It’s not all about the power…
The ZEN DAC series of DAC/amps catapulted the British audio tech company iFi Audio to the forefront of the audiophile and headphone communities.
Renowned for their smooth and effortless sound as well as high build quality, the iFi ZEN DAC has now entered its third generation which has introduced a few key changes compared to the V2 model.
Will the ZEN DAC 3 continue iFi’s reputation as a the default choice for budget audiophiles and headphone enthusiasts? Let’s find out.
The iFi ZEN DAC 3 retails for £229; more information can be found on iFi’s website. Many thanks to Karina at iFi Audio for sending out a ZEN DAC 3 for review.
Specifications and Features
Included in the box with the ZEN DAC 3, apart from the unit itself of course, is a handy quick-start guide, RCA cables and a USB-C to USB-A cable to connect the unit to your media playback device. A USB-C to USB-C cable would have been nice as well to connect to a mobile phone, but I understand iFi’s decision to go with USB-A as the ZEN DAC 3 will be used primarily in a desktop setting.
The ZEN DAC 3 can be powered completely via USB, meaning no external power supply is needed. However, iFi have included a 5V power socket on the unit just in case you would rather power the DAC using mains.
iFi claim that hooking up the ZEN DAC 3 to an external power supply ensures that the USB connection is solely dedicated to data transfer, improving the sound quality. I had iFi send over their iPowerX power supply to test this theory, which I will dive into in the sound section of this review.
Compared to the ZEN DAC V2, the third generation model has swapped out the USB-B data connection for USB-C and can decode up to PCM768 and DSD512 (compared to PCM384 and DSD256 in the former). TrueBass circuitry has also been swapped out for XBass+, which can be toggled on and off with a button at the front of the unit. These can all be regarded as positive changes.
The output power has remained unchanged, rated at over 390mW (@64 Ohms) from the balanced 4.4mm connection. Both units still use the fabled Burr-Brown DAC chip and 16-core XMOS audio processors, though the ZEN DAC 3 has better harmonic distortion figures but slightly worse signal-noise ratio and dynamic range compared to its predecessor. The differences are negligible, but we will see whether this has had any effect on the sound later on.
Design and Build
In my opinion this is just a flat-out better looking version of the ZEN DAC V2. I love the extra details and more premium-feeling volume knob on the third gen; the V2 now looks more bland in comparison.
Some don’t like the shape that the ZEN DAC has always had, especially because it doesn’t really fit well in a stack with another amplifier. But as a standalone unit, I’m a fan of the smooth curves and the overall material choices are high quality with barely a hint of plastic on the exterior of the device.
The volume pot has a smooth rotation with enough resistance to prevent unwanted changes in volume, and the buttons for XBass+ and Power Match work well. Furthermore, I thought it would be worth mentioning that the unit never got warm, let alone hot in my many hours of testing. I have only praises for the design and build of the ZEN DAC 3.
Sound and Synergy
Simply put, I found the sound coming out from the iFi ZEN DAC 3 to be absolutely flawless. Every facet of the sound bellied its admittedly sub-par power output, which goes to show that a high wattage is no guarantee of high quality sonic performance.
The Burr-Brown DAC chip provides a warmer-leaning tonality, but there has been no sacrifice to the midrange and treble frequencies. Overall, the ZEN DAC 3 puts out a smooth listening experience, one that can help tame troublesome peaks in the highs present in some headphones.
Take the Beyerdynamic DT880 Edition 600 Ohm for example. Infamous for it’s jagged treble response, the ZEN DAC 3 smoothed out the upper registers and brought out the most from the DT880. Despite the low power output, I was only at noon on the dial on low gain which goes to show that the ZEN DAC 3 has plenty enough juice to drive the vast majority of headphones.
What impressed me the most however was the imaging and soundstaging capabilities of the unit. There’s outstanding coherency and width to the soundstage, with better layering than the similarly-specced Fosi Audio SK02.
Every now and then I would toggle the XBass+ switch, and wow was it addictive. It bumps up the bass frequencies by a fair few dBs, but does so without overly interfering with the midrange. It particularly helped to alleviate the anaemic bass response of certain dynamic open-back headphones such as the Sennheiser HD600.
I tried listening with and without the iPowerX powering the ZEN DAC 3, and truth be told I didn’t hear a huge difference. Perhaps there was a slight increase in macrodynamics, but that may have just been a bit of placebo.
The fact that the ZEN DAC 3 can simply be driven from a laptop or phone and provide such a faultless listening experience is amazing if you ask me.
Overall Verdict
The iFi ZEN DAC 3 looks good, sounds good and perhaps best of all, costs good. While it doesn’t have the highest power output amongst its competition, it may well be the best sounding DAC/amp right now in its price category.
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