I like the look. It does give that commercial vibes, as though it’s intended for the masses, and it definitely pulls it off!
The colored versions make it look “normal”, while the white one just doesn’t work… It shows off that it’s too long and that it’s as if you took two IEM shapes and merged it into one, while the colored versions make it actually work.
I think it’s fun, I think the Bl05s is the only other IEM I know of that resembles a 50s car.
Saw this beauty
I was very interested - it’s an odd setup. Think I’ll wait for impressions though.
I want the BL08 just for it’s Alien catacomb design!
Amazon Canada still wants $137.00 for theese good luck sitting on those babies!
That’s getting close to Nan-7 territory for current draw. Next to the Nan-7, that would be #2 most current hugry headphone in production if its actually 82.5db/mW sensitivity.
Got these bought for me as an unwanted present… happy to sell them on cheap to a fellow HIFIG forum member if you are interested…?
Have to admit they are pretty fantastic looking.
It is the only balanced option for a desktop DAC/amp under $350, and you want to kill it.
I agree the new one seems redundant, but the zen DAC v2 isn’t the one to kill off. It is overlapping with the air.
If they don’t describe the sound as “more colored” they’re marketing it
wrong 
Fiio K7 exists at the same price with a lot more power. SMSL HO100 is $150 again with much more power. Like the Zen DAC isn’t even competitive at this point (though it does have that Burr Brown chip, though again it seems like iFi needs to make a bigger deal out of it if that’s their competitive advantage) and the bass and 3D buttons if that’s your thing. And to that point, I’m not sure what the advantage of balanced is anyway if it still has less power than competing products SE and you’re not running cables through a studio. My understanding is that it doesn’t sound better. What’s the point?
No way! $50 is the highest they deserve. Prolly lower considering latest releases.
I am waiting for a few more reviews on that K7. That volume knob lag would drive me nuts. It seems so bad, it is getting me to ignore dual AKM chips.
I have never tried SMSL, and don’t know much about their gear. That seems like a good deal, until you realize you still need a DAC.
Of course you picked one that is a few months old, and another that just came out, to compare against the Zen DAC that was the only option in that range, for how many years?
Would you recommend Sennheiser kill the 600? Because the Zen DAC and Hip DAC are probably the most identifiable products that iFi makes.
Oh, my mistake, I thought the HO100 was a DAC/amp, you’re right it’s just a DAC. It’s funny because it seems like almost everything portable has a balanced out. Like for $100 you can get a BTR5 or a Qudelix 5k with balanced, and for $250 you can get a Cayin RU6 with balanced and an R2R DAC, which is kind of amazing, though admittedly none of these have pre-outs that someone in a desktop situation would probably want, and the UX controls aren’t as good as what you’d get on a desktop thing.
I mean, this is a valid point (I thinking I mentioned in one of my comments that the Zen DAC is such an established product it might be hard for them to kill it). The thing is they could make the Zen DAC make sense. Give it more power like the K5. Maybe kill the Zen Can and give the Zen DAC v3 as much power as the Can has for the same price. NOW you’d have a killer product, something that could really give competitors like Fiio a run for their money. In fact, this is exactly what Fiio is doing with the K5, but the Zen DAC has more features like the bass and 3d buttons and the Burr Brown chip which they really need to make a bigger deal about because it’s the thing that all the competitors don’t have. Like look at how Schiit sells the Mimby as like this unique multbit chip that no one else has. The Burr Brown chip in the ZenDAC is a multibit Delta Sigma! If even says “Burr Brown Multibit” on the logo thing. Like shout about that, make that a headline feature. Hell, Schiit even says on the FAQ page for the Modi that “we think the Mimby sounds better”. Like they could release the Uno with the ESS chip and then explicitly say, “want a more musical sound? Upgrade to the Zen Air DAC”.
My claim is that the Zen DAC v2 doesn’t make sense from a value prop position anymore. But it could.
The most colorful sound you can get!
Faceplate looks near identical to the Shozy Magma.
That brand name is pretty…awful. 
(also in swedish, “A ful” = yeah, ugly)
I totally agree that the Zen DAC with more power makes sense. They could drop the price if they ditched MQA as well.
Again the Zen Can is only an amp, and designed to go with the Air from what I can tell. Combined they are $300, and $100 more for the extra power is something that seems reasonable, or did when it came out.
The K5 seems built to challenge that, by having the features of the Zen DAC or Air, with the power of the Can.
I agree that portable gear is the cost effective way to get balanced output. Not to mention you are getting both DAC and amp solved in a single device. I am a big fan of the BTR5, and it is still one of the best value picks for an amp, and has plenty of power for my needs, but I am mostly an IEM user and only have a few good headphones.
The new one:
xDuoo TA-22 High-Performance USB DAC & Tube Balance Headphone Amplifier — HiFiGo and another one. I dig the industrial design!
They have the Zen Air Can to go with the Zen Air DAC.
