Post by Owen Y on Oct 14, 2019 19:51:37 GMT 12
iFi are shipping this month, their 2nd product in the affordable ZEN series range, the ZEN DAC - priced at only £129. (NZ$~259) ZEN DAC is intended to connect PCs or Macs, tablets or smart phones, " via the asynchronous in-house programmed XMOS chip-enabled USB Type-B input and outputting analog signals via unbalanced RCA, balanced 4.4mm pentacon or to headphones via 6.3mm unbalanced or 4.4mm balanced pentacon." ( AUDIOSTREAM) - Supports PCM and DXD formats up to 24-bit/384kHz and DSD from 2.8MHz to 12.4MHz (DSD256) + MQA - Burr Brown DAC - 'Bit-perfect’ DSD pathway right through to analogue conversion - 'Superb-sounding' analogue headphone amplifier for all headphone types - Line-level outputs (balanced and unbalanced) designed to switch between ‘variable’ and ‘fixed,’ providing versatility to work as a preamplifier for an existing power amplifier or active speakers.   iFi ZEN DAC webpage.
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Post by Owen Y on Jan 20, 2020 8:19:24 GMT 12
INNER FIDELITY's Grover Neville gives the ZEN DAC a good listen: " ... slight warmth that trades off some dynamics and details for an always smooth and fatigue-free listen. "  
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Post by Owen Y on Jul 10, 2020 12:17:08 GMT 12
See also Headphone,Guru review (9 July 2020) forum thread.... 
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Post by Owen Y on Aug 25, 2020 11:46:21 GMT 12
HI-FI NEWS (24 Aug '20) weighs in with an ' Outstanding Product Award' - " The ability of this little DAC/headphone amp to deliver both the scale of the orchestra and the detail of the solo instrument is never in any doubt, whether the music is played through headphones or into an amplifier in DAC mode. " " ... speed, definition and ability with timbral textures... " " It goes to show that desktop audio doesn't have to be the poor relation of 'proper' hi-fi, and that there are still giantkillers out there. " A note.... " In practice the ZEN DAC's maximum (headphone) power output can only be guaranteed with an external PSU because computer USB hub reserves can vary quite widely. " (iFi Audio also offers two upgrade power supplies, the iPower and iPower X, at £49 and £99 respectively.) 
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Post by cartridgeguyonline on Aug 25, 2020 15:05:58 GMT 12
Is this from the drawing board of colinf, or cant he say ?
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Post by colinf on Aug 25, 2020 18:23:56 GMT 12
Not me this time, I’m doing other stuff, contributing to new AMR gear. 😉 Well done to the team though!
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 30, 2021 16:26:15 GMT 12
I see that drop.com have a 'Signature' version of the iFi Zen DAC scheduled for shipping 8 Apr 2021. (US$249 - sold out, possibly available again in the future.) See also - RAPALLO - NZ$449) Some mods in the drop Signature version - " upgraded circuitry with premium parts selection... high-end, low-noise capacitors and resistors found in iFi’s flagship Pro series... ships with an iFi audio iPower X power supply, $99 value. " Also deletes the headphone outputs & the Truebass and Powermatch features. A more 'audiophile' version.  
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Post by colinf on Mar 30, 2021 19:13:03 GMT 12
The Zen Dac is pretty mighty actually. I have 3 here in various iterations. The clock source for the dac chip has very low jitter. Being a desktop device the headphone output has limited voltage output so may not work best with high impedance (600 ohm) headphones, but drives my 80Ω Focals just fine. Where the little Zen excels though is on fixed line output. Even though there’s 1 (balanced) opamp in the signal path the latest custom OV series are happily transparent. I just tend to come back to it after all the other dacs here....’how does it sound next to the Zen on fixed?’ I ask myself. No spdif input though. For that you need a Neo, which has a Bluetooth receiver as well.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 30, 2021 20:09:15 GMT 12
colinf - would you say that the iPower X psu is essential?
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Post by Owen Y on Mar 30, 2021 20:17:46 GMT 12
THE ABSOLUTE SOUND (Steven Stone)'s review (29 Mar '21) just published.
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Post by colinf on Mar 31, 2021 19:05:23 GMT 12
colinf - would you say that the iPower X psu is essential? Hi Owen, I listen to it mainly with the iPower X. The iPower is also good, a little softer sounding. Both sound better than just running it from the computer 5v USB bus. But the power supply doesn’t seem to make as much difference on the Zen Dac than it does on the Zen Phono. That needs a good power supply and it makes quite an audible improvement. It’s possible to use an iDefender with the Zen Dac. That allows you to split off the power supply from the computer USB bus and you can use an external USB 5v source of your choice. If you plug a power source into the 5v dc socket on the rear (like iPower X etc) it will automatically detect it and switch to this power supply preferentially.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Pundit
Post by peter0c on Apr 1, 2021 12:42:54 GMT 12
If there is anything to learn from this discussion and that earlier this year on under $1k DACs it is not which one should I choose (personally I'd go for the Denafrips Ares 11 but any of them would be nice), rather that there is little point on paying for one in the $ stratosphere which undoubtedly would be slightly better. It is because in 12 months a new $1k model would beat the stratospheric one, and possibly by one costing not much more that $100. Another hint, don't by a new internal combustion car because you may have to pay to get it towed away in 5 years time.
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Post by michaelw on Apr 2, 2021 19:35:47 GMT 12
No 
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Post by RdM on Apr 2, 2021 20:00:50 GMT 12
Another hint, don't by a new internal combustion car because you may have to pay to get it towed away in 5 years time.
I wouldn't rush out to buy an EV either, even if I could afford one. Although they are reportedly fun to drive.
And the ideological Green pipe dream is not (heh!) 'sustainable' in the real world, I think.
and for fun,
But all that's OT here, although very pertinent in NZ with the climate change nonsense being commissioned, IMHO.
"We now return you to our normal programming" ;=})
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Post by michaelw on Apr 3, 2021 9:50:54 GMT 12
What is "designed for DROP" ?
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Post by colinf on Apr 3, 2021 20:09:41 GMT 12
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Post by michaelw on Apr 5, 2021 12:32:09 GMT 12
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