[Sebastien Chiu]

iFi’s new ZEN CAN Signature isn’t just a fantastic headphone amp, it also sports a unique feature called ActivEQ which, when engaged, tailors the amp’s performance to suit a specific headphone like a made-to-measure suit.

We’ve already made the ZEN CAN Signature 6XX, with ActivEQ that perfectly matches the frequency response characteristics of both the Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones, and the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones on which they’re based.

Now, we want to make another version of the ZEN CAN Signature, with ActivEQ tailored towards a different popular headphone model. And we want YOU to decide which one!

Below you’ll see five headphones from five different manufacturers. Decide which one you think we should use for the next version of the ZEN CAN Signature and simply cast your vote by clicking here.

Once the vote has closed, we’ll randomly select five people who entered the competition who will each receive the new version of the ZEN CAN Signature, complete with ActivEQ tailored towards the winning headphone of the crowd design!

So, what are you waiting for? Get voting!​

 

[Sebastien Chiu]

Reserved.

 

[mochill]

Diablo level power with a $100 price tag

 

[corgifall]

No LCD-2 or ZMF headphones?! My heart.

All jokes aside, It would be neat to see something for the Meze Classic.

 

[seamon]

Nvm
~Snip~

 

[Hansotek]

I’m going to say the Fostex TH-X00 series headphones. These perform especially well when paired with an amp with a beefy power supply, in my experience, for whatever reason. They don’t need a ton of power, but maybe they can pull a lot of current or something... I’m not an engineer. Those amps tend to pull a lot more impact and rumble out of the drivers. Two amps that do especially well are the discontinued Cavalli Liquid Crimson and iFi’s own Pro iCan. A more cost-effective solution that can bring the beef would be sweet.

 

[Condocondor]

Mid-tier ALL-IN-ONE with more power than Neo-iDSD. Signature iDSD is excellent but worry about battery life without ability to run off a main iPowerX. iDSD Pro All-IN-ONE premium for not more than $1800 to compete with HUGO 2.

 

[coletrain104]

I would love to see instead a desktop version of Diablo, just ditch the battery. Heck, it could even look like the Neo, but it seems backwards to me that the portable amp can output 5W and the only desktop aside from the flagship (Neo) is about 1W. Shouldn't portables cater to the portable market of sensitive headphones, and desktop cater to the headphones that would only be used at a desk?

 

[Strayngs]

I voted for the Fostex as it is my favorite of the options.

 

[Reebonz]

Why not make a DAC Amp that provides presets for popular headphones/iems similar to the Focal Arche? So you could focus all your resources on making one great product and benefit more people instead of catering to people owning only one of those headphones in the poll.

 

[musicday]

Meze 99, a favourite great affordable headphone.

 

[JelStIy]

Beefy portable DAC/amp with both digital and analog input and customizable equalization

 

[gikigill]

An evolution of the ifi iMicro Black Label.

Headphone of choice would be all of them as I own all of them or a variant thereof

AK chips instead of BB.
Variable Xbass instead of just On/off.
Better implementation of 3D/Xfeed as current one is a hot mess.
Better channel matching at low volumes.
USB-C and 3.5mm input.
Ability to act as Analog to Digital Convertor via RCA/3.5mm to Optical/Coaxial.
Better battery indicators.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

They’re not asking what product you want them to build. Sounds like they’re basically asking if they make another ZEN CAN Signature 6XX that has special hardware EQ made to pair with a single set of headphones, which headphone would you chose from the selection.

Edit: And note they’re all Drop headphones, indicating another Drop collaboration a la ZEN CAN Signature 6XX.

 

[someyoungguy]

I note you're asking for input on the poll, not overall on what product to build, but I'll give my thoughts anyway since spouting off personal preferences is what head-fi is all about (just jokes, people, just jokes!).

It seems you're going for another Drop/Sennheiser-specific product. What I'd love to see is just a clearer stripped down line-up, so you can focus resources on fewer products (and it make it easier for all of us to choose which to go for). There seems to be so many iFi products coming out and a lot of confusion amongst people about which to buy, or even in the microDSD signature thread people holding off because they thought with the Diablo around the corner they should just wait. So I wonder how many will just hold off from current or future products because they figure there'll be another new iFi product just around the corner anyway. A simpler line-up will provide a bit more surety to users, and presumably allow iFi to concentrate on making each product as best as possible to stand out from the crowd.

I'd vote for:
* A truly portable/entry product: hip-dac style, with Bluetooth input but also USB for use with a phone or computer, and also analogue input for amping like the xCAN.

* One transportable product: essentially a step up from the portable product, a bit bigger and better spec'ed, a la microDSD - but just one version! Bring back analogue input!

* One lower level desktop product: instead of Zen Dac, Zen Can, Zen Dac Signature, Zen Can Signature, Neo, just have one Neo-style product. As commenter mentioned above, it should have the same power or more than the transportable product. Just combine all the functionality of these products into an all-in-one.

* Moving up the scale maybe there is room for a mid-tier desktop product, as there's currently a big jump between the Neo and Pro iDSD models.

I feel like the microDSD really helped launch the iFi brand and it worked because it was a well-thought-out product that offered a lot of versatility and functionality, and because of that it remained an attractive product for a long time after it's initial release. Would love it if companies in general (not just iFi) went more with this approach. Obviously, I don't run a company and maybe the many-new-products model is working well for business, since everyone seems to buy out of FOMO. But you know, the world is burning, so less products that stay top of the line for longer would get my vote.