Parasound Zdac now in stores

[swt61]

Got my shipping notice today for the Zdac, via Audio Advisor. According to them I was #1 on the list. I've apparently been #1 on audio dealer's lists before, because my Mom said many times that I was #1 on the Schiit list. Didn't even know they made audio equipment at the time.

Anyway, I've been curious about this DAC for a while, due to it's small size, and my previous taste for the Parasound sound. I've recently amassed a handsome stack of matching Zgear to encompass a tidy little desktop system.

This will be my first USB DAC, so I'm a bit excited about the prospects of such a device. Other sources beyond computer audio will be my Cambridge iD100/iPod/iPad and the Parasound Zcd, to spin those shiny Silver discs, old school style.

Estimated delivery this Friday.

[shellylh]

Ooh, very interested!!!

(Not on the AA website yet. )

Edited November 14, 2012 by shellylh

[swt61]

The first shipment might have been taken up by pre-orders, or they may just not have up-dated the site yet.

[blessingx]

Curious about the sound, but also on how you plan to stack?

[Dusty Chalk]

Bottom up.

[swt61]

but also on how you plan to stack?

I know this may come as a shock, but it involves some woodworking.

I plan on stacking single file, and making a simple wooden rack, as open as possible for good airflow.

Not sure when I'll get this completed, hopefully sooner than later. I'll posts some pics then.

[Mr.Sneis]

That's weird. I swear last week I was looking all over to find more info about this DAC and magically I can now find some.

http://www.parasound...soundZ/zdac.php

http://www.avguide.c...und-debuts-zdac

"At the core of the Zdac's design is Clockflawless, an exceptional new method to eliminate jitter invented by Holm Acoustics in Denmark. It preserves the source signal in bit-perfect form, while completely restoring the timing information in the stream of the original recording. All timing errors introduced and accumulated during the transport phase are removed for SPDIF and Optical as well as USB."

How much did it cost through AA?

Edited November 14, 2012 by Mr.Sneis

[blessingx]

I know this may come as a shock, but it involves some woodworking.

Certainly curious!

That's weird. I swear last week I was looking all over to find more info about this DAC and magically I can now find some....

Interesting that it's upsampling. Between this and the NWD, are we seeing a revenge of the upsamplers?

[Mr.Sneis]

I have absolutely no expertise here but would the upsampling have something to do with how it handles jitter? Doesn't sound like you can defeat upsampling either. At least you can do that with the Nuwave.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Mr.Sneis

[Dusty Chalk]

I have absolutely no expertise here but would the upsampling have something to do with how it handles jitter?

Not likely, as the two are different phases of the conversion process.

[Mr.Sneis]

Stupid DACs. I thought I learned my lesson last year. Clearly I did not.

[swt61]

How much did it cost through AA?

$475.00

[dcpoor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPCl_ez0Hio

http://www.coconut-audio.com/DAC.htm

good to see Patrick still around.

Edited November 14, 2012 by dcpoor

[naamanf]

Yeah he is either bat shit crazy and totally delusional or he is going to great lengths to make fun of the also bat shit crazy world of high end audio. I vote for the first.

[swt61]

He's bat shit crazy for sure!

What I wonder is how many bat shit crazy people give him their money? Even if it's just a few, that's still fucking crazy.

EDIT:

I wonder if he's also on some sex forum, hanging coconut pods from his Johnson, and selling the same crap as sex enhancement devices.

Edited November 15, 2012 by swt61

[Mr.Sneis]

Best video yet. I'm off to sell my house!

BTW. I learned the hard way do not plug in an AC power adapter into your DC device. My Mini-DAC no longer loves me.

[Aura]

I know this may come as a shock, but it involves some woodworking.

I plan on stacking single file, and making a simple wooden rack, as open as possible for good airflow.

Not sure when I'll get this completed, hopefully sooner than later. I'll posts some pics then.

Looking forward to pics of your woody!

Edited November 15, 2012 by Aura

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah he is either bat shit crazy and totally delusional or he is going to great lengths to make fun of the also bat shit crazy world of high end audio. I vote for the first.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

[HeadphoneAddict]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPCl_ez0Hio

http://www.coconut-audio.com/DAC.htm

good to see Patrick still around.

You can almost hear the whispering!

[justin]

That's weird. I swear last week I was looking all over to find more info about this DAC and magically I can now find some.

http://www.parasound...soundZ/zdac.php

http://www.avguide.c...und-debuts-zdac

"At the core of the Zdac's design is Clockflawless™, an exceptional new method to eliminate jitter invented by Holm Acoustics in Denmark. It preserves the source signal in bit-perfect form, while completely restoring the timing information in the stream of the original recording. All timing errors introduced and accumulated during the transport phase are removed for SPDIF and Optical as well as USB."

How much did it cost through AA?

Cockflawless eh?

[Grahame]

Or a variably (to avoid buffer over and under runs) locally clocked buffer -

Jitter removal from any digital source - "Clock Flawless" system:

To cope with Jitter (Digital time noise) picked up on cables or generated in your media source we have invented the "Clock Flawless" system. Clock Flawless is based upon a asynchronous buffer, a digital control and loop filter and a DAC controlled voltage controlled precision crystal oscillator. The Clock flawless system operates in two modes "SRC" = Sample Rate Converter mode when the signal is non 44100Hz, and in "LOCK" mode when 44100Hz. LOCK mode is subdivided into different speeds of loop filtering a fast mode for achieving lock onto the incoming sample-rate and a slow mode when lock is established. in the slow mode the numerical value of the DAC is only updated 4 to 5 times a hour resulting in a extremely good low-frequency jitter-reduction and a resulting total jitter noise of less than 10 pico second RMS.

http://www.holmacous...indepth.php#b07

so locally clocked for CD spec, ASRC for all that lovely high-rez stuff.

Yawn. Haven't we been here before?

Edited November 16, 2012 by Grahame

[cutestory]

^^ The Incredible Cockflawless Excellence.

Edited November 16, 2012 by cutestory

[blessingx]

Grahame, I may be misreading (as their site structure is a bit confusing), but isn't the above referenced from the Holm CD player? May make more since to lock to 44.1 there (or resample to 44.1 if not). Not sure if it applies to the Zdac (which then upsamples to 24/422kHz, right?). Or again I'm likely confused.

[The Monkey]

Certainly curious!

Interesting that it's upsampling. Between this and the NAD, are we seeing a revenge of the upsamplers?

As I look back over the DACs I have loved, I think it's the upsamplers I tend to love the most. That sounds dirty for some reason.

Anyway, the Dodson, the Electrocompaniet, and the NAD immediately come to mind.

[spritzer]

Get a MSB, they really love to upsample.