Fellow ZDACers:

I recommend after you've "broken in" the ZDAC in the traditional Decware method, leaving it on for about 48 hours straight, seems to just open up in a new way.  I did that, and then turned it off overnight. Today it's really sounding wonderful.

Sounding very nice. A bit of 'ease", quite welcome, seems to have slipped in to the sound.

Hard to describe it. I still really like the analog out from the Sony player in comparison, a different, slightly more relaxed, less foucsed sound. The ZDAC however just really transforms my TV watching/listening.  No comparison, it's clearly greatly improved from the audio out of the DVR, for which I'm very grateful.

Today I ran the ZDAC-1 straight into the Torii Mk III, it's no longer connected tot he ZBox.  I had it connected to the ZBox because with the two inputs and toggle switch I had added to it, I could switch back and forth between the Sony and the ZDAC-1 and compare.  That was very instructional and brought on some very good listening through both inputs. I think I have a very good handle now on the differences and similarities.

I want to state categorically that the ZDAC-1 sounds very good with the ZBox . . .and very good not connected to the ZBox. The ZBox adds a smidgeon of relaxed depth to the sound, which may or may not be YOUR thing (a lot of the time its MY thing) but the ZDAC-1 is perhaps a smidgeon more dynamic and crystal clear on its own into the Torii.

I just can't make this DAC sound bad.

Will, there is a difference.  But it's not as profound a difference as it is with several other players I've used.

It's a bit more forward and "pushing" as you wrote elsewhere without the ZBox.  The Zbox seems to offer a deeper soundstage and a slight softening of the dynamics. That's my take. You can change the tonal balance of the output a bit with different tubes, but I haven't found a tube that really alters the soundstage and dynamics aspects, they all seem to offer this presentation, with the exception of a few types that are just "too much," they distort.

The ZBox really makes an impact on thinner sounding or edgier sounding output from players that don't sound as great without it. The ZDAC sounds great with and without it. A bit less laidback without the ZBox.  I may go back to that chain of components in the near future, because in general I like the deeper laid-back presentation, though much of this is material related. I have lots of recordings, and so more options is always a good thing.

That's likely.

Hey Lon. Welcome home.

I am wondering....I guess this may be sort of a difficult question since you were a week away from your system and it was bound to be amazing with fresh ears...but also you have been comparing your Sony DAC section to the ZDAC for a long time now. It makes me wonder, do you think your ZDAC changed while you were gone? Did the week on cycle have an effect? How does it now compare with your Sony?

I get a sense that mine is still subtly changing and I have had it in serious play for 4.5 weeks. I think yours came at least a couple weeks before mine. Any thoughts?

Yes, I understand the pleasure of stepping outside the "critical" zone. I did it for a while and then went and had a bright idea... Oh crap!

Since the Mac/ZDAC brought further clarification to my sound, I thought I might experiment with removing some of the bass damping I had done to my MG944's as one of the things I did to chill the bass intensity the Torii brought to my room. Back in the madness.

So I pulled off some of the little (2mm) Marigo resonance dots from the MG driver edges, and then re-placed them preferring the minimal damping. I had also reduced the gap between the plinth and the passive radiator from the original 3/8" to 1/4. So in this experiment,  I re-opened the space back to the original, but not liking that, I incrementally closed that space back, finally to 1/4. So after several days of exploration, the MG's have ended up back where they were pre ZDAC.

But I am not complaining...before the ZDAC my sound was really, really good, and the Mac/ZDAC has improved upon that in a big way! The only drag is that all this tweeky stuff is a pain to do.



Thankfully I worked all that out of my pathetic mind and I feel quite content with where I am.... enjoying life without that critical edge again! Man it sounds incredibly real and sweet! Truly great!