Need help from Z-Systems owners


I am interested in hearing from other Z-Systems owners. I have a RDP-1 and am having alot of trouble getting it to pass a signal through. Once it does lock on it stays until the power is interupted but it takes many attempts and sometimes days before it locks on to the signal. This happens no matter what transport or DAC is used, whether S/PDIF or balanced. Any comments would be helpful. Thanks
OLY
olymn65
Also, bob bundus's advice is excellent: all Z-systems equipment reacts very strongly to power cable upgrades. Get the best possible power cables on your RDP and use matching power cables on the CD transport and DAC as well as other devices connected to the RDP. Kr4's advice is also excellent.
If the power to the RDP is interrupted by any other way than turning off the unit by the switch on the back (power interruption, power cable accidentally taken out), signal lock may take a while before it can be re-established. Best thing to do is to turn off all connected equipment (DAC, transport, etc.) and let it sit for a few hours. Then, turn on the RDP again after all other connected units are powered up once again. Even then, signal lock may not be established, and you may have to switch between inputs on the RDP a few times before you can get a signal lock. This has happened to me twice when I accidentally pulled the RDP power cable wanting to disconnect another unit in my system. (I know it is off topic, but you can get better performance from the Z-systems/Wadia RADC 2 ADC by running it off of a battery rather than a transformer. It only draws 9V 0.500mA.)
Check with z-systems about your particular unit. There have been several upgrades to (1) account for higher bit-rates and (2) to provide better auto-lock to certain signals. If your unit is an older one and you are using DADs or DVDs or an upsampler, this may be necessary.
Have no RDP experience here, but your problem is charactaristic of a noisy environment & may be system specific. Check your interconnect cables, grounding, try some AC conditioning, maybe even an upgrade AC cord? Take it into an entirely different environment & try it there too. Good luck