I also have to mention that I had an issue with a third-party cable or so I thought. Called IfI and was speaking to a Human within 60 seconds, very helpful and friendly, as it turned out it was user error! It proves that desktop audio doesn’t have to be the poor relation of ‘proper’ hi-fi, and is a real giant-killer, whether as a DAC/headphone amp or a simple digital preamp. Buy this to boost the sound of your computer, and you may well find you’re listening to it most of the time. I connected Hifiman Sundara and both buttons are always ON – ok, sometimes extra bass I need to turn off – depending on the song. This ZEN DAC V2 is the same award-winning hi-res USB DAC /headphone amp as before but with added oomph!

Zen DAC V2 Review: A Remarkable Dac Amp Combo Gets IFi Audio Zen DAC V2 Review: A Remarkable Dac Amp Combo Gets

Holy Crap! Talk about being transported to another universe, the soundstage is crazy, I can hear every little detail on each song and with True-bass on (iFi’s bass boost) the bass blows you away.” After years of listening to Hi Res audio through my iMac’s inferior DAC, I took the plunge and bought this gorgeous bit of kit. It only took a few minutes to set up, and sounds amazing with Roon playing my ripped CDs and Hi Res music from Qobuz. I have been enjoying lots of old favourites today which sound fresh and engaging, with very rounded, warm tones – everything from Punch Brothers to Bonobo to Four Tet to Peter Gabriel sounded wonderful. Just like the original, its sole purpose is to feed an external amp, be it a headphone amp, or an amp and speakers. Compact, desktop DACs with a built-in headphone amplifier are very popular today. We decide on them after purchasing a higher quality pair of headphones, aware that integrated sound cards are probably not able to get the best out of them, and motivated by the fact that such DACs pull all of the electronics in charge of sound processing from the computer case and yet have much more specific acoustic hardware. There are a tonne of YouTube review videos you can watch and I think I about watched them all before buying this. I’m glad I did and you should too.Bass was lively, nimble and punchy while the upper frequencies benefited from the low noise around the soundstage, enhancing the accuracy from guitars and honing vocal deliveries.”

iFi Audio ZEN DAC V2 Desktop Digital Analog Converter iFi Audio ZEN DAC V2 Desktop Digital Analog Converter

Some of the world’s leading engineers have endorsed the qualities of MQA, for example mastering engineer Bob Ludwig, “The thing about the authentication aspect of MQA is that I can know that the listener at home is listening to the identical analogue sound that I’ve approved, and that the artist has approved.” Where to listen Bought mainly to listen to Tidal masters in my study. I didn’t need portability so this seemed the most cost effective option. Build quality is excellent – all metal construction. Listening to Tidal masters via the unbalanced input with my Shure srh1840 cans sound quality is great and noticeably better than tidal HI-FI streams to my ears. The build quality on this thing is actually really good, it has that slight heft, but no rattles, the knob feels great as well as the buttons. Panasonic OS-CON caps totaling 5,410uF give very-low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), excellent noise reduction capability and frequency response characteristics. In addition, OS-CONs have a long-life span and its ESR changes little even at low temperatures since the electrolyte is solid. From a technical point of view, this model is perfectly mastered, neutral while being very musical. It does not suffer from a dry sound reproduction like many other models while in transistors.’The iFi Zen DAC is equipped with (almost) everything a modern DAC needs for the desktop in the home office.”

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2021: Best DACs | What Hi-Fi?

The thing sthat surprised me is that the sound quality is actually much better than my older DAC. Clean sounding without any harsh qualities to the music. I have played high resolution music from ALAC and FLAC files up to 192Khz and I have played DSD64 and DSD128 music all with ease and excellent sound quality.What the ZEN DAC v2 does very effectively is manage to sound a little more natural and unforced across everything you play on it. With the bombastic Mr Ed on the Mammoth WVH album, both ZEN DACs sound extremely good but the newer version manages to deliver the vocals with a little more richness and realism.” Its an amazing DAC/Amp. Works well with my PC and it has also increased very well the audio quality of my pc. The build quality is great but the only issue I have with it is the button on the front which feel rattly, besides that everything is great. The TrueBass and PowerMatch features work well with headphones as well as via the HK speakers. I love the different coloured LEDs around the volume control which shows what quality the music you’re listening to is. Comes with a USB lead but no DC power adapter. For this price, this is hands down the go to, I gave away my 02 headphone amp and magni 2/modi combo after listening to this. This screams quality from its sound to its build.