Zhaolu DAC - a good value DAC?

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Jump to Latest
kevinkr

kevinkr

Administrator
Joined 2004
kta-hifi.net
Paid Member
Thought I spelled it out rather clearly in my last post. LOL I think I would try a coupling cap right at the output and eliminate the input caps altogether.

I doubt there would be any significant benefit to replacing the existing film caps in the filters and you cannot shunt them as you will adversely affect the filter tuning if you don't understand exactly what you are doing.

Removing the headphone amplifier if you are not using it and jumpering out the mute relay (pops at power up and possibly during assertion of digital mute for pause/bad errors on media) Not sure off the top of my head which relay to bypass - most direct would be to take the output right from the filter section of the op-amp to the rca jack through a coupling cap.. (Some circuit tracing is required, as I don't know without inspecting mine which section of the op-amp is which.)
 
A

awpagan

Member
Joined 2004
Silly me:rolleyes:
Mine just turned up this morning, and been running for a few hours now.
Must say, in standard it is quite good!!!
Just looked, standard opamp's "LT's" now replaced with LM4562's
Leo Kotke's sound's better, (as long as he doesn't sing:D )

definitely a candidate for a discrete output.
i do have a spare transitor output sitting around (used in a marantz cd67, from Ray's marantz cd63 thread, (mine is now fet).

easier to pull this dac apart and try something different than a cdplayer.

allan
ps Is defeating the mute relay going to make that much difference?
 
B

bordins

Member
Joined 2005
awpagan said:
But it looks like a usb cable plugs??
Click to expand...

The TG-Link looks like the RJ45. I bet the cable is simply the CAT5 cable which is very easy to find.

Zhaolu D3
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


usb_drive_hand_600.jpg


You see the USB flash drive and the white RJ45 beneath it.
 
A

awpagan

Member
Joined 2004
ok, I misunderstood when the link site displayed D-Link cables as USB cables.
i must study more on chinese......

Ok then RJ45 connectors, but is the data format????
I2s, doubt it.
Or are they using network streaming protocols?
Which maens another interface chip.

allan


Ps HDMI is not the way to go.
 
C

cotdt

Member
Joined 2005
awpagan said:
ok, I misunderstood when the link site displayed D-Link cables as USB cables.
i must study more on chinese......

Ok then RJ45 connectors, but is the data format????
I2s, doubt it.
Or are they using network streaming protocols?
Which maens another interface chip.

allan


Ps HDMI is not the way to go.
Click to expand...

Here are the features of the TGLink sound card:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
g.r} QT qwo

'Tx!M@!@ `&oxc
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
x|1^R$ir"N9Y N

{H,yavO0K`'u :loveliness: 先来说说那个声卡&lJIcoE o1c

The VIA Vinyl Envy24MT Audio Controller is optimized for applications such as notebook audio with a low profile design, and ultra-low power requirements. Featuring support for a number of PC interfaces the VIA Envy24MT Audio Controller can be integrated onto PC motherboards, Mini-PCI cards, or PCMCIA cards. This design flexibility allows the VIA Envy24MT to be used as a standard Peature, an add-on within a system, or integrated into external audio devices. ~1{2T!F.g{I f
9`@R~W"Y)O!w
The VIA Envy24MT Audio Controller supports the latest 24-bit/192kHz high fidelity content through analog stereo inputs and outputs, as well digital audio connections. For audio workstation applications the Envy24MT also supports two MIDI ports, and low latency drivers such as ASIO.e^"Z#} v

What results is an audio solution with tremendous dynamic range making music more alive from the thundering booms of the bass to excellent mid and high frequency response. Combined with professional audio DACs, the Envy24MT becomes a serious hi-fi contender for playback and recording.

Input/Output
2 synchronous I2S / AC-link output data stream pairs
2 synchronous I2S / AC-link input data stream pairs
Multi-channel AC-link support
Integrated S/PDIF transmitter with IEC958 line driver
Digital loopback and stream routing mechanism
Peak meters on all streams
MPU-401 MIDI UART port
ACPI and PCI PMI support

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


So... it does indeed seem like TGLink is I2S.
 
B

bordins

Member
Joined 2005
For those who are interested in the TG-Link,

... The TG-Link spoken lines were I2S+I2C, I2S use for to transmit the audio frequency data, joined the I2C main line the original intention possibly is for transmit control command and so on the GPIO, this need sound card chip and rear end equipment support. But considers the island valley the actuation... (BabeFish's translation)

I posted more information at:

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=1178401#post1178401

Be ready to learn Chinese. I'm trying to. :eek:
 
D

deuginthesky

Member
Joined 2007
cotdt said:



in the unmodded version, it's a toss-up and depends on preference. but modded, the AD1852 chip is much preferable. have you noticed that the treble sounds weird on the CS chip?
Click to expand...

My 2.5C had the LT1057s and AD08, I forgot to mention this fact.

I found it had deeper basses and wider scene.

No weird highs, speakers are JM Lab Colbalt 826.






Does somebody as info about availability of D3 version as well as price target ?
 
M

mattclark04

Member
Joined 2005
Just got a D3

I needed a DAC for my office while I'm in Hong Kong, so I popped over to see Eddie Wu at Wai Wai Valve Company and picked up a D3. He's had them in since Sunday I think, I picked mine up on Wednesday.

He's replaced the op-amps and 6 caps, and it sounds very nice. It's hard to say exactly how nice because it's operating in a bit of a constrained environment - in an office, being fed lossless CD rips from iTunes via TosLink, and driving a Cambridge Audio Azur 340SE with NHT Absolute Zero speakers on the end.

One thing it definitely does is very good dynamic contrasts, crescendos and orchestral swells really do surge, and the overall tempo and timing is very good. No nasties (with the chips these days you'd have to really mess up for a DAC to sound actively bad I suppose!), and what bass the NHTs get around to reproducing is very firm.

In the shop it sounded a bit OTT in the treble, but it seems Eddie is a bit of a detail freak and that it was down to the accompanying kit and his choice of music rather than the DAC itself, which seems nicely balanced to my ears.
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
Top Bottom