Zhaolu D3 pictures
Sure, here you go. I didn't take the transformer screen off as there are transistors screwed to it which makes it a bit of a fiddle. Not sure if it's all that clever from an RFI point of view, but there may be some mitigating factors, or it may not be an issue at all (after all, it's not like they're electrically connected).
Also, note that this little case has getting on for 30 screws on the outside (many on th underneath, not shown), and 20-odd visible inside: I reckon Zhaolu have shares in a screw factory! It's certainly not going to come apart in a hurry.
Sure, here you go. I didn't take the transformer screen off as there are transistors screwed to it which makes it a bit of a fiddle. Not sure if it's all that clever from an RFI point of view, but there may be some mitigating factors, or it may not be an issue at all (after all, it's not like they're electrically connected).
Also, note that this little case has getting on for 30 screws on the outside (many on th underneath, not shown), and 20-odd visible inside: I reckon Zhaolu have shares in a screw factory! It's certainly not going to come apart in a hurry.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Forgot to mention cost of D3
185 US dollars, or since I'm a brit, about 95 quid. Which is just a crazy bargain in my view, and shows up the USD100/metre interconnect business for the scam it really is. FWIW I've hooked it up with a nice 1m pair of RCAs, 50 pair silver coated copper in the centre, braided silver shield, and very rugged gold plated plugs: total cost 4 pounds (8 US dollars).
185 US dollars, or since I'm a brit, about 95 quid. Which is just a crazy bargain in my view, and shows up the USD100/metre interconnect business for the scam it really is. FWIW I've hooked it up with a nice 1m pair of RCAs, 50 pair silver coated copper in the centre, braided silver shield, and very rugged gold plated plugs: total cost 4 pounds (8 US dollars).
No output caps !
Already beginning to look interesting.
I 'expect' it to sound better than the v2.5 because it looks like they have been listening to the buyers of the v2.5 dac.
So 4562's would be an automatic upgrade ?
We need some close up pics of the board so that we can see and read details.
What is the DAC chip and what is the stock opamp ?
Cheers.
Already beginning to look interesting.
I 'expect' it to sound better than the v2.5 because it looks like they have been listening to the buyers of the v2.5 dac.
So 4562's would be an automatic upgrade ?
We need some close up pics of the board so that we can see and read details.
What is the DAC chip and what is the stock opamp ?
Cheers.
Form an orderly queue
I'll open it up again on monday and try to remember the proper camera so I can take some macro pics. Post any questions you have in the forum and I'll do my best. For anything more technical than 'what make is the big capacitor at front left' please also let me know _how_ to answer the question! The stock op-amp question will also have to wait until Monday as the old op-amps are also in the office.
I'll open it up again on monday and try to remember the proper camera so I can take some macro pics. Post any questions you have in the forum and I'll do my best. For anything more technical than 'what make is the big capacitor at front left' please also let me know _how_ to answer the question! The stock op-amp question will also have to wait until Monday as the old op-amps are also in the office.
The DAC 3.0 seems not yet to have appeared on Diykits webpage. I assume it is because it is very new.
It does, however, appear in the DAC list at Buyoyo
http://www.buyoyo.com/cgi-bin/ncomm...13281&cgmenbr=152&style=1&LANGUAGE=1&curr=USD
and the price there is US$193 (or 150 EUR). That is, Diykit seems slightly cheaper, if the price Mattclark04 got will stay as the list price on the web.
At Buyoyo, all models of DAC 2.5 are sold out, and possibly discontinued, except the 110 V version with AD1852. However, according to Diykit the mains voltage is switchable inside on this DAC. Could there actually be different versions of the DAC in this respect, or should we assume that 110 V and 220 V versions are actually identical, and only differ in the preset voltage at Buyoyo?
It does, however, appear in the DAC list at Buyoyo
http://www.buyoyo.com/cgi-bin/ncomm...13281&cgmenbr=152&style=1&LANGUAGE=1&curr=USD
and the price there is US$193 (or 150 EUR). That is, Diykit seems slightly cheaper, if the price Mattclark04 got will stay as the list price on the web.
At Buyoyo, all models of DAC 2.5 are sold out, and possibly discontinued, except the 110 V version with AD1852. However, according to Diykit the mains voltage is switchable inside on this DAC. Could there actually be different versions of the DAC in this respect, or should we assume that 110 V and 220 V versions are actually identical, and only differ in the preset voltage at Buyoyo?
FYI, http://www.diykits.com.hk/ is now listing DAC 3.0 under New Products, with offers of free upgrades.
Maybe it was mentioned before and I missed it, but it seems that at least some, presumably critical, op amps are now singles instead of duals (judging by the upgrade offer), which may allow for a larger choice of replacements.
BTW, I just realized that at least the previous model of the DAC uses an op amp named DY2000, and Diykits list both DY2000 and a YD2100 in the op amp list. What are these creatures? I cannot find any info on the net about them, so I wonder if they might be chinese op amps? On the other hand, they are the same price as AD627!
Maybe it was mentioned before and I missed it, but it seems that at least some, presumably critical, op amps are now singles instead of duals (judging by the upgrade offer), which may allow for a larger choice of replacements.
BTW, I just realized that at least the previous model of the DAC uses an op amp named DY2000, and Diykits list both DY2000 and a YD2100 in the op amp list. What are these creatures? I cannot find any info on the net about them, so I wonder if they might be chinese op amps? On the other hand, they are the same price as AD627!
Zhaolu is amazing!
My LT1057 and output cap bypassed Zhaolu DAC2.5 arrived in the mail today. I run the following:
Theta Data III transport
Theta Gen Va DAC
AD815 based pre with LDR's for s volume pot (ala lightspeed)
Greg Ball's GB150's
Royd doublet speakers
Anti-cable IC's and speaker cables
WITHOUT any break-in or warmup I evaluated the DAC2.5 vs the Gen Va.
No, it's not an equal. The Gen Va has better transparency, tighter bass, a broader and deeper soundstage. This from a DAC using a true balanced design (although I listened to its single-ended outputs which sum the balanced) employing PCM63K's and a discrete class A output stage.
BUT
The DAC2.5 sounds very good and is not dramatically outclassed. The bass is noticeably looser/warmer than in the Gen Va, but highs are well resolved, and mids are well produced. Soundstage is also smaller with the DAC2.5. My version uses the CS dac chip.
I'm surprised and impressed. A couple of easy mods to the DAC2.5 should bring it much much closer and in my estimate, if the Gen Va is 100%, the DAC2,5 easily scores 85-90% in stock form, which is very impressive!
No doubt the use of something like a ZAPfilter may very well bring the US$200 DAC2.5 within a few % points of the US$3500 (1998 price) Gen Va.
A real diyers and budget concious highend hifi'ers gem!
The most obvious mods to try include:
New and seperate power supply for the analog stage
Maybe a seperate supply for analog part of the DAC
Use of LM4356 opamps
A discrete analog stage
A new spdif input stage ala Jocko Homo
My LT1057 and output cap bypassed Zhaolu DAC2.5 arrived in the mail today. I run the following:
Theta Data III transport
Theta Gen Va DAC
AD815 based pre with LDR's for s volume pot (ala lightspeed)
Greg Ball's GB150's
Royd doublet speakers
Anti-cable IC's and speaker cables
WITHOUT any break-in or warmup I evaluated the DAC2.5 vs the Gen Va.
No, it's not an equal. The Gen Va has better transparency, tighter bass, a broader and deeper soundstage. This from a DAC using a true balanced design (although I listened to its single-ended outputs which sum the balanced) employing PCM63K's and a discrete class A output stage.
BUT
The DAC2.5 sounds very good and is not dramatically outclassed. The bass is noticeably looser/warmer than in the Gen Va, but highs are well resolved, and mids are well produced. Soundstage is also smaller with the DAC2.5. My version uses the CS dac chip.
I'm surprised and impressed. A couple of easy mods to the DAC2.5 should bring it much much closer and in my estimate, if the Gen Va is 100%, the DAC2,5 easily scores 85-90% in stock form, which is very impressive!
No doubt the use of something like a ZAPfilter may very well bring the US$200 DAC2.5 within a few % points of the US$3500 (1998 price) Gen Va.
A real diyers and budget concious highend hifi'ers gem!
The most obvious mods to try include:
New and seperate power supply for the analog stage
Maybe a seperate supply for analog part of the DAC
Use of LM4356 opamps
A discrete analog stage
A new spdif input stage ala Jocko Homo
Re: Zhaolu is amazing!
A couple quick, easy and very inexpensive mods are to replace the two opamps in the analog output board and the one in the power supply with LM4562. I tried OPA2107 and LM4562 and it was no contest in favor of the LM4562's. Also, the blocking caps *MUST* be shorted out for best sound. It makes a big difference. Much better clarity and more open sounding.
I agree that it's a great DAC for little money. Even with the mods I mentioned, it's still not the ultimate in top end air when compared to the best. The mids are very, very good but not holographic sounding. It is exceptional for the money it costs however.
I also have the CS4398 version. I think my next move is a Zapfilter. There is an extensive mod thread at Head-Fi and based on reading that, the Zapfilter takes it to a much higher level of sound quality.
Jim
Dr.H said:My LT1057 and output cap bypassed Zhaolu DAC2.5 arrived in the mail today. I run the following:
Theta Data III transport
Theta Gen Va DAC
AD815 based pre with LDR's for s volume pot (ala lightspeed)
Greg Ball's GB150's
Royd doublet speakers
Anti-cable IC's and speaker cables
WITHOUT any break-in or warmup I evaluated the DAC2.5 vs the Gen Va.
No, it's not an equal. The Gen Va has better transparency, tighter bass, a broader and deeper soundstage. This from a DAC using a true balanced design (although I listened to its single-ended outputs which sum the balanced) employing PCM63K's and a discrete class A output stage.
BUT
The DAC2.5 sounds very good and is not dramatically outclassed. The bass is noticeably looser/warmer than in the Gen Va, but highs are well resolved, and mids are well produced. Soundstage is also smaller with the DAC2.5. My version uses the CS dac chip.
I'm surprised and impressed. A couple of easy mods to the DAC2.5 should bring it much much closer and in my estimate, if the Gen Va is 100%, the DAC2,5 easily scores 85-90% in stock form, which is very impressive!
No doubt the use of something like a ZAPfilter may very well bring the US$200 DAC2.5 within a few % points of the US$3500 (1998 price) Gen Va.
A real diyers and budget concious highend hifi'ers gem!
The most obvious mods to try include:
New and seperate power supply for the analog stage
Maybe a seperate supply for analog part of the DAC
Use of LM4356 opamps
A discrete analog stage
A new spdif input stage ala Jocko Homo
A couple quick, easy and very inexpensive mods are to replace the two opamps in the analog output board and the one in the power supply with LM4562. I tried OPA2107 and LM4562 and it was no contest in favor of the LM4562's. Also, the blocking caps *MUST* be shorted out for best sound. It makes a big difference. Much better clarity and more open sounding.
I agree that it's a great DAC for little money. Even with the mods I mentioned, it's still not the ultimate in top end air when compared to the best. The mids are very, very good but not holographic sounding. It is exceptional for the money it costs however.
I also have the CS4398 version. I think my next move is a Zapfilter. There is an extensive mod thread at Head-Fi and based on reading that, the Zapfilter takes it to a much higher level of sound quality.
Jim
Hi Jim,
I would strongly recommend, before shelling out on a ZAPfilter, to simply install a 200-300VA toroidal transformer with diodes and caps to feed the analog stage its +-15V. In fact, I would also, subject to the data sheet, run the LM's at +-18V and bias into class A.
I've tried on this on other intergrated CD players and it always made a world of a difference, notably much better bass definition and depth, bigger soundstage and cleaner highs!
I would strongly recommend, before shelling out on a ZAPfilter, to simply install a 200-300VA toroidal transformer with diodes and caps to feed the analog stage its +-15V. In fact, I would also, subject to the data sheet, run the LM's at +-18V and bias into class A.
I've tried on this on other intergrated CD players and it always made a world of a difference, notably much better bass definition and depth, bigger soundstage and cleaner highs!
Re: Zhaolu is amazing!
It won't. It's fundamentally limited by:
- a cheap Dac with voltage output
- zero attention to jitter
I was also impressed by my AD1852 based DAC2.5. To the extent of building an 1852 dac from scratch. Initially thought of building a Zapfilter (may still do it) but then realised that the Aleph 1.7 with it's differential inputs is a great output stage and preamp all in one.
It is now easily 20% better than the original Zhaolu but how good can it be if it relies on the 8416 to fight jitter? And that naughty opamp inside is still doing iv.
The soundstage, resolution and dynamics are much improved but the bass is still mediocre.
Dr.H said:
It won't. It's fundamentally limited by:
- a cheap Dac with voltage output
- zero attention to jitter
I was also impressed by my AD1852 based DAC2.5. To the extent of building an 1852 dac from scratch. Initially thought of building a Zapfilter (may still do it) but then realised that the Aleph 1.7 with it's differential inputs is a great output stage and preamp all in one.
It is now easily 20% better than the original Zhaolu but how good can it be if it relies on the 8416 to fight jitter? And that naughty opamp inside is still doing iv.
The soundstage, resolution and dynamics are much improved but the bass is still mediocre.
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