Massdrop x Eddie Current ZDT Jr. (Official Thread)

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by Hands, Nov 15, 2017.

  1. kloen

    kloen New

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    That might lessen the urge to roll them immediately. I guess I should have gone ahead and gotten a Modi Multibit when I ordered the Magni 3 haha.
     
  2. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Could you please elaborate on your distaste here? I found this article by Doug of ECP, who is a proponent of the topology, but it's over my head: http://diy.ecpaudio.com/p/parafeed-tutorial.html.
     
  3. Arun Kumar

    Arun Kumar Friend

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    Anybody paired it with the hifimans, HE-560 in particular? Was the match any good?
     
  4. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

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    It has been mentioned here a few times that the ZDT Jr. can power easier to drive planars like a lot of the Audeze stuff. I don't own the HE-560, but I have auditioned them extensively and I always found them to be harder to drive and to sound much better with powerful amps, especially for better bass response. It seems like this amp could probably be an "ok" fit with those headphones, but I doubt anyone would consider it an ideal match.
     
  5. Ray

    Ray Friend

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  6. Ray

    Ray Friend

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    Randos, Please read the thread before posting the same old questions. Don’t turn this into a hf thread
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Well, the Aeon open works OK from my phone but does not sound right from the ZDT Jr. I don't want to say no planars will work on the amp, but it does seem much better suited for dynamic headphones, especially the higher impedance kind.

    This has been said many times...
     
  8. Sqveak

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    I haven't heard the Jr. but the T-X0 plays nice with my Night Blues Mini.
    It sounds pretty much how it should at moderate volumes aside from the bass slam being somewhat softened.
    Gets messy as the volume increases but the sweet spot is large enough for that to not be a problem.

    (Eitr > Modi Multibit > NBM > T-X0)
     
  9. ald0s

    ald0s Facebook Friend

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    Has anyone actually tried this thing as a pre-out with speakers? Ive read through most of the thread and dont think I missed it....
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I did this by accident into Magni 3 because I thought the pre outs were a loop out. It doesn't seem too bad as a preamp, much less colored than I thought, probably because a amp load is much easier than a headphone load. I rather liked it, and there didn't seem to be any resolution loss - probably because the Magni 3 was the limiting factor.
     
  11. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    I have spent a few hours with the ZDT Jr (stock tubes) from the loaner tour. I don't hate it, but I don't like it. My audio parlance is out of practice so bear with me.

    Setup: Eitr -> Gungnir Multibit -> Saga (passive) -> ZDT Jr (stock tubes) -> Modded HD650

    The good: reverb and other decay effects have a nice pleasant immersive effect. Strings and vocals sound present and rich. Power switch on the front is nice; nice form factor. Some may be looking for viscous tube sound at this price range.

    The bad: it's hard to enjoy that when the headstage is so small. Very "in my head." It is grainy and compressed in a lo-fi way. Kind of like going from an HD650 to one of the <$100 Senn models. It doesn't sound bad bad but you know something's missing in the dynamics and it's distracting for me. The bass is lacking in a way that is pretty noticeable; it's like someone flipped a cutoff switch somewhere. It's not like the 650 are bass monsters to begin with yet I'm definitely missing extension and slam from the ZDT Jr. It's not very resolving. Layering of macro and micro detail and separation from the Gungnir Multibit gets pressed together so my ear has difficulty distinguishing layers of the track and in the process detail is lost or smothered. There's a scooped-out nature to the presentation that I can't put my finger on but is always there when I switch between amps.

    In summary, I'll put it this way: the ZDT Jr initially sounded "off" enough to me (coming from having used only Mjolnir 2 + HD650M at home or a Noble X on the go for months) that I thought the SE cable I was using with the 650 might be bad, but it sounds fine out of the Magni 3 and Mjolnir 2 so that's not it. If the ZDT Jr I heard was a headphone, I'd expect it to have a wonky FR curve. Ultimately this amp is not for me. It may be that the stock tubes don't do it justice, but I'm not going to miss this amp once it moves on.

    I'd still like to hear the big ZDT or the ZDS but the Mjolnir 2 is effortlessly better in all categories (and twice the price) and I actually prefer the presentation of the Magni 3 because it strikes a better balance, especially in the bass, and it's airier (but dry and a bit thin in the vocal range). For a little more money I'd recommend a Magni 3 + tube stage Saga over the ZDT Jr I heard. That combo gets you some of the reverb effect I liked on the ZDT Jr without the claustrophobic headstage or wonky dynamics. But I actually prefer the Magni 3 just by itself to the ZDT Jr because it's better balanced overall. I'll be curious to see what other people on the tour think.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2017
  12. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    having owned a Mjolnir2 with planars for a long while, don't doubt there are differences but two questions:

    1. please explain the reasoning for a Saga between the Gungnir Multibit and ZDT Jr?
    2. your post may go on record as the first time a $99 solid state amp is referred to as "airy", especially with a modded HD650.
    i submit: not possible with either.
     
  13. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    1. No reason other than convenience for moving cables around. My setup is a little tight, space-wise. My first listening session with the ZDT Jr was without the Saga. Don't recall any difference worth mentioning as long as the tube stage is off.
    2. That's how not-airy the ZDT Jr is by comparison. Have you tried the ZDT Jr?
     
  14. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

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    Well this is going to be an interesting few months until June comes around. Maybe some of those GE tubes should be thrown in with the loaner?
     
  15. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    1. fair enough. just wondering if Saga had a reason to live in the chain.
    2. no @Hands will not send me his ZDT Jr so I remain in the dark.

    both answers are accepted as I have no dog in the hunt, modded HD650 never impressed me enough to build around.
     
  16. a44100Hz

    a44100Hz Friend

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    With the benefit of hindsight, the modded 650 is basically the only headphone I've ever had that I really like. (I like it so much I own 3 of them: two unmodded HD6XX [one as a backup in case they go out of production] and a modded HD650.) I don't like the HE-400i, the TH-X00, Beyers, AKGs, whatever $100-400 range stuff you can think of I've tried and eventually discarded because the 650 is so good in comparison. That said, I've never tried a Utopia or an HE-6 or other things in the >$500 range so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. But I'm happy here. They still don't compare to the experience of listening on my Genelec monitors though.

    Edit: almost forgot I tried SBAF modded HD800's for about a week. Didn't like those either. They sounded unnatural to me.

    I was disappointed that my experience with the ZDT Jr was almost the opposite of how Hands describes this amp in the OP of this thread. But I can only tell you what I hear; it's possible some of my terminology for what I'm hearing is subpar but I have no reason to misrepresent what I was hearing. Better luck next time, I guess.
     
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2017
  17. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    I have the GE tubes ready and waiting when I get the loaner and I will leave them for the tour. If whoever is next on the east coast wants them please PM me and I can send them.
     
  18. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Unit I just sent to @atomicbob has the GE tubes.
     
  19. AllanMarcus

    AllanMarcus Friend

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    Ug, took me a while to figure out the GR above should be GE. Right?
     
  20. Maxx134

    Maxx134 Dunning–Kruger effect poster boy

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    Yep I can agree to your post on parts quality.

    From my personal experience I have found that tube amps will have their weakest point in the coupling of stages.

    It's like a bottleneck and ends up making the signature of the amp when it shouldnt, yet because of expense it is done so for competition and profit margins

    So the weakest part is not the tube choice, or bias point, or parts quality, or volume, or PSU, or wiring, or topology of design....

    The most weakest point I have always noticed is the simply the coupling caps.

    The majority of tube amps will NOT go thru the expense of a interstage transformer or even other cheaper modern SS hybrid solutions.
    They just use coupling caps.

    The coupling capacitor will make the whole character of the amp.

    Look at what I believe are the the coupling caps...
    Untitled.jpg
    I could be wrong , but if so, they are shiny yet tiny... Which is the norm for an amp like this.

    So, with that in mind, it is easy to understand some observations like:
    But this goes with all tube amps under $1k.
    Others would be shit surprised what garbage coupling caps is in even expensive amps.

    If they put in some nice film caps like a copper foils for about $50 a pop and increased the price $100,
    You would have an extreme stellar unit regardless.

    For a tube amp to sound good in stock form, shows the quality of the design rather than the parts.
     
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2017

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