Just connected to an old kenwood KR-2400 receiver with a spare 5V phone plug and it sounds amazing! This Zen Air Blue sounds better than the 1Mi B03 Pro BT 5.0 ESS SABRE DAC I've beren using. Must be a higher quality ESS Sabre DAC chip with its Hyperstream! The sound is bigger, smoother, and lively with no stutters..
Great video. I have now an iFi Uno, I'm quite satisfied with it (hooked via RCA to a pair of active speakers). But now I bought me a pair of SoundCore Space One headphones and want to hook them via Bluetooth. The Air DAC looks interesting, but still a bit confused: can I hook it via USB to the computer and output sound to both the RCA speakers and the Bluetooth headphones? Can I switch or they'll both be active at the same time? Thanks!
Ifi are going in an interesting direction with this. The Zen V2 DAC was already praised by reviewers as sounding better than DACs that cost twice as much, and yet Ifi with this new Zen Air DAC version (which I'd imagine is an additional variant and not a replacement for the V2) have apparently aimed to shave the cost of a Zen V2 DAC almost in half while maintaining the same audio quality. Being a Zen V2 DAC user myself and knowing how good they are, it's going to be a very popular product. The specs would suggest that 600ohm headphones are a no-go?
XBass+ is essentially just the current version of XBass. It's hard to offer a direct comparison as there's not a device out there to easily test a 1 to 1 A/B on the two. Compared to the "True Bass" on the ZEN DAC V2, I do find that the XBass+ hits a little harder and feels a little more like a "bass boost" while True Bass is closer to a "bass correction."
I've a pair of JBL 305p MKii studio monitors and I'm looking for a synergistic DAC for my studio monitors. Please help me to choose between IFI Zen Air and FiiO BTA30 Pro... I like vocal and upper range clarity but not warm... Please help.
I haven't heard the FiiO BTA30 Pro, so I can't offer a direct comparison. The Zen Air DAC has good vocal clarity, but is just the slightest bit warm overall. I don't know if that helps at all.
If you were using a bluetooth turntable you could connect it to the ZEN Air Blue to use as an amp, but I'm not very familiar with the specifics of that sort of setup.
@@BloomAudio No problem. Only wish it would have come with a 6.3mm adapter included since so many adapter on Amazon have terrible reviews would have been nice to get an official one from iFi to guarantee proper sound. Will chime in with how it works once it arrives.
@@MrGreed2000 Yes, they really did keep it down to the bare minimum, and it's also surprising how many cheap adapters can manage to mess up some thing so simple. :)
They're definitely comparable products in a lot of ways, and the K3 has some nice features (like balanced output) that the ZEN Air DAC doesn't. If you like the K3, you could probably wait for a bigger upgrade down the line.
I recently sold my zen dac v2 which i used along with my bookshelf speakers for listening to music through PC, i don't use headphones of iems, will the zen air dac perform the same with my speakers or is it weaker than the zen dac v2?
Now that it's been in the wild a bit and we've done some testing, while the core DAC is the same as the ZEN DAC V2 and the single-ended output has the same power, there may be some differences in the general performance. For example, while troubleshooting a customer's setup, we noticed a slight delay at the beginning of tracks with Qobuz + ZEN Air DAC that wasn't present with ZEN DAC V2 (but we couldn't reproduce the issue with any other streaming service). So I'm guessing there is some downgrade in the memory buffers and other secondary aspects of the hardware, but otherwise the quality of the output seems to match the ZEN DAC V2.
lol. I used to do teaching videos, and everyone complained that I talked to fast, so I spent years slowing down... now I'm too slow... Gotta pick up the pace again, I guess!
Hey, did you ever experience the ifi zen dac air to constantly go to ''standby''. When you pause and start a video/song or any sound on your computer there is around 1 second delay when u press play until you can hear any sound. It Also makes small pop sounds when somone start talking in discord, and there is slight delay. it's powered over the usb cable that was in the package. running windows 10. @bloomaudio #bloomaudio
So we did a bunch of testing and in some cases, we found a split second delay when starting a song from silence, but I wasn't able to do thorough testing with voice chat.
Just connected to an old kenwood KR-2400 receiver with a spare 5V phone plug and it sounds amazing! This Zen Air Blue sounds better than the 1Mi B03 Pro BT 5.0 ESS SABRE DAC I've beren using. Must be a higher quality ESS Sabre DAC chip with its Hyperstream! The sound is bigger, smoother, and lively with no stutters..
Btw: it doesn't need an aerial like the V2 because it's plastic bodied and not a metal chassis so signals pass into it easily.
Great video. I have now an iFi Uno, I'm quite satisfied with it (hooked via RCA to a pair of active speakers). But now I bought me a pair of SoundCore Space One headphones and want to hook them via Bluetooth. The Air DAC looks interesting, but still a bit confused: can I hook it via USB to the computer and output sound to both the RCA speakers and the Bluetooth headphones? Can I switch or they'll both be active at the same time? Thanks!
Ifi are going in an interesting direction with this. The Zen V2 DAC was already praised by reviewers as sounding better than DACs that cost twice as much, and yet Ifi with this new Zen Air DAC version (which I'd imagine is an additional variant and not a replacement for the V2) have apparently aimed to shave the cost of a Zen V2 DAC almost in half while maintaining the same audio quality. Being a Zen V2 DAC user myself and knowing how good they are, it's going to be a very popular product. The specs would suggest that 600ohm headphones are a no-go?
Knowing that it doesn't share the same specs as V2 it probably leans more into the Zen Dac V1, could be a great replacement to that
@@encagedparadise3696 It uses the same 16-core XMOS chip as the Zen V2, so the DAC electronics are likely to be the same.
@@jimtekkit it doesn't have balanced and doesn't have the same GMT clock system so that's a + on the V2
@@encagedparadise3696 Yes I know, it's very visually apparent that there's no balanced outputs.
@@jimtekkit i own the zen dac v2 too the zen air can is really promising might have to wait for that instead
The problem is that the AIR version of the Zen DAC does not have a balanced headphone jack.
Zen Air Stream should be a thing next time. Even with just Spotify Connect or Tidal Connect.
That, and a ZEN Air CAN to give us some major grunt in a little plastic case. :)
Will the soundstage be fine if I'm using an easy to drive, sensitive headphone?
Hi, can i use iFi Zen Air Dac with Edifire R1700BTS? Can this DAC improve sound quality for this Bookshelf Speaker ?? Thank you
you buy it?, i have the same speakers and i'm about to purchase one zen air
xbass and xbass+, what is the difference? Would have been helpful to know if there is a change or if they sound the same.
XBass+ is essentially just the current version of XBass. It's hard to offer a direct comparison as there's not a device out there to easily test a 1 to 1 A/B on the two. Compared to the "True Bass" on the ZEN DAC V2, I do find that the XBass+ hits a little harder and feels a little more like a "bass boost" while True Bass is closer to a "bass correction."
Is the Zen Air dac available in white? What's the ETA on the Zen Air Can?
I think each unit is only available in the one color (at least for now), and we'll share on our website when we have more info about the ZEN Air CAN.
@@BloomAudio Thank you.
I've a pair of JBL 305p MKii studio monitors and I'm looking for a synergistic DAC for my studio monitors. Please help me to choose between IFI Zen Air and FiiO BTA30 Pro... I like vocal and upper range clarity but not warm... Please help.
I haven't heard the FiiO BTA30 Pro, so I can't offer a direct comparison. The Zen Air DAC has good vocal clarity, but is just the slightest bit warm overall. I don't know if that helps at all.
does the dial in the front control rca output volume as well?
I don't have one handy to test, but I believe it operates in "variable" mode with the volume knob controlling the preamp output with the RCA line out.
Hello! Can you tell me how long the USB cable is? I am looking for about 4-5 ft in length
The cable is fairly short, probably closer to 18-24".
ifi Zen dac v 1 vs v2 Which should I buy for my Avr
The V2 is definitely an improvement in overall SQ over the V1, so I would go with that.
@@BloomAudio thank ...and what about Fiio BTR30 pro / ifi Zen blue V2
Putting the balance output aside, would u say the zen air dac delivers the same level of sound quality as the zen dac v2
Purely in terms of sound quality they're incredibly close. I can't honestly tell the difference in SQ between the headphones I've tested with them.
can i use the IFi Audio Zen Air Blue dac as an amp for my turntable?
If you were using a bluetooth turntable you could connect it to the ZEN Air Blue to use as an amp, but I'm not very familiar with the specifics of that sort of setup.
Does this support the Playstation 5 via USB like the Zen Dac V2
I haven't tested it myself, but my understanding is that it should support the PS5, like the ZEN DAC V2.
@@BloomAudio Thanks, iFi got back to me and it DOES support PS5. Which probably makes this the ultimate budget DAC for any PS5 gamer
@@MrGreed2000 Nice. Thanks for confirming that for us!
@@BloomAudio No problem. Only wish it would have come with a 6.3mm adapter included since so many adapter on Amazon have terrible reviews would have been nice to get an official one from iFi to guarantee proper sound. Will chime in with how it works once it arrives.
@@MrGreed2000 Yes, they really did keep it down to the bare minimum, and it's also surprising how many cheap adapters can manage to mess up some thing so simple. :)
Should i get Zen Air Dac if i already have Fiio K3?
They're definitely comparable products in a lot of ways, and the K3 has some nice features (like balanced output) that the ZEN Air DAC doesn't. If you like the K3, you could probably wait for a bigger upgrade down the line.
@@BloomAudio are you refering to the old k3 or the k3s?? Thank you
@@SalemaPsy I'm not super familiar with Fiio's line, so I guess I'm referring to the new version?
I recently sold my zen dac v2 which i used along with my bookshelf speakers for listening to music through PC, i don't use headphones of iems, will the zen air dac perform the same with my speakers or is it weaker than the zen dac v2?
Same question
Now that it's been in the wild a bit and we've done some testing, while the core DAC is the same as the ZEN DAC V2 and the single-ended output has the same power, there may be some differences in the general performance. For example, while troubleshooting a customer's setup, we noticed a slight delay at the beginning of tracks with Qobuz + ZEN Air DAC that wasn't present with ZEN DAC V2 (but we couldn't reproduce the issue with any other streaming service). So I'm guessing there is some downgrade in the memory buffers and other secondary aspects of the hardware, but otherwise the quality of the output seems to match the ZEN DAC V2.
I counted 25 blue cars passing in the window behind you
We changed our location, so regrettably we don't get squirrels and the odd neighborhood cat in the window any more.
I see it does not have balanced out either.
Why the 360p???
Sorry, we just uploaded it and the HD version must not have finished processing.
It leaves more data for the MQA encoded audio stream, duh
@@N3ukenInD3K3uken lol
Yawn..its a video..pick up the pace!
lol. I used to do teaching videos, and everyone complained that I talked to fast, so I spent years slowing down... now I'm too slow... Gotta pick up the pace again, I guess!
Hey, did you ever experience the ifi zen dac air to constantly go to ''standby''. When you pause and start a video/song or any sound on your computer there is around 1 second delay when u press play until you can hear any sound. It Also makes small pop sounds when somone start talking in discord, and there is slight delay. it's powered over the usb cable that was in the package. running windows 10. @bloomaudio #bloomaudio
So we did a bunch of testing and in some cases, we found a split second delay when starting a song from silence, but I wasn't able to do thorough testing with voice chat.