GL, what ru upgrading to?

oooh... haha
looks like everyone's very eager ^^

Audio-GD's DAC100 That's what I could placed on my small work desk , those big big one have to wait till I got the effort to get a house DAC100 + my Aego 2 should be able to serve me for long time before I got the space to get bookshelf setup ... my current space available wont helps the bookshelf performs, Aego 2 would be an ideal nearfield setup for me

Yes...I need it urgently, that's why I ask GodLuvSxS to sell his used unit to me...which I don't mind and moreover...GodLuvSxS already burn in already...keeee...

I need it for travel soon......boring during oversea for several week without anything....

Thanks GodLuvSxS

of course it looks familiar to u la duh

ccschua and abel poisoned by it alredy man



u bought the WRONG stuff to use as a portable man... if its for travelling purpose u should have gotten something smaller like a USB DAC or something...something like the ibasso or the govibe petite

After travel, I also can used to improve my source...If found out not good....then can sold out for those interested....no wrong meh.....

Somemore, if travel locally, to bring with this unit, ok meh....even oversea....still ok for me......I used it during I am relax at hotel only......hm..... no wrong and no right......just my choice....peace....

By the way, how much the two unit you recommended? And did sound better than this? If cheaper and sound better, then I make a mistake already luh.....
Since the price....i cannot complain much la......

i have a little trick RM 1 modding ur marantz CD63
use RM1 gold coin put on top of the CD ... dunno wut it call

It is indeed your piece of legend. It is outstanding piece of works. Coindentally, I found the sound slightly better than OPA Moon in unmodded zero, very very close.
I guess Moon in Madmen modded DAC will give more accuracy and imaging and more warm.

TCXO is it USD 20 per piece. Can u get it cheaper ?

http://www.diykits.com.hk/

TCXO i think is a clock better go for audio-gd clock i think better

chua i think 1 day need to borrow ur 2 Earth wanna try on my CD63 but wait me to bypass the original HDAM

if ur ok with carrying the ZERO around then ok la....

as for the 2 i mentioned... both are more expensive than the ZERO. but definitely more portable.

sound wise...dunno...never heard before but alot have given positive feedback about them.

The thing with TCXO modding is that it's not soldering in the part, but getting it to perform.

One has to do testing at room temperature with an accurate bench power supply and oscilloscope, take reading, do the math and calculate the probable drift the TCXO will experience during it's operation inside the DAC (probably around 38 to 42C) and then calibrate it using the screw terminal. It's attention to detail and care on the modder's part that makes complex mods sing.

TCXOs are sometimes preffered to other off board clocks like the LC Audio clock due to the simple fact that using wires may degrade the performance of the DAC more than it helps it. Plus it's a helluva easier to install . Weight the pros and cons, then install.

I've recently worked with alot of VCOs and TCXOs in time and hold circuits with my current major subject being on amps and noise reduction, and the chief thing they teach us is that everything has a weakness, application is the key to success rather than the part, why install an OPA627 when you can use a cheap NE5533 with a filter network?

in other word..let pro do the job (empire23 )

Received Moon yesterday, replace OPA627 in DAC managed to spent about 1.5 hrs with it this morning. Not really exciting yet, hope get better in next 2 weeks.

Pro -
Transparent , Clear

Con -
No dynamic enough, feel very constraints (a bit gentle)

System Setup -
CD63SE -> DAC (Moon) -> NAD 319 -> Mission 771E + Cambridge SoundWork passive S/W

i think moon is more to the warm site ....

I reckon the Moon is the total opposite of the OPA627. The Earth is a compromise between the two.

Since Moon is acted as external HDAM and the CD63SE also come with the Marantz - HDAM. I'm still doubt whether this MOON can give musical improvement to my system.

Someone selling used Zero selling Rm350 only, anyone game?
http://hifi4sale.blogspot.com/2008/10/zero-dac-used.html

since now u not using the ur CD63 analog stage .... i think u try n see hehehe me plan for earth i scared moon is too dull n too warm due original CD63 are slow n warm already but i will bypass original CD63 HDAM n replace with Earth

---

Added on October 17, 2008, 1:20 pm

i know this owner .... heheheh he told me early he sell this Zero he got few CDP for sale also

Abel did u snip the two 22pf cap near the RCA out, so far, only Chua & GodLuxS did the cap snipping. Just wonder how this will impact the S/Q.

I suggest u dont snip the cap ... the highs will be more transparent, which i think wont suit your listening favor ...

To be honest, I found that the MOON not quite sounds like tubish, abit too clean to be!

God u r rite, Moon no tube feel at all to me, just clean and very obedient type I reckon. more likely I will switch back to opa627 if there isn't any sign of improvement after 2-3 weeks burn in. or perhaps get another spare zero for opamp swapping, anyway RM400 not a big hobby investment.

I don't suggest snipping them, they're either the ground loop breakers or Zobel networks (latter extremely unlikely). If they're the ground loop breakers, you aren't doing the DAC a favour.

Just stick in some silver Mica or CG0 to replace the standard caps there.

Perhaps I am very naive to ground loop breakers. What does it do. What is the reason behind replacing the stock cap with the silver mica ?

due to my lack lack of knowledge, pls see how I install the RCA plug.



also empy,

can i know if the following cap were removed on purpose or there is other cap below the board.

just plug in the moon and listen to some of my favorite songs..
and wat i get is "WOW" i like the initial listening, it suits my listning taste over the previous LT1364..

MY CD63 mod already bypass the original HDAM soon replace with EARTH or SUN or MOON stil dunno who can borrow me to test hehehe
currently i using LT1358

How does the sound like after the bypass? ...

PS: It's me GodLuvSxS .... wrongly posted using GF's id

sound more open n transparent and got detail bass are more solid n deeper , i disable mute function but one thing when off the cdp must lower the amp volume if not got buzzing sound

So the moon does sound " cheap" ?

What is next, God ?

@Abel, Can we mod earth to all other CDPs , or just CD63.

yeah just check ur original can support for audio-gd opamp

Ground loop breakers breaks ground loop. A typical ground loop (a symptom of bad grounding) injects 50-60Hz of noise into the ground. This is bad because you'll hear humming on the output. A ground loop breaker rids these issues. The capacitor there is to shunt all the possible noises away. Replacing it with a better cap that has a lower impedance on that frequency helps further. A good cap is needed here to make sure you suppress all the noise.

borrow from fren 2 EARTH to try .... much more improve bass more deep and got energy hhehe who can borrow me SUN n MOON

where should i do with the white cable? where to attach it??


this is how i place my moon

is better connect to ground .... i take from RCA ground not casing or earth

i didn't mod my RCA connector, so which is is ground of the RCA connector??

and bro, how did u place ur opamp?u're not using Zero or wat?
mind to share?

my zero dont used already hheehe i modding my CD63 sound much more better than i go to zero
chua already get poison with my CD63 with EARTH but he say the sound abit slow just not dynamic enuf but i like it just different ppl different taste

the gound is located at the bottom u just take out the board and solder 1 wire out i found when not ground it the sound abit blur (MCC aka mong cha cha)

if i not mistaken check the image below maybe u can double confirm with chua

then hv to wait chua on9 n read it..

Well, just some poisoning, a brand new design from Audio_GD, to be precise, it's an USB to COAXIAL board, all input signal will be reclock and jitter will be as low as 20PS! Emmm ... the possibility of getting jitter free PC based music setup is getting near

Hi steve,

Audio gd says that will take some time until next year.

Marantz 63 or 63 KI has different sound signature towards warm and accuracy. Bass is low but not controlled and dynamics not as good, that's what marantz is famous for. However if the Marantz were to modded with 20 ps clock, the bass and dynamics department would improvement.

hi chua, is this the ground for zero's RCA?

yeah. that's right. the wire in the photo is too short. there is no need to dismantle anything to solder the wire.

Without the earth cable, the vocal will sound muddle. it is critical to connect the earth. lol.

it's there any other ground in zero that i can connect the white wire??

hehehe ccschua maybe my fren wanna order all the 3 opamp hahahah

OPA Earth where got cap one. how come, who put in the cap.

perhaps another bulk. I want 1 unit of OPA Sun V2.

---

Added on October 20, 2008, 9:23 pm

Seriously I dont see the clock. I guess it must be a separate board.
Just check further, this is a custom made DSP chip.

can i connect the white calbe at the moon to the ground of the power cord socket there??

thanks

nope that is earth point not ground

Hi abel,

audio-gd says if u add the new power supply +15V +5V , new audio-gd clock, and any times it is better than original Marantz CD17.

[of course u already bypass HDAM]

heard u are buying OPA. why not wait for bulk from steve

can i solder a cable along this part since it connected to the rca ground..

yes u can. the middle leg is the ground pin.

yeah actually my fren want it he want 2 x moon , 2 x sun , 2 x earth and i want clock steve ada discount or not ah heheheh

Seem like you all got new toys now......