[davvy]

I have just managed to get hold of a used Zhaolu DAC (a Chinese-made DAC that has been receiving some good press around here lately) for a great price ($180 New Zealand, which is around $120 US). So I thought I'd do a comparison with my existing source, the EMU 1212m which I have had for over a year.

A few details before I get into what I heard: the Zhaolu is the older 1.1 model which has been factory upgraded to the 1.3. All the files that I used to compare were FLAC ripped with EAC. I compared the analogue out of the EMU to the coaxial digital out of the EMU connected to the Zhaolu. I used the same moderately priced interconnects for both systems. Both systems were tested with my speaker set-up (Acurus preamp and amp --> Infinity alpha 50 speakers) and my headphone set-up (PPA --> Sennheiser HD650)

I was able to get the set-up so that I could flip backwards and forwards between the two sources repeatedly by just pressing one switch (the EMU can output digital and analogue at the same time) so it was relatively easy to make comparisons. What I heard was quite surprising (to me at least). In summary, both sources sound great and the differences between them are extremely subtle. I listened for around an hour, to a variety of different styles of music. I can't honestly say that I can put my finger on any significant difference in bass, midrange or treble, clarity, detail or soundstage. Several times I thought one or other source sounded slightly warmer than the other, but it turned out to be subtle differences in volume. Certainly the differences between the sources were smaller to me than the difference caused my altering the volume of the EMU's analogue out by 1dB. I think that there is probably an extremely subtle difference - they can't possibly sound exactly identical, as they use quite different components - but to be able to be definite about it I would need some sort of exact method of matching the volume.

I also tested the digital out of my iRiver iHP140 (optical) and compared it to the EMU's digital out (coax). Again I couldn't really hear any difference although it was hard to match the volume. The digital out of my Audigy 2, however, was absolute rubbish, very muddy compared to either the iRiver or the EMU. And interestingly, upsampling to 48kHz seemed to make little difference - it still sounded terrible.

So there it is. The Zhaolu sounds great and seems like great value - especially at the price I paid. But the difference between the Zhaolu and the EMU is very small and certainly not important to me - there is no way I could tell them apart in a blind test. Maybe I just have poor hearing or something. Although I can easily tell the difference between most other sources I have compared (Audigy 2<<Revo<<EMU 1212m).

 

[uzziah]

very interesting. how long did you listen before you switched? if you switch back and forth quickly, your ears may not be able to tell the difference. try listening to one for an extended period of time (say 3 songs or more), than wait a minute, then listen to the other for a period of time. thanks for the review. i assume your dac is the base version?

 

[davvy]

Thanks for replying to my thread after so long. I had actually forgotten about it.

As far as I can remember, I mainly listened for short periods, flicking between the 2 sources every 5 - 30 seconds. I did definitely listen to a whole track a couple of times, but didn't listen for an extended period as you suggested. I have used similar methods to compare sources before and had no trouble spotting differences though.

Currently I am relocating to the UK and my stuff is all packed up, but I may try repeating the test once I get set up again, just to make sure I wasn't having a bad day or something. I would also like to get hold of a more expensive DAC and see if I notice any improvement - maybe the level of fidelity of the EMU or Zhaolu is all I need (would certainly save me some money if it is).

By the way, my Zhaolu is actually a 1.1 version that has been (factory) upgraded to 1.3

 

[uzziah]

i'm going to mod my emu0404, and get the the zhaolu pretty soon. then i'll do some comparisons as well. also compare the 0404 to the av710 as transport for the zhaolu

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davvy I have just managed to get hold of a used Zhaolu DAC (a Chinese-made DAC that has been receiving some good press around here lately) for a great price ($180 New Zealand, which is around $120 US). So I thought I'd do a comparison with my existing source, the EMU 1212m which I have had for over a year. A few details before I get into what I heard: the Zhaolu is the older 1.1 model which has been factory upgraded to the 1.3. All the files that I used to compare were FLAC ripped with EAC. I compared the analogue out of the EMU to the coaxial digital out of the EMU connected to the Zhaolu. I used the same moderately priced interconnects for both systems. Both systems were tested with my speaker set-up (Acurus preamp and amp --> Infinity alpha 50 speakers) and my headphone set-up (PPA --> Sennheiser HD650) I was able to get the set-up so that I could flip backwards and forwards between the two sources repeatedly by just pressing one switch (the EMU can output digital and analogue at the same time) so it was relatively easy to make comparisons. What I heard was quite surprising (to me at least). In summary, both sources sound great and the differences between them are extremely subtle. I listened for around an hour, to a variety of different styles of music. I can't honestly say that I can put my finger on any significant difference in bass, midrange or treble, clarity, detail or soundstage. Several times I thought one or other source sounded slightly warmer than the other, but it turned out to be subtle differences in volume. Certainly the differences between the sources were smaller to me than the difference caused my altering the volume of the EMU's analogue out by 1dB. I think that there is probably an extremely subtle difference - they can't possibly sound exactly identical, as they use quite different components - but to be able to be definite about it I would need some sort of exact method of matching the volume. I also tested the digital out of my iRiver iHP140 (optical) and compared it to the EMU's digital out (coax). Again I couldn't really hear any difference although it was hard to match the volume. The digital out of my Audigy 2, however, was absolute rubbish, very muddy compared to either the iRiver or the EMU. And interestingly, upsampling to 48kHz seemed to make little difference - it still sounded terrible. So there it is. The Zhaolu sounds great and seems like great value - especially at the price I paid. But the difference between the Zhaolu and the EMU is very small and certainly not important to me - there is no way I could tell them apart in a blind test. Maybe I just have poor hearing or something. Although I can easily tell the difference between most other sources I have compared (Audigy 2<<Revo<<EMU 1212m).

Thanks , that's a quite interesting opinion

 

[TigzStudio]

emu as transport --> Zhalou 1.3 (fully modded, clock, power supply, dy2000), vs. emu1212

I bet the difference would be HUGE.

 

[uzziah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TigzStudio emu as transport --> Zhalou 1.3 (fully modded, clock, power supply, dy2000), vs. emu1212 I bet the difference would be HUGE.

course then your price diff would be huge. right now the main thing that really interests me about the zhaolu is the low price of the apparently very compentant upgraded amp. then again, i would have a hard time with integrated components.....

 

[ssingh0]

I have to disagree somewhat about the difference

I just got an zhaolu. I've got it hooked up via the optical cable that came with it. I bought from ifiaudio, I don't know how good of a cable it is, but i assume it's ok (at best), since it came for free, and anyway, many have said coax is better.

It's not even burnt in yet.

I think you have to use some complex music to hear the difference, but it's very noticeable. I tried some simple music, and there wasn't much apparent difference vs the emu 1212m.

However, I tried some piano concertos. I believe these are very hard to reproduce right, because you have the piano, which is hard by itself, and then on top of that you have the orchestra. Then the piano has to be distinguished from the orchestra.

The emu is much more muddy. I also think emu has more "digititis" (forget who coined that term, but do a search). Dynamics are also much more accurate, on piano it was noticeable, also on a buena vista social club track, one of the two singers vocal inflexions were reproduced so it sounded more accurate and live.

Instrument separation seems more coherent. Not a whole lot, but subtlely (maybe placebo)

MOST significantly, there is a huge difference for low volume level playback. Even simple stuff became muddy, thin, dull, incoherent. It sounded bad. With zhaolu, sounds more tolerable

On this piano solo I can hear the guy breathing now, that I swear I never heard on the emu.

Anyway those are initial impressions and I'm sure it'll get better after burn-in

BTW I'm using it with an mpx3 slam, so maybe the amp brings out the differences so they're easily apparent.

 

[JahJahBinks]

oh man, digi-titis.

 

[Asmo]

><

 

[ssingh0]

I'm not doing A/b comparisons. I've had the emu 1212m for a while, and the emu 0404 for even longer. Probably like 4 years total. I'm very, very familiar with some albums tracks, etc. that I have heard many, many times.

I just plugged in the zhalou to the emu. So I am listening to the zhaolu. I am listening to the music I'm very familiar with. Stuff sounds noticeably different. That is what I am comparing.

 

[wang228]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asmo I'm a lil confused here, you are using the E-MU via optical, then you are bypassing the E-MU DAC chip, what are you plugging the EMU into? If your using the optical cable from the E-MU, you arn't comparing the E-MU, your are comparing whatever its plugged into.

i think he's comparing zhaolu and EMU.

 

[Asmo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssingh0 I'm not doing A/b comparisons. I've had the emu 1212m for a while, and the emu 0404 for even longer. Probably like 4 years total. I'm very, very familiar with some albums tracks, etc. that I have heard many, many times. I just plugged in the zhalou to the emu. So I am listening to the zhaolu. I am listening to the music I'm very familiar with. Stuff sounds noticeably different. That is what I am comparing.

Gotcha, but you said in your post that you "just got a emu" assuming this is first out of the box hook up via optical, i was just clarifying.

 

[Epicurean]

I have an e-mu 0404 and a Zhaolu 2.0 with cs4398 and the blackgate upgrade. To me, the Zhaolu has better detail, is clearer and airier and has a much bigger soundstage. The difference between them is quite big. I also had the ad1852 stock for a day and I thought it was a little darker(heavier bottom) and a little smaller soundstage than my cs.