šŸ”· iFi Zen Dac/Amp v2

Equipment / Electronics / Gear / Accessories [Official] DACs
21

What would you say about the zen dac as an amp?

22

High impedance dynamic drivers are more suited for tubes. I think the zen can will driver planars more easily because they need current

23

I didnā€™t use it much as an amp. For most full sized headphones itā€™s underpowered. IMO iFi struggles with power delivery in their lower tier amps. The Zenā€™s built in amp works fine for IEMs and easy to drive planars (my Hexv2 sounded pretty good on it) but I wouldnā€™t get it to use as a primary headphone amp.

24

@WaveTheory Out of curiosity, were you using USB to power the Zen or an independent power supply?

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25

Itā€™s been awhileā€¦pretty sure I tried both. It stands out that the overall trend held up either way but that using a dedicated psu just delayed the bad things happening by 2-3 dB of sound intensity. I know for the CAN amp I tried both the generic psu that came with the second batch released and the fancier iPower unit that came with the batch 1 release, same trend.

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26

So I guess Iā€™m not really missing much if I have the v1 rather than the v2 other than the MQA snake oil, since power for 600 ohm headphones is still not enough.

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27

Cool, I just figured if you had used dedicated power it further validates your thoughts :smiley:

28

Catching up here!

To confirmā€¦

The biggest differences are in:

  • The XMOS chip, which is now 16 core.
  • The Upgraded GMT Clock (which improves overall processing speeds).
  • Instead of MQA rendering, it is now a decoder.
29

Yes, the DAC chip is the same as the OG!

30

No plans at this time for a 1 watt per channel Zen DAC but thank you for the suggestion :slight_smile:

31

Instead of using a Zen DAC for an amp, we would just recommend getting the Zen CAN (assuming you already have a DAC), instead!

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32

Thanks for replying. I just brought up using it as an amp because the Fiio K5 Pro has substantially more power. I chose the zen dac personally for its design and balanced output, but it would be nice to see a more competitive product
Stacks seem to be a trend these days. I just wish that there is a all in one solution capable of powering something like a 90db/mv arya instead without breaking the bank
By the way, my iFi zen dac works like a charm. Absolutely loving it as my headphones have a pretty high sensitivity. Kudos to the designers and engineers at iFi!

33

Thanks to Sebastien for clearing some things up. I appreciate having company reps around for this purpose!

Iā€™ll disagree slightly with his amplifier assessment, though. If you live in the US and can easily obtain Schiit products, the Asgard 3 is hands down the most capable headphone amp <$200, and itā€™s not close. Given the cost of getting a CAN amp and adding the iPower to it (after the launch edition of the CAN anyway) puts it up around $200, the Asgard is the better buy.

If you live outside of the US where Schiitā€™s distribution lives up to their name (haha!) then I would agree the CAN is probably the best option for a headphone amp.

Either way, the Zen DAC is super solid as a DAC. I really enjoyed it running through my Asgard 3 when I had that combo.

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34

I hope there some A/B comparisons come outā€¦not oneā€™s based on memory, but actual side by side.

donā€™t give a rats ass about the MQA, but would like to know how much of an impact the XMOS upgrade has,

35

Very glad to hear this. My back to work gear purchase is a Zen V2 and a B Stock Asgard 3ā€¦

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36

For 160$, the zen can is balanced while Asgard isnā€™t, and the can also has the funny buttons. And I really like those funny buttons.

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37

Sorry to chime in, but why being balanced is taken as an advantage here? Do you run your headphone on a 5 meter+ cable in a room full of EMI? IMO a well built SE amp will always outperforms a so so balanced amp.

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38

Fair point. But I still think thereā€™s an argument to be made on how much you value the buttons. I would go with the zen can, because I have the zen dac and it feels so weird going back to something without the bass boost.

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39

The iFi bass boost is very nice. If you have the Zen DAC tho the Zen CANā€™s bass boost is from the department of redundancy department. Youā€™re better off getting an amp that has the power delivery to handle the bass boost. The button pushing need to can be satisfied by the bubble wrap that comes in the packaging for that beefy amp :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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40

I too enjoy the forbidden button. Makes metal music slam my face into my desk and I love it. So much impact.

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