EverSolo Z8 DAC & Amp Review

[Nutul]

This one,

Sony MDS-JB730

Sony MDS-JB730 High end MiniDisc deck. Has same mechanism as MDS-JE520 (MDM-5D). ---------- Content adapted from: MiniDisc.org page, service manual Manuals [ Sony MDS-JB730 User Manual ENG FR] [ Sony MDS-JB730 Service manual] Repair Photos Submit your own! Edit...

www.minidisc.wiki

Bought somewhere 2000-2001, don't remember exactly when,
but it still works flawless with recording as well as playback.

Ouch... that's a deck. Now I understand. I have two portable ones (MZ-R91 and MZ-NH900), but none of them - while having optical input for recording - offers optical out...

 

[AdrianusG]

Ouch... that's a deck. Now I understand. I have two portable ones (MZ-R91 and MZ-NH900), but none of them - while having optical input for recording - offers optical out...

Oh cool,

I also have this one (ms702) but have not used it for a very long time, but probably still works (after charging, that is!)

Sharp MD-MS701 / MD-MS702

Sharp MD-MS701 / MD-MS702 Released simultaneously as the MD-MS701 and MD-MS702, they are almost identical except for color differences. Uses a proprietary lithium-ion rechargable battery, so it may be difficult to find a modern replacement. The minidisc.org site claims the

www.minidisc.wiki

 

[Janck O'Neill]

Hi, and welcome
If you haven't already, it's worth looking around the site and reading some of the introductory articles and the recurring comments and themes that come up.
Consider what you are asking about: transfer of digital data (moving numbers around, not audio .. not until you get to DAC output). That doesn't have a sound. A USB => Optical adapter does not change the data, unless it's broken, so there is no impact. You get better ground isolation, but that only matters if you have ground noise, which is really obvious and you clearly don't.
The most likely, although unpalatable at first, explanation is expectation bias - we change something so we expect a difference so we hear a difference ... it's annoying, but true.

Connect your Z8 directly by USB and just listen to music for a week. After that time your brain will have adjusted and you'll be OK again.

It's worth thinking about what could, as you ask, be going on otherwise to make a difference. You will find that there are no credible explanations.

Welcome to ASR

You were right - it’s been almost two weeks, and I’ve really grown to like the Z8. Now I’m actually afraid to hook up the Hegel, in case it turns out it still sounds better.

 

[Purité Audio]

It can’t sound ‘better’ it might sound different if the hegel is adding audible distortion ( which I doubt).
Keith

 

[LesterHiggins]

If anyone sees this, I just tried out the DAC Z-8. I guess it doesn't handle XLR and RCA outs simultaneously very well? I've never seen this before - my subwoofers are on RCA out and I have to turn them up to max just to be level matched with the XLR outs, which don't even get the +6dB from balanced because I have XLR/RCA adapters to use FMODs for a high pass filter. It's really odd, is that the way it's supposed to work?

 

[Somafunk]

s that the way it's supposed to work?

As far as I know you can either use the XLR or the RCA but not both at the same time

 

[Nutul]

No, you can use them together, but of course you need compliant amps / preamps, as the volume of the XLRs is double that of the RCAs, this is a known fact. 2 vs 4 (but may also be 2.5 vs 5)

 

[voodooless]

In many cases, the RCA is just an offshoot of the XLR output. Meaning that when you connect both the load is asymmetrical, and this causes issues…. But actually it should not. Any proper designed balanced line driver should cope with asymmetrical loads.

 

[LesterHiggins]

No, you can use them together, but of course you need compliant amps / preamps, as the volume of the XLRs is double that of the RCAs, this is a known fact. 2 vs 4 (but may also be 2.5 vs 5)

Thanks - you can definitely use them together, but I've never had such a gap between subwoofer level and mains. I've used Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M, Benchmark DAC1, and even Eversolo DMP-A6 to send XLR to mains and RCA to subwoofers. With the DAC1 I have the volume level on the subs around -25 to -30dB. When I attempt the same with the Z8, I brought them up to -5dB, and would have gone higher but was hesitant to completely max them out. It doesn't seem right. I'm going to test the output with a multimeter in a bit, I've just been too lazy to get up and grab it, LOL

And to clarify, I have the DAC1 jumpers at the -20dB pad setting, it's supposed to be the same as the Z8, ~4.1Vrms through XLR and 2.0Vrms through RCA.

 

[Nutul]

That depends on the SUB's sensitivity. In my system, for instance, my monitors have something like 106 dB sensitivity, while the SUB is at a mere 102 dB.
The active monitors, however, provide 75W RMS, while the SUB stands out at 190... as a result, I had the SUB input level set at roughly -25 dB, in order to not cover everything with sub-bass...
Using both outputs to two different speaker sets is one thing, using them with a SUB is a completely different pair of sleeves...

 

[LesterHiggins]

I have active/powered subwoofers, there's not the same sensitivity specs as passive speakers. Something is wrong with this unit, because I'm measuring an 18dB difference between XLR out and RCA out, and I'm unable to get a reading from my multimeter, it isn't accurate enough to detect any RCA voltage. I had to choose one - an old DAC1 or a new Z8, and it's interesting to see that Benchmark still supports the 25 year old DAC1 in a way, I can get spare knobs and feet and a new chassis top for it, but the Z8 feels totally abandoned after like 3 years on the market.