[ducnsh]

Yes, that's correct, without its EQ button engaged our ZEN CAN Signature essentially is a batter ZEN CAN. Hope this helps, thanks!

Thanks for your reply, ordered a hd6xx signature

 

[emilsoft]

Zen can with ifi ipower x is very good for the money. It's actually quite transparent easily differentiating a variety of DACs with HD800S and properly amplifying their characteristics. It also has nice bloom and bass weight - more than expected with HD800 - it's generally quite smooth and etheral in the mids and slightly sparkly treble. It easily bests the RME ADI 2 Fs headout making for a much more pleasing and dynamic listen. It also bests the ifi Gryphon and Monoith Spark (which homogenises DACs to all sound similar - in a pleasing way though).. It doesn't best the Woo WA8 no surprise, and with warm IEMs it can be perhaps a touch too warm - but lets see after burn in.

With good DAC like RME ADI 2 fs, it can sound very fast, controlled but retaining the warmth - seems to have good control of the headphone drivers and prat - which is not something I hear often in this price range. I haven't properly tested the pre-amp out on speakers but seemed to work fine, I thought i heard channel imbalance but I have to double take.

I didn't get the signature zen can as I wanted a generic sub bass boost eq (which is nice with HD800S), not headphone specific. It's a shame ifi hasn't given us a signature with this type of eq. as I understand it's supposed to have superior components and sound.

I love the form factor - I'd like for ifi to keep this design, but put in even more performance (at higher price) to reach for TOTL performance.. if possible. Or to add a tube buffer stage.. I think they're onto something with this little pocket rocket..

 

[marekm]

It's a shame ifi hasn't given us a signature with this type of eq. as I understand it's supposed to have superior components and sound.

I believe that it did (for a while), but then they decided to do the HD6xx, Meze99 and HiFiman versions and now only these are available.

 

[Ficcion2]

They're also about to do the same by releasing an IEM specific Diablo.

They really went brand crazy after Mr. Loesch left the company. I was waiting for a higher quality Zen Can or an amp equivalent to their Neo Stream but I moved on.

 

[emilsoft]

They're also about to do the same by releasing an IEM specific Diablo.

They really went brand crazy after Mr. Loesch left the company. I was waiting for a higher quality Zen Can or an amp equivalent to their Neo Stream but I moved on.

IEM diablo? I thought whole point of Diablo was it's massive amplification for hard to drive cans and the Gryphon was their "mini" diablo

 

[tamleo]

They're also about to do the same by releasing an IEM specific Diablo.

They really went brand crazy after Mr. Loesch left the company. I was waiting for a higher quality Zen Can or an amp equivalent to their Neo Stream but I moved on.

Mr. Loesch is really a nice man. He once inboxed me after reading my questions about the Zen signature stack back in 2021. I love my Zen signature stack so much and it has been one of my best audio gear purchase ever.

 

[emilsoft]

Mr. Loesch is really a nice man. He once inboxed me after reading my questions about the Zen signature stack back in 2021. I love my Zen signature stack so much and it has been one of my best audio gear purchase ever.

He really is great always debating engineering and common sense approach, also inboxed me when I was giving stick to ifi for not embracing dsp. He also gave a certain other measurement forum a good schooling to as they seemed to be confused on how measurements translate to actual good sound, and where common sense needs to be combined with solid engineering given our current measurement limitations - I recommend finding that thread it’s an educational read

 

[BS5711]

They're also about to do the same by releasing an IEM specific Diablo.

They really went brand crazy after Mr. Loesch left the company. I was waiting for a higher quality Zen Can or an amp equivalent to their Neo Stream but I moved on.

Based on what an iFi representative said on the Diablo forum the new Diablo X is the same as the existing Diablo but with the added feature for MEMS IEM.

It isn't an IEM specific Diablo, the MEMS compatibility is an additional feature for a very specific IEM use case.

Of course they had to do away with the Eco setting on the gain switch in order to achieve that, hopefully the new Standard will be the old Eco or the Diablo X will alienate even more traditional IEM users than the existing Diablo does.

 

[Ficcion2]

Based on what an iFi representative said on the Diablo forum the new Diablo X is the same as the existing Diablo but with the added feature for MEMS IEM.

It isn't an IEM specific Diablo, the MEMS compatibility is an additional feature for a very specific IEM use case.

Of course they had to do away with the Eco setting on the gain switch in order to achieve that, hopefully the new Standard will be the old Eco or the Diablo X will alienate even more traditional IEM users than the existing Diablo does.

Yeah, see they’re tailoring yet for another brand.
Strange stuff but the Diablo I believe was the parting gift left by Mr. Loesch.

They need to get rid of the that damn male USB A.

 

[BS5711]

Yeah, see they’re tailoring yet for another brand.
Strange stuff but the Diablo I believe was the parting gift left by Mr. Loesch.

They need to get rid of the that damn male USB A.

Indeed.

The whole getting into bed with other companies seems to be their business model at the moment.

Diablo X.

The new bluetooth ear hook things and a bunch if IEM brands.

I am not a fan of that approach but others might like it. I just hope it works out for iFi.

 

[hoofman]

I'm facing a very weird issue with the 4.4 balanced output on my Zen CAN. My HD650 with a copper 4.4mm cable make distorted noises & cracking sounds & random hiccups after turning louder than about 11 o'clock. Is this clipping? The cable works fine on my micro iDSD signature, Cayin C9, or even Zen DAC V2. When I switch to my HD660S' 4.4 BAL cable it works fine also. It seems that the copper cable and the BAL out on my Zen CAN don't like each other for some reasons.

 

[AnamCeoil]

I just wanted to say how much I love the Zen stack (Zen Dac V1) with my ZMF Atticus, HD600 and Sundara. Love the power and energy it brings, and the bass boost is just fantastic. For some reason it does not play well with my LCD -XC as it generates a crackle, even in low gain (I need to spend a bit more time exploring as I usually drive the LCD -XC off my project ember Ii)...but I love the stack and zen can. Don't use the xspace, but it's great to have something like that in an amp at this price even if it isn't for everyone.

 

[GlenAppleton]

I'm facing a very weird issue with the 4.4 balanced output on my Zen CAN. My HD650 with a copper 4.4mm cable make distorted noises & cracking sounds & random hiccups after turning louder than about 11 o'clock. Is this clipping? The cable works fine on my micro iDSD signature, Cayin C9, or even Zen DAC V2. When I switch to my HD660S' 4.4 BAL cable it works fine also. It seems that the copper cable and the BAL out on my Zen CAN don't like each other for some reasons.

Not sure if related, but I've had issues with 4.4mm balanced connectors and the Zen CAN where it would only play one channel. I had to get an extension cable (NewFantasia 4.4mm) that works with the port on the CAN and plug my 4.4 balanced headphones into the end of that cable to get it to work consistently. A bit cludgey I know, but it might be worth a try.

 

[hoofman]

I just wanted to say how much I love the Zen stack (Zen Dac V1) with my ZMF Atticus, HD600 and Sundara. Love the power and energy it brings, and the bass boost is just fantastic.

Absolutely. My Zen DAC V2 + Zen CAN + HD660S OG + XBass ON = audio heaven. I can use the quarter inch jack with no issues, but most of my other sources use BAL 4.4mm so having to switch the cables all the time is pretty annoying.

For some reason it does not play well with my LCD -XC as it generates a crackle, even in low gain (I need to spend a bit more time exploring as I usually drive the LCD -XC off my project ember Ii)...

Yes that sounds like you are having the same issue.

Not sure if related, but I've had issues with 4.4mm balanced connectors and the Zen CAN where it would only play one channel. I had to get an extension cable (NewFantasia 4.4mm) that works with the port on the CAN and plug my 4.4 balanced headphones into the end of that cable to get it to work consistently. A bit cludgey I know, but it might be worth a try.

That sounds like a different issue because up to before 11 o'clock the headphone still sounds OK (minus the quiet volume of course). Still I will look around for an extension cable to see if that helps. Thank you.

 

[Thorsten Loesch]

If using Zen Can with the original SMPS or even ipower X (or normal iPower) output power into low impedances is limited, especially if using balanced output. This is also documented in Amir's measurements.

This should not affect 300 Ohm or higher impedance Headphones.

But with (say) 50 Ohm Planar Headphones like the Fostex T50 (BMF Mod + some extra) I use, it is possible to exceed the undersized power supplies current limit causing clipping and dropouts.

I commented on that and discussed options here and showed my own solution:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sup...ucts-and-possibly-other-manufacturers.966163/

In the "Supercharged" version I find I can drive rather difficult to drive high end Planars well. Seems insane driving a 4,500 USD Headphone with a 500 USD DAC/AMP stack that was a little supercharged. But it works surprisingly well. Using a stock iPower instead, less so.

Thor