[ineedmorebase]

Quote:

Bass isn't my issue with LP2s, I'm more annoyed by the uneven midrange and rolled-off highs. I want very forward as well as even midrange and highs to be neutral (not boosted nor recessed) to go with strong bass response. But yea I'd say when paired with ZO2 I don't need as strong bass response as the LP2 offers out of box, I think the optimal would be about 10~12dB if LP2s seems to have a rather even 15dB boost in bass.

btw, how would u compare its bass to the xb500s?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Isint foward=smaller soundstage? Curious because i like it for music, just dont find it great for gaming...but it does seem the 990 pros have it all with the e10 and Zo...unless you can tell me one thing they wont have..?

I can imagine forward midrange is the only thing it can't be described as BUT when paired with ZO2 it would still have "forward"-sounding midrange compared to many headphones without using ZO2 as SmartVektor tech has this kind of attribute to it.
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Isint foward=smaller soundstage? Curious because i like it for music, just dont find it great for gaming...but it does seem the 990 pros have it all with the e10 and Zo...unless you can tell me one thing they wont have..?

 
Yea usually forward sound = smaller soundstage but it varies on the design of the cup / pads / how the space looks like between the ear and driver etc and it's not like ALL forward sounding have equally small soundstage. I also like forward / "in-your-face" sound for music but too much of it for gaming is detrimental as it becomes too "messy" especially in FPS games with lots of action going on at the same time. Ideally I'd want a forward sounding headphone but with large soundstage with very good imaging/position which seems hard to find.

I can imagine forward midrange as well as superb bass extension is the only thing it can't be described as BUT when paired with ZO2 it would still have "forward"-sounding midrange compared to many headphones without using ZO2 as SmartVektor tech has this kind of attribute to it. Then you could also boost it if necessary on a EQ a little.
 
For gaming it seems V-shaped sound signature headphones is great because when the mids are pushed back a little and most sound effects are in the midrange benefits from being not too forward to avoid this "in-your-face" sound when it becomes more difficult to separate sounds so I'm actually quite interested how ZO2 sounds like with a headphone like DT990 Pro.
 

btw, how would u compare its bass to the xb500s?

Compare to which one?

 

[EJP31687]

Hey all,
 
I've been reading these forums for a couple of weeks now, and decided it was finally time to join! First off, thanks to all that contribute on here, so people like me can make somewhat educated purchases.
 
Well, I bought my first pair of decent headphones last week (M50's).. I know some will roll their eyes, but I liked the idea of being able to play most any genre and have it sound half-way decent. So far, I've been really pleased with the SQ, but I need more bass. The mids are also a bit recessed it seems, but I will get to that in a minute. The iTunes equalizer doesn't get it done for me.
 
My question is.... is the M50 a decent candidate for the ZO2? I ordered one today, and I don't know how long it will be until it ships, but it sounds like it may do the trick for what I want. I do like the sound signature of the headphone, but there are definitely some aspects I'd like to 'tweak'.  If the ZO2 can increase the soundstage, help to improve the mids a bit, and give me increased bass without a loss of clarity of the mids and highs, I will be thrilled. The idea of accurate, increased bass without having to turn up my phones and damaging my hearing sounds appealing as well. I know some headphones lend themselves better to this amp than others, and I was wondering how the sound signature of the M50 stacks up in regards to potential compatibility with this device. Sorry for the newb question, but I'm just getting the hang of this stuff.
 
Thanks!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Hi, welcome to Head-Fi!
 
Your question isn't a newb question and it's a very good one. I think ZO2 will be a good fit for you, I had the exact same issues with M50 when I first tried those, before this ZO amp even existed. Now with ZO I might even like those headphones.
 
- It should definitely be able to boost the bass noticably with barely/no impact on the rest of the range
- It might even improve mids somewhat as it brings the whole range a bit more "forward"-sounding but that doesn't mean it'll start sounding even brighter, no it'll just sound a little more balanced but it won't be a night & day difference
- It should somewhat enhance the soundstage/positioning especially at the lower contour levels, brings sounds that are meant to come from further back further away for a little wider sounding stage, again not a big difference
 
but I haven't heard ZO2 rev3 yet so can't ofc promise 100% it'll be the same here, might be better or worse.
 

 

[kenman345]

According to Cindy and the USPS tracking number, my ZO2.3 should be arriving to my home today. I usually arrive home around a half hour after the mail, and since I do not know how many others got faster shipping, I will try to get some play time in with it and post about it using your post as a reference to how the previous versions worked. Obviously this would be an account of pre-burn in ZO2. but I'll see what I can  do.
 
I own a pair of Denon AH-D2000's and a pair of Sennheiser 428's. I find the Senn's to lack a lot of bass unless powered by an amp, so I am excited to see what happens. The D2000's will hopefully force a constant smile while I use them with the ZO2. I'm very excited. Hopefully USPS isn't lying
Quote:

Hi, welcome to Head-Fi!
 
Your question isn't a newb question and it's a very good one. I think ZO2 will be a good fit for you, I had the exact same issues with M50 when I first tried those, before this ZO amp even existed. Now with ZO I might even like those headphones.
 
- It should definitely be able to boost the bass noticably with barely/no impact on the rest of the range
- It might even improve mids somewhat as it brings the whole range a bit more "forward"-sounding but that doesn't mean it'll start sounding even brighter, no it'll just sound a little more balanced but it won't be a night & day difference
- It should somewhat enhance the soundstage/positioning especially at the lower contour levels, brings sounds that are meant to come from further back further away for a little wider sounding stage, again not a big difference
 
but I haven't heard ZO2 rev3 yet so can't ofc promise 100% it'll be the same here, might be better or worse.
 

 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well yea at least the ZO2 v1 required some burn in, at least 20 hrs before starting to sound great, the difference was so huge between the first listen and later on I would have thought it was a different product almost. I didn't even think burn-in was something that amps was needing until I heard ZO2 v1 and compared to the ZO1 which had like 1000hrs+ on it as well as how it has changed now afterwards from initially sounding worse than ZO1 to sounding slightly better (at least with the HTF600 headphones).
 
Before burn-in it:
 
- had quite overhelming bass response even at the lowest level, lacked tightness
- lacked transparency (separation of different istruments)
- Soundstage was somewhat cramped 

 

[kenman345]

Noted
Quote:

Well yea at least the ZO2 v1 required some burn in, at least 20 hrs before starting to sound great, the difference was so huge between the first listen and later on I would have thought it was a different product almost. I didn't even think burn-in was something that amps was needing until I heard ZO2 v1 and compared to the ZO1 which had like 1000hrs+ on it as well as how it has changed now afterwards from initially sounding worse than ZO1 to sounding slightly better (at least with the HTF600 headphones).
 
Before burn-in it:
 
- had quite overhelming bass response even at the lowest level
- lacked transparency (separation of different istruments)
- Soundstage was somewhat cramped 

I plan to give it a quick listen then finish up with my studying while letting it burn in. Does burn in work even if I dont plug in headphones but send it a signal?
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Noted

I plan to give it a quick listen then finish up with my studying while letting it burn in. Does burn in work even if I dont plug in headphones but send it a signal?
 

Not sure about this, I don't see why it wouldn't work as the only thing should matter is that there is a signal going through the amp but I've always had a headphone plugged in just in case and just put it in a drawer (I usually only burn-in at night and listen during the day myself to it even if it's not burnt-in) at a volume level that is just slightly higher than I'd normally use when listening.
 

 

[i_djoel2000]

you should plug some headphones, otherwise the signal won't flow..
 
for burn-in purpose ONLY, set the volume to minimum (as long as you can hear sound from the headphones) is better, since the battery now will last longer in one charge

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I put the volume on ZO to max level and adjusted source volume (of course using headphone jack in this case and not in a line-out setup). Don't know if it's any difference in the signal being processed through the ZO but I believe the stronger signal/volume the faster/more of an effect it has, at least I experienced this with headphones. But yea I don't know at what point in the chain the volume gets regulated in ZO as I don't know how it's built, so could possibly make no difference whatsoever how the volume is set when burning it in but at least for me it seemed to work wonders when ZO was maxed and I controlled source volume so it was outputting just slightly higher volume than I normally use.
 
If connecting it to the headphone jack I also think (and a few others have mentioned it as well) that at least ZO2 v1 sounded best when the volume on it was maxed and the volume control on ZO should only be used if you're using it with a line-out device and control the volume on the source instead. Also this will result in less distortion/cleaner output (less close to the clipping point) when raising the contour levels as you have to set the windows volume lower, the higher the windows volume is set the easier it'll distort as you raise the contour/bass levels on ZO. By default ZO is set somewhere in the middle as far as volume level goes and also drops back there if the battery goes completely empty too.

 

[kenman345]

Seeing as I have to study and hearing the music will get me distracted, Would I still get flow of signal if I plug in a 3.5mm male plug that has no cord attached? 
Quote:

you should plug some headphones, otherwise the signal won't flow..
 
for burn-in purpose ONLY, set the volume to minimum (as long as you can hear sound from the headphones) is better, since the battery now will last longer in one charge

EDIT: USPS tracking just got updated to reflect that my ZO2 shipment has arrived at the processing plant in my area. So I should definitely be receiving my ZO2 sometime today.

 

[ineedmorebase]

Rpg wiz, i meant the xb500's bass to the other basshead phones you had xD

 

[FSTOP]

@kenman345  (i don't actually own the ZO yet myself but am just answering your question from an electronics b/g)--you need to have the phones actually pulling/using the signal from the amp. otherwise its kinda like batteries in a flashlight, the amperage is not being transferred thru the circuitry unless something (the bulb) is USING the power the device is delivering.
 
i understand what you are saying though i generally will stuff my headphones/device under a couch seat or pillow in another room and cover with a blanket or something to try to muffle the sound. i dont think full volume is necessary either as long as power is flowing from the amp circuit to the headphones. i usually leave my devices running overnight for a couple of nights, when i can generally hear a definite improvement. Some things, particulary raw speaker drivers (i build my own speaker systems from scratch) generally sound better after many hours of use... hope that helps!

 

[kenman345]

So before burn in with my ZO2.3 which I just got a few minutes ago and tested out with a few familiar songs.
-The bass seems a bit underwhelmed, in the transparent sense. the changes between the different contour levels were not huge, and going from lowest to highest was quite a gradual change but noticeable
- When on the max contour, it definitely sounds different than the mid range contours, when the bass gets to a certain point it seems to start compromising the mids a bit instead of bringing those levels up a bit with the bass section. 
-What i can say is using a line out from a 7th gen iPod and Denon D2000's that at the lowest contour level and lowest volume, it sounds like an iPod unamped from the headphone jack at a little more than a 1/3rd the volume level from the iPod. in fact, testing to figure out about what level from my iPod and what level on the ZO2 are similar, their is a noticeable quality difference, quite noticeable. Having the iPod set on EQ off, the songs sounded like i could hear everything but i didnt really feel the music, like with the ZO2 even on its lowest setting made the music much more enjoyable. 
 
I know it's not that descriptive, dont know all the terms or how best to describe it, but if you guys wanna ask any specific questions while you wait for the new revision to get to you i am happy to do so to the best of my ability. 
Quote:

Well yea at least the ZO2 v1 required some burn in, at least 20 hrs before starting to sound great, the difference was so huge between the first listen and later on I would have thought it was a different product almost. I didn't even think burn-in was something that amps was needing until I heard ZO2 v1 and compared to the ZO1 which had like 1000hrs+ on it as well as how it has changed now afterwards from initially sounding worse than ZO1 to sounding slightly better (at least with the HTF600 headphones).
 
Before burn-in it:
 
- had quite overhelming bass response even at the lowest level, lacked tightness
- lacked transparency (separation of different istruments)
- Soundstage was somewhat cramped