- Aug 1, 2019
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iFI’s Zen DAC is a surprisingly accomplished budget digital-to-analogue converter
iFi Zen DAC : Read more
iFi Zen DAC : Read more
Certainly a friendly price - the sort l like to see.Personally, having lived with one on a PC for 6 months, using streaming media, along with a mains adapter - I think this Zen DAC is fantastic value for money.
Hey man. I found a 5v/3a for 6 euros. You think I should get the official ifi one? Is it that much of a difference?I've had one of these in my desktop setup since the beginning of 2020 (Dell desktop>iFi ZEN>denon DM41+Sub). I mostly listen to high res files via Qobuz (up to 24/96), as well as my own downloads on iTunes. It sounds fantastic both through my system and as a headphone amp. In the latter role it comfortably drives my Sennheiser HD 580's as well as a pair of AKG K 550's. The ability to use it it fixed or variable output modes is useful in this respect, as is the hi/lo gain button, which I usually leave on high. Even the Bass Boost button is useful, giving a subtle but through lift to the lower frequencies, though I rarely need it, The one thing I would say is that, though you can just run it from the USB feed from the PC, it does sound much better if you use an external power supply, giving the sound more solidarity and weight. It's even better if you use iFi's own low noise power supply; it really gave the sound more focus and weight, when I added it. A fantastic little unit! Looking forward to picking up aZen blue for my main Hifi, as i have balanced inputs on my amp. I'll probably try the new Zen Phono on my desktop system too, to replace the Rega Fono Mini I'm currently using...
It does full unfold for MQA, and there is alternative firmware on their website, with default one you can do full unfold of MQA and DSD 256, with alternative firmware, you lose the MQA full unfold but you can do DSD512 decoding.Does the iFi DAC do a full MQA unfold? Does it support DSD?
My March DAC will do DSD64, which is mind blowing! I use it as a Roon Endpoint, which I guess the iFi will also do?