Headphone ~ Dac

[Stuart.W.D]

Looking for a Christmas gift!

The gift is for a family relative to listen to his headphones on his desktop. He mainly listens to Spotify. So I don't care for MQA etc for him. More looking for the best bang for bucks for under €200 - 170 pounds!

He describes his current headphones as clean, and relaxing. The sound stage is fairly wide in his opinion, and the midrange is the strongest part of the sonic signature.

With that in mind.. Has anyone any experience with the following dacs 👇🏻

Ifi Zen Dac (original) €129
Earmen (Eagle) €129
DragonFly (Red) €169

His headphones are 32ohm! Just curious what dac would work well with the sonic signature of his headphones.

 

[camcroft]

iFi Zen Dac brilliant piece of kit

 

[Stuart.W.D]

iFi Zen Dac brilliant piece of kit

The Zen Dac looks built to last, and I am very surprised by the features on this Dac, especially at the price point. Adding in the built quality and the amount of connection available. What part of the Dac do Ifi actually cut a corner 🤔 could it be with the sound quality, and would that open up the door to the dongle dacs again - Earmen and the DragonFly. Or would it be more of a case the sound is subtle between all these Dacs within the same price bracket. If that was the case, then the Ifi must be braking even with the Zen Dac and arguably the obvious choice here..

 

[Gray]

What part of the Dac do Ifi actually cut a corner 🤔 could it be with the sound quality

I'm sure Camcroft will confirm a fine sound Stuart.
I think ifi's success is down to good value, with minimal corner-cutting.
The V2 is out now of course, with a price increase over the original - but still a bargain.

(Considered the V1 myself, but already had a DAC, so an amp was all I needed).

 

[Stuart.W.D]

I'm sure Camcroft will confirm a fine sound Stuart.
I think ifi's success is down to good value, with minimal corner-cutting.

Good value is right! I just can't understand how this device is a good bit cheaper than the DragonFly Red and Colbat! Really surprised in a good way of course.

 

[camcroft]

I have the V2 version and the sound is excellent the power Match button is handy if you use this calculator it will guide you as to whether or not your headphones will be suitable with the unit and what setting to use if it is. Hope this helps

Headphone Calculator - iFi audio

With the exclusive iFi Headphone Calculator, you can check out whether our gear will drive them. And do the same for any other product on the market, whatever the brand.

ifi-audio.com

 

[Stuart.W.D]

I have the V2 version and the sound is excellent the power Match button is handy if you use this calculator it will guide you as to whether or not your headphones will be suitable with the unit and what setting to use if it is. Hope this helps

Headphone Calculator - iFi audio

With the exclusive iFi Headphone Calculator, you can check out whether our gear will drive them. And do the same for any other product on the market, whatever the brand.

ifi-audio.com

The headphone calculator is very cool by ifi 😎 I appreciate the link.

 

[abacus]

As its being used with a desktop have a look also at a pro audio interface (Focusrite etc.) as these are designed specifically to get the best out of a computer, (They also give better bang per buck) as well as being designed for pro headphones. (They also come with software to fine tune the computers output to give the best performance with any type of headphone)

Bill

 

[Stuart.W.D]

As its being used with a desktop have a look also at a pro audio interface (Focusrite etc.) as these are designed specifically to get the best out of a computer, (They also give better bang per buck) as well as being designed for pro headphones. (They also come with software to fine tune the computers output to give the best performance with any type of headphone)

Bill

I appreciate the recommendation Bill, and I will look into your option over the weekend. Cheers!

 

[Tinman1952]

Good value is right! I just can't understand how this device is a good bit cheaper than the DragonFly Red and Colbat! Really surprised in a good way of course.

The iFi Zen DAC wipes the floor with the Audioquest Red and most others at this price point. No corners cut but it benefits from their noise cancelling technology and proprietary hardware plus a lovely Burr Brown DAC. I sold my £300 Audiolab M-DAC mini as it couldn't compete with the Zen DAC v2! Cannot recommend highly enough…plus it runs fine from just the USB input, no need for fancy PSU.
I was so impressed I bought the more expensive iFi Zen Stream at £399 to go with it. 👍

 

[camcroft]

I have the Zen Dac connected to the back of the iMac using the USB cable supplied the music is then sent from the iMac back to the Dac all volume is controlled by the Zen Dac to the headphones and all I can say its sounds fantastic without the need to adjust anything but I do use the Power Match button for my headphones. I agree totally with Tinman

 

[Tinman1952]

I have the Zen Dac connected to the back of the iMac using the USB cable supplied the music is then sent from the iMac back to the Dac all volume is controlled by the Zen Dac to the headphones and all I can say its sounds fantastic without the need to adjust anything but I do use the Power Match button for my headphones.

Agreed. Plus I thought the TrueBass button was a bit gimmicky until I tried it. All analogue and not DSP it gives a perfect gentle lift to the bass. I listen to a lot of classical and ‘world’ music (not hip hop or modern mixes with overpowering bass) and the TrueBass is so effective I leave it engaged all the time. 🙂 Nice to have that option…

 

[camcroft]

Agreed. Plus I thought the TrueBass button was a bit gimmicky until I tried it. All analogue and not DSP it gives a perfect gentle lift to the bass. I listen to a lot of classical and ‘world’ music (not hip hop or modern mixes with overpowering bass) and the TrueBass is so effective I leave it engaged all the time. 🙂 Nice to have that option…

I find that I don't really need to use it as the sound of my AT headphones is fine in the bass department although others say its a bit light I personally think that some of the music you get is so doctored that it should sound good on anything today they have all the technology at their disposal yet years ago it wasn't there yet brilliant albums were still produced. The Zen Dac setup is so good I hardly listen to my main system anymore and it only cost a fraction of the cost

 

[Gray]

I reckon you've got your answer Stuart.
(And I'm sure your relative wouldn't mind you doing a 'QC check' before he gets it).

 

[Stuart.W.D]

Agreed Gray! If I do a quality control check, the Dac might not make it out of my house 😅

I appreciate the comparison to the M-Dac mini. Very help, thank you Tinman1952. 👍🏻

 

[Romulus]

I have the the IFI Zen Dac, and each time I look at it my heart lifts because for the money it such a solid built component, lovely to just touch it and the smooth volume knob has such a sumptuous feel that it is easy to imagine this seems like an expensive high end dac. Via this Dac I use two headphones the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro (250ohms) and Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (80ohms) connected to a laptop computer. The sound quality for me is really nice, gets to the chore of the music and I listen to a wide genres of music. For recording I use the DT770 because its a closed headphone and for everything else including listening to music I use the open back DT990 (such a fun listen...!) Before I purchased the Zen Dac I was also considering the Fiio Dac/Amp at a similar price. Just on the photos the Zen Dac looked a lot more solid for me at least and now I have it I am very happy indeed with my choice..!

 

[Stuart.W.D]

I ordered the Zen Dac this evening for £99. Looks like a great buy for the money. Thanks again for everyone pitching in, it was much appreciated!

 

[Gray]

I ordered the Zen Dac this evening for £99.

Was that a discounted price for the V1?

 

[Stuart.W.D]

Was that a discounted price for the V1?

Yes, RS in Belfast are selling off the remainder V1 dacs. Cannot argue with the price point

 

[Gray]

Cannot argue with the price point

You really can't!
Good find