iFi ZEN CAN Balanced Desktop Headphone Amp and Preamp with 4.4mm Outputs (UK PIN)

I went Zen and never looked back, the dac v2 was so good but the amp is extra special, you have more control but the xspace or 3D effect made my hifiman edition xs sound like 2000 dollar headphones... Just as good as it can get for sound.. The combo is perfect and the amp adds another 60% to fullness... Get the combo if you love bass, clean sound and wide soundstageAnd the amp comes with ifi power brick.. Just perfect

I needed a good headphone amp for my PC and DAC as I have had other ifi products in the past I had a feeling that this headphone amp would be worth trying out and it did not disappoint sound quality is very good solid controlled bass open wide soundstage I use my pioneer HRM-5 headphones with it and they now sound amazing thanks to this ifi headphone amp build quality is very good in this case you do get what you pay for and its worth every penny!!

I consider myself a borderline audiophile. I appreciate a good product and like a nice sound. I don’t subscribe to buying overpriced cables that supposedly make my system sound better, instead looking for an understated, good value alternative.So I started my journey with ifi when I bought a hipdac2. I’d been a bit disappointed with my headphone experience and I was blown away by what a decent headphone amp could do. My home hifi amp doesn’t have a headphone socket (more audiophile nonsense) so I’d had to buy a headphone amp and despite it being from the manufacturer of the amp it was seriously disappointing. Having been so pleased with the hipdac2 I thought I’d try the ifi zen can. Well, it didn’t disappoint. My big headphone found a new lease of life. They’ve never sounded quite so good.The only fly in the ointment, and I’d like to think is a one off, my zen can didn’t come with a power supply, despite being listed with one. In all fairness the seller stepped up and having first got in touch with ifi then sent one out, although it did take a week to arrive which took the edge off the joy of a shiny new toy a little.

Nice headphone amp, does the job well. The only thing that lets it down is the warmth in the bass boost is a little too subtle compared alongside the Zen Dac V2.Perhaps this will be addressed in the V2 version of the Zen Can? If that is the case , it would be an unbeatable piece of kit at this price point!!

I’ve had this for nearly 2 years now and the upgrade was worth every Penny I teamed this up with a moto m2 audio interface it had plenty of power for all my headphones, LCD X and Meze 99 Clasics and my cheapo cans K361 , all totally different headphones and all work together perfectly, the LCD X and Meze 99 Classics all run on the balance connector 4.4mm , best buy I have done in years

I've been running my Sennheiser HD660s through my PC motherboard's line-out, as well as a Behringer audio interface and I thought they sounded ok. However, I didn't like that the bass was a little mushy and the mids were rather over-powering. I thought that a 150 ohm set of headphones would be no match for the 600ohm my motherboard said it could handle.Apparently I was very wrong. I recently picked up the iFi Zen CAN amp and have it sat between the computer and my headphones using an RCA cable. I have the gain set to 18dB using a regular single-ended connection from my headphones (I haven't tried the balanced cables yet), the bass boost is on and it sounds incredible.The bass has tightened up, the highs are clear as daylight and the mids are wholesome. My musical tastes include everything from Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and middle-of-the-road rock, to industrial and thrash metal --Fear Factory, Pantera, Ministry etc. Everything sounds sublime.I'm now going through my whole music collection and hearing things in a whole new way.

Was happy with my Zen but felt it struggled at higher volumes with my 250ohm 770's and i wasn't a fan of truebass and thought it was a bit much, went for this to improve both those things which it did, the xbass implementation sounds much better to me as opposed to the Zen and it handled higher volumes much better ( and so it should i guess)To really get the best out of this you'll need to connect it via a balanced cable to your DAC , if its the ZEN then be prepared to pay £70 or more for their cable or buy a cheaper one from Amazon like i did, the included analogue connection doesn't cut it imo and as both are balanced units although im not using balanced headphones the difference is noticeable.The unit also gets really hot, as stuff with Class A devices do.Be prepared to go on an upgrade path though once you get this, next you'll want balanced headphones to get the best out of it, then you'll realise that because you have balanced headphones you should upgrade the DAC and 12 months later you'll be sat listening to music on youtube with $1000 worth of audio equipment.

I'm pairing this with a loxjie d30 dac and switch between this amp and a xduoo mt-602 pseudo tube amp. got to say, to my ears the tube amp, weirdly, sounds cleaner than this one. that being said, unless something is really wrong, this zen amp is sort of fine but not amazing. goes with the price. the bass boost is fun, the 3D-whatever feature seems to amplify treble and is really forgettable. if i could do it all over again, i'd probably save for something else. that said, it...amplifies...sound. so, take it or leave it. it's fair enough for the price.

Ifi states that it's normal for the ifi zen can to get warm/hot when it use. So I am not too worried. The amp is strong and the many gain switches help with different ohm powered headphones. The xbass and 3D bass switches also help with my closed back headphones and even my open back ones. Give some music a better sound and different sound. Old songs that lack bass or loudness I put the gain level one notch higher and for modern songs I lower the gain switch. This helps old music sound more modern. I have my ifi zen can paired with my ifi zen dac 2. I love it. Huge upgrade in sound, very fun amp. The only con is the fact the amp gets warm to fast.

L'ho preso da circa 2 mesi e lo uso quotidianamente abbinato alle sennheiser hd600. Sono molto soddisfatto da questo amplificatore, sia in abbinamento allo streamer di rete(wiim pro) sia usandolo abbinato al dac/amp portatile dragonfly cobalt(comprato dopo).Il suono è molto dettagliato ma senza essere analitico. Dà una atmosfera leggermente più calda e piacevole rispetto a quando connetto le cuffie direttamente al Dragonfly, per qualche ragione che non so spiegare la musica suona più coinvolgente e sicuramente i bassi sono migliori.Ho provato anche a collegarlo ad un alimenatore lineare stabilizzato ma non ho notato alcuna differenza(ho effettuato 30 prove in cieco aiutato da mio fratello che cambiava l'alimenattore senza dirmi quale fosse e io dovevo dire se era uno o l'altro), quindi va bene quello fornito.Leggendo qualche commento on line c'è qualcuno che critica questo amplificatore ma sinceramente mi domando se lo abbiano davvero provato o se magari fossero modelli iniziali con qualche problema che è stato risolto successivamente...L'unico difetto che ha è un rumore di fondo (tipo ground loop) che si sente quando la sorgente è scollegata, ma che scompare non appena collego i cavetti rca alla sorgente(streamer,dac, ecc.), quindi boh non mi sembra qualcosa di rilevante.L'xbass funziona bene senza essere eccessivo(ma non lo uso perchè a me piace il suono così com'è), il 3d non lo userei di norma in quanto appiattisce il suono però è utilissimo per ascoltare brani dove uno strumento o la voce è presente solo a destra o sinistra(es. brani jazz di anni 50'-60').Concluderei col fatto che una volta comprato il dragonfly pensavo di usare solo lui, rivendere l'ifi zen can e farmi qualche soldo, ma evidentemente rimarranno entrabi con me dato che quando sono seduto alla scrivania attacco sempre lo zen per il suono che mi piace di più!

Petit de taille mais grand de son, cet ampli-casque cache bien son jeu et mérite les éloges lus çà et là !Après un nombre d’heures de rodage important, ce petit ampli développe un son d'une grande neutralité et retransmet parfaitement les enregistrements de qualité de la source branchée !Des aigus aux graves, toutes les sonorités sont propres, sans déformation et sans artifices. Un régal pour le mélomane qui recherche un son naturel et fidèle à l’enregistrement.Les sonorités des instruments sont reproduites avec exactitude que cela soit une flûte, un violon, une contrebasse, de la batterie, des percussion ou des grosses caisses des tribus africaine, toute leur subtilité est perceptible et cela sans déformation, peut importe le niveau d'écoute.Et, petite cerise sur le gâteau, il en est de même pour les voix !Quant à sa puissance d'amplification, elle est inversement proportionnelle à sa taille ! Il arrive, sans aucun souci, à fournir l'énergie nécessaire à mon casque orthoplanar Fostex T50RP mk3 et cela déjà avec un gain de 12db sur les 18db possibles !Perso, je le laisse en permanence sur la fonction 3D qui, comme expliquée et promit dans les caractéristiques et différents tests, ne déforme pas les sons mais au contraire permet de bien mieux situer dans l'espace leurs placements. On retrouve l’impression de véritable scène ! Un délice pour les cages à miel !Alors n'hésitez pas, pour un investissement pécuniaire honnête, vous pourrez vous faire vraiment plaisir !

Suveränt ljud för pengarna, X-Base knappen är magisk.

Dopo l’acquisto di un Topping L50 poi reso (un po’ deludente) questo fa davvero la differenza. Senza dover spendere diverse centinaia di euro, tralasciando la qualità del materiale, ha una “forza”ed un “corpo” invidiabile!Avevo forti dubbi dovendo spingere delle HD600 (300ohm); altroché! Con gain a 18db si rischia di distruggere le membrane!Meraviglioso il mantenimento della “forza” sull’intero spettro di frequenza anche a volumi prossimi al max! SPAVENTOSO! ovviamente in queste condizioni scalda ma ci mancherebbe!!! Pulizia/chiarezza del suono, assoluta assenza di fruscii e ronzii lo completano. Ma non ho ancora detto che tutto quanto sopra è stato testato in collegamento SE.A giorni arrivano cavi bilanciati (in ingresso ed in uscita per le hd600). È lì dovrò davvero stare attento alle cuffie!Aggiornerò questa recensione a breve.Per adesso prodotto incredibilmente di livello e conveniente.