review-zero dac

[rosconey]

well ive had some time to play with my wicked expensive high dollar mega money 128$ dac-

and i like it-
from ebay-Specifications:   
~Recevial chip CS8416
~Decode Chip AD1852
~Analogy Opamp chip: OPA627  (For old version it is OPA2604)
~S/N ratio 105dB
~Distortion 0.0005%
~dynamic range: 117dB
~Frequency Response 20Hz-30KHz（±0.5dB）
~analogy output frequency: 2V
~Imput port: one digital optical fibre imput
                      one digital coaxial imput
~Output port: one RCA analogy un-balance output
                       one 6.3mm headphone signal output
~power imput voltage: 100～220V50Hz±10％
~Dimension:240X220X55mm
~Net weight:3kg 

its more in forward than my shengya s10(vincent) but not in a obnoxious way,wider and higher sound stage- at times is does sound mechanical -trys to flesh out everything from a recording,mostly on stuff from  the 80's for some reason-bad era maybe-lol

i also give it very high marks for balance,it doesnt over power at anything-it all just plays well together
vocals are smooth
 


but with well recorded stuff its just a drool machine,you can get lost easily -it will drag you in with its little bits that you might not have noticed before-almost makes it like i bought all new cd's

i would think this would be a great office piece-has a headphone out and pre amp also-along with optical and digital in's-

well worth the price for a taste of oversampling -at such a low cost its hard to say anything bad about this bugger-

odyssey se extreme monos,candela pre,lorelei speakers,jungson tuna,shengya s10(transport) zero dac

[westcoastman]

I've read a few other reviews on this product and they are all very positive. Sounds like you get really good value for your money. After about 40+ hours they say it really starts to blossom. I found that true with my Stello DAC DA100.

[miklorsmith]

Does it have USB capability?  Do you have a link?

Sounds very interesting.

[Dougie085]

Looks like optical/coax only. It's so cheap though and uses a very nice DAC. I may have to grab one of these to use with my PC music collection. Or at least try it Sure it be easy to resell if I decide to go another route.

[rosconey]

one guy on ebay gives you a adapter that is usb/optical -

[richidoo]

Zero DAC

Mfg eBay store

[Dougie085]

I was looking through the store and saw this!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/YULONG-DAH1-MARK-DAC-Headphone-Amplifier-USB-DAC_W0QQitemZ120306659461QQihZ002QQcategoryZ12050QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think I need one of these Has a remote and uses the AD1955 DAC which is what I've been looking for.

[richidoo]

Here's a review of the new Monica3 nosdac:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/monica3_e.html

[Dougie085]

I actually prefer an OS DAC mostly because the NOS DAC's I've heard seem to cut off a bit from the topend and even the bottom end in some cases. Although people that tend to be very sensitive to high frequencies seem to love NOS DAC's. I guess it just depends on the person. It looks like a nice DAC though

[miklorsmith]

I've owned 4 battery-powered NOS DACs, a RWA Monica-2, an Ack 2.0, an Altmann, and for a brief time now the Isabellina from RWA.  The first two were softer around the edges which can be a blessing depending on the rest of the system.  The last two are extended and strong through the entire band.  The Isa sounds laid back but still quite detailed.   The Altmann could fool you into thinking it's an OS DAC but without the treble bite.  The last two are both superlative performers regardless of topology.

[Dougie085]

Yeah I recently listened to the Cambridge 840c and loved the thing. The top end wasn't harsh in anyway at all. It uses the AD1955's which is why I'm so interested in them now.

[Dougie085]

My friend ordered the DAH1 so as soon as he gets it and I have a chance to go check it out I'll post some impressions. If he ends up not liking it I'll buy his if he does then I'll order my own.

[mdconnelly]

My friend ordered the DAH1 so as soon as he gets it and I have a chance to go check it out I'll post some impressions. If he ends up not liking it I'll buy his if he does then I'll order my own.

The YULONG DAH1 looks like a poor man's Benchmark DAC1/Preamp given the analog line in and volume control.   I'll be very interested to hear your take on it.   

FWIW, I had a Cambridge Audio 840c for awhile and was very impressed with it - both sonically and functionally.   I ultimately replaced it with an Oracle transport (thanks, Shane).   Against the Oracle, the 840c presented a more 2D soundstage with less definition and space between voices and instruments.   But, for the price, the 840c is truely a killer component.

[Dougie085]

Yeah I really liked the 840c as well. I don't have a ton of money in my system so spending more then around 1200-1500 on a single component really isn't possible.

The DAH1's headphone/preamp section is a clone of a headphone amp that costs 800 bucks... I forget the name at the moment. I don't really like running my 2 channel music through a complicated pre/pro so that is why I'm very interested in the DAH1. I also like the fact that I can still use a remote with it.

[Dougie085]

My friend received his DAH1 and completely loves it. He had a D2 headphone amp/dac before and says it kills it. I'm going to be ordering one asap he is also going to bring it by maybe next week or something as I completed my speakers and want to try it out through my setup.