[Thorsten Loesch]

With the power supply from Ifi, everything is fine. The device is working.
With a Chinese power supply, the indicators are constantly on, as in normal mode, but where is the sound(((
I have a sad experience, shopping with Aliexpress(((

That suggests excessive voltage, 5.6V is about the trigger point of over voltage protection.

Thor

 

[reynaldohm]

With the power supply from Ifi, everything is fine. The device is working.

Could it be that the 5V polarity is not reversed in relation to the original power supply?

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

Could it be that the 5V polarity is not reversed in relation to the original power supply?

No, both are center positive.

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

After 2 months, an order arrived from Aliexpress. As a result, there is no sound. Although the indicators on the Zen can are on. On the plug itself, the voltage is 5 volts.

Could it be that the output voltage of this power supply is too high because it needs a minimum load to regulate? As said, the Zen Can will engage protections if the input exceeds 5V + ~ 10%. The 5.67V you are seeing are just about on the boundary, some units may work, but it is not guaranteed.

Can you try to Connect a 51 Ohm resistor (or a similar value) together with the Multimeter to draw around 100mA and see if the Voltage remains at 5.67V or drops to 5V?

If the voltage remains steady at 5.67V, you need to open the supply and adjust the voltage, it should open by removing these 4 screws in the holes at the bottom, should be phillips head:

Inside should look like this:

All mains voltage carrying parts are isolated, so it should be very safe to work on this supply while it is powered, still, don't touch anything on the right and you will be 100% safe. I have marked where the output voltage can be be adjusted.

Before opening up up the Unit, I'd try contacting the Vendor to get their response.

Some times these potentiometers can be a little unreliable and shift after mechanical shocks. I stopped designing into everything because of that. However the difference is large enough to suggest to me QA/QC issue.

Thor

 

[farits]

Thank you all! I lowered the voltage to 5.2 with a rugator. Now Zen can turn on and there is sound! Yes, the sound is different, the bass was added. So far I have first impressions about the sound on this power supply.

 

[cubemacplayer]

@Thorsten Loesch I just want to thank you, and iFi too (even though I paid considerably more than the asked price) for the Zen Can (I already had a Zen Dac).
I think it's a brilliant combo and perfect to my daily listening experience. I don't have any issues with the PSU supplied but I might go after something with 4A eventually. Hard to find a good one around here, the ones I found have not so good reviews, so I stick with the one supplied until I can find a good one. A question: I have here a 5.1V 2.1A from Apple, I plug into the ZenCan and it works, is there any benefit of using it?
Thanks again!

 

[Lexxie]

@Thorsten Loesch I just want to thank you, and iFi too (even though I paid considerably more than the asked price) for the Zen Can (I already had a Zen Dac).
I think it's a brilliant combo and perfect to my daily listening experience. I don't have any issues with the PSU supplied but I might go after something with 4A eventually. Hard to find a good one around here, the ones I found have not so good reviews, so I stick with the one supplied until I can find a good one. A question: I have here a 5.1V 2.1A from Apple, I plug into the ZenCan and it works, is there any benefit of using it?
Thanks again!

The stock power supply for the Zen Can is cleaner and better. Stay with the stock PSU.

But you have another use for the apple power supply! Generally, power supplied over USB is low quality.

If you use the apple power supply on the Zen Dac, it seems likely that will give cleaner power than the dirty noisy USB power from most computers. This might only be a subtle change you don't immediately notice, except that you can listen to music longer before some internal feeling gets tired and wants to stop. Or it could be more dramatic depending on your ears and how bad is the USB power out of your computer.

Let us know your experience after giving it at least a few days of experiment and letting your ears adjust to the micro-differences.

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

I don't have any issues with the PSU supplied but I might go after something with 4A eventually.

I linked the one from Aliexpress. I have a 10W (the smaller unit) here and it's good.

The Zen Can really need mainly "quantity" in power supplies, if it is to drive low impedance headphones (e.g. Planar/Magnetostatic).

A question: I have here a 5.1V 2.1A from Apple, I plug into the ZenCan and it works, is there any benefit of using it?

I doubt it. You can try.

But you have another use for the apple power supply! Generally, power supplied over USB is low quality.

Yes and no.

If you use the apple power supply on the Zen Dac, it seems likely that will give cleaner power than the dirty noisy USB power from most computers.

Long shot. Low cost SMPS may be as bad. Also, most "charger" type supplies are not stable at low currents. It's worth testing if around anyway.

While Zen Can mainly needs power and dynamic reserves, Zen DAC benefits from good power quality (low noise mainly).

Thor

 

[pioterd]

While Zen Can mainly needs power and dynamic reserves

IFI just released ZenCan Signature without any brand-EQ, just a „standard” Xbass and Xspace. It will be sold with iPower2 5V/2.5A. I do not get it, it does not seem to have enough reserves for ZenCan. Why iFi does not release iPowerX’2 with 5V/4A or even 5A spec if ZenCan can benefit from it?

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

IFI just released ZenCan Signature without any brand-EQ, just a „standard” Xbass and Xspace. It will be sold with iPower2 5V/2.5A.

Well, it will "boot up" on that power level and will play with most headphones. So they figure it's good enough.

I do not get it, it does not seem to have enough reserves for ZenCan.

It's fine to drive 600 or 300 Ohm headphones. It lacks reserve for power hungry planars.

Why iFi does not release iPowerX’2 with 5V/4A or even 5A spec if ZenCan can benefit from it?

I personally would have long upgraded the internal power supply to give more power into low impedance with likely a second or even third PSU socket to get more power using iPower OTS, just more than one.

Making the unit (optionsally) full dual mono might be a way to go. It's easy to solve.

I might also have used the extra PCB real estate from using a basic bass boost to give it two stages (similar to iCAN Pro)

But ifi is no longer a company driven by the desire to make excellent product and to improve on what they did before. Instead selling the same product again and again with very minor changes seems preferred.

Thor

 

[cubemacplayer]

Right now I'm using the standard for the ZenCan and for the ZenDac I'm using this 2v 1a from apple, with aUSB to DC Cable.
https://lygte-info.dk/review/USBpower Apple USB power adapter UK.html

Well, I don't understand much but it got a very good review.

Here's a list with more charges btw: https://lygte-info.dk/info/ChargerIndex UK.html

 

[pioterd]

Well, it will "boot up" on that power level

Thank you Mr Loesch. In fact, what I checked is that ZenCan boots up without problems even with 5V/1A PSU, and it did audibly indistinguishable to 5V/2.4A with my akg k612pro (120ohm, 101db/V) using 0dB gain lvl (2V rca input), even with xbass and 3D on, at least to my ears (or brain).

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

Well, I don't understand much but it got a very good review.

"noise with 12mV rms and 88mVpp". That's rather terrible noise levels. The iPower is around 0.001mV RMS, vs 12.000mV.

Thank you Mr Loesch. In fact, what I checked is that ZenCan boots up without problems even with 5V/1A PSU

I tested using a linear 5V/1A and it did not boot, so kudos to the 1A supply you use.

akg k612pro (120ohm, 101db/V) using 0dB gain lvl (2V rca input)

You get 4V max in this case in balanced mode, this only needs 50mA peak signal current per channel 0.25A per channel @ 5V with the volume completely at maximum. So it is rather easy to drive a headphone.

My headphones are also around 100dB/1V but 50 Ohm, so I need more current, driving 4V in my case needs 0.55A per channel @ 5V with the volume completely at maximum. More with xBass. And it's by far from hard to drive.

Thor

 

[pioterd]

I tested using a linear 5V/1A and it did not boot, so kudos to the 1A supply you use.

IKEA 5V/1A usb charger SMÅHAGEL
Type: ICPSW5-5EU-1ICPSW5-5GB-1
Input: 100-240VAC, 50/60Hz,Max. 0.2A, 7.0W
Output: 5.0V DC, Max 1.0A, 5.0W
Average active efficiency: 76.8%

It is getting very warm when working with ZenCan, but....it works.

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

It is getting very warm when working with ZenCan, but....it works.

Something to note, if operating a "universal input" SMPS at 230V, it actually has actually much higher power available than when powered by 115V.

The power is actually limited by the current the switch handles. If the PSU will deliver 5V/1A at 100V, it may actually deliver 2A while running on 230V, but of course it will stressed thermally and all around maximally.

Getting a aliexpress 5V/4A linear supply may be a better choice for the Zen CAN and adding a 5V/1A one for the Zen DAC will likely still be < 100 USD. Just saying.

Thor