*This is not a full review of the iFi Zen CAN, but a glimpse into it?s attributes in the short time that I?ve had it.*
Yes you CAN!
My new feature-rich iFi Zen CAN headphone amplifier landed on my desk a week ago, and I have spent some time putting it through its paces. My first impression is ?Wow, the power!?.
My long beloved iFi Zen DAC is certainly no slouch - as its amplifier circuit is pretty powerful and will be all you will ever need for most headphone aficionados out there. But some headphones like higher impedance planars and dynamics with high impedance will truly love the iFi Zen CAN.
The Zen DAC is connected to the Zen CAN via RCA to RAC - a nice RCA-to-RCA cable comes with the unit. I do not have a 4.4mm to 4.4mm balanced cable to test the difference in RCA output vs Pentaconn output.
I?ve been using it unbalanced and testing FLAC tunes on my Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 Ohms, TYGR 300 R and my Hifiman HE4XX. I have a bunch of other cans, but these are the hardest to drive in my collection and easiest to see the difference in amplification output from the Zen DAC to Zen CAN. The gain settings go from 0dB to 6dB to 12dB to 18 dB. And just on the 6dB gain it gets incredibly loud on my headphones I?ve been testing with. At 12 o?clock it is LOUD!!!
Loud, but with phenomenally low levels of distortion and noise-floor. I purchased mine with the low-noise iFi 5V power supply, and will in time try it out with other 5V power units to see if there is a difference.
The Zen CAN also improves on dynamic punch big time, the 3D function extends the soundstage of the already glorious Zen DAC by some degree, and has a vast improvement on imaging. I?m not a gamer, but I can imagine serious gamers wanting this stack in the Christmas stockings.
The XBass function on the Zen CAN is slightly more defined than the TrueBass function on the Zen DAC - both adding extra gusto to the sub-bass without meddling with the other frequencies. But for some it might be too much, for bass-heads it's like heaven.
I have tried it both with variable and fixed outputs included in the Zen DAC - both have an impact on volume and audio when fed to the Zen CAN. I prefer the warmer sound produced from the variable output, although it does reduce the volume capacity of the Zen CAN significantly. With fixed output from the Zen DAC it can get extremely loud, but it also makes the sound brighter overall.
Having both the Zen DAC and Zen CAN might be overkill for most headphone users out there - as the Zen DAC is pretty sublime as it is IMHO.
I still haven?t tested all the features, and do not have any balanced headphones or IEMs to try them out on. I have also not yet tested the Zen CAN as a sole amplifier source without the Zen DAC as its dac. But in the short time I?ve lived with it I can definitely say it?s a keeper!
NB: I purchased my iFi Zen CAN from Amazon in the UK. It was shipped to me in Johannesburg in less than a week via Aramex Global Shopper.
