Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
Fantastic-sounding (very neutral) DAC. Easily connects to your computer (PC and Mac in my case) and really makes the signal sing a lot more than the on-board soundcards. Offering a significant upgrade over computer sound quality in an era where people need it most, the Zen DAC V2 is another feather in the cap for iFi’s budget Zen series. Firstly let me comment on the excellent build quality..way above what you might expect at this price point and the excellent easy set up.
I have my DAC feeding into a pair of active ADAM Audio TV5 studio monitors with pseudo ribbon tweeters (mono amplified on each speaker). The best duo since Bonnie met Clyde, incredibly dynamic with a great presence of depth. There is soul in those bookshelf speakers. Chord USB cable provides the highest DSD data output. This DAC/amp out performs both of my other, more expensive DAC/amp combos. I have the Topping NX4 and the Audioengine D1 24-Bit DAC/amp combos. And it does so being 30 dollars or more less in price. It has what most of us would understand to be a gain boost, although they call it a “power match”. It also has a “truebass” button that slightly boosts the sub base and base response without distorting any other harmonics. I’ve sold the previously mentioned two DACs and have kept the Ifi Zen DAC/amp. Via the Balanced out, the Zen DAC V2 had way more than enough power to drive these planar cans, producing a nice listening volume at about a quarter-turn of the knob. Even listening through the Grados, the least revealing pair of the trio of headphones we mainly use, the V2’s sonic step-up is plain as day. Verdict We familiarise ourselves once again with the Zen DAC’s clear, tonally even-handed and insightful sound – all pleasing characteristics that we’re happy if not surprised to hear materialise in the Zen DAC V2’s performance when we switch to it. We hailed the Zen DAC for offering a significant upgrade on a computer’s audio quality for not much money, and the Zen V2 achieves that to an even greater extent. Indeed, what’s most pleasing is that iFi hasn’t launched a pricier sequel that only brings subtle improvements.For times when you need a deeper, richer sound, simply switch on TrueBass. Unlike inferior bass boost systems, this works entirely in the analogue domain and doesn’t rely on a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The result is deeper bass, without a compromised and muddy-sounding midrange. One other good point the Zen DAC has is the dual balanced outputs at probably the best price on the market today. Setting small issues aside, the Zen DAC is a warm sounding and a well built DAC headphone amp combo with lots of features for the asking price and I give it a high recommendation. iFi Audio Zen Dac Specifications Input
Sound quality through it’d own on board dac took a quality move down but again still very good but then when you consider the chord dac is many times the ifi price and chord dacs are at the top of their game this is still a great result. The Tri I3 didn’t care and sounded fine at any setting but the Truebass was too overbearing on them. Mids have a natural sound, both male and female voices have a clear, enjoyable reproduction. The detail is average, the zen dac focuses on delivering richer tones and well textured instruments and voices instead of being analytical and ultra resolutive so the technical performance is pretty competent in this dac/amp but not outstanding..You can also switch between ‘variable’ and ‘fixed’ outputs. On Fixed, the volume is bypassed in the DAC V2, while on variable, you can use the volume knob. A light surrounding the DAC V2 volume knob also allows you to see the level being decoded by a changing color, format dependent. I kept the unit switched to fixed for the majority of time. The Zen DAC is capable of PCM of up to 24 bit/384kHz. There’s also DSD256 from 2.8MHz to 12.4MHz. DXD is also available at up to 353/384kHz. The Zen Dac also has you covered with the MQA streaming code used by Tidal’s Master tier straight out of the box. The MQA ‘Studio’ (blue light) gives confirmation directly from mastering engineers, producers, or artists to their listeners. MQA Studio authenticates that the sound you are hearing is exactly as played in the studio when the music was completed and, by implication, that this is also the definitive version of the recording at that point in time. Since the core functionality of the Zen DAC V2 is pretty much the same as the original, I won’t do a full breakdown here. You can read my original Zen DAC review for that.
The Hip Dac has almost the same components except for the muRata capacitors. It could be used as a desktop amplifier plus as a portable with the built-in battery. The Zen DAC is warmer in sound in just about every way. Midrange and high frequencies are a bit more forward on the Hip DAC compared to the Zen. The bass Boost sounds the same to me although iFi gives them both different names. This unit is capable of a full watt of power at a 105db SN ratio at 16 ohms. However, the Zen DAC has a higher SN ratio of 115 and that’s a pretty big jump. You could tell in the dynamics which are better on the Zen DAC. Most budget digital-to-analogue converters aren’t particularly inspiring to listen to and don’t tend to offer much of a step-up over the soundcard of a computer. That’s certainly not the case here. On the V2, you could better hear the individual vocals and how they blended, making the song a lot more engaging.
When I reviewed the Hip DAC I got the perception of a forward and slightly aggressive audio presentation. It was tamed a bit by installing the GTO firmware but it still had an energetic presentation. Then it hit me. No wonder the Zen was chosen as a name. There is the conceptual design concept in action. Other than that, the two Zen DACs are basically the same. You get the same nice chassis, SE and Balanced connections, Truebass analog bass enhancement, and Power Match gain control. The Topping DACs provide an excellent alternative to the usual actors in your review. The E50 (DSD/PCM and MQA audio decoding balanced and non balanced outputs) or it's cheaper sibling E30 are great budget DACs. The last ten years have been a revolution in the world of high fidelity, thanks to the drop in prices due to outsourcing to China. However, even just a few years ago, components and features of this type would have been unimaginable at such a low price. After all, it is considered as one of the best products of this range ever produced. The components are very respectable and used intelligently. Also on an aesthetic level, the workmanship is surprisingly robust and the design is well-finished.
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