[Mike Foley]

I’ve just posted a review of the phono stage. Now to write up the other items!

 

[Mike Foley]

Air Blue review published.

 

[vmiguel]

Thanks for photos!
While the contrast between products can appear more stark with rapid A/B tests, I also feel there is some things that take time to pick up on. I can listen for something specific with an A/B test, and that is useful, but I don’t feel like I have a deep, full understanding (grok?) of a product until I also have put in hours listening to regular music (both familiar and fresh) because it takes me time to notice things that I wasn’t specifically looking for… and sometimes I need to listen to a couple tracks to break erroneous first impressions, like thinking a product is shouty but then a few hours later I realize the vocals on that first recording were just hot mic’d, and it just took awhile to realize a product was just good enough to reveal that.

Exactly my toughts.

I've posted my impressions on the three devices, and now is time to just enjoy for a few more days, without the "pressure" of thinking about what to write.

I'm listening to Radio Paradise world's channel trought Beyerdynamic DT150 (closed backs to shut out the thunderstorm outside...). The DAC + CAN combo is working it's magic. With the iPower X and "old, regular" iPower bricks, it stands up to my main DAC quite well.

 

[Mike Foley]

Air Can review published!

 

[Mike Foley]

Air DAC review published. That’s me done!

 

[Evshrug]

Hello everybody! I decided to do the unboxing of the iFi Zen Air live in a YouTube stream! Jump if you can, but obviously you can watch it later if you like. I’ll try to check for comments!

I do enjoy the compact size and shades of gray on my desk!
​

@Rowan94 I do have a question... the ZEN Air Can has a 4.4mm headphone out that is described as both balanced, and for single-ended headphones on the website description:

At iFi, we know not everyone has balanced headphones, so we’ve created our S-Balanced technology. This gives you all the benefits of a balanced connection – lower noise, less crosstalk – but without the need for balanced headphones.​

Since only balanced cables can be plugged into this output (and you really don't want to plug a headphone with single-ended connections in the earcup to a balanced output!), is this truly S-Balanced or just a regular symmetrical amp connection (as the description on the back of the box suggests)?

 

[Deleeh]

Hello,
Then have fun and enjoy testing.

 

[Evshrug]

Hello,
Then have fun and enjoy testing.

I noticed I can double up the XBass circuits from the DAC and CAN, which is really enjoyable with the HD 8xx The stack needs so many USB ports though! My Mac Mini only comes with 2!

 

[dilbertprogrammer]

Greetings everyone, and thank you to @Rowan94 for allowing me to be included in ZEN Air tour!

I received the ZEN Air units yesterday evening and this afternoon I hooked up the DAC, CAN and Phono.

Looking forward to evaluating them over the next two weeks!

 

[Evshrug]

Hey everyone, I published my overview review of the iFi Zen Air line this morning!!


I’m pleased with the system and I really like its modular design, plus the value is really high for the price. I can think of a few all-in-one components that have some coldness, harshness, or off-timbre qualities that cost several hundreds of dollars, but I was surprised how pleased I was even using the “picky” Sennheiser HD 800 from just the ZEN Air DAC. Someone could easily start a system with the Air DAC, and then add to and enhance their system on their next paycheck with the Air CAN for harder to drive headphones (like the low sensitivity T50RP mk III, or better sense of separation “air” with a K712 Pro or HD 6xx). I also think the Air PHONO or Air BLUE are nice additions to the Air stack _or_ unobtrusive additions to other systems, like my antique receiver which doesn’t have Bluetooth at all.

I suppose all the ZEN products are compact, but I like the small footprint that saves desk space for all my activities . Since I’m also trying to use my desk for filming, it’s nice to have less stuff to clear off before turning on the camera! I think people could get clever with these, small and quick enough to pack up to transport to work or even a vacation, store them in a drawer when not in use at an office, or even build into a workstation or (heh!) nomad’s van home! The USB power is nice and universal around the world.

However, the form factor does have some drawbacks. I needed to use a USB hub to connect the DAC and CAN to my Mac (Minis and iMacs since the release of Apple Silicon only have two USB-A ports, but thankfully I had a hub connected to a USB-C port), and the USB cables are too short to reach from my turntable to my power strip that also has USB ports so I needed to use a big battery with USB ports to run a turntable setup. If I intended to buy a HiFi or turntable setup away from my computer, I would really want longer USB cables, or I would have to consider AC/DC wall wart plugs into the cost of a system. Also, I think it would be RARE for someone to find use for all four components to be stacked together. With a computer source, I would not expect to have the turntable nearby (I do, but… I’m weird ) or have a need for the BLUE, but if I had my turntable setup in the living room I could see the PHONO and BLUE coexisting with the CAN at the center, but at that point I wouldn’t need the DAC (because the BLUE has its own “hyperstream” Sabre DAC).

It also seems, with the ZEN Air DAC (now that I think about it, I didn’t test this with the BLUE), that sometimes the first part of songs get cut off while streaming music from Apple Music playlists and algorithm suggestions. I was able to recreate this issue consistently despite giving the previous song time to finish naturally and the next track time to “buffer,” but the amount of time cut from the beginning seemed to not be inconsistent (I used a Queen track where Freddie Mercury started singing on the first beat, and sometimes it would lose up to four syllables). The issue did not happen when I just played from my Mac Mini’s speakers or built-in headphone jack. However, it took me some time to notice this, AND I was able to play through Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” (which just celebrated its release anniversary two days ago, you know) without perceptible gaps between tracks, so my working theory is that the DAC takes a second if you are switching from a track in one bitrate/sample rate/file format to a different one.

My biggest issue, and I’m curious if @dilbertprogrammer finds this too, is probably specific only to this particular sample. I tried using all four components hooked up together, but whenever I used the CAN’s 3.5mm input with any source (DAC, BLUE, or my Mac’s headphone jack), I heard a high mids pitched whine. It was low enough with my 300 Ω HD 8xx that I could ignore it while listening to active music, but between songs or during musical rests the whine was quiet but ever present. It got louder if I turned up the CAN’s volume (well past music listening levels), but didn’t seem to be affected by the output gain of the DAC. If I bought the CAN myself, I would have sent it in for warranty, but I fully expect it was a single unit defect rather than an inherent design flaw that would appear on other samples of ZEN Air CAN.

Overall, I think it’s a great budget system. The CAN is my favorite, because I really like all the tone, gain, and input select features, and it definitely kicked up the performance of my lower sensitivity and higher impedance headphones, improving their sense of soundstage and impact, but I could easily see the Air DAC being a great first buy for someone who wants their first taste of audiophile sound. The Phono works well, and was just plug-and-play to add a turntable to a sound system, something that’s very welcome when turntables are generally fiddly devices that need tweaking to optimize. The BLUE may be the least exciting component, because of the wealth of other wireless streaming options at $99, but viewed on its own it’s a capable device that sounds really good for Bluetooth, and the component I would most likely have passed on if it wasn’t included ended up being the component I feel like could have merited a bit more time to understand it fully. With the CanJam buzz around discrete clocks for ultra high end systems, the clocks built into the BLUE and DAC are advertised as being accurate down to the femto-second.

I could see these being popular in dorm rooms and apartments, offices, computer desks at home, or integrating into a HiFi or TV media center with high “wife acceptance factor” or good aesthetics.

 

[dilbertprogrammer]

Hey @Evshrug --

I experienced the same issue with the ZEN Air DAC cutting off the first parts of streaming songs, but I resolved it by downloading and installing a firmware upgrade (going from v7.2 to v7.4c) from the ifi website. You're welcome future reviewers.

I am using three components (all but BLUE) stacked at my computer source, as my turntable in my office (where my computer resides).

I've not tried the CAN's 3.5mm input but will be sure to check it out and see if I hear the whine as well. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Mike Foley]

I had the Zen Air components for review, and didn’t hear any whine with the sample of the CAN that I received.

 

[Evshrug]

I had the Zen Air components for review, and didn’t hear any whine with the sample of the CAN that I received.

The RCA inputs worked a treat for me. It was only the 3.5mm input, and I only tried it because I had the 3.5mm to RCA cable handy. Based on how the RCA inputs sound, I’m confident that the 3.5mm input is just a fixable defect.

I am using three components (all but BLUE) stacked at my computer source, as my turntable in my office (where my computer resides).

Maybe having a turntable next to (or near enough to) a computer is more common than I thought! Great that the firmware update improved track transitions, I didn’t even think about that!

 

[Mike Foley]

Just to clarify, I tried the 3.5mm input, and it didn’t whine.
It could be that you have a dodgy unit. It happens with all products sometimes.

 

[Evshrug]

Hey @Evshrug --

I experienced the same issue with the ZEN Air DAC cutting off the first parts of streaming songs, but I resolved it by downloading and installing a firmware upgrade (going from v7.2 to v7.4c) from the ifi website. You're welcome future reviewers.

I am using three components (all but BLUE) stacked at my computer source, as my turntable in my office (where my computer resides).

I've not tried the CAN's 3.5mm input but will be sure to check it out and see if I hear the whine as well. Thanks for the heads-up.

How goes the testing?
Really good to see that the DAC got a firmware update that resolves my main concern.
Could you test how good the range is on the BLUE from your phone, and from a computer? Smartphones usually don't have Class 1 Transmitters, so they'll have a shorter range (30-50ft), but I'm curious if there is anywhere in your house your computer can't reach the Blue. Could be fun to mention. You might even discover that you have a better signal at the end of a hall than inside a bathroom, or near the transmitter but through a wall and outside on a patio.