Just bought the ifi Zen Can 3 to connect it to my Marantz Cinema 30 and Sennheiser HD 800s Headphones, I cannot figure what is the best way to connect all three, I’ve read in some places to use the balanced 4.4mm to dual-rca cable between the Cinema 30 and ifi Zen Can3 and then connect the balanced cable of the headphone to the ifi Zen Can balanced input.
In other placed to use the standard RCA cable on both the Cinema 30 and Zen Can 3.
Can you recommended the better connection and what should be the best connection between the HD 800s and the Zen Can.
The two RCA Pre Out marked Front into the amplifier RCA inputs would be the easiest way. The balanced 4.4mm headphone jack has the most power on it. Youkamoo cables on Amazon work well and won’t blow the budget. Hart Cables or Audiophileninja are best though. Amazon Basics RCA cables are transparent, Amir on ASR measured those. I use them because they’re soft and bendy.
Thanks Nick, What is confusing is the connection between the Sennheiser HD 800s and ifi if I should go through the balanced or and unbalanced route given that the Marantz Cinema 30 does not have balanced output.
I need to know in order to decide on which cables should I buy.
Everything is connected to the Sony Bravia 9 and then using the eArc from Bravia 9 to the Marantz with the exception of
1- Turntable for obvious reason.
2- Panasonic 4K Player, HDMI Video out to TV, HDMI Aufio out to Marantz.
3- I couldn’t do this with the the Denon DBT-3313UDCI Blu ray (Split the HDMI) as I ran out of HDMI’s on the TV, So HDMI out from Denon directly to Cinema 30 which I assume is better as I use it solely to play SACD and CD’s.
But the question is what changes in setup on the Marantz should I do to get the best of the ifi and HD 800s.
And for the HD 800s to the ifi, it won’t make a difference if I use the balanced or unbalanced input regardless of the connection type between the Cinema 30 and ifi, Right?
Also one more Q, Can I use RCA out from Marantz and then Balanced side input on the Zen Can 3 or you prefer RCA to RCA