Zhaolu DAC - a good value DAC?

[Ruach]

This post is non-DIY in nature.

There is a nicely designed DAC that retails for US$100 and it looks well-made in the picture. I have read that the DAC daughterboard is swappable and it allows one to swap between daughterboards based on either AD1852, CS4398 and PCM1794 dac chips.

Good value for your money IMHO.

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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.

In the past 2 years, we have seen quite a number of economical Chinese-made audio components in the hifi market. Hope to see more of such products in the future

 

[Elso Kwak]

100 $

100US$ ??? The AD1853 evaluation board is US$ 175!!!!!!
Where can I order?

 

[JohanH]

Check these threads:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=139545

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169177

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=167257


It´s only some 100 pages to read

Cheers,
Johan

PS I own the 1.3 version. The DIY bit starts with the tweaking; very worthwile.

Elso: I´d recommend buying from Eddie Wuh (somewhere in those threads (as always: no family of mine etc.))

 

[Ruach]

Hey Elso, good luck with the reading of the 100 pages.


Well, I am ordering mine from Eddie next week.


The DAC module appears to have reclocking. The frequency is 49.152Mhz. Isn't this a bit high?

I see what that appears to be opamps near the voltage regulators. Could this be a variant of the super regulation design?

 

[Vidalgo]

Hey, last picture shows a kind of horrow!
SMD components soldered by hands in a wrong way, strange solder bridges, flux residuals etc.
Very poor workmanship.
My bid is 30$, no more. 😀

 

[bordins]

Just got modded Zhaolu D2.0 from Eddie (www.diykits.com.hk). Its sonics is comparable to what you get from the first class players.

Get one and you may sell your old CDP. I sold my Marantz SA-11S1 CDP because of the Zhaolu. 😀

 

[Dennis Hui]

Just got modded Zhaolu D2.0 from Eddie (www.diykits.com.hk). Its sonics is comparable to what you get from the first class players.

Get one and you may sell your old CDP. I sold my Marantz SA-11S1 CDP because of the Zhaolu. 😀

Hi Bordins,

Which version did you get? Did you get the Blackgate upgrade
as well?

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[RogerWilco]

The 1.3 sounded extremely good.My highly modded 2.0 should ship out monday.

A friend of mine turned me onto the dac.At that time no one had hardly heard of the dac.So i gather i was the second person in the usa to recieve one.I started this thread----
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=139545

When i first heard the dac i new this was a winner.Eddie wu in china is the Distributor and does very good mods on the unit.

The 2.0 i will be recieving soon has new special mods done .I will have to liston for myself and see how the new mods sound.

You just can't beat the price on this dac and eddies mods are another steal for the money.

 

[bordins]

Which version did you get? Did you get the Blackgate upgrade
as well? Thanks,

The Zhaolu D-2.0 CS4938 BlackGate Upgrade. I went to audition 3 versions of the 2.0 at Eddie's store and picked up this one. You will be very surprised when taking it to compare with top-notch brand-name CD players.

The Zhaolu wins hands down.

 

[RogerWilco]

I had ordered the 1852 version which i like alot.But i will order the PCM-1794 Upgrade Board when it comes out.

 

[bordins]

The CS4938 version produces warmer & denser sonics, more textured midrange, and deeper bass, while AD1852 is very good in vocal, more airy and wider soundstage.

It is a matter of personal taste. 😀

 

[RogerWilco]

The CS4938 version produces warmer & denser sonics, more textured midrange, and deeper bass, while AD1852 is very good in vocal, more airy and wider soundstage.

It is a matter of personal taste. 😀

You are right

 

[bordins]

There is a gentleman asking me about my ex-Marantz SA-11S1. He owns a Mark Levinson 390s and wants to switch to the SA-11S1. I suggested him look at the Zhaolu.

Don't know what his "taste" is. 😀

 

[morpheus82]

for the zhaoulu owners...does it use ad1852, cs8416 and no external filter?or does it use the internal filter of the DAC?what kind of op-amp for output buffer?
thanx a lot!!😀

 

[excetara2]

Does it have USB input on it? I am assuming no, but would there be any easy way to set it up. THanks.

-Jeff

 

[bordins]

For more information about very good Chinese DACs. Visit http://www.diykits.com.hk/dac.html May got DACs from Eddie there.

The new DAC DA7.2 looks very awesome !

You may check out Zhaolu threads at head-fi.org, Dedicated Sources Forum. Zhaolu doesn't have a USB port. For audiophiles, I believe USB is still not an option. 😀

 

[excetara2]

Why is USB not an option for audiophiles? I have seen USB designs. Are they just not as good?

 

[excetara2]

How do you think this compares to DDDac's DAC?

 

[Ulas]

How do you think this compares to DDDac's DAC?

It doesn't: One is 24-bit, 196KHz, sigma/delta and the other is 16-bit, 44.1KHz, non-oversampled. One is pleasant to listen to; the other is not.

 

[morpheus82]

i think it's personal opinion, don't you?😎