I think can collect soon, hope can see you guys too!!

Has anybody tried the sound difference between the Coax and Optical? I've been doing some research on cables (considering getting an AC Cord) and came across a few articles that says the Coax output from entry level CD/DVD players are far superior to the Optical. This is because most manufacturers use cheap 10 cents optical module for their cheap players.

I'll give it a test when my Zero arrive of course, since I already have both coax and optical cable in hand but am curious with existing owner's experience.

Zero dont come with coax and optical cable ?!

Comes with a cheapo optical cable but not coax. I have an Audioquest optical and a Monster digital coax on my PS2 and TV so will transfer them to the Zero. Better use than where they are now.

someone tested with a CD player optical vs coax and said that the coax sounds better....forgot who. i think it was scottie...

anyway. i did the same test with my ESI Maya44.

optical cable that came with the zero vs DIY Canare Coaxial cable. both plugged in the same time and i tested by pressing the switch on the front of the ZERO.

no discernable difference.


BUT.. a colleague of mine borrowed my cheapo optical cable for his PS3 + HTiB. then he recently just bought a phillips RM199 optical cable. and he says the difference between the cheapo cable and the phillips is HUGE.

wut i listen .... i found coax are better sound smoother .... when try optical piano notes are rather fake compare to caox vocal coax are smoother , when run optical cable when vocal (female) at the high freq is not soo smooth abit rough trying this Zero with ccschua soundstage 1.5 with my speaker hehehe chua just borrow my coax kena poison already he wanna try for his setup n see

that day trying Grado SR60 with ccschua sound really not bad warm sounding wut i compare with HD600 first time audit on headphone feel wanna buy headphone .. one new shop just open today behind PGRM inside the condo got shop lot the shop name call YP Pro Sound tell selling Audio Technica , beyerdynamic and AAD.

i audit 3 model of headphone, Audio Technica W1000 , Audio Technica AD700 and beyerdynamic dunno wut 660 model ... headphone amp using Audio Technica amp maybe all still new no yet run in all sound harsh

found beyerdynamic sound quite smooth but seem hard to push than check the spec is abt 200ohm ... wow

uiks? where is this PGRM???

near Taman Maluri Jaya Jusco (not maluri kepong)

bleh....too far....

i dont even know which direction to head to get there

Just look for the signboard saying Cheras...
Suprisingly the ZERO has enough oomph to push my darth beyers and its been my main phones since...

When's the next collection of ZERO bulk.. let's meet somewhere and bring out all the toys to play with..

We also try rolling the opamp like OPA627, DY2000 and OPA 2604 using the Grado SR60.

Grado SR60 sound is more towards clarity, lacks bass and punch. When using DY2000, I think it is more smoother.

i agree.....n u definitely MUST bring ur darths....

oh...and can post a pic of ur darths pls?

Would like to get a digital coaxial cable too, if performance gain is huge.
(was panning to use coaxial, i tought Zero have stock coaxial last time)

QED Performance Digital Coaxial = 26GBP
Philips one is good? quoting from another forumer now.

i think b4 u jump the gun, better wait for yr zero to arrive. madmen's ear can be a reference.

in my opinion, cable gain no 1 is RCA, followed by power cord.

Cables basically behave like capacitors and inductors at various frequency range. think about skin effect and skin depth... technical cut short, cable makes a difference.

if u change to good RCA and power cord, and still can not hear the difference, then .....

Thanks for your kindhearted advice bro ccschua,
shouldent get over hype b4 test out my Zero.
Thanks again

may i know who got selling dy2000?

abel, thanks for sharing your experience! I also suspected that Coax would be better than Optical because some Philips players don't even have optical output. I'm gonna stick to coax but will still make a comparison after running in the Zero to hear the difference.

ccschua, I've been hanging out at Hi-Fi 4 Sale to check on some bargain power chords but it seems like even used stuffs cost at least RM400 onwards. That's like 1/2 the cost of a used power amp. I'm just wondering if the power cord can bring that much improvement or topping up for a used power amp is a better choice?
It seems like cables are really overpriced here. Example of the Wireworld Stratus power cord asking for RM590 on Hi-Fi 4 Sale is going at list price of US$99. That's 80% higher.

if u want budget power cord can try for Supra LoRad 2.5 i think brand new abt RM 80 per meter without termination ....

that day my fren bought 1.5m ready made (acoustic system) amcorp mall i think he buy less than RM 200.
those at hifi forum sell is consider high end model even got some model is abit low range.
like me i just bought a Transparent Power cable already cost more than RM 300. depends wut u need
wut i found power cord had more different on tube amp is given low floor noise , better seperation and even more smoother sound.

Hi guys, sorry for no updates these days, internet been down for week. Estimate 3rd bulk COD session will be on 2th August, it's a Saturday And I got the reply from DY2000 sellers, one's stock sold out while another is USD19 each with MOQ=10, roughly around RM60 which to me is EXPANSIVE!!!! How you guys think?

Thanks for that info. RM200 is affordable but I really don't mind pushing RM300 for the same Transparent Power cable if the difference is worth it. So you're using this cable on your Tube pre-amp? What about your PM-4001? Have you tested the difference on your Zero? But to listen to the difference on your HIFI, you'll need to remove the cable from existing location... which means using a headphone is easier to compare.

EDIT> OK, so you're using the Transparent with your PM-4001. What about your Kimber?

OK, did you get your Transparent cable from Acoustic System? I've heard a lot about this place so should pay them a visit but I'm actually waiting for the AV Show on 25th to search for the power cable.

@ GodLuxSxS

Need to wait until next month. I thought 3 to 4 weeks only.

Hi there, I submitted order on 26th Jun, suppose to reach by around 24th to 28th July, but due to the recent political havoc, the Kastam side might delay us a lil bit of time, and usually collection session will be on weekend so that everybody including working class could attend without any problem. That's why 2nd August (Saturday) is the best estimate time, plus I will only be at KL from around 29th July to 4th August ... if the DAC arrives and you cant wait till the 2nd August, you may meet me at Ampang Park LRT or Bank of China for earlier collection, will sms you guys once dac arrived. So you guys may choose to collect face to face or attend the collection gathering, IMHO the gathering is going to be great since some "seasoned" ZERO dac owner may attend with some opinion and opamp rolling suggestion. Heck I might even bring along some APE to do some sharing

Some rich guys just buy everything one shot. that i would;t comment.

For seasoned hifier, Power cord is a must have if you are into hifi. However most people, given the limited budget, will generally concetrate on Speaker and amp first. This is because this 2 item gives you the taste that u like, whether, vocal, jazz, classical, orchestra, rock. You are sure to go for the best on speaker and amp as much as you can (try not to go for capalang, will end up with a ugly wife).

Then later on, when your system is ready, you will lastly look at the power cord, in general. The so called missing link is the power cord.

So I will not recommend power cord for now. It is only this Abel poison people with his power cord, that is proven to work.

Power cord for DAC or CDP does NOT help much, I have seen it using RM 1000 power cord on CDP and the sound change is minimal. (but that RM 1000 on my soundstage tube amp work wonders)

The power cord really LOWER the noise floor, makes the system more transparent.
If you are looking for power cord, make sure u bring your AMP with the old power cord for test !

Hehe I bought my darths 2nd hand from bro sony ericcson...
My camera isn't with me at the moment so can't really post any pics of it..
I'll try to see whether I can make it for the COD/Gathering session...

So can we make a list who will bring what phone. I hope someone can bring a beyer and GRADO for test. really shiok with Grado. Who has 2x LT1364 for the headphone.

MS carnival and Avant any different?

Cambridge Aidio 640c V2 is using Wolfson WM8740 DACS (24 bit/192 kHz)
WM8740
WM8741
WM8741

Last time was selling $8/piece.
WM8740, WM8741, WM8716 are rated as High performance stereo DAC.

Marantz CD-17 MK III is using Philips DAC7 TDA1547
Philips DAC7 TDA1547
Marantz cd17 mkII Review (can find chips inside).

Can we put those in Zero DAC?

Another Review from Head-Fi: HeadAmp Pico w/ DAC

How much is 640C and the CD17? compare to ZERO, that will be expensive.

ZERO is using diff implementation, AD 1852. AD 1852 and CS4392 is 24 bit DAC but different sound characteristics.

1547 is 16 bit, different implementation again, and it is hard to get 1547 liao.

lol ccschua say me poison him hehehe

MS Avant sound more dynamic compare Carnival
Avant using Metal Dome tweeter
Carnival is Soft Dome

Very good advice ccschua! Thanks! I'll have to move my amp to the top to ease taking it out for testing then.

It seems like the Transparent cable is one of the high end ones and someone is selling the one Abel has at RM680! That's the cost of a nice 2nd hand amp. I wish I'm rich too.

Abel mentioned that you're testing the Coax section of the Zero... how did it go?

Wolfson WM8740 and WM8741 is 24 bit/192 kHz too, i think can pair with zero. Its cheaper then many opamp at here.

how much are they?

After I bring the coaxial home compare to the digital link and try on my setup, I dont notice much difference. Either my system doesnt give the difference or there is a difference I cant discern. May be I need a good transport.

Any guys here using Grado?

First and foremost, why the comparison between the wolfson DAC and opamps?

And DAC ICs are not interswappable, pin-pin compatibility is important, also clock, input, timing parts..sum are swappable, but rarely..usually falls in the same family, like CS4396, CS4398 and AK4395, AK4396.

Basically Yehlai is saying the DAC chip may be cheaper than the opamp such as OPA 627.

No one would just swap DAC like opamp. However there exist upgrade for the DAC but that should come from the same family. DAC implementation is board specific.

BTW, Ijan, what do u think is the improvement to the ZERO dac that can bring about smoother sound and less digital.

Oh, sorry then, my bad.

Improvement, i dunno, I have yet to see the internals, but since all DACs are the same (low cost DAC), then the same formula goes:

upgrade caps, remove redundancy, optimize filter, upgrade/remove decoupling caps, upgrade dac pre-opamps, optimize noise removal.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/review-ze...pre-amp-269458/ <-- is this the same ZERO dac u guys are talking about? If yes then nothing much to say..

I have the SR225. I used to LT1364 and LT1358 and LT1057 and have been swapping them a few weeks. I think I have yet to find a "perfect" opamp in the headphone section. It's quite nice having a different flavor every week =)

I was doing that too. When my mood change, the opamp changes. But recently after I found the DY2000, the whole rolling stops. I would like to try the metal DY2000 in future.

Did u try LM4562, and 2107. The HDAM really attracts me, with its new cabling that solve the height problem.

GodLuvSxS..
wen u going start d 4th bulk?

they may be a 4th bulk. let us give encore to Godluvsxs for another round.

may i know who selling tis dy2000 chip?

---

Added on July 17, 2008, 1:00 ammay i know who selling tis dy2000 chip?

i plan for the upgrade soon but i still source for the Elna Cerafine or Silmic that hard to get in malaysia just only can find in oversea if cant find i think i will get for either rubycon ZL or ZA series or sanyo oscon or just find some cap that is low impedance

for upgrade the cap is not hard but how to optimize filter thats too technical for me

Seems like most Zero owner favor DY2000 > OPA627.
not using 627 anymore? or 627 is too dynamic/bright for vocal lovers?

have one question, if someone have a mismatch:
bright speaker + bright amp, or warm speaker + warm amp.

can we use op-amp to neutral it a bit?

Thnaks!

Yes, GodLuv! Last night my friend scolded me for not telling him about this bulk and asked me if still can get 1 unit so another order here if you're gonna do another bulk.

yup can tune using the opamp and cable ...

Hi guys, feeling too much of bass is it mean my amp too warm for the speaker?

statement 1 : Yeah. Your fren scolded u for not recommending.
Statement 2 : After u recomended, he also scold you bcos u cause him to SPEND $$$$.
Statement 3 : So when he listened to ZERO and found the ZERO no good, he will scold you also.
Statement 4 : But if the ZERO is damn good, refer to statement 1.

In anyway u do, u are scolded. That's what frens are FOR.

I think Silmic or the OS-CON will provide much needed musicality to the ZERO

True, you can get get OS-CON locally too. For me, they provide good upgrade, especially on digital circuit (on DAC supply and sort). I try put it on analog circuit too with positive result, depends on taste. I put them on opamp supply caps. I never try on signal coupling/decoupling though

EDIT: spelling

Hi Najimods, may I know that those cap located beside opamp is call what? decoupling cap? I seen so people recommending Solen cap as musical replacement cap.

cap got 2 type non-polar n polar cap

means like those Solen is non-polar means dont have + or - mostly u can fine at crossover for me i recommend Mundorf Mcap's
if u got $$$ go for Silver Oil but this can cost more than ur Zero hehehehe