WOW. The sound of the Fraken sound is scary.

The green sausage live to its name, adding the spooky signature to the ZERO DAC sound.

Now the ZERO DAC has jump league, to the top league actually.

Here come the ultimate Franken ZERO. The CCS Franken ZERO. The level of sound quality is beyond expectation. The earth has shaken and the arrival of CCS Franken. It will break such believe 'good things doesnt come cheap'

MOre to come......

I am really deep into this mod, just exploring what other emerging trend that this Franken can give.

I have added a BNC plug in parallel to the Coaxial input, as I found the coaxial is way better than optical. I am using Canare 75 ohm cable with Canare 75 ohm plugs, both coaxial and BNC.

Here is a quote from the guy who bring about the Franken.

"

Everything comes and goes with the PIO caps...alternating from tight to loose to missing altogether...that's the normal progression for these caps...when they have finished forming they have the best bass I've yet heard from a NOS PIO.....they simply allow the signal on the CD to pass with little effect on it other than a slight mid band warmth.

My initial impression of Frank ...well that's kinda difficult since I did the modifications in stages in order to evaluate each step in detail. Phase 1 made a huge difference IIRC to three areas over stock, first off SNR improved considerably, frequency extension in both directions was/is noticeably improved and finally dynamics / channel separation improved radically. The second Phase just improved upon these attributes even further....in short the FrankenZERO is so completely different from the stock unit it's hard to believe they are related.

I'm sure others that have now Frankie'd their Zero's will chime in with additional notes that refer to the stock vs Frankie changes ( mine has been in Frankie trim for over 4 months now so it's tough to recall all the details).

The bottom line is the collective job all the parts add to the whole. The PIO's are as important as the Nichicon,Elna,Panasonic and other caps are, as is the the Fairchild UF4007 diodes. It's tough to separate and evaluate just what the greenies bring to the table accurately. I do believe however that in every mod I've done thus far (on amps, preamps, CDP's other DAC's etc) the SQ improvements these Russian caps bring far outstrips there price tag.

The sum of the parts in this case have managed to transform the Zero into something highly musical,accurate and tuneful in the extreme. The best attribute of all, I think, is it's never fatiguing in nature and does not wear off with time. I still have trouble taking the cans off my ears every time I listen even though I know I should have gone to bed hours earlier.

Peete.
"


Here comes the photo. sorry for the camera photo such cant shoot clearly on short range.

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Added on November 23, 2008, 11:51 amFor anyone who is interested in the Franken zero pre run in sound, here is the chance. u are welcome to come over for a listen and hear it out. Hope Madmen can come in with his empy mod. Abel hopeful to be in. Hi eddy, wanno come ?

This post has been edited by ccschua: Nov 23 2008, 11:51 AM

Two gear that was run really have me thinking on the mod.

The first surprise is the ZERO couple with tube buffer by Abel is surprising smooth and clean, though going 2 stages of output.

The next on the mod is the Marantz 63, (heavily modded loh). For those who like warm and thick mid range, this is the unit to go for.

The Franken, being smooth and revealing, leans more towards neutral sounding and dynamics.

Just put in more juice to the ZERO DAC and replace the 4 caps to the DAC with NOVER 63V 100uF. The nover caps are specially made for audio-gd, known for neutral sounding. Also increase the digital power supply from 1200uF to 3300uF. First impression is very dynamic and more neutral sound. More burn in is require before final listening. Yes burn in is required.

I am buying some OPA Sun + BU2. Please me know if u are interested, so that we can share the shipping costs.

This post has been edited by ccschua: Nov 28 2008, 12:32 AM

elna silmic 2 is fine, i dont replace.


http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/diy/MD2/BU.htm

give me a call we can meet and give u the sausae

This post has been edited by ccschua: Nov 29 2008, 09:33 AM

Ok.

So I got the order for 1 unit of extension cable.

Closing the order soon.

MY order is 2xunit of buffer BU2 come with free RC network and Alps pot.

what is BU2.. BU2 buffer is used in the DAC100.

再使用一级渥尔曼接法的FET输出，以音色清晰而柔和，低频弹性 与瞬态，力度好，克服Multibit DAC 芯片高频与低频协条性差的缺点。
Using 一级渥尔曼 to sound clear and soft, flexible and low-frequency transient, a good effort to overcome the Multibit DAC chip and high-frequency low-frequency section of the Association of the shortcomings of the poor.

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/diy/MD2/BU.htm

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Added on November 30, 2008, 9:34 pmAfter testing out Abel's ZERO dac with tube output, I was surprise at the sound quality as mentioned earlier. So I give it a try, couple the int amp with another buffer (soundstage 1.5).

Well as expected, a tube buffer in between the dac and amp improves the sound by being more neutral (or so call thicker especially and more dynamics)



This post has been edited by ccschua: Nov 30 2008, 09:34 PM

How about Earth for Sun. Lol I have 2 earth, sold the sun by mistake.

So the order is done. BU2 buffer is on the way and some 3300uF nover cap + the extension wire is in.

yeap. leave me your contact details. U wanted 2 unit is it ?

I will post the photo here about the BU2 mod. It seems very easy depending on what level of details to be changed.

I believe in Kingwa can come out something really good, which he told me. I also confirm adding a buffer between has improve it further in that it is more analogue feel and more neutral, in that the sound opens up.

Hi rav,

let me know how to send the items to you or meet up. Have u got the caps for the Franken mod as well ?

This post has been edited by ccschua: Dec 3 2008, 06:51 PM

That's a lovely journey. I can \recall the days I was running back and forth changing opamps. It was fun.
Try OPA Sun and see whether u can get better bass response.

With the buffer, I hope the sound will be more extended, wider soundstage and better dynamics. Which I already can get using soundstage 1.5 as buffer.

For the BU2 mod, it is easy. if u connect the OPA Moon to the DAC socket, cut the output wire. Bring the half opamp output wire to the BU2 buffer (with some RC components) and then output the buffer to the other half of wire that gos to the RCA and headphone amp. The buffer needs power supply which u can tap from the pin 4 and pin 8 of DAC OPA socket. Nice and clean.

I think the cap bypass + franken is good to do. it will add more ommp to the output power/

I dont follow technical jargon, cause I am no technical men. I follow noob language.

follow this for your buffer mod, hope to end up like DAC 100 loh.

This is DAC 100 circuit diagram



This is BU2 mod for ZERO. The box in Black is the additional circuit. Remember to add in the R (2k2) and C (2200p) before the cap.



This post has been edited by ccschua: Dec 5 2008, 09:49 PM

I am really contemplating whether to sell the Earth, after that I might need 2 earth to put in headphone or put in the CD 63.

Just drop by my house, and u can hear it all.

After more listening, I found that OPA Sun is more suitable for matching with the tube amp. I found the Sun deliver more Oommph and detail + transparency than the OPA Moon. Moon is more suitable to solid state where u want more pronounced sweet vocal.

RAV, have u got my pm. I have sent u the details. Now I will be busy for the next few days.

Time to get the ZERO DAC to become DAC 100. at RM 500, it was gone.

This post has been edited by ccschua: Dec 10 2008, 09:27 PM

Hi RAV and Dybre,

propose to meet Friday night at Sunway Lagoon. can deliver the BU2 and the cable.

any headphone ? if got I can bring the ZERO DAC and we can test the Franken ZERO loh.

To Rav, Dybre,

the collection will be 8.00 pm at Sunway lagoon.

let me know if u can bring your zero and the headphone for demo or just want to do collection.