[geodnb]

That looks like it will do nicely. I ordered from AliExpress - saved lots of money but had to wait.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000933941566.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.292c4c4dYplInr

There is influx of double ended male to male pentaconn cables hitting the market, which ifi can indirectly take credit for. It was simply a better move to leverage balanced interconnect over 4.4 pentaconn between their components rather than XLR, which is bulky and awkward.

I mean £70 ($96) for a the cable was just a bit too much on the steep end for me, basically half the price of the unit Itself, i probably would of paid £35 for the cable , but to get the ideal setup would be to drop another £170 on two ifi power units to power both the Zen & Can and the cable to connect the two, might save up a bit and do it but don't know whether the difference in sound will be worth it.

 

[Effigy]

I mean £70 for a the cable was just a bit too much on the steep end for me, basically half the price of the unit Itself, i probably would of paid £35 for the cable , but to get the ideal setup would be to drop another £170 on two ifi power units to power both the Zen & Can and the cable to connect the two, might save up a bit and do it but don't know whether the difference in sound will be worth it.

Its been said many many times - most of the effects of "high quality cables" are based on the bias of the purchaser WANTING it to sound better. In most cases, and its been proven numerous times, there is no noticeable effect of cables that cost more. In my opinion, you did the right thing. I paid like 25 CDN for that cable I shared with you - sounds just as good as the cable I paid double for from Hart audio and is of WAY better quality.

Most of the reason people buy these cables is based on a simple sense of assurance - the belief that if it comes from a noteworthy vendor, it is likely to work better. Another form of bias, driven from concern that isn't warranted, but hard to shake. While this is true in other cases, it is most definitely not true with cables. Vendors leverage this bias to sell overpriced gear all the time in all kinds of verticals, not just electronics.

 

[geodnb]

Its been said many many times - most of the effects of "high quality cables" are based on the bias of the purchaser WANTING it to sound better. In most cases, and its been proven numerous times, there is no noticeable effect of cables that cost more. In my opinion, you did the right thing. I paid like 25 CDN for that cable I shared with you - sounds just as good as the cable I paid double for from Hart audio and is of WAY better quality.

Most of the reason people buy these cables is based on a simple sense of assurance - the belief that if it comes from a noteworthy vendor, it is likely to work better. Another form of bias, driven from concern that isn't warranted, but hard to shake. While this is true in other cases, it is most definitely not true with cables. Vendors leverage this bias to sell overpriced gear all the time in all kinds of verticals, not just electronics.

Do you bother to upgrade the power units themselves?

 

[123peter]

Similarly, it may be wrong to say after buying a cheaper accessory that it was good to buy cheaper and not more expensive because why overpay.
In my opinion "I am too poor to buy the cheapest equipment and accessories" I always regretted not buying better, more expensive equipment because the cheap one is poorly made and I always had to replace it with more expensive ones - so I overpaid.

 

[123peter]

One more thought - probably all audio plugs, cables, adapters ...... are made in China, but only some of the company's brands are better controlled at the production level. For me, Amazon or Aliexpress are not necessarily the best quality goods, especially when the one imitates the original because it is demand for them and the price is competitive. I buy, for example, 4 identical jack adapters 4.4mm , and after careful measurement, they have minimal but different diameters. Thank you for such goods, I prefer the original - but this is everyone's decision.

There are probably a lot of bad opinions about, for example, headphones from a given company because buyers still do not know that they bought fakes, which is a plague.

 

[Effigy]

Do you bother to upgrade the power units themselves? iv read a bit and apparently the power source can make a big difference.

In the case of power, I went with the ifi low noise PS. I had other options, but I didn't like them based on wait time, cost and the inability to do additional research into the quality of the part. Later on, I was able to find a PSU 5v low noise from china that leverages solid components (see Talema transformer.) I bought this for my Tone2 pro, and have not been disappointed.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001612350608.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.703b4c4dEUw02o

Strictly speaking, to me, research matters - to @123peter 's point, I don't like overspending. The only way to resolve all concerns is to get educated. This involves slowing down, putting impatience and urges for audio awesome on the backburner, and learning the minimum theory I need to learn, and then listening to others experiences. This is the only way I know as to how to deal with the bias and simultaneously address the real want.

Notably, I bought a more expensive interconnect from Hart Audio (https://hartaudiocables.com/collect...o-4-4mm-pentaconn-to-pentaconn-balanced-cable), which was a trusted brand, but it ended up not being sheathed properly. This decision was made on little if any research. Cable plus shipping plus duty == $50.00 CDN for what is now a useless string of copper.

Same thing with the Helm Bolt DAC, although there was little research out when I bought. Its a great DAC in terms of sound, but falls apart very easily. I bought it on a whim out of impatience and based on John Darkos review.

https://darko.audio/2020/11/helms-bolt-is-a-99-portable-dac-for-hi-res-and-spotify/

(The video that I bought into which got me drooling to buy now, because mobile with lossless without dongle hell and chonky pocket dwelling battery laden girth (looking at you hip-dac (still have a hip-dac btw ) == DROOOOOOL...)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/helm-bolt-dac-amp-discussion-impressions.957279/#post-16321324 - (My real experience - scroll to top for whole article. TL;DR - nice sounding clean, neutral DAC BUT poorly put together and flimsy under normal use. (I got a replacement because the first fell apart the day I got it, the second is doing the same after a few months.))

Good brand != better.

 

[123peter]

@Effigy, I agree with you - it's good to read, listen and watch both the equipment and the people they try, the tests and compare this knowledge beyond estimation.
We live in strange times - people are looking for audio equipment from 15-20 years ago because it sounds great and they pay a lot of money for it, and on the other hand, the new equipment currently on the market is aging after 1-2-3 years and does not sound better than the old ones, and so everyone is already thinking about changing to the new version v3, v4, v9 .... which will be better than the previous one, but is it really so?

 

[TrixRabbit]

What should my windows volume be for the Zen Dac? 100 like I have it? Then just use the volume knob on the unit?

 

[Effigy]

Am I seeing that you are using an external amp as well? It will matter in terms of how you control

 

[TrixRabbit]

Am I seeing that you are using an external amp as well? It will matter in terms of how you control

Nope, just the ifi zen dac v2 plugged into my PC thru the included usb cable.

 

[TrixRabbit]

Ok after messing with it a bit, the volume for the unit does nothing through windows at all. I just left it at 50%. The Truebass button on some electronic music is absolutely amazing so far, my goodness.

Is there any benefit of running low or high gain (power match) for the Sennheiser 58x? Thanks!

 

[Maverick255]

Ok, po tym, jak trochę się z tym pomieszałem, głośność urządzenia w ogóle nie robi nic przez okna. Właśnie zostawiłem to na 50%. Przycisk Truebass w niektórych utworach elektronicznych jest jak dotąd absolutnie niesamowity, mój Boże.

Czy jest jakaś korzyść z niskiego lub wysokiego wzmocnienia (dopasowanie mocy) dla Sennheiser 58x? Dzięki!

Digital volume control always degrade sound especially windows volume control because it cutting bits.
I would set it to 100 and change volume only on zen.

 

[TrixRabbit]

Digital volume control always degrade sound especially windows volume control because it cutting bits.
I would set it to 100 and change volume only on zen.

thank you!

 

[Effigy]

thank you!

Shout out to Canada, and to my fellow Canadians with exceptional taste!

 

[TrixRabbit]

Shout out to Canada, and to my fellow Canadians with exceptional taste!

Fate has brought me here, haha.

Can I swap the included USB cable that came with the ifi zen dac to something like the amazon basics one? https://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-USB-3-0-Cable-Male/dp/B00NH144GK
Its way too short for my set up and kinda inconvenient.