[RlArts]

This thread is meant to be a place where we can share our experiences with the Zishan dsd player. It starts with some useful basic information and thoughts about it. Feel free to participate and enjoy it!

​

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

After being, due to different reasons, a little bit disappointed with some cheap but good ones as the xduoos or the ibasso dx90, and being unable to spend the required cash for the players I liked –Onkyo, AKs, etc- I found myself surfing the aliexpress app in order to find the best sounding player no matter how ugly appeared externally or the user interface, or how unknown it was. The minimum requirements were, at least, to be powerful and to be able to play FLAC files.

I found some good players but they only played wav and/or mp3 files. During my search, I clicked some related links where I found some DIY audio kits. One of this links caught my attention, and when I clicked it I saw the pictures of two separate boards. Nothing exceptional at this point. But when I read the word “player” my interest increased. I thought it could be a kind of DIY player: it could be interesting. It was when I saw more pictures when I realized it was an all-ensemble player. So the first surprise was the "marketing" (if this player has something that can be called like that…): showing the internal circuits as the main picture in the selling web page. I´ve never seen anything like that. “The beauty is inside” could be a good slogan in this case!

​

After some time trying to decode the crappy Chinese translation of the description, I understood that I found what I was looking for. But I was suspicious, due to the cost of all the hardware related at that low price point.
But thinking of the lack of professional marketing here, and probably being made for a very small unknown Chinese company –or maybe just an individual- It could make sense.

My initial requirements were vastly shifter by the specs of this player: Very good price, able to play almost all the hi-res formats by hardware -32bit and Native DSD256...-, precise and neutral sound, as well as customizable. Switchable oamp and DAC function, line-out and coaxial output, etc,etc.

​

I was certainly sure to pull the trigger when I asked for some advice in the "Obscure Chinese DAPs" thread to just confirm that my initial thoughts were right: the player, a priori, was a real deal.

So I clicked the buy button and there started the usually long waiting time. Until I received the magical generic brown carton box from the postal guy with the player wrapped in bubble plastic inside… not a fancy apple-style presentation here …


WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE TO TURN IT ON THE 1ST TIME

- Don´t turn it on with the ear/headphones in your ears. Dial volume has no marks of min/max and you don´t know at what level is set right out of the box. This player is really powerful and can damage your ears and/or equipment if you don´t have this basic initial precaution. Be advised.
- Sometimes you will hear an unpleasant crispy sound, not too ofter but it´s there. Probably some random decoding glitch. To me, this is the major minus point of this player, as well as the lack of gapless support.

​

THE BASIC STAFF

- You could be a bit disappoint with the sound, quite metallic. Don´t panic, it will improve with the time. Start the burning process as soon as possible: it will require several hundreds of hours to get a nicer sound. Think that for the iBasso dx90 is recommended 400 hours, and compare the boards of this and of the Zishan… Just be patient.

- Firmware updates: The player is currently in his 3rd FU. The first thing to know: in order to load songs etc to the micro sd card you´ll need an external card reader (there´s no USB chip onboard to transfer music via USB). To upgrade the firmware follow this simple steps: (1) decompress the two files of the zip file and copy them to the root of the microSD card. (2) Insert the card in the player and long press the central button -3 sec.- (3) –Wait until the screen turns off –no more than 1 min.- (4) Delete from the micro sd card the two files loaded in step 1. (5) In order to change the Chinese language that is loaded by default do the next: Insert the card and long press the central button.Navigate through the menu –long press the left button- until you reach the blue icon with a cogwheel. Press the right button to enter in the submenu. Press the upper button twice and press the right button several times until you find "English", and then press the central button.

- Operation: long press central button to turn on-off the player. Long press the left button to enter in the menu. Long press the right button to fast forward. Long press the central and left button to lock-unlock. Short press the upper button to enter in the quick menu. Short press the down button to enter in the explorer. Short press the central button to pause-play. Short press the right button to next track, and the left button the previous one.

- EQ: copy the 180EQ carpet in the root of the micro sd card. To change the EQ just do it in the same way as you do to change songs. There´re 180 different EQ: you can delete the stuff you don´t like, change the names, etc (all of this out of the player).

Something I find interesting about the EQ files is that if you open then with the text processor i.e., the parametrization was based on Rockbox EQ, which I find one of the best EQ systems. So by modifying these parameters in the text editor you can probably make your own EQ. This is very useful in order to have personalized EQ for your different cans, and probably you can modify the treble zone –notice that all of this 180 eq only modify the first 5th bars of the 10. This is a subject to investigate more, and made me think as well if external Rockbox playlists can be adapted to this player loaded in the same way that the eq.

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- Delete song: navigate through the explorer until you find the sound to delete. Press central button, select DEL and press the central button again. Rockbox users: this feature can´t be done while you are playing the sound you want to delete.

​

- “Turbo” mode: This the usually called high-gain. Deactivate it for sensitive iems.

- DAC function: activate it in order to use it as a DAC. No proprietary ASIO drivers here, just the usual 16bit playback. It works well on android and PC. Not tested on other systems.

​

- Digital filters: it has 5 different digital filters. Notice that when you change the filter the EQ changes to the eq setting you set last time you used that filter.

​

- Improvements: the main improvement you can make by yourself to this player in his stock configuration is to change the oamp, in spite of the stock one is not bad at all. As just an example, I changed it for a muses02 and it was a clear step up (or two) in sound terms. It´s really worth and now I really feel that I´m enjoying a real low-cost true hi-fi sound on the go.


USEFUL LINKS

- Firmware downloads: https://pan.baidu.com/share/link?uk=2586845035&shareid=3186436996&third=0#list/path=%2F
- Taobao seller shop and technical information: https://shop72826291.world.taobao.com/
- Videoreview of the UI:

Hi
My wife has dropped my zishan dsd and since both? 3.5mm and 2.5mm ports not working. Some buzz sound but no music. I opened the player and a small piece came out. Later I checked and found that it's the piece on the left side of memory card slot. As both ports are not working I'm not able to listen music. Player is switching on and other functions are working. I don't have cable to check line out port. Normal cable is not working with line out.
Enclosing pics. Greatly appreciate if anybody could help and guide. TIA

 

[Merlin-PT]

That small part that came loose is the reset button.
You can solder it back, but if you can't solder it, it's not needed, it's a push button that closes the circuit only when pressed/pushed. The player will work without this button exactly the same, the only difference being you can't press it and use it for reset.
So the problem is something else, not that missing button.

The port in the bottom of the player is not a line out, you can't connect headphones there, it's a SPDIF (digital out) port.

Maybe you could post photos of both boards, but they need to be in focus so we could try to see if anything else is broken (pls make sure you have light or use flash).

When the player was dropped it had any headphones connected?

 

[Themilkman46290]

Do you have a multimeter or anything to check for conductivity? I bought one not long ago, makes it easier to check what's wrong, start at the 3.5mm and trace your way back, I had a similar problem a wile back, ended up being the opamps legs somehow got a bit bent and after a fall the right channel whent out

 

[RlArts]

That small part that came loose is the reset button.
You can solder it back, but if you can't solder it, it's not needed, it's a push button that closes the circuit only when pressed/pushed. The player will work without this button exactly the same, the only difference being you can't press it and use it for reset.
So the problem is something else, not that missing button.

The port in the bottom of the player is not a line out, you can't connect headphones there, it's a SPDIF (digital out) port.

Maybe you could post photos of both boards, but they need to be in focus so we could try to see if anything else is broken (pls make sure you have light or use flash).

When the player was dropped it had any headphones connected?

Hi thanks for your reply. Headphone was not connected when the player was dropped.
I assume its reset button. Then where could be the problem? I am enclosing pics of the boards of the player. Please check and help. TIA

 

[RlArts]

Do you have a multimeter or anything to check for conductivity? I bought one not long ago, makes it easier to check what's wrong, start at the 3.5mm and trace your way back, I had a similar problem a wile back, ended up being the opamps legs somehow got a bit bent and after a fall the right channel whent out

Hi thanks for your reply. Where to check? I'm completely new to this kind of thing. But if you guide I will try. TIA

 

[RlArts]

Hi thanks for your reply. Headphone was not connected when the player was dropped.
I assume its reset button. Then where could be the problem? I am enclosing pics of the boards of the player. Please check and help. TIA

Meanwhile can you suggest a cable for line out? Perhaps a link from aliexpress. Iam not which digital cable suits this port. TIA

 

[RlArts]

That small part that came loose is the reset button.
You can solder it back, but if you can't solder it, it's not needed, it's a push button that closes the circuit only when pressed/pushed. The player will work without this button exactly the same, the only difference being you can't press it and use it for reset.
So the problem is something else, not that missing button.

The port in the bottom of the player is not a line out, you can't connect headphones there, it's a SPDIF (digital out) port.

Maybe you could post photos of both boards, but they need to be in focus so we could try to see if anything else is broken (pls make sure you have light or use flash).

When the player was dropped it had any headphones connected?

Meanwhile can you suggest a cable for line out? Perhaps a link from aliexpress. I'm not sure which cable suits this port. TIA

 

[DBaldock9]

If the DSD powers On, and the display & buttons operate - then the "digital" board is working.
.
So, it sounds like there's been a failure on the "analog" board - a fault in either the power supply circuitry, or the DAC chip.

 

[Merlin-PT]

Meanwhile can you suggest a cable for line out? Perhaps a link from aliexpress. Iam not which digital cable suits this port. TIA

I don't know were to but a SPDIF cable for zishan, I made my spdif cable.
Do you have other equipment with SPDIF in where you want to connect the zishan?

I looked at your photos and the quality doesn't allow to see any problem, maybe there is nothing to be seen, I can't tell.
Sometimes there are very small particles of solder (something like 0.1 mm solder balls), this sometimes are leftovers of the solder job.
You should look if any of these are there, maybe there are none, but you should look between the DAC pins or between any component pins for this particles of solder, sometimes they move and make short circuits.
Here some photos, so you can see the size of the solder balls that you are looking for:
https://support.jlcpcb.com/article/77-solder-beading-treatment
https://kicthermal.com/news-events/industry-news/
If that small ball of solder was inside your player, when it fell down, the ball could have moved and made a short circuit anywhere.
Maybe there are none, but it's a good thing to visual look for them making short circuits.

Other thing to look for where both boards connect is for this kind of problem in those connectors:
https://childhoodradio.com/soldering-and-desoldering/

I understand that you previous had tried the player with 2.5mm balanced headphones, but now the same 2.5mm output produces noise?
I have one simple thing to try, you could remove the DIP8 opamp in the socket, that opamp in the socket is only for the 3.5mm output, remove it and see if the 2.5mm output plays. Keep in mind that opamp has a orientation, if you put it back, you must keep the groove and round hole (seen on the opamp top side) pointing the same direction it was before. If you not sure how to do this, then don't remove it and don't make this test.

 

[CopperFox]

Hi, received my DSDs AK4499 version two days ago. Here's a brief mini-review/impressions of it.

I wasn't really sure what to expect as I had no previous experience with the Zishan brand and not much experience with AK dacs either. There are also not many real reviews of portable products with the AK4499 chip that incorporates a large architecture change for the company. Of the Muses02 opamp my only previous experience was from the Fiio A5 portable headphone amp which measures well but sounded too warm and narrow-soundstaged for me so that was slightly worrying too.

The DSDs arrived in a small plain brown cardboard box that only included the DAP and a carrying case. No documentation of any kind was included. The included carrying case will save me some money which is nice. Some basic instruction leaflet would be nice as well. The DAP's default menu language is Chinese.

The DAP's menus include options for changing the dac's digital noise filter, activating/disactivating USB DAC function and sound quality and power consumption (“Turbo mode”) settings. I am not sure what “car mode” or “full speed” options do. There are naturally options for changing brightness and language and such.

The player has a 3.5mm SE headphone jack, 3.5mm line out and 2.5mm balanced out. The 2.5mm balanced out is not suitable for connecting headphones but can be used to connect an external amplifier. I tried all of these outputs with iems and various amplifiers. The internal amplifier has excellent sound quality and in this respect doesn't really pale in comparison with the external amplifiers I tested.

I've been testing the DSDs mostly with the usb dac functionality with my Tri I3 iems. Not only are they favorite iems, but they also scale well with amps and sources. They also do not get harsh at very high volumes and for this reason can reveal distortion from sources quite well.

The overall sound quality is beyond my expectations and is what's most surprising with the DSDs AK4499. The sound is clean and powerful with good soundstage, details and dynamics like one might expect or hope from a high-end desktop DAC chip used at full voltage. I can turn the volume up to ear-tormenting levels with the sound maintaining detail and without hearing disorienting distortions that I would get with some other mobile audio products. There is none of the narrowness that bothered me about the Fiio A5. There is a slight warmth to the sound but not to the point of being detrimental. The USB DAC functionality does have a limit of 16bit/48kHz though.

The other mobile sources that I've used in recent months include Zorloo Ztella MQA, iFi xCAN, Yin Lu Mei M400 and Ibasso DX220 with amp modules 1mk2 and 9. Of these the M400 is the most obvious comparison as it has the same DAC chip. I actually didn't like it's sound quality too much as despite having good dynamics and soundstage its headphone amplifier sounded overly smooth to me to the point of lacking detail/sharpness in mids and treble. That doesn't happen with the DSDs so it is the better sounding product to me. The M400 has better USB DAC functionality though and compatibility with UAPP which the DSDs lacks. The DX220's stock Amp1mk2 I also didn't like but the Amp9 module is really good. It is basically a miniature tube amplifier and I like tubes and I won't make a comparison here.

After Tidal streaming from UAPP didn't work, I did get Tidal streaming from BubbleUPnP to Neutron player renderer to Zishan DSDs to work. This comes at a cost of very high battery drain for the mobile phone though. This might be workable if you don't need to do very long listening sessions this way or have a phone with a huge battery. I'll do a separate post detailing this later after some further tuning/experimenting on it.

Here's a list of some positive and negative aspects of the DSDs AK4499

+Sound quality is outstanding with great dynamics and detail, good soundstage
+Internal SE amplifier is superb
+DAP is small and elegant
+Operating system simple and dedicated
+Plug and play USB DAC functionality with Windows

-USB DAC functionality limited to 16bit/48kHz
-USB DAC functionality apparently not compatible with UAPP
-DAP gets hot when used with best sound quality settings
-Battery life is not excellent when using best sound quality settings
-Only one USB port which means no simultaneous charging and USB DAC use

-Some software quirks/bugs/missing features, such as

*When connected in USB DAC mode, DAC settings can't be changed without disconnecting cable
*When connected in USB DAC mode, battery indicator is shown but does not update without disconnecting cable
*After disconnecting from USB DAC mode, menu graphics often glitch briefly
*After several tries of connecting with UAPP, dap froze for a few minutes but returned to operation
*“Turbo mode” that vastly improves sound and reduces battery life needs to be activated and deactivated manually
*DAP menu language was Chinese by default but figuring out how to change it was still easy


My overall experience with the Zishan DSDs AK4499 so far can be summed up in the following:

Despite not knowing about UAPP incompatibility beforehand and USB DAC streaming being my primary use case, this is the least disappointing mobile audio source that I have purchased on the strength of its excellent sound quality.


Here's a photo of the DSDs getting dwarfed by an S8+.

 

[DBaldock9]

Hi, received my DSDs AK4499 version two days ago. Here's a brief mini-review/impressions of it.

I wasn't really sure what to expect as I had no previous experience with the Zishan brand and not much experience with AK dacs either. There are also not many real reviews of portable products with the AK4499 chip that incorporates a large architecture change for the company. Of the Muses02 opamp my only previous experience was from the Fiio A5 portable headphone amp which measures well but sounded too warm and narrow-soundstaged for me so that was slightly worrying too.

The DSDs arrived in a small plain brown cardboard box that only included the DAP and a carrying case. No documentation of any kind was included. The included carrying case will save me some money which is nice. Some basic instruction leaflet would be nice as well. The DAP's default menu language is Chinese.

The DAP's menus include options for changing the dac's digital noise filter, activating/disactivating USB DAC function and sound quality and power consumption (“Turbo mode”) settings. I am not sure what “car mode” or “full speed” options do. There are naturally options for changing brightness and language and such.

The player has a 3.5mm SE headphone jack, 3.5mm line out and 2.5mm balanced out. The 2.5mm balanced out is not suitable for connecting headphones but can be used to connect an external amplifier. I tried all of these outputs with iems and various amplifiers. The internal amplifier has excellent sound quality and in this respect doesn't really pale in comparison with the external amplifiers I tested.

I've been testing the DSDs mostly with the usb dac functionality with my Tri I3 iems. Not only are they favorite iems, but they also scale well with amps and sources. They also do not get harsh at very high volumes and for this reason can reveal distortion from sources quite well.

The overall sound quality is beyond my expectations and is what's most surprising with the DSDs AK4499. The sound is clean and powerful with good soundstage, details and dynamics like one might expect or hope from a high-end desktop DAC chip used at full voltage. I can turn the volume up to ear-tormenting levels with the sound maintaining detail and without hearing disorienting distortions that I would get with some other mobile audio products. There is none of the narrowness that bothered me about the Fiio A5. There is a slight warmth to the sound but not to the point of being detrimental. The USB DAC functionality does have a limit of 16bit/48kHz though.

The other mobile sources that I've used in recent months include Zorloo Ztella MQA, iFi xCAN, Yin Lu Mei M400 and Ibasso DX220 with amp modules 1mk2 and 9. Of these the M400 is the most obvious comparison as it has the same DAC chip. I actually didn't like it's sound quality too much as despite having good dynamics and soundstage its headphone amplifier sounded overly smooth to me to the point of lacking detail/sharpness in mids and treble. That doesn't happen with the DSDs so it is the better sounding product to me. The M400 has better USB DAC functionality though and compatibility with UAPP which the DSDs lacks. The DX220's stock Amp1mk2 I also didn't like but the Amp9 module is really good. It is basically a miniature tube amplifier and I like tubes and I won't make a comparison here.

After Tidal streaming from UAPP didn't work, I did get Tidal streaming from BubbleUPnP to Neutron player renderer to Zishan DSDs to work. This comes at a cost of very high battery drain for the mobile phone though. This might be workable if you don't need to do very long listening sessions this way or have a phone with a huge battery. I'll do a separate post detailing this later after some further tuning/experimenting on it.

Here's a list of some positive and negative aspects of the DSDs AK4499

+Sound quality is outstanding with great dynamics and detail, good soundstage
+Internal SE amplifier is superb
+DAP is small and elegant
+Operating system simple and dedicated
+Plug and play USB DAC functionality with Windows

-USB DAC functionality limited to 16bit/48kHz
-USB DAC functionality apparently not compatible with UAPP
-DAP gets hot when used with best sound quality settings
-Battery life is not excellent when using best sound quality settings
-Only one USB port which means no simultaneous charging and USB DAC use

-Some software quirks/bugs/missing features, such as

*When connected in USB DAC mode, DAC settings can't be changed without disconnecting cable
*When connected in USB DAC mode, battery indicator is shown but does not update without disconnecting cable
*After disconnecting from USB DAC mode, menu graphics often glitch briefly
*After several tries of connecting with UAPP, dap froze for a few minutes but returned to operation
*“Turbo mode” that vastly improves sound and reduces battery life needs to be activated and deactivated manually
*DAP menu language was Chinese by default but figuring out how to change it was still easy


My overall experience with the Zishan DSDs AK4499 so far can be summed up in the following:

Despite not knowing about UAPP incompatibility beforehand and USB DAC streaming being my primary use case, this is the least disappointing mobile audio source that I have purchased on the strength of its excellent sound quality.


Here's a photo of the DSDs getting dwarfed by an S8+.

For other brand's models, "Car Mode" will turn the device On / Off when the power on the USB cable is switched.
There are USB OTG cables that have a third "leg" which allows a charger to be connected - although I'm not sure whether it's wired to charge both devices, or not.

 

[twopedalwarrior]

Hi All

I've searched this thread and other sites high and low - has anyone yet confirmed if the DSD Pro will work in a DAC mode for an iOS device using the Apple Lightning Camera cable? I am wanting to bite into the Dual AK4497EQ model.

Many thanks

 

[fabien32]

Hi All

I've searched this thread and other sites high and low - has anyone yet confirmed if the DSD Pro will work in a DAC mode for an iOS device using the Apple Lightning Camera cable? I am wanting to bite into the Dual AK4497EQ model.

Many thanks

I'm not sure what are you asking, but I think you're asking if it's possible to use the dsd pro with an iOS device, and as long as you use an OTG cable you can plug it to any device that supports OTG. I don't know if the older iOS device support OTG, but I am pretty sure that all the new one does

 

[twopedalwarrior]

I'm not sure what are you asking, but I think you're asking if it's possible to use the dsd pro with an iOS device, and as long as you use an OTG cable you can plug it to any device that supports OTG. I don't know if the older iOS device support OTG, but I am pretty sure that all the new one does

I'm not sure what are you asking, but I think you're asking if it's possible to use the dsd pro with an iOS device, and as long as you use an OTG cable you can plug it to any device that supports OTG. I don't know if the older iOS device support OTG, but I am pretty sure that all the new one does

Wanted to make sure that the dsd pro would be seen by an iphone as a DAC. I've used other Dacs with the Lighting to USB Camera cable, eg topping d10, and its seen. But I've seen no reference that this particular one supports it. If the OTG protocol is key then I will take a stab

 

[Ghawke]

I have a question about the dsd AK4499, I have a Schiit Magni 3+ Headphone Amplifier and was thinking of linking the dsd AK4499 to it. In the past I have linked my Fiio M11 Pro and Fiio Q5s. However I was thinking of keeping the DSD AK4499 connected to the Magni3+ and use it to run my Beyerdynamic 250 ohm headphone. So, my question is would this be something I can do, that is run the DSD AK4499 line out lined to the Magni 3+. Thanks