[IcedFrosty]

ZiShan MD1
Desktop-grade USB DAC and USB audio player manufactured by ZiShan, featuring:

- PCM decoding: up to 32bit/384KHz (USB Type-A flash drive input only. USB DAC through Type-C input only support a fixed 16/48 sampling rate)
- DSD decoding: native DSD up to 1bit/11.2MHz (DSD 256) [USB Type-A input only. Type-C input downsamples into 16/48]
- Bluetooth decoding: up to 24bit/96KHz
- DAC: ES9038Q2M / AK4493EQ*2 / CS43198*2
- LPF: LM4562 (Rollable)
- Output power: 2Vrms
- MCU: Allwinner F1C100s with single; @11.0592MHz oscillator
- CLPD: AGM AG1280Q48 with dual; @45.1584MHz, 49.1520MHz oscillator
- Bluetooth chip: CSR8675
- Bluetooth codec support: SBC, AAC, AptX, AptX HD, LDAC
- Input(s): USB 2.0 Type-A for USB Flash drive, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C (combined power and USB DAC input as one port)
- Output(s): Optical, Coaxial, RCA, 3.5 LO
- Display: 0.96" OLED
- Operation method: 1 five-way physical button, remote control
- Relay: Axicom IMO 1 3VDC (3.5 LO only)
- PSU voltage: +/-13V
- Capacitance supply: 5000µF in total
- Flash drive expansion: Unknown maximum capacity; works with NTFS, exFAT, FAT32
- Power input: 5V 500mA (minimum), 5V 1A or above (recommended)
- Body dimensions: 84mm x 80mm x 24mm (H x W x T)


Gallery

Front	Rear	Whole

What You'll Get	Block Diagram	Quick Start Guide

Single ES9038Q2M	Dual AK4493	Dual CS43198

Links
Δ You can get the MD1 here on Taobao:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z0d.6639537.1997196601.4.57817484XEJZeh&id=625376418649
Δ Manual and firmware link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1XC5rv_PhVaTV9wi7YocBhQ
Extraction code: i3er
∆ New firmware link: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zishan-md1-hifi-desktop-dac.940379/post-15947479


Updates
¶ New DAC variants are available; Single ES9038Q2M and Dual CS43198.
¶ For those who experienced problem when using MD1 with linux: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zishan-md1-hifi-desktop-dac.940379/post-15947479


NOTE
MD1's RCA output is a line level. You need to connect the MD1/s RCA out to an external amplifier to adjust the volume properly.

Stay healthy,
God bless.

 

[spbkaizo]

Looks interesting - font on the silk screen is a little disappointing though.

Be interested to see the OLED display in real use, hopefully it can come with a better font than the Times font that I keep seeing on some of ZiShan's products...

Edit: Found some more text about this item.

Spoiler

Zishan MD1 is a palm-sized HIFI digital turntable with its own flagship Bluetooth 5.0 CSR8675, which can be connected to a USB flash drive, with coaxial optical digital signal, RCA and 3.5 earphone port analog signal output.



XX: "Please blow your product"

Zi Shan: "Good"



1. Complete interfaces and functions and mini size.

With LCD, five-way button, coaxial, optical fiber, RCA, 3.5 headphone jack lineout

Can connect to U disk, support multiple partitions, support multiple file systems NTFS, EXFAT, FAT32

Can be connected to mobile phone Bluetooth, support APTX-HD and LDAC at the same time

Can be connected to USB as USB DAC.

The volume is only 28*84*80. It is a good solution for your home HIFI, car, notebook USB sound card, square dance, etc.



2. NO PLL and ALL Signal comes from CPLD

Zishan adheres to the dual crystal oscillator + CPLD I2S solution. All signals come from CPLD and there is no frequency multiplication phase-locked loop. The audio crystal oscillator is divided by CPLD until the DAC.

CPLD takes over the main control and Bluetooth I2S, and at the same time synthesizes SPDIF signal output in real time.



3. BOOST+N LDO design independent of input power

The host only needs a TYPE C data cable to power the whole machine. It adopts BOOST+N LDO design that has nothing to do with the input power, regardless of the quality of the input power, even if it is powered by a counterfeit charging head, it will not play a big role in the player. Impact. But it is recommended to use at least 5V 500mA charging head.

It also provides a voltage of up to 13V and a total of 26V for the op amp, which is suitable for most op amps in the market that require high-voltage performance.



4. Deeply customized CSR8675

N day and night joint debugging with CSR engineers, finally realized the slave mode of Bluetooth CSR8675.

There are many products using Bluetooth CSR8675 on the market, but CSR8675 has two fatal problems. One is that it does not provide I2S MCLK signals. The other is that its 24M crystal oscillator is not only multiplied for BT 2.4G frequency use, but also divided into 44.1k 48k. 96k comes out to I2S, and non-integer frequency division, CSR8675 also has no decimal frequency division, you can imagine how bad the quality of the I2S that comes with CSR8675, even the frequency is not accurate. For the first point, most of the solutions on the market are used. DACs that do not require MCLK such as ES9038K2M or PCM5102, for the second point, some manufacturers use Bluetooth SPDIF signals and then use DIR9001 chips to convert I2S, which are better solutions.

But Zishan feels that none of the above is a perfect solution. Zishan feels that the perfect solution is: CPLD provides I2S signals to Bluetooth, and Bluetooth follows this I2S signal, and is only responsible for spitting out data, not generating clock signals. Fortunately, it is also on MD1. Really realized.

Now MD1's Bluetooth works in slave mode. When connecting to a mobile phone to use APTX-HD or LDAC, you can rest assured that it basically meets the definition of HIFI.



5. Excellent dual AK4493EQ DAC

Two ICs that AKM currently takes into account both price and sound performance are used: AK4493EQ.

One AK4493EQ per channel can effectively reduce crosstalk and improve separation. At the same time, a plug-in op amp socket is provided for buyers to replace their favorite op amp. The current standard op amp LM4562.



6. The simplest DAC->LPF design

Thanks to the dual power supply design, the whole machine does not have a coupling capacitor, and the necessary LPF is connected directly after the DAC, providing a standard 2Vrms level.

The physical relay suppresses the popping sound of the switch machine, and there is no audio switch or mute tube.

Multiple incense burners and multiple ghosts, I believe that the simplest design can play most of the DAC level.



7. Coaxial support DoP

Simply put, it means that the DSD signal is transmitted through the coaxial cable. But at the same time, you need the decoder to support the DoP function. If the decoder DAC in your hand is a DoP-supporting decoder such as ES9038 or mojo, when you use coaxial fiber to connect to MD1 to play DSD music can realize real DSD signal transmission and playback.



8. Compatible with most music formats and U disk file systems on the market

APE, FLAC, WAV, MP3, M4A, WMA, AIFF, AAC, DSF, DFF, ISO, CUE, even multi-channel DTS5.1, etc.

Analyze CUE and ISO in seconds.

PCM up to 384k 32bit

DSD hard decoding up to DSD256

Support U disk common file systems such as NTFS, EXFAT, FAT32, and support multiple partitions.



9. Support USB DAC function

It can be connected to a computer or mobile phone as a USB sound card function. It is used to improve the sound quality of the computer or mobile phone.



10. Comes with a cute (on the mountain) remote control

With a cute (on the mountain) remote control, it

Package Included:
1 x Desktop digital turntable HIFI player DAC dual AK4493 Bluetooth CS8675 APTX LDAC

 

[IcedFrosty]

Looks interesting - font on the silk screen is a little disappointing though.

Be interested to see the OLED display in real use, hopefully it can come with a better font than the Times font that I keep seeing on some of ZiShan's products...

Edit: Found some more text about this item.

Spoiler

Zishan MD1 is a palm-sized HIFI digital turntable with its own flagship Bluetooth 5.0 CSR8675, which can be connected to a USB flash drive, with coaxial optical digital signal, RCA and 3.5 earphone port analog signal output.



XX: "Please blow your product"

Zi Shan: "Good"



1. Complete interfaces and functions and mini size.

With LCD, five-way button, coaxial, optical fiber, RCA, 3.5 headphone jack lineout

Can connect to U disk, support multiple partitions, support multiple file systems NTFS, EXFAT, FAT32

Can be connected to mobile phone Bluetooth, support APTX-HD and LDAC at the same time

Can be connected to USB as USB DAC.

The volume is only 28*84*80. It is a good solution for your home HIFI, car, notebook USB sound card, square dance, etc.



2. NO PLL and ALL Signal comes from CPLD

Zishan adheres to the dual crystal oscillator + CPLD I2S solution. All signals come from CPLD and there is no frequency multiplication phase-locked loop. The audio crystal oscillator is divided by CPLD until the DAC.

CPLD takes over the main control and Bluetooth I2S, and at the same time synthesizes SPDIF signal output in real time.



3. BOOST+N LDO design independent of input power

The host only needs a TYPE C data cable to power the whole machine. It adopts BOOST+N LDO design that has nothing to do with the input power, regardless of the quality of the input power, even if it is powered by a counterfeit charging head, it will not play a big role in the player. Impact. But it is recommended to use at least 5V 500mA charging head.

It also provides a voltage of up to 13V and a total of 26V for the op amp, which is suitable for most op amps in the market that require high-voltage performance.



4. Deeply customized CSR8675

N day and night joint debugging with CSR engineers, finally realized the slave mode of Bluetooth CSR8675.

There are many products using Bluetooth CSR8675 on the market, but CSR8675 has two fatal problems. One is that it does not provide I2S MCLK signals. The other is that its 24M crystal oscillator is not only multiplied for BT 2.4G frequency use, but also divided into 44.1k 48k. 96k comes out to I2S, and non-integer frequency division, CSR8675 also has no decimal frequency division, you can imagine how bad the quality of the I2S that comes with CSR8675, even the frequency is not accurate. For the first point, most of the solutions on the market are used. DACs that do not require MCLK such as ES9038K2M or PCM5102, for the second point, some manufacturers use Bluetooth SPDIF signals and then use DIR9001 chips to convert I2S, which are better solutions.

But Zishan feels that none of the above is a perfect solution. Zishan feels that the perfect solution is: CPLD provides I2S signals to Bluetooth, and Bluetooth follows this I2S signal, and is only responsible for spitting out data, not generating clock signals. Fortunately, it is also on MD1. Really realized.

Now MD1's Bluetooth works in slave mode. When connecting to a mobile phone to use APTX-HD or LDAC, you can rest assured that it basically meets the definition of HIFI.



5. Excellent dual AK4493EQ DAC

Two ICs that AKM currently takes into account both price and sound performance are used: AK4493EQ.

One AK4493EQ per channel can effectively reduce crosstalk and improve separation. At the same time, a plug-in op amp socket is provided for buyers to replace their favorite op amp. The current standard op amp LM4562.



6. The simplest DAC->LPF design

Thanks to the dual power supply design, the whole machine does not have a coupling capacitor, and the necessary LPF is connected directly after the DAC, providing a standard 2Vrms level.

The physical relay suppresses the popping sound of the switch machine, and there is no audio switch or mute tube.

Multiple incense burners and multiple ghosts, I believe that the simplest design can play most of the DAC level.



7. Coaxial support DoP

Simply put, it means that the DSD signal is transmitted through the coaxial cable. But at the same time, you need the decoder to support the DoP function. If the decoder DAC in your hand is a DoP-supporting decoder such as ES9038 or mojo, when you use coaxial fiber to connect to MD1 to play DSD music can realize real DSD signal transmission and playback.



8. Compatible with most music formats and U disk file systems on the market

APE, FLAC, WAV, MP3, M4A, WMA, AIFF, AAC, DSF, DFF, ISO, CUE, even multi-channel DTS5.1, etc.

Analyze CUE and ISO in seconds.

PCM up to 384k 32bit

DSD hard decoding up to DSD256

Support U disk common file systems such as NTFS, EXFAT, FAT32, and support multiple partitions.



9. Support USB DAC function

It can be connected to a computer or mobile phone as a USB sound card function. It is used to improve the sound quality of the computer or mobile phone.



10. Comes with a cute (on the mountain) remote control

With a cute (on the mountain) remote control, it

Package Included:
1 x Desktop digital turntable HIFI player DAC dual AK4493 Bluetooth CS8675 APTX LDAC

Hello,

Well, i think the font is ZiShan's standard and they won't change it in near (or any) time. I have no problems with the font though. It gets the job done finely.

In case if you want to see the display in real use: https://cloud.video.taobao.com/play...85350773d3d/p/1/d/hd/e/6/t/1/278000925789.mp4

 

[spbkaizo]

So my MD1 arrived. It worked straight away with Windows, but Linux proved a little more difficult. Here's the fix:

Edit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

Just look for the following line

    ;default-sample-rate = 44100

and change it to look like this:

    default-sample-rate = 48000

A vendor sent me the firmware, so a mirror is here (current as of 03/11/2020)
Firmware

Will write up more of a review once I've got to grips with it. For now, listening time

 

[IcedFrosty]

So my MD1 arrived. It worked straight away with Windows, but Linux proved a little more difficult. Here's the fix:

Edit /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

Just look for the following line

    ;default-sample-rate = 44100

and change it to look like this:

    default-sample-rate = 48000

A vendor sent me the firmware, so a mirror is here (current as of 03/11/2020)
Firmware

Will write up more of a review once I've got to grips with it. For now, listening time

Thanks for the heads up. I hope this will help buyers out there who had a little problem using it with linux. I'll add the firmware to the main thread.

 

[terranigma]

Only 16/48 for USB DAC? I can't believe the waste of the potential. If this had produced as a stand alone or more capable DAC, it would be a big hit on market. What a waste..

 

[IcedFrosty]

Only 16/48 for USB DAC? I can't believe the waste of the potential. If this had produced as a stand alone or more capable DAC, it would be a big hit on market. What a waste..

Yeah. If only it supports various sampling rates (not a fixed one) and both; the optical and coaxial ports, are inputs, this would be a very success product. Too unfortunate that they only make the U1 supports high sampling rates. Perhaps in the next MD2?

 

[terranigma]

Yeah. If only it supports various sampling rates (not a fixed one) and both; the optical and coaxial ports, are inputs, this would be a very success product. Too unfortunate that they only make the U1 supports high sampling rates. Perhaps in the next MD2?

You mean "optical and coaxial ports, are outputs"?

I like Zishan for their high quality PCB design and manufacture skills for good price. I was going to purchase in moment 2xCS43198 version but information on this thread stopped me. I couldn't imagine a "desktop dac" with high quality components will be produced as a DAP in mind. I wouldn't call this a "desktop dac" without prioritizing USB input. MD1 suits more like a "car dac with home style remote contoller" which may define a new type of a device.

I don't say DAP features is not a good thing. DAP features only makes sense if it is provided with fully capable USB input on a desktop style dac. DAP features + full USB + Zishan PCB quality would put this device ahead of other ones.

 

[Belrat]

I am satisfied with my MD1. I can play all kinds of samplerates as DSD 128 and 24bit/192 kHz. Put in a USB-stick with music and it plays right away. The USB-input is not powered, so you only can use external discs with their own power connection. Connect trough the RCA-cables with your ampilfier adjust the output to your other sources an it is ready. The screen is the same as the Z3. The User interface is the same as the Z3 or DSD. The remote is pleasent to use instead of my Zishan DSD. Use the MD1 as a substitute for a Z3. You get double AK 4493's instead of a single one in the Z3 plus a remote and the bluetooth functionality through the AK 4493's when you use de RCA output. Ideal when you use the player like me, connected to an seperate amplifier in a hifi home system. What is important is that you use a sufficient USB-adapter. I used one with an output op 1A, but that was not sufficient enough. Effect is that the player won't start or stops and seems to be dead.

 

[numon]

what is the output mw power to 64 ohm?i want to find more power output mw than zishan dsd 4497.but no info as always seen in zishan products.

 

[spbkaizo]

what is the output mw power to 64 ohm?i want to find more power output mw than zishan dsd 4497.but no info as always seen in zishan products.

This device provides line level output, it doesn't contain a headphone amplifier. It doesn't have a 3.5mm jack output anyway.

 

[numon]

This device provides line level output, it doesn't contain a headphone amplifier. It doesn't have a 3.5mm jack output anyway.

sorry i am newbie,can be use as dac and connected to amp?

 

[spbkaizo]

sorry i am newbie,can be use as dac and connected to amp?

Yep, absolutely. You just connect to another device using a USB cable, set it as an output soundcard, and then use RCA cables from the Zishan to an amp.

 

[numon]

Yep, absolutely. You just connect to another device using a USB cable, set it as an output soundcard, and then use RCA cables from the Zishan to an amp.

thanks .usb cable means otg cable from phone?

 

[desktop]

Are there any listening impressions that anyone could share?

I have one of the MD-1 units on the way.