Zhaolu vs Zero dac.

[badduh]

I'm looking fore a cheap but nice sounding dac. First i thought that te best way was to buy a dac kit so i could make the enclosure my self, but then i found a very nice looking dac for only 140 usd, it looks a lot like the Zhaolu.
I know that there are some topics about the Zhaolu but searching fore "zero" unfortunately returned no results.
Has anybody got any experience with the zero dac and compared it with the Zhaolu dac?
I know that many people have modified the Zhaolu dac but are there already people who have modified a zero dac?

Zhaolu dac:

Website

Zero dac:
Website translated
Ebay

Pictures:

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

 

[kevinkr]

I'm very familiar with the Zhaolu 2.5A as you might have surmised..

I am not familiar with the Zero, but have looked at the literature, their site and several eBay auctions for the last few months. (Curiosity mostly, the current Zhaolu will be replaced by a diy dac based on some Twisted Pear modules, and some of my own stuff.)

The general quality of components is on a par with the Zhaolu, and the same basic CS8416/AD1852/BB2604 are used as in a stock 2.5A. Apparently regulated supplies are used. Single board construction is favored in the Zero as opposed to the multi-board modular approach favored by Zhaolu in the 2.5A/2.5C.

The Zhaolu uses very good parts, but the execution of the audio and power supply boards could hardly be much worse - there are many mistakes in board layout in the psu and the audio board original design is cookbook, and from a bad cookbook at that.. The 2.5A is discontinued and is the unit that most directly compares to the Zero.

You would not be taking any more risk buying the Zero than I took buying that Zhaolu 15 months ago, and the website at least tries to be informative.

Do you plan to mod it?

 

[badduh]

Thanks for your answer.
I'm not planning to do big mods, only op-amps en maybe some caps.
I have also a Behringer deq2496,wich should also have a good dac, I'm going to replace the opamps this week and i hope that will bring some more life to the behringer because now its sounds a little bit stearyl, if I'm not happy with the result i will probably buy an Zero dac.

 

[globulegl]

dac zero 24 bits 192khz

mes test et modif du dac zero 24bits 192khz DgStock magasin en ligne audio convertisseur Dac tube ampli - DgStock magasin en ligne audio convertisseur Dac tube ampli

 

[Cal Weldon]

This is an English speaking forum. If you wish to post in another language, also post in English.

Thank you.

 

[Andrea:]

Take the Poppulse PCM1796 DAC, which is probably the best you can get at or around these prices (look at how it's built).

The Zero is **** (I had one).


You will find the Poppulse on Audiophonics - Câbles, Amplificateurs et Accessoires DIY or on www.diykits.com.hk


As a valuable alternative, I suggest the HA INFO NG94 (with PCM1794), Welcome to Audiophilechina

 

[Andrea:]

The Zero is very badly built and approximatively designed, I mean. It was not bad sounding.

 

[kmj]

The Zero is very badly built and approximatively designed, I mean. It was not bad sounding.

DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS MEMBER, THERE HAS BEEN ONE MEMBER SPREADING MISSINFORMATION ABOUT THE ZERO-DAC ON HEAD-FI AND KNOWINGLY GIVING ADVICE THAT DIRECTLY LEADS TO BROKEN UNITS!!

PLEASE READ THIS LINK TO A REVIEW FOR MOR INFO ON THE MEMBER KNOWN AMONG OTHER NAMES AS ANDREA

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/review-zero-24-bit-192khz-dac-headphone-amp-pre-amp-269458/

 

[Andrea:]

I think the Zhaolu D3.5 is very attractive. I also like the HA INFO NG94 (which is probably what I'd buy if I were to buy another), and the Poppulse PCM1796 DAC, as I mentioned before.