks, there is no way to improve it further
Then add on top the sub bass roll off, and the fact that the Soundstage is pretty much non existing, and the output impedance being too high.
The ak4495 model was a monster for its $130 price, the ak4490 is also great for its price,
The ak4497 is also just insane for th $90
But at the new dsds is a lot more expensive
And like I said, I tried the dual ak4497, I was expecting better, considering dual ak4497
The dx90 basically wipes the floor with it, not to mention my dx120
But, it is cool if you are learning to diy or enjoy tinkering alot

 

[XTF1]

Yeah I know what you mean, I don't mind it's sound, specially for electronic music, but I realized there is no reason to grab it over a good used player.

I do feel it sounds better compared to anything in the budget segment, but I am surprised that there newer dsds cost so much more then the older dsd.
At around $100 bucks it's awesome, but at close to $200 it's not very impressive, I got a dx120 for $250 and its much better.
It's really too bad the Zishan company refuses to unlock the programming (probably has a lot of code borrowed from other companies and doesn't want to get caught) . Honestly I feel it could be better but without the software tweeks, there is no way to improve it further
Then add on top the sub bass roll off, and the fact that the Soundstage is pretty much non existing, and the output impedance being too high.
The ak4495 model was a monster for its $130 price, the ak4490 is also great for its price,
The ak4497 is also just insane for th $90
But at the new dsds is a lot more expensive
And like I said, I tried the dual ak4497, I was expecting better, considering dual ak4497
The dx90 basically wipes the floor with it, not to mention my dx120
But, it is cool if you are learning to diy or enjoy tinkering alot

Don’t disagree... Though you forgot the dual-CS43198 DSDs at $100, a pretty good value IMO.

 

[Themilkman46290]

Don’t disagree... Though you forgot the dual-CS43198 DSDs at $100, a pretty good value IMO.

Yeah, I am sure you are right, and I am not saying they are bad, but they were great a few years back, these days I would rather a used higher quality player, something with a low output impedance without a sub bass roll off.
Although if you only had a 100 and you didn't want a used player, I guess I would still recommend it.
But if I had only 150 bucks I would probably check out the f.audio, as I have understood, it also has a sub bass roll off but in general it seems to be the better sounding choice, but this is only an opinion as I have not tried there newer gear

 

[SnooDucksAudio]

I just updated to 0.5c my AK4499 Pro Zishan DSDs, I was too lazy to update for a month or so. I noticed, it is a lot more detail, and a lot brighter as well, even on Turbo mode, the heat isn't so bad either. But why is it brighter?