I just got 30 min ago, got it fedex, in it original box, and was thinking uh-oh, but the corners were fine and protected by styrofome. anyway, it bigger and heavier than I thought. I hooked it up with the optical cable that came with it. "my optical is a $5.99 special" havent swapped them yet.

anyway, i am goin to make this quick right now, got football practice, just finished cooking dinner, and all. anyway,

first impression is that it is not smooth like I thought it would be, but that is not a critique, just kinda what I thought it might sound like, but the mids and highs are clearer, more defined, it almost seems like I am in the control room listening to them mix it, thats the sound I am hearing,

oh and it not sounding smooth, it doesnt sound harsh in any way either, I didnt know what to expect so I made it up in my mind what I might think it would sound like is all.

the lows seem a little lower and clearer, but not overwhelming, maybe even slightly less sound because the low mids, and mids seem to have more sound stage and just more sound, I can almost feel the bass players finger on the strings when he is playing, its kinda cool

thats it for now. will get some time tonight to give it a good listen to and will add more later.

elroy

I think I am mistaken about how smooth it is. Uh, well there is such a clear depth to the music, I initially thought that it wasnt as smooth, but there is the depth, but it is still very smooth, I just hadnt heard the layers and depth on a couple cd's.

so the smooth issue isnt an issue, it is definetely smooth.

elroy

Tanx for sharing your first impressions right out of the box, but imo you must wait a little because like any other audio gear it takes a couple of hundred hours to "burn-in" and became even more smoothier. Also it was good to tried it with another cable(s).

Enjoy and have fun.

it is a better dac than my old entech, by a long shot. the differences in sound are very nice,

when I swapped my old vintage amps out, for the yamaha mx2000 the change in sound was night and day, my familiar music was completely different sounding songs. well with the Zhaolu, its more subtle, but just better sound across the board.

I am not good at describing the differences but I kinda feel like I am listening to it, not live but like I am sitting in the studio

I listened to Van Morrison, David sanborn, U2 joshua tree, amy grant "just because its produced extremely well" Boz Scaggs, james taylor, earl kligh, josh stone, counting crows, I tried to give a listen to every style except heavy rock. and there were some really nice changes in the music, but to put it simple because I cant explain it very well, almost all the music I listened to had another layer of depth to the music, in some recordings the layers were real deep and crystal clear, I think that is a part of soundstage, but it didnt seem wider, just more layers of clear music.

I noticed that the highs we clearer sounding and different tone on the acoustic guitar as the musicians were plucking away, but always perfectly clear, I had never heard it sound like that. it did not override the mids or lows, it just seemed very balanced.

I like it the new piece of hardware, gonna give it a listen today too.

elroy

What about the voices? Aren't they more clearly and with more presence, accuracy and transparency?

funny you should ask that question, I am different that way when it comes to voices, I dont really hear the words real well, weird, unless its a total jingle.

I hear the voices as musical instruments and after a while i start to listen to the words. but yes, the voices sounded like I could see how close they were to the microphone and them moving away slightly and basically working it. I think presence and clarity are what I am describing, not sure about transparency.

but the voice instument, I actually feel I am watching them sing and can feel the emotion.

I know my description is weird but I guess thats how I describe it. I hope anyone who reads this can kinda get the feel that I am trying to describe.

elroy

I surely know what you mean. Enjoy!

lots of times a new component is an unknown until you can hear it in your system, but not this one. i am wondering if i need to upgrade my dac to keep pace. btw, if you want i'll take that Entech off your hands as my finders fee for the Zhaolu.

Glad to hear that you like your new DAC Todd.

I got a hold of the guy who sold it to me and he told me that it only had maybe 50hrs on it. he said it probably needs another 100 or so before it really smooths out.. well its pretty smooth cant wait for more smoothness

elroy