jlemaster1957
1000+ Head-Fier
I have the same iFi Zen stack but instead of Loki or Lokius inserted an inexpensive Douk Audio P2 tube pre-amp (so MacBook USB-c -> USB OTG-> zen DAC V2 -> se RCA -> P2 -> se RCA -> zen Can -> se 6xx). At my office I have a HIFIMAN Arya connected to an IFi micro iDSD Signature, and I think that the home set-up compares favourably in terms of staging width if not depth (though I have not conducted an A/B comparison, it would be interesting to do sometime). I especially enjoy the tube-y timbre of vocals in this set up — plus the P2 has 3 tone knobs (bass, mid, treble), which while not as detailed in terms of tonal control as a Loki or Lokius, works pretty well to my ears. The only problem that sometimes occurs is if I crank up the bass on the P2 while the Zen Can XBass is switched on, and a bassy track is playing, things can get a bit muddy in the low end. But most of the time it works well. I have balanced cables for the 6XXs and a 4.4 Pentaconn connection between the Zen DAC V2 and the Zen Can but hardly ever use them as the system above is my happy place.Nice, you seem to know your Schiit very well (pun partially intended).
Well my ifi Zen Can has arrived today and i'm testing it thoroughly right now. SO far I'm liking it with 650 and Sundara. The XBass does an addicting job.. Kickdrums really come to life with it. Not sure about the 3D thing, very subtle. Thats gonna be some contemplation during the night to notice the difference it does to the soundstage (but its there i can hear it a little already).
I'm pretty positive on sticking to this Amp and getting some better Dac in the future. Also looking forward to tone-fiddling with the Loki Mini+. In the end turning knobs is a different interaction while sound-processing than it is with mousewheel scrolling while looking at LCD lights..
That's interesting, how do you even know this?
The Schiit page says as FAQ about Loki vs Lokius:
not stating anyhting about internal BAL->SE->BAL conversion.
But all the balanced stuff surely is a lil further down the rabbit hole for me. Gotta go with first things first.
Anyway thanks again for your insights and the tech-stuff!
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