Fosi ZD3 -Balanced DAC (ESS 9039Q2M) - First Look!

[Vlvvv]

Hello! I ask for your advice. I have an smsl do100pro+ aiyima a70. Do you think it's worth replacing the do100 pro with the fosi zd3? Thanks)

 

[Matt1974]

Well, just an update on the popping. Since pop only occurs when bit and sampling rates change, I changed opt out resolution to 24/192 fixed on wiim settings. Everything good for hours straight so far. Not sure if technically correct but I can't hear any difference. Zd3 display is obviously locked on 192 even when tracks are 48 etc. Can't tell if Zd3 is up sampling or just bypassing. The thing is no audio quality change and no POP finger crossed!

There’s a firmware update for the pops/ clicks, contact Fosi customer services. It’s made a big improvement for me, not 100% eliminated but less frequent and when I get a pop the volume is much lower.

Otherwise great. Sounds really good to me, particularly with the 4580D op amp.

I personally like the screen, looks classy, subjective I know!

 

[Graham849]

Hello! I ask for your advice. I have an smsl do100pro+ aiyima a70. Do you think it's worth replacing the do100 pro with the fosi zd3? Thanks)

No. Both great DACs.

 

[siiskone]

It could be that I have solved the problem with the pop noise, but no guarantee! I replaced the power supply with an iFi Power MK 2 today and haven't had any pop noises since. As I said, I can't say for sure if it's because of that, but everything is currently working perfectly for me.

My setup is Tascam CD-200 <- optical -> Wiim Ultra <- COAX -> Fosi ZD3 <- XLR -> Fosi v3 Monos. Your description is vague, but I believe I might be suffering from similar drop-outs. The setup works fine for 99.99% of the time, but once in every 5-20 minutes there is a glitch in the audio. It only lasts for less than a second and causes a tiny but very noticeable subsecond "jerk" to the signal and after that everything works fine again for a similar 5-20 minute period. These jerks happen mid-song and I'm setting a fixed sample rate and bit depth on my Wiim Ultra, so ZD3 doesn't see any changes to those and I don't get those clicks or pops. This drop-out thing is something else.

If this accurately describes your problem then please keep us posted on how the power supply switch is working for you and if it really fixed the jerking problem. I have tried switching optical cables and coax cables and various settings on the Wiim Ultra, but nothing seems to help. It's a real head scratcher.

If any of you forum members are experiencing this and have any other solutions that I could try, please do let me know. Someone mentioned that Fosi offers a firmware update to ZD3 through their customer support - I wonder if that has any impact on this?

 

[Graham849]

once in every 5-20 minutes there is a glitch in the audio. It only lasts for less than a second and causes a tiny but very noticeable subsecond "jerk" to the signal and after that everything works fine again for a similar 5-20 minute period.

I have a similar glitch in my DAB radio. No idea what causes it.

 

[fredreadrick]

There’s a firmware update for the pops/ clicks, contact Fosi customer services. It’s made a big improvement for me, not 100% eliminated but less frequent and when I get a pop the volume is much lower.

Otherwise great. Sounds really good to me, particularly with the 4580D op amp.

I personally like the screen, looks classy, subjective I know!

Check the Fosi Audio but couldn't find any.
Can you share the link please. Thank you.

 

[Ctroncy]

My setup is Tascam CD-200 <- optical -> Wiim Ultra <- COAX -> Fosi ZD3 <- XLR -> Fosi v3 Monos. Your description is vague, but I believe I might be suffering from similar drop-outs. The setup works fine for 99.99% of the time, but once in every 5-20 minutes there is a glitch in the audio. It only lasts for less than a second and causes a tiny but very noticeable subsecond "jerk" to the signal and after that everything works fine again for a similar 5-20 minute period. These jerks happen mid-song and I'm setting a fixed sample rate and bit depth on my Wiim Ultra, so ZD3 doesn't see any changes to those and I don't get those clicks or pops. This drop-out thing is something else.

If this accurately describes your problem then please keep us posted on how the power supply switch is working for you and if it really fixed the jerking problem. I have tried switching optical cables and coax cables and various settings on the Wiim Ultra, but nothing seems to help. It's a real head scratcher.

If any of you forum members are experiencing this and have any other solutions that I could try, please do let me know. Someone mentioned that Fosi offers a firmware update to ZD3 through their customer support - I wonder if that has any impact on this?

Bonjour,
I have exactly the same problem, and it is very difficult to describe. It doesn't happen very often and maybe Fosi will find a solution. I have a very good external linear power supply .
Best regards.
Merci

 

[siiskone]

Bonjour,
I have exactly the same problem, and it is very difficult to describe. It doesn't happen very often and maybe Fosi will find a solution. I have a very good external linear power supply .
Best regards.
Merci

Thanks for letting us know. It's good to know that I'm not alone with this and that there are others facing the same issue. I filed a support ticket to Fosi today with all the information and with links to this thread. I suggest others do the same as multiple similar support requests might get more attention and traction at Fosi. I hope they can come up with something to fix the issue. I can't really recommend ZD3 to anyone as long as this issue persists. Hold your horses, be patient and see how it plays out first. Having said that I'd be quite happy with the device if there wasn't this issue with it.

 

[CReeDeR]

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to listen to much music in the past few days, but it turns out that the new power supply unit hasn't solved all the problems completely. The pop noise when changing songs feels much rarer, but is still sometimes present. I can't say for sure whether I'm affected by the other problem you've described here.

But I wrote to Fosi Audio about the new firmware and received a reply with an attachment/link today. I have not yet been able to test the update myself. Uploading the zip here is not possible, because the file is to big. But this is the link:

https://support.fosiaudio.com/attachments/token/fuOXQj6Y0TYhJFXHM2eqF5Wbb/?name=ZD3+Software+Upgrade+Steps.zip

 

[siiskone]

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to listen to much music in the past few days, but it turns out that the new power supply unit hasn't solved all the problems completely. The pop noise when changing songs feels much rarer, but is still sometimes present. I can't say for sure whether I'm affected by the other problem you've described here.

But I wrote to Fosi Audio about the new firmware and received a reply with an attachment/link today. I have not yet been able to test the update myself. Uploading the zip here is not possible, because the file is to big. But this is the link:

https://support.fosiaudio.com/attachments/token/fuOXQj6Y0TYhJFXHM2eqF5Wbb/?name=ZD3+Software+Upgrade+Steps.zip

Thank you for your update and for the link. I downloaded the firmware package and tried it out, but unfortunately the update tool says that my ZD3 already has the firmware version 1.04, which is the same version as in the zip file. In other words, my device was shipped with the same firmware as in the update package, so it doesn't help to fix my issue.

 

[Deleted member 79915]

Thank you for your update and for the link. I downloaded the firmware package and tried it out, but unfortunately the update tool says that my ZD3 already has the firmware version 1.04, which is the same version as in the zip file. In other words, my device was shipped with the same firmware as in the update package, so it doesn't help to fix my issue.

My setup is Tascam CD-200 <- optical -> Wiim Ultra <- COAX -> Fosi ZD3 <- XLR -> Fosi v3 Monos. Your description is vague, but I believe I might be suffering from similar drop-outs. The setup works fine for 99.99% of the time, but once in every 5-20 minutes there is a glitch in the audio. It only lasts for less than a second and causes a tiny but very noticeable subsecond "jerk" to the signal and after that everything works fine again for a similar 5-20 minute period. These jerks happen mid-song and I'm setting a fixed sample rate and bit depth on my Wiim Ultra, so ZD3 doesn't see any changes to those and I don't get those clicks or pops. This drop-out thing is something else.

If this accurately describes your problem then please keep us posted on how the power supply switch is working for you and if it really fixed the jerking problem. I have tried switching optical cables and coax cables and various settings on the Wiim Ultra, but nothing seems to help. It's a real head scratcher.

If any of you forum members are experiencing this and have any other solutions that I could try, please do let me know. Someone mentioned that Fosi offers a firmware update to ZD3 through their customer support - I wonder if that has any impact on this?

Hi, I just created an account, however I have been visiting for a long time, best review site on the net, I am also getting the random dropouts you describe, its random and only last a few milliseconds, I have switched from bitstream to pcm and the issue remains, I also changed HDMI cables, no change, I also updated to the firmware in the link, no change, I have only owned it a week, Amazon is generous on returns so I will give Fosi a bit to sort the issue, if not I will return it and spend big on the Topping D90SE.

 

[TonyJZX]

the firmware upgrade has the bonus is that it delivers a Fosi branded XMOS 5.6.8 driver... which is technically the same as the SMSL one but its branded and its locked to the ZD3

https://imgur.com/a/BpyBYzC

this should be what current ZD3's look like

there should be no need to upgrade firmware... we're all early adopters on v1.04 and so it boggles my mind as to why Fosi asked people to upgrade the firmware given they would fully well know the few hundreds to maybe low 1,000s of units out there are all already on 1.04!

unless their idea was for people to use their driver???

 

[Deleted member 79915]

There's another bug, when using HDMI CEC turn off all the devices including this one it triggers a on after it shuts down sometimes it's a few seconds sometimes it's instantly so everything shuts off then the lights come on and then everything comes back on again. If you unplug the device this doesn't happen, so there's definitely another bug with the HDMI control. I have notified the manufacturer about this by email, but I'm not received any reply yet.

 

[fredreadrick]

the firmware upgrade has the bonus is that it delivers a Fosi branded XMOS 5.6.8 driver... which is technically the same as the SMSL one but its branded and its locked to the ZD3

https://imgur.com/a/BpyBYzC

this should be what current ZD3's look like

there should be no need to upgrade firmware... we're all early adopters on v1.04 and so it boggles my mind as to why Fosi asked people to upgrade the firmware given they would fully well know the few hundreds to maybe low 1,000s of units out there are all already on 1.04!

unless their idea was for people to use their driver???

ZD3 Windows asio and wasapi driver was available since the launch date.

https://support.fosiaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/38944143461017-Can-you-provide-the-ZD3-drivers-and-foobar-installation-guide

 

[Deleted member 79915]

Found a temporary workaround to the CEC bug which turns to TV after a few secondwhen powering down devices, use remote control for the DAC and switch to any other input apart from HDMI, then using your normal TV remote or Apple TV remote or whatever you're using power down all the devices they then stay powered off and then use the remote control for the amp to switch it off no more restart, it's a bit annoying having to do this every time, but at least your TV doesn't keep coming on after every every four seconds. Hope someone finds this useful. Let's hope and pray for a bug fix.

 

[Deleted member 79915]

Excellent news I just received an email from Fosi support, they are working on the issues and will contact me when firm release is available, excellent Support can't fault them and now with the workaround I will be keeping the device until the firmware is fixed. It's an early device and is bound to be some bugs but can't fault the Support with this company is absolutely fantastic.

 

[Ctroncy]

Thanks for letting us know. It's good to know that I'm not alone with this and that there are others facing the same issue. I filed a support ticket to Fosi today with all the information and with links to this thread. I suggest others do the same as multiple similar support requests might get more attention and traction at Fosi. I hope they can come up with something to fix the issue. I can't really recommend ZD3 to anyone as long as this issue persists. Hold your horses, be patient and see how it plays out first. Having said that I'd be quite happy with the device if there wasn't this issue with it.

After some tests, I wonder if this problem only occurs with 192 khz, I didn't really notice the issue at 96 and 48 khz. the DAC is connect in coax mode.
Cheers.

 

[siiskone]

Excellent news I just received an email from Fosi support, they are working on the issues and will contact me when firm release is available, excellent Support can't fault them and now with the workaround I will be keeping the device until the firmware is fixed. It's an early device and is bound to be some bugs but can't fault the Support with this company is absolutely fantastic.

I also received a response from Fosi:

[..]
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience throughout the process. We are dedicated to addressing your concerns and providing you with a resolution that meets your expectations.
For the firmware update, please refer to the attached file and replace the existing firmware with the new one.
You can also try replacing the power supply to see if that resolves the issue.
I hope to hear from you soon.
[..]

I believe they sent me a link to the same 1.04 firmware, but I can't be sure. I'm on grocery and kitchen duty today, so ZD3 will have to wait.

While changing the PSU is a sound advice, I don't have one at hand, I don't want to buy one just to try it out, and I believe someone already said that changing the PSU did not actually fix the glitches after all.

Despite all this I'm also happy that they responded and I'm willing to give them time to solve the issue. I'm even willing to help them debug the problem if they provide me with instructions on what to do. It could be a buffer underflow/overflow kind of bug in the firmware, I hope they can reproduce it. While waiting for a fix or further instructions I can connect my Wiim Ultra directly to Fosi v3 Monos and enjoy music without glitches. I lose the balanced connection, but for me a balanced connection with ZD3 and these glitches is way worse than an unbalanced connection without ZD3 and without glitches.

 

[newold1]

Same problem here. Setup is WiiM Pro Plus via optical to the ZD3, then XLR to two V3 Monos. I will test it with display off. Thanks for the tip!

I want to build the same Setup. Do you think the zd3 is definitely an Upgrade, If I use not the Chip in the WiiM pro plus?

 

[TonyJZX]

WiiM Pro Plus Streamer Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Pro Plus streamer, DAC and preamplifier with Bluetooth support. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $219. While the case is plastic, it still "looks the part" as the Brits would say relative to other more famous brands of...

www.audiosciencereview.com

i mean

i think both of these would be considered acoustically transparent