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Fosi Audio ZD3 Balanced DAC Review

Rate this DAC:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 4 1.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 52 24.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 151 72.2%

  • Total voters
    209

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio ZD3 balanced stereo DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $179.99.
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Review.jpg

The ZD3 manages at the same time to look elegant/modern and cute! The choice of round display is smart as is displaying the level the largest in the center. Feature set is rich with inclusion of trigger in/out (for powering downstream amp/devices) and HDMI ARC:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio remote control bluetooth Review.jpg

It is especially nice to have "discrete" buttons on the remote to select inputs. Again, this lends itself to nice automation in addition to being easier to use than going in menus or sequential selection.

Fosi Audio ZD3 Measurements
Starting with balanced output, we immediately see signs of competent implementation:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Measurements.png


Best budget stereo dac hdmi arc balanced review.png

Best budget stereo dac hdmi arc balanced zoomed review.png

It easily achieves transparency even in unbalanced output:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo RCA Audio Measurements.png


I am now able to measure HDMI ARC which nicely shows same performance as USB on ZD3:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio HDMI ARC Measurements.png


Performance is noise bound. Competitors use 4.2 volt output which uses the best dynamic range of the audio analyzer. If Fosi had done that, it would probably extract another half a dB of SINAD. Here is the dynamic range to indicate that:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio DNR Measurements.png


Performance naturally improves a bit if we go to max output of nearly 5 volts:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio THD vs Level Measurements.png


Multitone performance is excellent and approaches state of the art where our hearing is most sensitive:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Multitone Measurements.png

For compatibility with reviews elsewhere, here is the output with 50 Hz tone driven into unrealistic 600 ohm load:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio 50 Hz Measurements.png


There is some inconsequential jitter components as indicated by spikes near our 12 kHz tone:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Jitter Measurements.png


Likewise, linearity is a hair off in one channel:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Linearity Measurements.png


Only one default filter is provided which is just fine with me:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio Filter Measurements.png

Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio frequency response Measurements.png


We see a hint of ESS DAC IMD Hump which is more than acceptable:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio IMD Measurements.png


Wideband frequency sweep shows excellent response:
Fosi ZD3 balanced DAC USB stereo XLR Audio THD vs Frequency Measurements.png


Conclusions
The ZD3 nails the look and importantly, feature set of what one wants in a low cost DAC. It provides full transparency with excellent noise and distortion. And makes this reviewer happy with such features as single button input selection and large (relatively speaking) volume level display. Company is clearly in tune with its customer needs. Its entrance is enriched by that knowledge and excellent engineering. Really, the growth of Fosi as a company in this desktop category is just amazing.

It is my pleasure to recommend the Fosi ZD3 balanced stereo DAC.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 
Incredible !
 
This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio ZD3 balanced stereo DAC. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $179.99.
Excellent results and priced well. Thanks for the extensive testing Amir.

I must say though, this really irks me and something I wish @Fosi Audio would take a step back from and just focus on making excellent audio products that stand on their own merit;

1732179214917.png



I mean really, now recommending op-amp swapping based on genre? Apologies for being a little negative here in a review thread, but I feel this needs to be called out.


JSmith
 
Thanks Amirm, another great review. I'll stick with my SMSL DO100. DACs truly are a solved issue. Triggers and HDMI are good for some. Optical output from my tv meets my needs. Great to see NO mqa :)
 
It is especially nice to have "discrete" buttons on the remote
It seems like 100% of the Chinese electronics had the same remote with no discrete "IR" --- even the expensive brands like Gustard. It is really annoying to switch inputs by toggling through the choices with a display so tiny you can't read from across the room. And worse - the option of using a third party universal remote gives you the same problem. And if you never use certain inputs, why not have an option to hide them to reduce the hassle? I eventually got a WiiM Ultra to feed the DAC and it has automatic sensing of inputs and a remote isn't needed.
 
Thank you Amirm.
About the product, it would be perfect with analog input as well. At the moment you can not add vinyl player directly to this. At the moment I have ZA3 amp and I would control the volume with DAC.
 
Impressive feature set and measurements for the price.
Would definitely put it on a list for a value system.
 
I love what Fosi Audio is doing. 2024 is their year. They have a lot of product SKU's with affordable, high quality solutions (or fun tube stuff if that's your thing). There's only a few manufacturers that spark my interest when they release something new and Fosi has now become one of them. Thanks @amirm!
 
Thanks for the review Amir.

DACs certainly are a solved problem and this is an excellent example, however, I see no benefit in replacing my Benchmark DAC2, SMSL SU8 or Topping D50s. These all perform extremely well in their respective systems and the only reason to upgrade would be for a DAC that included EQ and DSP filters.
 
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