anyone have experience with a zero dac

J

jcmuse

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 10, 2006
Messages
329
i just got mine from hongkong. i've got my hd580s (stock) plugged into it and it i have to say it sounds pretty OK but not spectacular. This is going from coax out->denon receiver->hd580s. I'm wondering if this thing should be sounding better as it "breaks in" or can i pretty much expect it to sound like what i'm hearing now.

Don't get my wrong, it sounds excellent, but not that much better than the denon receiver i was using before. I'm pretty newb when it comes to audio.. i just bought this thing on a recommendation. I don't really even understand what is put into it as far as amps/dacs. from what i understand, the one i ordered has 2 OPA627AU's on adapter and 2 LT1364s. Whatever the hell that means.
 
the mids will get a bit better after break in.
the zero is a entry level dac, price and sound wise. the dac in your denon reciever is most likely as good as the zero therefore you didn't notice a difference.
i think the zero is a great budget dac, it could easily outperform onboard sound and cheap soundcards and it features a headphone amp and a preamp function.
but it shure has a hard time to rival totl soundcards or recievers with decent dac's already built in.
 
jcmuse said:
i just got mine from hongkong. i've got my hd580s (stock) plugged into it and it i have to say it sounds pretty OK but not spectacular. This is going from coax out->denon receiver->hd580s. I'm wondering if this thing should be sounding better as it "breaks in" or can i pretty much expect it to sound like what i'm hearing now.

Don't get my wrong, it sounds excellent, but not that much better than the denon receiver i was using before. I'm pretty newb when it comes to audio.. i just bought this thing on a recommendation. I don't really even understand what is put into it as far as amps/dacs. from what i understand, the one i ordered has 2 OPA627AU's on adapter and 2 LT1364s. Whatever the hell that means.
Click to expand...

based on the chips that you described you have the Upgraded version of the Zero. The 627's are in the DAC and the 1364's are in the headphone amp.

There is a 600+ page review on this unit on Head-Fi but the general consensus is that it requires about 140 hours for burn in. The Denon you had may have had a pretty good DAC and Headphone amp in it so the improvements might be marginal over a receiver. Give it a little time and see if it warms to your ears.

I bought mine used so I didnt have to worry about burn in.
 
i love mine. i can lay in bed and drift off to some nirvana unplugged and feel every chord.
 
Give it some time..The zero needs to burn in. The harshness will go away
 
thanks guys. After listening all day yesterday it is already sounding better. I think i may have had my foobar and soundcard/vista sound settings incorrect as well. i love how i can use my onboard soundcard on the ds3l and use the coax out for my denon and the optical out for my zero and have them play simultaneously.

also, with the 627s on adapter, are there supposed to be one of these or two:
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh144/biglawhk/OPA627AU.jpg

because i only see one.
 
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