Recommended Settings and other knowhow for HiFi players/playback

I'm confused if gapless is supposed to work or not? On the Z9X is listening to a symphony and there was an audio gap between songs. This was the same album so all the same sampling rate. I believe 96khz. It could have been MCH, would that be the problem?

 

Gapless playback is support playing 2CH/Stereo only and not with MCH in any format.
http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?thr...-upto-fw-v6-4-7-20-no-feature-requests.84836/
Item #25 as I think it is should at least be stated clearly in specifications as a limitation.

 

Mostly Chapter-2 & Chapter-4 was updated with FW 6.4(7).42 changes. This not only including SACD playback which got near to perfect but with several other updates too.

If any discrepancies are found please report those.

 

Do you think this will change? - remember it was you who hightened my awareness of MCH hehe

 

I can only hope it will but most of my MCH album sources are not affected as these have album tracks with a CUE sheet. Any live albums affected i do convert manually to that which is a good bypass.

This is the reason for not being marked red.

 

You mean, you convert to Gapless?

 

Yes using XRECODE3 I merge all title tracks to a single album track with a matching CUE-sheet generated.
In fact the program does so fully automatically with the correct settings.

 

Thanks - much appreciated

 

Updated "Chapter-9: Internal HiFi DAC versus External USB DAC"
This mainly adding the Zidoo Eversolo DAC Z6 and DAC Z8 models.
Combining these with e.g. a Zidoo Z1000 Pro will result in a very attractive price/performance HiFi 2CH setup.

Some small updates on other places.

 

More details of Eversolo models added to improve comparison with Neo S and Neo Alpha models. The biggest difference is the PSU used which I would swap for a quality External Linear PSU immediately. Keep in mind using an External PSU is always better with any DAC.

 

Interesting Any thoughts as to which one?

 

No not really but 12V 2A+ linear PSU's are plenty. Getting one with plenty small capacitors is generally a superior design as these smooth better than a single (very) big one.
There must be some forum spaces with recommendations and tests?

 

Well after some research I don't read anyone reviewing this DAC is suggesting an upgrade to the PSU.

I don't hear any noise, unlike my first DAC. The biggest upgrade with my first DAC was a better sound card and an ISOREGEN - I felt I wasted my money getting a PSU upgrade then and so I conclude that unless you have a Z6 or a Z8, heard noise and upgraded the PSU to erradicate it, then I don't think you should be spreading unscientific recommendations.

Futeko rate the existing PSU very good quality. I'd be interested in learning any information contrary to what I've said

 

@rozel Sorry to contradict. You did this before e.g. pointing out the importance of MCH music which you waved away with similar strong/unfriendly wordings. Trying it later yourself you turned around 100 degrees.

The importance of top quality Linear PSU's with DAC's is well known and proven. Just look at all top DAC products being sold as these all use very oversized and sometimes very expensive Linear PSU's. They always use separate rectifiers/stabilizers for Analog and Digital circuitry feeds and may even use dedicated transformers for that.
No opinion how good the included switched mode PSU actually is. This is extremely difficult to judge as only the final overal hearing tests are the ultimate validation (I know you prefer lab analysis). Without having a unit myself have no opinion whatsoever.

Swapping a good Switched Mode PSU for an excellent Linear PSU is never easy to hear and never should be needed to remove noise/hum as that indicates another far weaker link in the total design.

Mostly hearing noise is or due to cross influence of digital circuitry (also including the PSU's) on the analog section (shielding) or the design/components of the analog section including the power feed for it.
The Linear PSU section feeding the digital circuitry is of crucial importance for the clock circuitry and for the actual DAC conversion. A DAC chip by itself often has multiple Linear PSU subsections using dedicate secondary stabilizers for those for good reasons.

Bottom-line I am pretty convinced Zidoo uses this design to compete on price as including quality Linear PSU's (like e.g. included with Zidoo X) are far more expensive. How relevant it is? For Z6 DAC maybe it is not even the weakest component but for Z8 DAC it could well be?

Tried a big 2x 12V 5A Linear PSU with my Zidoo Z9X and my Dune Real Vision players for impact on Picture Quality and sound via HDMI but frankly never observed any difference at any moment with any source material. Clearly not the weakest link for that deployment.
Using PSU's of the correct size (max 50% sustained load) with those when connecting HDD's is crucial though not only for functionality but also time to live (MTBF). Also here Zidoo is saving money with their cheaper models.

 

@Nice Monkey - Interesting theories but given what I said, what are you contradicting. I know you have a thing about both the type of DAC Chip used and Linear Power Supplies - have you spoken to Zidoo about this and I'm afraid you might have upset Z6 users into the bargain. I still maintain that unless you hear noise and have stopped or supressed it with a linear psu, you are just being theoretical. I'm hearing no noise using my Z8 and I most certainly won't be buying a linear psu which could cost in excess of the cost of the DAC

And no - I still regard stereo as the main sound format for music, whilst I said I liked MCH, I never said it was preferable to stereo. I am not trying to pick holes in what you've said, just having a constructive discussion but you seem to have turned on me for some reason. Like I said interesting theories, now let's see some actual listening DAC tests with and without a linear psu

 

@rozel
"I don't think you should be spreading unscientific recommendations." is not regarded a polite comment by me. As simple as that and nothing more.

The added potential value of linear PSU's is not debated by anybody at Zidoo be sure of that. Yes a quality Linear PSU may cost more that the DAC it powers hence a good component to save on. Was a reason for Zidoo to smartly start using Hybrid PSU's for current HiFi models.
Topic closed for me.

Oh yes , MCH music is also a nice addition for me and just sounds very nice with some albums. Even some MCH SACD I actually prefer listening to in 2CH mode. We agree on that for sure.

 

Ohh - I am so sorry, I certainly wasn't purposely coming across in an unpolite way - my humble apologies.

All I am trying to say is I've yet to see a proper listening test which recommends a psu "upgrade". I'd certainly try the one I bought but it seems incompatible, see here: - Linear power supply, 5v-7v, 2a - just to see for myself but not sure it's adjustable to suit the Z8

 

Apologies accepted.

The picture of Zidoo shows the PSU to be 12V 2A so definitely not compatibel.
Adjusting yours to a lower voltage may be possible but never higher.
The picture shows to me a basic linear chip stabilizer based PSU with a cloned Talema transformer.
The back shows they make also higher voltage versions but that is is most likely using a different transformer and also other components.

To match the quality of a Z8 DAC I would not be using this one.

 

No, that's what I thought too, just wondered, with your knowledge, whether they can be adjusted - looks as though it cannot. Thanks

 

Very surprised that my post in the Eversolo forum hasn't had any comment so far - the audiosciencereview review of the Z8 is now on its seventh page in just over 24 hours!