Zhaolu...wtf?!

[Salt Peanuts]

The posts about noise and buzzing that I had spotted amongst "This is the best ever!" posts were the reason I ultimately decided not to get one. Damn, I miss my Mini-DAC and ECD1.

[tiberian]

Zip ]

I don't post here much, but I do read a lot.

As some of you know I got a 2.x for a review. They were expecting to receive a "this is the best thing ever" review from me since I got the Dac for free. I am sorry to say but I refused to do so and I offered to send the Dac back to them after trying it. comparing it to everything I could I could not justify spending $160 for it or whatever they go for. In the end I was told to just keep it and I ended up sending it off to my father so that he had something better then onboard sound for his PC.

All in all I was greatly disappointed with the dac when i spent time testing it. Few people who I privately talked to told me to let it burn in ect and it was for over 300 hours and tested again.

-Alex-

reminds me of the grover UR rcas i got 8 months ago. i posted my not-so-great impressions of the UR1 on audioasylum, grover sent me his UR-4 for free, i tried it and didn't like it, so i sent it back. then i got a pair of UR-5s out of the blue...in the end grover never bothered to get them back from me so i sold them on audiogon for like 65 bucks lol.

[Mercuttio]

The posts about noise and buzzing that I had spotted amongst "This is the best ever!" posts were the reason I ultimately decided not to get one. Damn, I miss my Mini-DAC and ECD1.

It's gone now (the buzzing that is) after mods, but I just can't believe how much undue affection the Zhaolu gets. It seems like a modder's dream DAC though, especially with such a large internal space.

The popularity has gone from FOTM to outright annoying. The Source board is totally cluttered with dumb garbage about it... a million people now think that they have this amazing $170 source that sounds like a $1k source and feel obliged to let everyone who doesn't have one know how much money they wasted (not directly, but that's the general tone).

[GoRedwings19]

It's gone now (the buzzing that is) after mods, but I just can't believe how much undue affection the Zhaolu gets. It seems like a modder's dream DAC though, especially with such a large internal space.

The popularity has gone from FOTM to outright annoying. The Source board is totally cluttered with dumb garbage about it... a million people now think that they have this amazing $170 source that sounds like a $1k source and feel obliged to let everyone who doesn't have one know how much money they wasted (not directly, but that's the general tone).

I did like that dude who modded his who felt it could take on the accuphase dp-85. I can;t wait for him though to put it up against the emm labs, dcs's and reimyo's.

[lan]

I find zhaolu to be mid-fi sounding but then so are many other things so I find it appropriate to compare them. It doesn't make sense to consider prices since they are made in different economic places. I think the sound is just fine in the quality perspective. It's not garbage nor is it top end. It is different kind of sound so if you've become familiar with other forms of stock sounds, the zhaolu will not be instantly definable. The real advantage zhaolu has is tweakable sound with various DAC boards and you can change opamps. That's why it gets my recomendation as well as a modding platform. Most people don't even know what sound they like so this flexibility is important.

The unit is cheap, that's why it gets popular. Many items are like this so I don't find it annoying. Maybe there's not enough competitors around the price range. I have a feeling if one didn't like the zhaolu from quality perspective, the Spitfire and MicroDAC wouldn't fare better in that regard. Maybe in a synergy or sonic character perspective but that's a different story from quality.

[philodox]

I briefly heard the Zhalou at the Hamilton meet yesterday. My 10 year old Denon CD player which uses the PCM1700 DAC chip sounds better than that damn thing.

After they did the cap mod and when it was hooked up to my UPC200 it sounded nearly identical to the Lavry.

What setup were you listening to it on?

EDIT: Then again I was using the built in headphone amps in both and was listening on the HD600's.

[aerius]

After they did the cap mod and when it was hooked up to my UPC200 it sounded nearly identical to the Lavry.

What setup were you listening to it on?

EDIT: Then again I was using the built in headphone amps in both and was listening on the HD600's.

Heard it before the mod out of my rig using the K340, and after mods on my rig with the RS-1. My Denon was clearly better in both cases. It made the RS-1 harsh and the soundstage & detail level wasn't as good as my Denon. Decent for its price after mods, but still nothing to write home about.

[philodox]

Hmmm... makes me think more and more that my unfamiliarity with those HD600's, the power conditioning, or something else was the culprit in it sounding the same as my lavry... hmmm

[JBLoudG20]

Hmmm... makes me think more and more that my unfamiliarity with those HD600's, the power conditioning, or something else was the culprit in it sounding the same as my lavry... hmmm

I wouldn't call anything until you hear it in your own rig.

If you can't get a hold of one, I'll gladly send you mine.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Hmmm... makes me think more and more that my unfamiliarity with those HD600's, the power conditioning, or something else was the culprit in it sounding the same as my lavry... hmmm

Well the veil is great for muffling sibilance/detail. Plus they have a built in soundstage.

Biggie.