I have watched a lot of reviews on this item. You are the only reviewer to touch on the bluetooth output itself. That it is superior to other devices bluetooth output. This is exactly what I wanted hear about, and of course you delivered that information, just as I expected you would! Thank you!
I've watched a dozen reviews for this product, all good in their own way however, this one clarified the difference between it's brother DAC only component and highlighted they cannot be used together. Well done review and much appreciate for your time.
I had an outlaw audio blue tooth adapter connected to my stereo and the range wasn't great and the sound was ok, not great. I bought the Zen Blu based on reviews and I love it. Big difference in quality of the sound range was much better. Definitely great for anyone with older receiver. Good product good review
Just bought this and it's amazing! If you have a newer phone that supports LDAC, you are gonnaa love it!! Sounds better than my laptop plugged directly into my controller!
Great review and I'll suggest there's a 3rd group of people who like myself have older/vintage systems. I bought my Zen Blue 6 months ago and love it. I hooked it up (analog) to my vintage Adcom GTP-400 running into an Adcom GFA-5200 pushing a pair of 1st gen Paradigm Studio 20's and the system sounds absolutely incredible. I can use both my old iPhone 3 and my current iPhone 8 with the Zen Blue. If you have an old/vintage 2 ch. system and want to stream from your phone or tablet, the iFi Zen Blue is the way to go.
Bluetooth is excellent, I use LDAC with a few devices every day. I haven't tested it but I am quite sure I cannot tell the difference between wired and bluetooth. If I could notice a difference I would happily accept it for the convenience, particularly with portable devices.
great review and especially appreciated the conclusions for the two different types of users and using the Berson playmate DAC and the zen blue for the bluetooth component.
Great review! This was very helpful to me. The explanation of how the blue and the zen dac can't connect together (honestly, shame IFI) was very helpful. I also appreciated the review of the sound quality of both the zen blue DAC as well as the Topping Bluetooth performance. All this great info has helped me plan how I will use this and integrate it into my system.
Thank you for another excellent review. I like the idea of using my iPhone as a music source via Bluetooth (BT). I understand that BT5 is better than BT4.2 and it seems from your review that the circuit make up of the Zen Blue is better than the Topping D50. Have you looked at Drop (ex Massdrop) products? They have Topping and other DAC’s/amplifiers as well as quality headphones at what seem like good prices. I wonder how their DAC’s compare with the ones you have tested. Keep up the good work you are doing. I like and respect your reviews highly.
Hi. Thanks for the great video. For whatever it's worth, I had some similar questions about the differences between the outputs on the zen blue, and ended up emailing ifi to ask. According to them, whether you use analog out or digital out, it all passes through the internal DAC, so I would expect the sound to be identical, and would see the only reason for choosing one over another is which connections you had available on your equipment.
Even if the information somehow would pass through the internal DAC, the output via optical or coaxial would just be digital information that is processed by the external DAC which would output the analog signal and therefore the actual sound.
👍👍👏👏💪💪Fantastic review as usual I am so happy you reviewed this product I am very interested in it and I really like the test you have done I have integrated amplifier parasound Halo hint 5 it has a beautiful DAC inside but no Bluetooth connection I think this device will be perfect for me thanks for the review I really appreciate it I will be purchasing one because of you thank you👏👏🙌🙌
I just bought a Yamaha AS-801 integrated amp with DAC inside. how did you hook up your amp to the Zen Blue? what out put did you use on the Zen and what input did you use on you amp? Thanx. PS have you tried Spotify thur it or Amazon music ?
Wow! My impressions of the Zen Blue are so different. First I want to preface that I'm listening to the Zen Blue through Amazon Music HD with the LDAC codec on my android phone). At the moment, I have a Schiit Modi 3+ in my system and the Zen Blue. I've tried 3 inexpensive DAC's (Topping E30, SMSL Sanskrit MKII and Schiit Modi 3+) and every one of them is more etched sounding than the Zen Blue when hooked up through USB. The Zen Blue sounds more like the other DAC's to me when I have them hooked up to a cd transport via coax. I was shocked because I've heard from several reviewers online that the ESS is a forward etched sounding DAC. What I'm getting is very smooth highs and mids and they aren't edgy at all, especially compared to a Topping E30. That was a real ear burner for me in my system. I can listen to the Zen Blue at high volumes for extended periods of time without getting any listener fatigue. The SMSL Sanskrit was the smoothest of the cheap DAC's and the Schiit falls in the middle for me. The Zen Blue is definitely the smoothest for me compared to those Bluetoothless DAC's. The other thing that's interesting about the Zen Blue for me is that it has so much more bass than any of the new affordable DAC's I've tried in my system. I was looking for a bass boost button to see if I hit it by mistake because I know the Zen DAC has a bass boost button. The bass is so much that it gets to be too much on recordings that that have a lot of bass. That said, I don't know what to do with it. I"m still in my trial period. The Zen Blue seems like a lot of money for such a limited use. I only have one device that uses the better codecs. In the grand scheme of things though it's just $130 and it's great fun. That bass is great for listening to old songs like New Order's Blue Monday (ironic, eh?) and 80's Industrial music. It's also nice to listen to thin sounding recordings from the early years of digital music by adding bass weight to them, even though it's not very accurate. One last thing. I really wish it had extra inputs because I'd love to listen to the DAC by itself and it would make it much more versatile. I understand whey they don't do it though because of size, cost and keeping the signal as clean as possible.
Update: I kept it. The Blue Zen is so convenient. I love using the streaming apps and not having to mess with third party software. It also sounds really good to me as far as streaming goes. This is what's interesting: I tried different phones and got very different results. My favorite is my new Motorola with the LDAC codec in hi res. I tried a Samsung phone with LDAC and hi res and it sounds very much like your review. I can't believe how much better it sounds with the Motorola. I have an older Motorola that only does AptX Classic and it sounds better than the Samsung in LDAC and hi res. I wonder why? The moral of my story is try different devices with different codecs.
Its a great bluetooth adapter with an additional average DAC(sabre 9018)..its main purpose is as bluetooth transport(thats why its has a switch to turn off the dac so its become pure bluetooth transport)..totally different compare with something like topping d50s which is a DAC with addtional bluetooth input
I always had bad results using bluetoh devices but I have to admit that things are changing fast and it will be the future. Nowadays I still prefere wires !
great review. I connected BLUE using 4.4mm to CAN and comparing to DAC - I don't hear much of difference. Also 4.4mm vs RCA - no difference. Also nice feature is that this lady after connecting also tells you which codec it uses. Even I don't hear much of difference between aptX and LDAC on my iFi stack with Sundara. Truth be told iFi 3x stack is very nice. I cannot hear the difference between aptX or LDAC via BLUE vs USB from my Macbook via iFi ZEN DAC. I was thinking about replacing iFi stack (BLUE, DAC, CAN) to Toppings D50s + A50s but I think I will stay with iFi (even though it requires 3 boxes vs 2 boxes from Toppings). I am not sure if this is Sundara that does not show me the difference or my ears. One great thing though is extra bass and stage on CAN - in some cases (types of music) I use these settings for my pleasure - I don't see anything like this on the Toppings stack. Oh, and second: 4.4mm from CAN to Sundara - that makes difference vs single ended - the power is higher for sure.
Great review! I like the zen blue DAC and the bluetooth functionallity but i also want wired inputs to connect it to different sources. Could you recommend me the best bluetooth DAC under $200 please? Thank you so much!
I had a bad experience with B2, it interfered with apple airport frequency, it cuts in and out and shortens significant the connection distance, will this one have frequency issues with the apple router?
Great review! Thanks! I am looking for a standalone Bluetooth DAC like this. Must have LDAC Bluetooth and a good DAC. Have you looked at the Innomaker Skylark-II? It has a Burr Brown PCM5122 DAC instead. I am wondering if it might sound better than this ifi device? What is the best sounding standalone Bluetooth receiver with LDAC? Thanks!
Really interested as a simple, unfussy solution to my streaming issues (I use Amazon music unlimited which is unsupported by my older Yamaha wxc-50). However, other reviewers mention LDAC is the best sounding codec. Do you think this would be dependent on the partnering gear?
I really enjoy your reviews. I wonder if I connect the Zen via rca from the coax to the 3.5mm input on the atom, would it give the better digital sound or would it sound the same as using the analog side of the blue? Thanks for any thoughts you might have.
Thanks! Atom doesn't have a D/A converter, it's just an amp so you have to feed it with an analog signal from the Blue. Coax on Blue is digital out so it can't connect to Atom in any way that would work.
@@iiWiReviews Thank you for your reply. I was impressed by your review of the E30. If I hooked the fiio btr3 to that would it change the signal to the E30 signature or would it play the btr3 signal unchanged to the atom? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but the whole DAC thing is all new to me. Thanks 😊
Dubious at first if this thing would perform. Hooked it straight to a schiit Heresy with Grado 325i. Goddam revelation. Built well no frills but a fine little streamer. Buy it.
Would you please review Loxjie D30 which combines DAC, headphone amp and bluetooth together? The measurement from audioscience seem to be in favor of its DAC but I would rather trust your opinion on the actual sound quality. Thank you.
I decided to buy Topping E50 after watching your review. I am planning to buy Topping Ldac bluetooth receiver to be use to E50. Then I remember your review of this Ifi zen dac blue. Topping BC3 is half the price of ifi zen blue. Should I buy bc3 ldac bluetooth receiver or Topping E50? What's your take on this? Desired result: Dynamic and analytical
Owner of both units. I have found the Audioengine B1 to be more on the warm side of neutral- as in laid back, no coloration, very true to the music source whereas the zen blue was more forward in the mid range and treble. Both sounded excellent. The true question is what kind of speaker are you gonna pair it with? I use my AE B1 with my Klipsch rp600m, it balances out the lively dynamics of the speaker while keeping the musicality, whereas the zen blue paired well with my more kid back elac debut 2.0, a very warm almost ‘boring’ speaker very easy to listen to and the zen blue added some much needed liveliness to the music.
I've heard no mention of "latency". I will use this unit sometimes to provide audio for video, so sound and peoples lips moving must be in "sync". How does this unit perform in this element? I have watched MANY reviews of this device, no comments on latency.
I played some single player video game trough it and on my PC monitor everything seemed in sync. But when used with TV sets it will depend on their image processing and delay too. There's usually an audio delay option somewhere in the TV set menu (at least my Samsung has it) and it's worth playing with.
its shame both of products doesnt work together. I own zen dac and I actually love it. any info if zen blue can only used for bluetooth tool only? (connect to other dac/amp stacks?)
Hey, sorry for the noob question, but do I even need a dac if I have a Raspberry Pi Streamer with HifiBerry OS and DAC2 HD Top Hat on it? Would it do any good to me?
Can you please do a comparison between iFi Zen (not Bluetooth) vs Topping D50s? Obviously considering the price difference. Ignoring Input/Output and features, talking only about sound quality, what are you consideration? Hope you will answer, thanks!
Simply put D50s sounds better. Zen has slightly warmer bass, laid back presentation and highs that are sparkly... D50s is balanced better in my opinion, bass is tighter, vocals more present and highs better integrated with the rest of the spectrum. Is that enough to justify the price difference depends on you and your goal. To me it is.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks you very much! "Is that enough to justify the price difference" that's what I was looking for! Since you were so kind, I want to try one last question...and how the Zen (not Blue) compare against the Topping D30 since they are the same price? I watched all of you video about DACs, and first you praised the D30, than, found that the Shiit became the one to beat, if I remember correctly, and last, you said that for you the Zen is better than the Shiit one, so the Zen > Schiit > D30? I have understood your point correctly? Sorry for the long question, just coming into Hi-Fi world and all to me seems similar and complex 😅 Just for saying, I have Dali Spektor 1 speaker and a really cheap Fosi T20 AMP so I was looking for a 100-200 euro DACs that was not over-killed but still a little bit future-proof. P.S.: I would be really interested in you review on some Fosi Audio AMPs/DACs as are really common on Amazon and really few review out here :(
@@LtColDavenport Yes, you got it right. I really liked Topping D30 as it was better than anything old established brand produced before it for the price (Audioqest, HRT, Cambridge, etc.). But lately some seriously great DACs were released like Khadas Tone Board, Schiit Modi 3 and lastly Zen DAC... and they pushed D30 out of the spotlight completely. It's a fast changing market for sure. And I'll look into Fosi products, to see about it...
Hello, so if you plug this into another better dac, using the ifi digital outs, bypassing the internal dac of the Blue, will this give you the BT capabilities to be used with the other dac? But even with a better dac if I’m using the Zen BT function it will never pass better than 24/192 right? On a positive note, the Zen Blue used solo with its 4.4mm bal out works nicely into my amps balanced inputs which doubles output from the SE outs.
That's right... that was what I tested when I connected it digitally to a Topping D50s. Blue is than just BT receiver, sending the signal to another DAC. And you're right, sample rate is still limited by Blue's maximum. Enjoy listening to it. Cheers!
@@iiWiReviews Yes, I was looking more for bluetooth dacs, a wire may be needed someday, but for now the question is a high-quality wireless connection. Thanks for the quick response and good review
Hi, thanks for the review. I'm currently using Spotify on my Pixel 2 XL connecting via WiFi to a chromecast audio, which connects via toslink to my Cambridge CXA60 amp. I'm actually quite happy with the sound at the moment. Would the zen blue or zen dac offer any sound quality benefit compared to Chromecast? The CXA60 has a Wolfson WM8740 DAC which appears to be at least 10 years old. Some people say the Chromecast is terrible, others say it's just as good as spending £500 on a streamer like the Blusound Node 2i. Would a dedicated streamer be a good choice or should I keep using the chromecast audio and get dedicated DAC something like a Chord Mojo? I'm looking for the best sound quality upgrade for my budget of about £400-500, ideally less. I'm currently using Dali Zensor 3 speakers. Would it be worth upgrading the speakers instead in terms of overall improvement? Thanks, I hope that makes sense.
Hi! I've never tested Chromecast but I heard it's very decent as a digital transport. Personally, I wouldn't bother exchanging it for a better streamer in your case. I believe a good dedicated DAC would make much more sense, and knowing the sound signatures of CX60 and Dali to be on the bright side, I would go with a meaty sounding DAC... and tried my luck with Chord Mojo or Schiit Modi Multibit (hope to test both of these eventually).
@@iiWiReviews Hi, thanks for the reply. I've also read that the CXA60 and Zensor are not a particularly good match, but for me personally I preferred them over the Monitor Audio Bronze, also bright, and the QA Concept 20s, very flat. Unfortunately my amp and speaker test choices were quite limited. I've read lots about Schitt recently so will definitely look at that and the mojo. Thanks again.
@@doifeellucky I also have a AXC60 and do apreciate it. I thing a digital transport wil be a good match, like Allo Digione Signature but it depends what source you use.
So i have a pair of powered speakers that i use with my TV through optical. How do i go about connecting the speakers and the Tv to the Zen Blue? Connecting the Tv and the Blue with optical,and then the speakers to the rca outs?
Zen Blue has only BT input and everything else (including optical) is output only... So you can't connect your TV to it trough optical. You can keep TV connected directly to speakers via optical and connect Zen Blue to speakers via RCA... That's the only solution that comes to mind at the moment. Cheers!
Yes you can connect it to a laptop with JRiver. If you have any good amp/speakers you should get a better sound than straight from laptop. But beware that this is for Bluetooth connection only and there's no headphone out. If you need that, take a look at Zen DAC.
Me: Newbie,Bought Sennheiser Momentum 2 True Wireless earphones it has Blue Tooth 5.1 Since MP3 players with 5.1 BT are rare & $$$. Was told that I can use MP3 with Blue Tooth 4.2 & Sennheiser 5.1 BT with the SAME audio quality. Will use MP3 ,ONLY will listen to uploaded TH-cam songs SHOULD I still try to find MP3 player with 5.1?? Thank YOU..PS Would a transmitter help?(Told U, I am Newbie)
you cannot stream lossless to this from a MacBook, since Apple has will not support anything above the lame ACC codec. deal breaker regarding the Zen Dac ifi blew it by not including a coax input.
Late reply but maybe useful for anyone reading this. You can get tiny USB soundcards that are bluetooth transmitters for APTx-HD and APTx-LL. Some (not all so check carefully) work fine with Mac OS. They are about £25 and little bigger than the USB transmitter for a wireless mouse.
In that case you choose to use either one of these: 1. Zen Blue's DAC and send analog signal over RCA. 2. Integrated Amp's DAC by sending just digital signal from Blue (not using its DAC). In each case, only one DAC is in use...
Hi! I'm new to this so sorry for the stupid question... If I'm sending a signal to the dac via bluetooth and connect the dac to the amp also digital then how is it a "digtial analog converter"? What is a bluetooth dac doing in this case?
If you connect it that way then DAC part is not in use, just its Bluetooth receiver and everything stays digital until your amp. DAC is only in use with analog outputs.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks for tha fast reply! 2 more questions... 1. So if I use it that way the sound quality will be the same as if I used a cheap bt receiver? 2. If I convert it to analog does the sound quality will be better?
Interesting.. I would have thought that D50s bluetooth vs Zen Blue connected to D50s would sound pretty similar since they're both LDAC capable.. and they're both being converted to analog by the D50s. Is it that Qualcomm 5100 chip making all the difference in bluetooth quality? I just saw the new Xduoo XQ-50 Pro which is LDAC capable and only $80.. but it uses the same Qualcomm 8675 as the D50s for bluetooth.. Also wanted to ask what happens if you leave the Zen Blue not paired to any device? Does it go into some kind of stand by mode? Thanks for the review!
I haven't heard iOne nano yet so can't comment on its sound quality. However, I do appreciate iOne nano having option for wired connection too (USB and coaxial).
No you can't use it that way and luckily you don't need to. Wireless Earbuds have everything inside themselves (DAC, AMP) and direct BT connection to the phone already gives you the best possible sound quality.
Is it a transmitter, a receiver or both? I'm getting tired of the dongle adaptors that do not work or work poorly and have no findable driver updates like the Insignia product I just bought from Worst Buy.
I have watched a lot of reviews on this item. You are the only reviewer to touch on the bluetooth output itself. That it is superior to other devices bluetooth output. This is exactly what I wanted hear about, and of course you delivered that information, just as I expected you would! Thank you!
I've watched a dozen reviews for this product, all good in their own way however, this one clarified the difference between it's brother DAC only component and highlighted they cannot be used together. Well done review and much appreciate for your time.
I had an outlaw audio blue tooth adapter connected to my stereo and the range wasn't great and the sound was ok, not great. I bought the Zen Blu based on reviews and I love it. Big difference in quality of the sound range was much better. Definitely great for anyone with older receiver. Good product good review
Just bought this and it's amazing! If you have a newer phone that supports LDAC, you are gonnaa love it!! Sounds better than my laptop plugged directly into my controller!
Great review and I'll suggest there's a 3rd group of people who like myself have older/vintage systems. I bought my Zen Blue 6 months ago and love it. I hooked it up (analog) to my vintage Adcom GTP-400 running into an Adcom GFA-5200 pushing a pair of 1st gen Paradigm Studio 20's and the system sounds absolutely incredible. I can use both my old iPhone 3 and my current iPhone 8 with the Zen Blue. If you have an old/vintage 2 ch. system and want to stream from your phone or tablet, the iFi Zen Blue is the way to go.
Bluetooth is excellent, I use LDAC with a few devices every day. I haven't tested it but I am quite sure I cannot tell the difference between wired and bluetooth. If I could notice a difference I would happily accept it for the convenience, particularly with portable devices.
great review and especially appreciated the conclusions for the two different types of users and using the Berson playmate DAC and the zen blue for the bluetooth component.
Great review! This was very helpful to me. The explanation of how the blue and the zen dac can't connect together (honestly, shame IFI) was very helpful. I also appreciated the review of the sound quality of both the zen blue DAC as well as the Topping Bluetooth performance. All this great info has helped me plan how I will use this and integrate it into my system.
Thank you for another excellent review. I like the idea of using my iPhone as a music source via Bluetooth (BT). I understand that BT5 is better than BT4.2 and it seems from your review that the circuit make up of the Zen Blue is better than the Topping D50. Have you looked at Drop (ex Massdrop) products? They have Topping and other DAC’s/amplifiers as well as quality headphones at what seem like good prices. I wonder how their DAC’s compare with the ones you have tested. Keep up the good work you are doing. I like and respect your reviews highly.
Hi. Thanks for the great video. For whatever it's worth, I had some similar questions about the differences between the outputs on the zen blue, and ended up emailing ifi to ask. According to them, whether you use analog out or digital out, it all passes through the internal DAC, so I would expect the sound to be identical, and would see the only reason for choosing one over another is which connections you had available on your equipment.
Even if the information somehow would pass through the internal DAC, the output via optical or coaxial would just be digital information that is processed by the external DAC which would output the analog signal and therefore the actual sound.
👍👍👏👏💪💪Fantastic review as usual I am so happy you reviewed this product I am very interested in it and I really like the test you have done I have integrated amplifier parasound Halo hint 5 it has a beautiful DAC inside but no Bluetooth connection I think this device will be perfect for me thanks for the review I really appreciate it I will be purchasing one because of you thank you👏👏🙌🙌
I just bought a Yamaha AS-801 integrated amp with DAC inside. how did you hook up your amp to the Zen Blue? what out put did you use on the Zen and what input did you use on you amp? Thanx. PS have you tried Spotify thur it or Amazon music ?
Wow! My impressions of the Zen Blue are so different. First I want to preface that I'm listening to the Zen Blue through Amazon Music HD with the LDAC codec on my android phone).
At the moment, I have a Schiit Modi 3+ in my system and the Zen Blue. I've tried 3 inexpensive DAC's (Topping E30, SMSL Sanskrit MKII and Schiit Modi 3+) and every one of them is more etched sounding than the Zen Blue when hooked up through USB. The Zen Blue sounds more like the other DAC's to me when I have them hooked up to a cd transport via coax.
I was shocked because I've heard from several reviewers online that the ESS is a forward etched sounding DAC. What I'm getting is very smooth highs and mids and they aren't edgy at all, especially compared to a Topping E30. That was a real ear burner for me in my system. I can listen to the Zen Blue at high volumes for extended periods of time without getting any listener fatigue. The SMSL Sanskrit was the smoothest of the cheap DAC's and the Schiit falls in the middle for me. The Zen Blue is definitely the smoothest for me compared to those Bluetoothless DAC's.
The other thing that's interesting about the Zen Blue for me is that it has so much more bass than any of the new affordable DAC's I've tried in my system. I was looking for a bass boost button to see if I hit it by mistake because I know the Zen DAC has a bass boost button. The bass is so much that it gets to be too much on recordings that that have a lot of bass.
That said, I don't know what to do with it. I"m still in my trial period. The Zen Blue seems like a lot of money for such a limited use. I only have one device that uses the better codecs. In the grand scheme of things though it's just $130 and it's great fun. That bass is great for listening to old songs like New Order's Blue Monday (ironic, eh?) and 80's Industrial music. It's also nice to listen to thin sounding recordings from the early years of digital music by adding bass weight to them, even though it's not very accurate.
One last thing. I really wish it had extra inputs because I'd love to listen to the DAC by itself and it would make it much more versatile. I understand whey they don't do it though because of size, cost and keeping the signal as clean as possible.
Update: I kept it. The Blue Zen is so convenient. I love using the streaming apps and not having to mess with third party software. It also sounds really good to me as far as streaming goes.
This is what's interesting: I tried different phones and got very different results. My favorite is my new Motorola with the LDAC codec in hi res. I tried a Samsung phone with LDAC and hi res and it sounds very much like your review. I can't believe how much better it sounds with the Motorola.
I have an older Motorola that only does AptX Classic and it sounds better than the Samsung in LDAC and hi res. I wonder why?
The moral of my story is try different devices with different codecs.
You're 100% correct that's the way I am connecting it I have a denafrips Aries sounds totally amazing best Bluetooth I have ever heard
Glad to hear it. And I totally want to try Aries myself... It's just that I'm a bit tight on the budget for a moment. :)
I'd love to use this as a transport into a holo may dac😍
Its a great bluetooth adapter with an additional average DAC(sabre 9018)..its main purpose is as bluetooth transport(thats why its has a switch to turn off the dac so its become pure bluetooth transport)..totally different compare with something like topping d50s which is a DAC with addtional bluetooth input
Just ordered one and now Im wondering if I should order the upgraded power supply. I heard good things about it just dont know if its worth it?
Maybe the Innomaker (Skylark 2) bluetooth receiver on Amazon might be better value....?
I always had bad results using bluetoh devices but I have to admit that things are changing fast and it will be the future. Nowadays I still prefere wires !
great review. I connected BLUE using 4.4mm to CAN and comparing to DAC - I don't hear much of difference. Also 4.4mm vs RCA - no difference.
Also nice feature is that this lady after connecting also tells you which codec it uses. Even I don't hear much of difference between aptX and LDAC on my iFi stack with Sundara. Truth be told iFi 3x stack is very nice.
I cannot hear the difference between aptX or LDAC via BLUE vs USB from my Macbook via iFi ZEN DAC.
I was thinking about replacing iFi stack (BLUE, DAC, CAN) to Toppings D50s + A50s but I think I will stay with iFi (even though it requires 3 boxes vs 2 boxes from Toppings). I am not sure if this is Sundara that does not show me the difference or my ears.
One great thing though is extra bass and stage on CAN - in some cases (types of music) I use these settings for my pleasure - I don't see anything like this on the Toppings stack.
Oh, and second: 4.4mm from CAN to Sundara - that makes difference vs single ended - the power is higher for sure.
Love to see a review of the Zen Stream.
Great review! I like the zen blue DAC and the bluetooth functionallity but i also want wired inputs to connect it to different sources. Could you recommend me the best bluetooth DAC under $200 please? Thank you so much!
I had a bad experience with B2, it interfered with apple airport frequency, it cuts in and out and shortens significant the connection distance, will this one have frequency issues with the apple router?
Thank you for a very informative and clear video
I wonder how this compare to iFi Zen One signature, which is a DAC with bluetooth.
I bought an iFi Zen DAC and they had a pamphlet inside for the Zen Blue. Too bad they can't be used together.
Great review! Thanks! I am looking for a standalone Bluetooth DAC like this. Must have LDAC Bluetooth and a good DAC. Have you looked at the Innomaker Skylark-II? It has a Burr Brown PCM5122 DAC instead. I am wondering if it might sound better than this ifi device? What is the best sounding standalone Bluetooth receiver with LDAC? Thanks!
Really interested as a simple, unfussy solution to my streaming issues (I use Amazon music unlimited which is unsupported by my older Yamaha wxc-50). However, other reviewers mention LDAC is the best sounding codec. Do you think this would be dependent on the partnering gear?
Was the Zen Blue sending better signal with coax or optical out? Thank you!
I prefer coax but this is also dependent on the device on the other end of the cable (DAC, receiver, etc.)
I was thinking coax as well, thank you. The device going to is my Denafrips Ares2.
i have this. is coaxial or optical connection better on this for apple lossless music? or it doesn't matter because they are digital?
I really enjoy your reviews. I wonder if I connect the Zen via rca from the coax to the 3.5mm input on the atom, would it give the better digital sound or would it sound the same as using the analog side of the blue? Thanks for any thoughts you might have.
Thanks! Atom doesn't have a D/A converter, it's just an amp so you have to feed it with an analog signal from the Blue.
Coax on Blue is digital out so it can't connect to Atom in any way that would work.
@@iiWiReviews Thank you for your reply. I was impressed by your review of the E30. If I hooked the fiio btr3 to that would it change the signal to the E30 signature or would it play the btr3 signal unchanged to the atom? I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but the whole DAC thing is all new to me. Thanks 😊
Dubious at first if this thing would perform.
Hooked it straight to a schiit Heresy with Grado 325i. Goddam revelation.
Built well no frills but a fine little streamer. Buy it.
Would you please review Loxjie D30 which combines DAC, headphone amp and bluetooth together? The measurement from audioscience seem to be in favor of its DAC but I would rather trust your opinion on the actual sound quality. Thank you.
Come back tomorrow and check out the latest video I'm editing right now. :)
vs btr5 ?
is it better?
Have you paired this with the Topping L30? Or could it?
I decided to buy Topping E50 after watching your review. I am planning to buy Topping Ldac bluetooth receiver to be use to E50. Then I remember your review of this Ifi zen dac blue. Topping BC3 is half the price of ifi zen blue.
Should I buy bc3 ldac bluetooth receiver or Topping E50?
What's your take on this?
Desired result: Dynamic and analytical
Zen Blue sounds great but I haven't tried BC3 so can't compare them.
@@iiWiReviews thank you
I'm thinking of getting one to connect to schiit modi 3 dac.............Do u recommend?????
What about comparison with audioengine B1? Who's better?
Owner of both units. I have found the Audioengine B1 to be more on the warm side of neutral- as in laid back, no coloration, very true to the music source whereas the zen blue was more forward in the mid range and treble. Both sounded excellent. The true question is what kind of speaker are you gonna pair it with? I use my AE B1 with my Klipsch rp600m, it balances out the lively dynamics of the speaker while keeping the musicality, whereas the zen blue paired well with my more kid back elac debut 2.0, a very warm almost ‘boring’ speaker very easy to listen to and the zen blue added some much needed liveliness to the music.
I've heard no mention of "latency". I will use this unit sometimes to provide audio for video, so sound and peoples lips moving must be in "sync". How does this unit perform in this element? I have watched MANY reviews of this device, no comments on latency.
I played some single player video game trough it and on my PC monitor everything seemed in sync. But when used with TV sets it will depend on their image processing and delay too. There's usually an audio delay option somewhere in the TV set menu (at least my Samsung has it) and it's worth playing with.
@@iiWiReviews Thank you for your response. You the man!
Have u tried it with schiit modi 3............If yes, how's the output...............Is it better than normal bluetooth connection?????
Does it give a high or low sound?
its shame both of products doesnt work together. I own zen dac and I actually love it.
any info if zen blue can only used for bluetooth tool only? (connect to other dac/amp stacks?)
Yes, you can use it just as a BT recipient and send digital signal (optical or coaxial) to external DAC that has these inputs.
how about if you compared the bluetooth of Zen blue vs d50s on BT using their own respective internal dacs -- would the d50s still come out on top?
Yes it would in my opinion but that's a tough call.
Hey, sorry for the noob question, but do I even need a dac if I have a Raspberry Pi Streamer with HifiBerry OS and DAC2 HD Top Hat on it? Would it do any good to me?
You already have a DAC in form of a HAT, so if you're happy with its sound then you don't need anything else.
Can you please do a comparison between iFi Zen (not Bluetooth) vs Topping D50s? Obviously considering the price difference. Ignoring Input/Output and features, talking only about sound quality, what are you consideration? Hope you will answer, thanks!
Simply put D50s sounds better. Zen has slightly warmer bass, laid back presentation and highs that are sparkly... D50s is balanced better in my opinion, bass is tighter, vocals more present and highs better integrated with the rest of the spectrum. Is that enough to justify the price difference depends on you and your goal. To me it is.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks you very much! "Is that enough to justify the price difference" that's what I was looking for! Since you were so kind, I want to try one last question...and how the Zen (not Blue) compare against the Topping D30 since they are the same price? I watched all of you video about DACs, and first you praised the D30, than, found that the Shiit became the one to beat, if I remember correctly, and last, you said that for you the Zen is better than the Shiit one, so the Zen > Schiit > D30? I have understood your point correctly? Sorry for the long question, just coming into Hi-Fi world and all to me seems similar and complex 😅 Just for saying, I have Dali Spektor 1 speaker and a really cheap Fosi T20 AMP so I was looking for a 100-200 euro DACs that was not over-killed but still a little bit future-proof.
P.S.: I would be really interested in you review on some Fosi Audio AMPs/DACs as are really common on Amazon and really few review out here :(
@@LtColDavenport Yes, you got it right. I really liked Topping D30 as it was better than anything old established brand produced before it for the price (Audioqest, HRT, Cambridge, etc.). But lately some seriously great DACs were released like Khadas Tone Board, Schiit Modi 3 and lastly Zen DAC... and they pushed D30 out of the spotlight completely. It's a fast changing market for sure.
And I'll look into Fosi products, to see about it...
@@iiWiReviews Thanks you very much again! Really appreciated your answers! :) Keep up the good work! Wait for more DACs review! 💪🏻
Hello, so if you plug this into another better dac, using the ifi digital outs, bypassing the internal dac of the Blue, will this give you the BT capabilities to be used with the other dac? But even with a better dac if I’m using the Zen BT function it will never pass better than 24/192 right? On a positive note, the Zen Blue used solo with its 4.4mm bal out works nicely into my amps balanced inputs which doubles output from the SE outs.
That's right... that was what I tested when I connected it digitally to a Topping D50s. Blue is than just BT receiver, sending the signal to another DAC. And you're right, sample rate is still limited by Blue's maximum.
Enjoy listening to it. Cheers!
Witam który dac ma lepszej jakości dźwięk po bluetooth ifi zen Blue czy topping d50s.? Pozdrawiam
Which device do you recommend, D50s or iFi Zen for bluetooth DAC? thank
If you don't need wired connection (D50s is better that way) I'd go with Zen Blue since sonically both are very similar over BT, but Zen is cheaper.
@@iiWiReviews Yes, I was looking more for bluetooth dacs, a wire may be needed someday, but for now the question is a high-quality wireless connection. Thanks for the quick response and good review
Hi, thanks for the review. I'm currently using Spotify on my Pixel 2 XL connecting via WiFi to a chromecast audio, which connects via toslink to my Cambridge CXA60 amp. I'm actually quite happy with the sound at the moment. Would the zen blue or zen dac offer any sound quality benefit compared to Chromecast? The CXA60 has a Wolfson WM8740 DAC which appears to be at least 10 years old. Some people say the Chromecast is terrible, others say it's just as good as spending £500 on a streamer like the Blusound Node 2i. Would a dedicated streamer be a good choice or should I keep using the chromecast audio and get dedicated DAC something like a Chord Mojo? I'm looking for the best sound quality upgrade for my budget of about £400-500, ideally less. I'm currently using Dali Zensor 3 speakers. Would it be worth upgrading the speakers instead in terms of overall improvement? Thanks, I hope that makes sense.
Hi! I've never tested Chromecast but I heard it's very decent as a digital transport. Personally, I wouldn't bother exchanging it for a better streamer in your case. I believe a good dedicated DAC would make much more sense, and knowing the sound signatures of CX60 and Dali to be on the bright side, I would go with a meaty sounding DAC... and tried my luck with Chord Mojo or Schiit Modi Multibit (hope to test both of these eventually).
@@iiWiReviews Hi, thanks for the reply. I've also read that the CXA60 and Zensor are not a particularly good match, but for me personally I preferred them over the Monitor Audio Bronze, also bright, and the QA Concept 20s, very flat. Unfortunately my amp and speaker test choices were quite limited. I've read lots about Schitt recently so will definitely look at that and the mojo. Thanks again.
@@doifeellucky I also have a AXC60 and do apreciate it. I thing a digital transport wil be a good match, like Allo Digione Signature but it depends what source you use.
So i have a pair of powered speakers that i use with my TV through optical. How do i go about connecting the speakers and the Tv to the Zen Blue? Connecting the Tv and the Blue with optical,and then the speakers to the rca outs?
Zen Blue has only BT input and everything else (including optical) is output only... So you can't connect your TV to it trough optical. You can keep TV connected directly to speakers via optical and connect Zen Blue to speakers via RCA... That's the only solution that comes to mind at the moment. Cheers!
Can I connect that to a laptop with Jriver installed playing flac file or dsd file. Does it sound better? Hope to hear from you...Thanks
Yes you can connect it to a laptop with JRiver. If you have any good amp/speakers you should get a better sound than straight from laptop. But beware that this is for Bluetooth connection only and there's no headphone out. If you need that, take a look at Zen DAC.
Me: Newbie,Bought Sennheiser Momentum 2 True Wireless earphones it has Blue Tooth 5.1
Since MP3 players with 5.1 BT are rare & $$$. Was told that I can use MP3 with Blue Tooth 4.2 & Sennheiser 5.1 BT with the SAME audio quality. Will use MP3 ,ONLY will listen to uploaded TH-cam songs SHOULD I still try to find MP3 player with 5.1?? Thank YOU..PS Would a transmitter help?(Told U, I am Newbie)
why there is no power button
you cannot stream lossless to this from a MacBook, since Apple has will not support anything above the lame ACC codec. deal breaker regarding the Zen Dac ifi blew it by not including a coax input.
Late reply but maybe useful for anyone reading this. You can get tiny USB soundcards that are bluetooth transmitters for APTx-HD and APTx-LL. Some (not all so check carefully) work fine with Mac OS. They are about £25 and little bigger than the USB transmitter for a wireless mouse.
What I would really love to know is, Which device comes out on top between iFi Zen Blue or AudioEngineB1.🤔
iFi definitely, it has a new dac and its dedicated, so its better for a speaker setup.
What if my intergraded amp has a built in DAC but not Bluetooth - but I need this to still stream? Will two DACs mess things up?
In that case you choose to use either one of these: 1. Zen Blue's DAC and send analog signal over RCA. 2. Integrated Amp's DAC by sending just digital signal from Blue (not using its DAC).
In each case, only one DAC is in use...
Hi! I'm new to this so sorry for the stupid question... If I'm sending a signal to the dac via bluetooth and connect the dac to the amp also digital then how is it a "digtial analog converter"? What is a bluetooth dac doing in this case?
If you connect it that way then DAC part is not in use, just its Bluetooth receiver and everything stays digital until your amp. DAC is only in use with analog outputs.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks for tha fast reply! 2 more questions... 1. So if I use it that way the sound quality will be the same as if I used a cheap bt receiver? 2. If I convert it to analog does the sound quality will be better?
Can I use my PC as a source to pass music to this DAC and then to my bluetooth headphones? I need to know please.
No you can't... Just pass from PC directly to your BT headphones, this is for something different. Cheers!
Great impartial review of ifi zen blue. 👍
Interesting.. I would have thought that D50s bluetooth vs Zen Blue connected to D50s would sound pretty similar since they're both LDAC capable.. and they're both being converted to analog by the D50s.
Is it that Qualcomm 5100 chip making all the difference in bluetooth quality? I just saw the new Xduoo XQ-50 Pro which is LDAC capable and only $80.. but it uses the same Qualcomm 8675 as the D50s for bluetooth..
Also wanted to ask what happens if you leave the Zen Blue not paired to any device? Does it go into some kind of stand by mode? Thanks for the review!
For bluetooth, what the difference between Zen Blue vs. iOne nano?
I haven't heard iOne nano yet so can't comment on its sound quality. However, I do appreciate iOne nano having option for wired connection too (USB and coaxial).
iOne nano doesn't support aptX HD which is huge difference in practice.
Can i listen to music on my true wireless earbuds using this to connect to my iphone or Samsung s8?
No you can't use it that way and luckily you don't need to. Wireless Earbuds have everything inside themselves (DAC, AMP) and direct BT connection to the phone already gives you the best possible sound quality.
@@iiWiReviews Thanks for your response. I will learn to be content with I have got 😁
The Zen. As the Brown from Texas instrument more expensive in the sabre you'll find that more expensive. Dac is better.
How does the zen dac compare with modi multibit?
Multibit has firmer bass control and fuller midrange. It's better sounding DAC in my opinion. Zen DAC is great buy for half the price anyway.
please review Fiio FH3,
much love from Indonesia, ♥
Hi.........I just wanna know will zen blue work with schiit modi 3
It should work without a problem over optical or coaxial connection.
Will that be worth to connect this to audioengine b2 via wire
I hear B2 has fine BT and DAC integrated already. I'm not sure that purchasing Zen Blue would be justified.
Can it connect to my TV which has Bluetooth 4.2?
It will depend on your TV's supported audio protocols (like aptX etc.) so can't tell for sure.
@@iiWiReviews I think I will probably stick to optical connection for now. Maybe e30 can help with that regarding integrating TV with stereo setup.
So great contents !! Thanks.
Make it powered by batteries so it is totally wireless
is ifi zen blue work well with topping E30?
Yes they work just fine together.
From the front it looks like a character from Thomas the tank engine
Literally everyone is reviewing this thing. Edit: Maybe it's the DAC I'm thinkinig of.
Is it a transmitter, a receiver or both?
I'm getting tired of the dongle adaptors that do not work or work poorly and have no findable driver updates like the Insignia product I just bought from Worst Buy.
Does it give a high or low sound?
Can this be connected to Modi Multibit?
Yes it can, using optical or coaxial digital connection.