[neog007]

   
- When fed with PCM its good, but it really gets stellar playing DSD. I suggest you to try it with this DSD256 recording:
 
   https://referencerecordings.nativedsd.com/albums/FR718SACD-beethoven-symphony-no-5-and-no-7
 
 it literally blows your socks off. Like being beamed into the concert 

totally agree. In this player the difference in sound terms between dsd and FLAC -not mention mp3...- is quite noticeable. same happens with the walnut v2 between FLAC and mp3. It's a pity there's not too much new releases of know artist in dsd, but you can easily find a lot of classic music and the main albums of some masters of today's music -jacko, bowie, d. mode etc-.

 

[macky112]

you can't really compare zishan and xduoo it wouldn't be fair, as it was mentioned before try it better with 4-5x times higher cost players.

Do you mean Zishan is better sounding than xduoo x10?

And are the differences of AK4495S + pot worth the $20 upgrade from the AK4490 model?

Does a physical pot affect sound at all?

Thank you in advance

 

[neog007]

Do you mean Zishan is better sounding than xduoo x10?

And are the differences of AK4495S + pot worth the $20 upgrade from the AK4490 model?

Does a physical pot affect the sound at all?

Thank you in advance

I don´t think the AK4495S is a huge upgrade over the AK4495 to justify a difference 20$ and that a physical pot affect sound if it has no malfunction, but a more than 20$ difference is fully justified by the advantages I mentioned in my last post. I really can´t say the zishan sounds better than the xduoo x10 since I don´t have this last one (I guess they're more or less close), but summarizing all I can say is that, at least, you have the opportunity to make it sound better to your personal preferences. With the x10 you are stuck with that configuration.

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

And are the differences of AK4495S + pot worth the $20 upgrade from the AK4490 model? Does a physical pot affect sound at all?

 
 
Yes it is worth it. These are the actual prices of the DAC chips from Digikey:
 
$5- AK4490EQ
$10- AK4495EQ
$17- AK4495SEQ
$50- AK4497EQ (It's possible they increased the price of this one due to short supply and high demand).
 
The pot does affect the sound, makes it kinda smoother, I actually like the effect of pots on the sound. I  dislike digital volume, I find you lose some dynamics at normal volumes.
 
To everyone else, I found out that in a few months when price of AK4497EQ has come down the D200 maker will use this DAC in D200+! Now that will be a giant killing dap. But D200+ will first release with AK4495SEQ, which is still imo a better DAC than from other companies including Sabre. It's going to be hard waiting for AK4497EQ!

 

[musicday]

And are the differences of AK4495S + pot worth the $20 upgrade from the AK4490 model? Does a physical pot affect sound at all?

Yes it is worth it. These are the actual prices of the DAC chips from Digikey:

$5- AK4490EQ
$10- AK4495EQ
$17- AK4495SEQ
$50- AK4497EQ (It's possible they increased the price of this one due to short supply and high demand).

The pot does affect the sound, makes it kinda smoother, I actually like the effect of pots on the sound. I  dislike digital volume, I find you lose some dynamics at normal volumes.

To everyone else, I found out that in a few months when price of AK4497EQ has come down the D200 maker will use this DAC in D200+! Now that will be a giant killing dap. But D200+ will first release with AK4495SEQ, which is still imo a better DAC than from other companies including Sabre. It's going to be hard waiting for AK4497EQ!

Can't we request the maker to add a AK4497EQ if we pay?

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

Can't we request the maker to add a AK4497EQ if we pay?

 
No, I tried. He says they don't have any stock of AK4497EQ and won't be looking at producing any further units until they are available widely. They only made a couple D200+ units with AK4497EQ to give out to VIP's, no idea how they become VIP's. So Jealous.

 

[musicday]

What's so special about this AK4497 EQ chip compared with the ones inside the DX200?
They can both decode DSD512 natively.

 

[neog007]

$5- AK4490EQ
$10- AK4495EQ
as I said $5 of difference does not justify by itself the 20$ break, but the other specs to consider

 

[T.R.A.N.C.E.]

  $5- AK4490EQ
$10- AK4495EQ
as I said $5 of difference does not justify by itself the 20$ break, but the other specs to consider

 
No, Zishan is using AK4495SEQ, cost is $17. So $12 more than AK4490EQ, then extra cost from volume pot and installation. Maybe should be $15 extra instead of $20. Realistically both are excellent, your not getting $20 better sound by going with the better dac option, law of diminishing returns.
 
Quote:

What's so special about this AK4497 EQ chip compared with the ones inside the DX200?
They can both decode DSD512 natively.

 
The sound. Sabre sound less natural, AKM sound beautiful and natural Imo. AK4497 is a good jump up from AK4495 in terms of spec to match ES9028Pro. Sabre is only famous for their high level spec. Now AKM and Sabre both have class leading spec in dynamic range and distortion.
 
But specs just refer to ultimate engineering level. Creating a superb sounding dac is equal parts engineering and artisanry, AKM have artisanry, Sabre don't. Imo. Sabre just try reach the highest spec they can and call it a day, lacking in Artisanry to craft the sound.
 
Artisanry and engineering are often needed for audio products, for example capacitors, audio capacitors have worse spec than high performance capacitors, but they sound better due to use of unique materials, they are crafted for their sound, not their spec level.

 

[neog007]

   
No, Zishan is using AK4495SEQ, cost is $17. So $12 more than AK4490EQ, then extra cost from volume pot and installation. Maybe should be $15 extra instead of $20. Realistically both are excellent, your not getting $20 better sound by going with the better dac option, law of diminishing returns.

thanks for the explanation. So I misunderstood  macky112' question I guess.

 

[macky112]

I don´t think the AK4495S is a huge upgrade over the AK4495 to justify a difference 20$ and that a physical pot affect sound if it has no malfunction, but a more than 20$ difference is fully justified by the advantages I mentioned in my last post. I really can´t say the zishan sounds better than the xduoo x10 since I don´t have this last one (I guess they're more or less close), but summarizing all I can say is that, at least, you have the opportunity to make it sound better to your personal preferences. With the x10 you are stuck with that configuration.

Looking at the photos of internals of each model on official Zishan taobao store the pub appears to be very very similar. So I would expect the same upgrade/mod options are available to each model, no?

 

[neog007]

Looking at the photos of internals of each model on official Zishan taobao store the pub appears to be very very similar. So I would expect the same upgrade/mod options are available to each model, no?

I may think so but you need to ask the seller to be sure due this upgrade process is made by a different company than zishan maker

 

[macky112]

   
No, Zishan is using AK4495SEQ, cost is $17. So $12 more than AK4490EQ, then extra cost from volume pot and installation. Maybe should be $15 extra instead of $20. Realistically both are excellent, your not getting $20 better sound by going with the better dac option, law of diminishing returns.
 
 

here are the listings from official Zishan store on taobao:
 
AK4495S
https://world.taobao.com/item/528200190230.htm?fromSite=main&spm=a312a.7700824.w4004-15525897174.4.wxTUl5
 
AK4490
https://world.taobao.com/item/541533772614.htm
 
in each posting, they stated the cost of each DAC used, and they stated it is 70RMB (US$9.80) for the AK4495S and 20RMB (US$2.80) for the AK4490, i guess they are able to source AK4495S cheaper than digikey due to quantity?  the AK4495S listing has a picture of all of their AK4495S on hand, lol
 
wow, just noticed that they have 700+ and 950+ units available in stock

 

[musicday]

Is there a way to change the language on world tabaoo android app to English?
I would like to be able to have a proper look around for similar music players like Zishan DSD that cab be used as USB DAC and can play DSD 256 or higher natively.
Thanks.

 

[notamethlab]

Is there a way to change the language on world tabaoo android app to English?
I would like to be able to have a proper look around for similar music players like Zishan DSD that cab be used as USB DAC and can play DSD 256 or higher natively.
Thanks.

The only way I know of browsing in english is through an agent or using chrome which translates the page for you.