Im considering the Zen Dac V2 ad my first desktop dac. I have two questions tho, that someone here might know:
- how is it with sensible IEMs?
- Can I use it to lineout into a 3.5mm Single Ended amp?
Thanks!
Yes no problem with a 3.5mm to RCA cable
And I had no problem with iems but I also donāt have some ultra sensitive ones 
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So do I need a 4.4mm to 3.5mm or rca to 3.5mm?
Thanks for your help 
If you want to connect an Amp with XLR Inputs you need an 4.4 to dual XLR cable or make one yourself because the one from if cost around 70$
For single ended the zen DAC has normal RCA outputs , so a RCA to 3.5 cable should work although I donāt know what amp you got if it only has a 3.5mm input
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With Powermatch enabled for IEMs, it isnāt too sensitive! Some IEMs like CFA stuff will still need IEMatch or an Earbuddy though.
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Thanks guy, Iāll get it the near future. Apreciate it!
Hello Everyone, I recently added the Zen DAC V2 stacked onto my iFi Zen CAN, and my observation is that Iām hearing more sibilance (using Anandas as primary headphone) compared to when I listened just via the Zen CAN in the past. Is this to be expected/normal?
With the addition of the Zen DAC, clarity has certainly gone up a few notches among other positives, but the sibilance is making me think about potentially sourcing for another DAC. 
duplicateā¦
the CAN has more power, so that could be involved. change the gain setting to something lower and see how that affects it. also, are you driving it via SE or balanced?
Driving the Ananda balanced. Iāve been using the Zen CAN for a few months now, didnāt experience the sibilance at all. Took your advice to drop the gain to the lowest level (was on +6dB initially), and it did sound like the sibilance went down a little, just a little.
What DAC did you use before for the CAN? Cause normally the zen DAC isnāt really know to be a bright DAC
I didnāt have a dedicated DAC, the CAN was connected to my laptop via a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable.
I read quite a few reviews before buying the Zen DAC V2, and yes Iāve not seen comments that it was going to be bright(er) either. I also tested the same source of music via an IDSD Diablo, and to me, the Zen stack does sound brighterā¦ 
Huh have the same stack and a pair of sundaras so not the same thing but the same hifiman house sound and I canāt say itās a bright tuning
So ether it doesnāt hit my treble spot or your laptop DAC did roll of those treble highs 
Maybe use the zen DAC in variable output and lower the DAC output even more in hope of that the under volted can rolls the treble even more
Otherwise you can only try a new DAC like a modi 
The Zen DAC is only 2 days oldā¦ , I was hoping that this stack would at least be able to keep me happy for the next 12 monthsā¦ 
Ok Iāll give the variable mode option a try, thank you very much for the replies and help.
Just remembered read somewhere that with the old firmware it has another filters and that could help with treble
But that was with V1 so youāll have to look if ifi has alternative firmware also for V2
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The alternative firmwares are available for the V2 as well now.
From what I can tell, there are only 2 firmware versions available; 7.2 and 7.2c.
Iām currently running 7.2ā¦guess Iāll give 7.2c a shot then.
Look if they have different filter implementations for the V1 at least it was the case
Hello, I am completely new to this site and just got the ifi zen dac v2 this day and got quite a problem?!
I wanted to use it with my IEM, the Thieaudio Oracle and I noticed some really strange sounds coming into my left ear. I started listening to multiple sources, changing some setting and restarting my pc, but it didnāt go away. After that I used an online tone generator to generate a single frequency tone to verify my speculationsā¦
I measured the earpieceĀ“s audio output with my smartphone using a spectrogram app
And it showed that especially the left earpiece is not only playing the input frequency but many others as well as seen in the screenshot below.
I just hope that somebody else here has an idea of why that happens and/ or how to fix it.
Also if that is the wrong place to submit a problem like this or if someone knows where else to post this or if it was already talked about please notify me about it ā as said I am completely new to this site
Other facts that may be useful
I used the Balanced port on the dac (front of course)
On really low volumes it is either not happening or to silent to notice
Usually the louder, the clearer the other frequencies get
The other frequencies seem to be complete multiples of the input frequency 1024Hz ā 1024Hz+2048Hz+3072Hzā¦
IEM impedance: 32Ohm
PC volume 100%
Analog audio knob at around 10āo clock
-but changing that around didnāt help
And I already searched the web a bit but only found out about a problem called āchannel imbalanceā which it could be related to ā but my case seems more extreme, than what it describes
another possibility is, that something is wrong with the IEM 4.4 pentagonn adapter
Using the normal unbalanced port does not have the problem at all
And if anyone is interested in the spectrogram app, itĀ“s called Spectroid on the google play store
How is your IEMās cable connected to the 4.4mm connector, is it using a 2.5mm/3.5mm to 4.4mm adapter or a direct connection without an adapter? If youāre using an adapter, as stupid as this might sound, you need to make sure the adapter clicks fully as sometimes a loose/incomplete connection is possible, same goes for the connection to the DAC itself.
Do you have another source to test your IEMās 4.4mm Pentacon connection?
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