Just make sure your phone supports LDAC to get the max benefit. There are also 3 settings for LDAC. On my Huawei P20 Pro phone, I had to go into developers menu to enable it else it just auto default to HWA. PMC review : th-cam.com/video/InVwvqR-RSk/w-d-xo.html
Hi you are making good videos . Please make a video in marantz nr1200,naim nait 5si and rega brio. Or just i want to know about them as i want to buy one of them for focal aria 926 and focal chorus 706 both.please give a good suggestion THANKS
The jury wasn't really out on this question. Aptx-HD and LDAC are virtually indistinguishable from wired connections . For most folks BT 4.2 + AptX is indistinguishable from cables.
You need to get a better system. It wasn't even close. The optical cable in this case was more detailed than the LDAC which sounds constricted and closed in by comparison. I could even hear it on cheap buds that came with my phone. I do use Bluetooth and it can sound quite good.
I think we are lucky that we have reached a point in technology that there is really no bad sounding audio gear out there any more, just different sounding ones, and it all comes down to preference.
Great review and pretty much spot on! I was looking for a BT receiver for convenience to add to my main system and also ended up with the IFI Zen Blue. Before that, however, I tried the Arylic S50 Pro which touted and supported all the latest codecs and an ESS Sabre DAC/AKM ADC and it was terrible! Very harsh and fatiguing which was immediately returned. Then I went with the proven but latest firmware version of the Audioengine B1 which came in with a much better sound overall. However, the B1 exhibited the digital glare you mentioned with BT especially with solo piano tracks and certain strings so off it went back for a refund. The IFI Zen was the winner out of the three hands down. Natural and smooth across the frequency range. Completely acceptable when not critically listening and simply just enjoying hours of music. Same tracks into same setup without any glare whatsoever. Really quite an amazing device and price to value ratio. My only complaint and a minor one at that is the pairing button has to be pressed each first listen. Would be nice if it simply just connects automatically.
I switched from the Zen DAC to Zen Blue mainly because I use multiple sources with Bluetooth and it's easier to switched between them with the Blue than with manually switching the wires on the DAC.
Thank you for your honesty here. I bought an Audioquest Beetle bluetooth DAC for kicks about a year ago for like $120. It works great for me and is nearly indistinguishable from CD hardwire play. It's convenient and affordable so I roll with it. Only downside is that I have to do a hard reset every so often to reconnect it to my phone as you mentioned in your video.
It's good to see you being so open minded to new technology, even though audio through blue tooth is not everyone's cut of tea. But sometimes, it's all about enjoying music and having the convenience of listening to it. This is another great review, Thomas!
I call myself a music first audiophile. I typically use Spotify connect to my Pioneer N-70A for most of my listening. Sounds good to me. Sure flac or wav sounds better.... but..... it’s convenient and lets me discover new music I would never hear. Hopefully these convenience products will eventually sound just as good.
I have this exact unit.it does everything I wanted to use it for. I play flac files from my BT enabled computer and/or external drive to my main music system.It performs tremendously. Whether I am using the downstairs or my upstairs speakers,it does the job effortlessly.I also have Sirius radio on my computer that I stream to my main system.Again,it's a winner.Best $150 that I have spent on my system in a long time.
@@ThomasAndStereo Funny you should ask. I just set up my temporary sound system up in my garage last weekend. It's just a cheap 50 watt Lepy class d with a pair of CB 10 Energy speakers. I hooked the unit up to it just for the day.My computer is probably 40 to 50 feet away.That is going from my basement, up the stairs , through my foyer,out the entrance door to my garage, and across to the other end of a oversized 2 car garage.Worked like a charm. , ,
This is a good comparison, actually we are moving toward using better wireless technology for our listening experience, thanks for sharing.. I'm happy to set up LDAC with IFI Zen Blue for playing my lossless files in my bed room, hope my wife don't complaint a lot..
Thanks for another great video! 100% agree that ease of use with your system, encourages you to use it more and therefore get more enjoyment from music.
Thank you for the review, and I hope lunch was good ;-) . Yours and some other reviews were why I bought a Zen Blu V2 (as the V1 was being discontinued). l've only used LDAC. The Zen's sound is very satisfying and operation is extremely convenient. I'm a novice to streaming. I think Zen Blu's ability to take in anything that can be played on a phone/tablet/PC/Mac is good
Follow-up a year later: I'm still very happy with the Zen Blu v.2. At first I was worried about the BluTooth only input. Now I'm happy for the other analog and digital outputs. The onboard DAC sounds fine to me. The rest of my system is slightly warm. In my situation, the next step up would be an outboard DAC before adding a wired or WiFi music path.
Thomas you are so right here. I was using a Rotel RA-1572 integrated amp that has a Bluetooth module built in and the apt x codec sounds pretty good. I was actually shocked because my expectations was extremely low. Blue tooth has come a long way. My desk Dac is the Audioquest dragonfly red usb Dac coming out of my laptop. These little devices are popping up everywhere by different manufacturers. Great review as always.
Great video, thank you. I don't have the iFi Zen Blue Dac, but I do own the iFi Zen Dac/amp - and I love it. I see you have it paired with the bluetooth dac, and I'd like to know what your impressions of the Zen dac are.
I'm finding that 90% of my time listening to music, I connect via Bluetooth from my phone. In that respect, it's way more important to my needs to have the best sounding Bluetooth receiver.
this is actually a product i purchased.this review is spot on this product is nice.i have a ton of decent media on a sd card.at first i didnt have the ldac high fidelity.then i got a sony walkman that has it.this product overall is very nice for the price
I use the Blueme HD by Auris. $150. After trying several Bluetooth solutions, this one sounds fine and I kept it because it never drops connection and pairs quickly with my iPhone. Great video!!!
Which one should I choose to use as my streamer/pre-amp :) Teac NT-505 Auralic Altair G1 NAD C658 Lumin D2 Primare CD15 (Other ideas are welcome) I have had a Bluesound Node 2 and wanted a upgrade. The streamer/pre-amp will be connected to a Chord SPM 1000B power amplifier and Bowers&Wilkins 805D2 speakers.
The Lumin sound is supposed to be more 'analogue'. And not that expensive, price seems to vary alot. Im going for the U1 mini (will have onboard dac in new amp)
Thomas, I bought the regular Zen dac several months ago and attempted to replace it with a Chord Hugo, and guess what? Just for kicks I went back to try the Zen again, and I liked it better. I am selling the Hugo!
@Thomas: Can Zen Blue work as both DAC & Preamp so that I can connect its RCA out directly to Power-Amp. We can do volume control via phone right..? I love your Videos. Keep up the Good work. Thanks.
Thanks Thomas for your frank review, i would like your opinion, during yours of listening to music, have you ever found the music a bit irritating to your ears, i am having this problem and just wanting to hear your take on it or anyone else out there, thanks and keep safe.
I had the same problem listening to music. Went through several different speakers (Klipsch, KEF, pinnacle and modern Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo home theater receivers and it wasn't until I decided to purchase a freshly serviced Vintage Marantz that I can now listen to music pretty much non-stop pretty much with any of my speakers. Don't know how accurate the sound is, but it's clean and sounds far more pleasant to my ears. Added bonus 70s Marantz receivers are so sexy. Lol
Your buddy at the next big thing. Its good you aint jealous of each other. He had Nelson Pass on. If you could ever talk to him or talk about any of his products, I'd appreciate it. Me & my friend bought 10 used Nakamichi stasis receivers that Nelson Pass designed the Stasis circuit for 2 years, but I believe Nakamichi made this same amp other years for some other years. I think they sold for $800 plus tax 20 years ago. What is neat I bought one dirt cheap on Ebay a few years ago, they are going up in price on ebay & getting harder to find. Anyway, I bought one used cheap on Ebay that was 20 years old & was still in the box never used. I bought a $4000 tube pre amp like that new in the box for $450. I have gotten other equipment like that. Rich people buy & dont use it. I find these receivers have a clear loud sound in the highs & bass. . He used this circuit in his own amp which is highly collectable.. You need to learn as much as you can on these amps. They are Class A designs at low volume, but are class A/B at higher volumes. I wish you could look at & talk about these desins to us. These receivers run cool. I love their sound. I like the Japanese versions better because you dont have to make the speaker wires tiny on the ends to hook up. Some of these receivers have great pre amp stages. All of them have 4 separate power reguator sections to cut down electrical interference. These are the best sounding receivers & I dont understand why I got them so cheap on Ebay. I guess people are dumb. I have a class A amp & pre amp that Nelson Pass let people copy the designs of. They are great products for the money
Do your Nakamichi receivets run hot? I have heard some of the stasis receivers run too hot to stack anything on top? Also which model is your favorite?
Love your channel. Thanks to you I’ve purchased the XTZ Edge and paired it with the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 and I’m very happy with the results. I’m testing DAC’s now and currently using a Topping D50s and I believe I’m experiencing some digital glare that you were talking about in this video but I’m not 100% sure. Could you elaborate or define digital glare? This would help me identify some of the harshness I hear at the top end when I’m pushing the volume. Also if you could recommend a DAC to go with my combo that would be fantastic. Cheers !
Yeah, pretty much that glare and uncomfortable harshness at the top end. Harshness can come from the speakers too but I am not talking about that, it is from the DAC and the one thing I noticed with the limited I gear that I have tested that measure well, they are so clear that the top end could be too much of a good thing. I don't know about the topping 50 as I never heard it but when I hear it, it is almost like ' a bit siblant', ' a bit like a high pitch constant frequency', 'a big glassy' and so forth.
@@uhugvjkbkjh no the Emotiva only goes up to aptX i have a full review on me channel but for 80 bucks , The BTR1 still good enough for people who's phones don't have the Qualcomm aptX HD -L-dac transimmitter chip the new chip is the 5100
@@uhugvjkbkjh here you go buddy , this will tell ya step by step How2 😆 www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/8725p1/the_galaxy_s8_now_supports_ldac_with_android_80/
Good food is a great bonus and the Truth about Bluetooth is really a good point about the progress of technology 👍 Like always keep up the good objective work
Nice review Thomas. I find myself using WiFi and Bluetooth more and more- yikes! It's not that I want to, but there is so much music available through that means. On some streaming, I can't tell much difference in quality as compared to the same song from a CD. Still, I'll take a good CD every time given the choice. I just like the engagement of having that disc and a good CD player or transport. I appreciate vinyl, but just not enough to overtake my fondness of CDs. Anyway, regarding use of Bluetooth with class D amps, something I feel that is overlooked by the audiophile is use a higher end AV receiver for stereo. Yes, it's the devil, just like tone controls, but setup properly can yield some very impressive results that probably in a blind test would have people thinking they are listening to a system costing many thousands more. For three of my four systems, I use separates and AB amps; however, in one of my medium size living rooms, I'd been messing around with it for quite some time trying to decide if I wanted it to be another movie room or stereo listening setup. I decided to make it both, but only use a 2 channel setup. Well, the higher end Onkyo AV Dolby atmos receiver I'd been using was pretty good as a surround unit, but I did not like it's stereo, 2 channel modes compared to any of my other stereo gear. It sounded very two dimensional, but extremely clear and surprising good with bass even running a completely flat signal (nontoned). Seemed to be too bright also though I usually like bright. So I figured otherwise I really had almost everything I needed in one package: a clean and punchy amp section, HDMI connections, wifi, Bluetooth, all sorts of RCA and toslink connections (an FM tuner WOW- yes, still go there sometimes). So I can connect any of my components to it. OK, this is great, but that sound imagining just sucked in 2chan. Next move, pair with bass horns (via Altec A7) and DefTec bookshelf D11 to pick up everything over 500hz. Now this setup was totally jamming and totally clean at concert levels, yet very composed at low volumes. The phase separation between the bass horn and the bookshelf speakers (tasked as a midrange and tweeter in this case) created an amazing depth to the music and went from 2d to 3d experience having good instrument separation. Alas, something was still not quite as good as I wanted. Oh, those very expensive RCA cables I bought a long time ago and used only for a couple weeks because they made my components sound like broken glass (yes the cables made that much difference in the sound and was a huge waste of money)- until now! Hooked up an old CD player to the Onkyo with those cables and suddenly, incredible texture and detail! I am now loving this entire setup and it was cobbled together with component I already had. Drums, vocals, strings, piano, it's all awesome. Matching up components and yes, cables, is time well spent to get an excellent system. Sometimes your stuff is a lot better than you think, you just have to work getting the combination right.
Could you comment on the Fiio BTA30 compared to the IFi Zen Blue as both support LDAC. In particular their internal Dac. I am leaning toward the Fiio as it is $100 less and both seem to be basically the same for what I am looking for. Thanks.
Hi, Thomas. As always, enjoy the video. I’m planning to get an external DAC. How do you connect this on the back of the receiver? Also, if my receiver has the Burr Brown 24 bit/192kHz , will this be an upgrade? If it is, what DAC do you recommend to upgrade from what I have? Thanks.
You should have some kind of RCA input at the back. Burr Brown or not does not matter. It all depends how it is implemented in your receiver so some are awesome and some are so so. So upgrade depends on how good your current AVR amp is but sadly I would not know cause I don't play with receivers.
Thom, not sure if you’ve heard of Curious Cables. Or Heard them. Check them out, they’re hand made in Australia and have earned high praise amongst many audiophiles with gear in high and low ranges. I just got one for my Chord Mojo and I figured i’d share as i think you should try one.
I don’t know what you typically use to transfer your music digitally whether it’s toslink, coaxial or USB. I’m not telling you to make a video on it. I’m telling you, you need to try it. I bought a Nordost blue heaven usb before it came in as it took over a month to arrive from Australia but it blew the Nordost out of the water. It’s a piece you deserve you have in your system and a piece you need to experience. Each cable in hand-made to order. Amazing depth and detail.
I’m very sorry if this has been asked already but I would like to be sure to fully understand what this device can do. Does it only stream an audio file to receiver or does it stream AND upgrade the sound quality of the original file? For exemple if using Spotify which doesn’t not support flac, will it stream the file and make it sound like Flac or not ? Thanks for any clarification
What devices are all of you using to get other codec other than sbc and apple’s aac? I can’t seem to get the iFi to change to anything - using aac because I use apple. Suggestions?? Thanks!
Hi that's a great review. I'm new to this so I just wanted to know if it's worth getting this dac as my speaker is pretty low end (edifier r1280db). It already has a Bluetooth receiver but it doesn't sound that great even when I'm playing flac files from my mobile that has aptxhd enabled. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks
thank you Thomas, nice vid...i own and reg use the ifi Zen Blue. my phone runs Android 10 and supports LDAC Bluetooth transmission, however i don't have the means to analyze the actual stream. One thing i'm not certain of, and maybe you have some insight, is whether the the optical or coax output achieves and/or preserves the original stream. most of the time i'm using the Zen Blue to decode to the RCA outputs as it sounds better than outputting the optical/digi stream to my amp's builtin dac. I haven't asked ifi, but wondered if you knew whether there were limitations with the optical output (hardware) that would reduce the pcm stream to, for example, 24/96, negating the benefits of streaming bt LDAC. Or does it even matter? hahaha
I think best just email them but I think 24/96 is already more than enough for resolution since CD is 16/44 and that is really good already. I think the sound quality difference you are experiencing is more the built in DAC. Usually when I listen, I actually listen at 16/44 on my main system.
What would be a good digital cable for this bluetooth reciever? I'm thinking about the audioquest cinamon or something similar in price range my chain is going to be the topping E30 the Cambridge AXA35 and the elac debut b6.2
Nice review Thomas 😆 I have actually enjoyed the ifi blue with Spotify , I use the digital output to the Aune X8 dac 'Audioquest cinnamon coax cable' . And i must say for bluetooth its really good and i also use the 5v ifi i power supply of course 😆 Glad you got to use l-dac my phone will only 'transmit' AptX-HD codec , i am really wanting to use L-dac my next phone will have L-Dac, I still can't get over how far B.T. has came along , but at the end of the day I love spinning the silver disk 😆 Also should be Reviewing the Yamaha AS-1100 very soon , I absouletly love it !So liquidey !! With that powerful top end with richness ohh my thats all i can say for now review hopefully tommorrow or nexted day please watch 😆 i worked hard on this one Thomas and I paired 7 sets of my speakers to the Yammy, But I also been working on a video just on amps also , and how they differ so much and how the ratings of an amp is only in Watts which is the Horse power of the amp , but what about the Torque power ? Whats torque power coming very soon as i can explain it with an electrical understanding basically the scale/weight of the sound that fullness is what i am calling the 'Torque' Any amp can have HP (Watts) but torque thats a different story ! 😆 Thanks for the review of the Zen-Blue ! One last thing I'm really wanting a set of R3 or R5 KEFS so bad Thomas ! But my wallet says LS-50 or Focal 902 , I have never owned a focal speaker but prices on LS-50 is crazyness !
I think the LS50 is a good entry point for you to try something different. Man if you were close by, you could have taken all my stuff home to listen. Really glad you like the Yamaha and i get what you are saying about torque.
@@ThomasAndStereo I know you would Thomas 😆 And yeah i am really going to be pushing this 'Torque' power somehow someway differntly then just saying fullness or the Scale size or the amp has Muscle ! I Really appricate you Thomas and what you bring to the table of us audio enthuist , You have no idea how much my thinking process of audio changed by watching you channel 1 open mind 2.No best 3. Positive reviews only ! And yea the Yamaha Won't be for everone ! But it loves Metal dome tweeters and Horn loaded desighned speakers IMHO 😆 I think i found another Sansui G-8000 for cheap hopefully i Get the Sansui or something close for the comparrsion video New age Mid-Fi Yammy vs vintage HI-Fi both have weaknesses and strengths
@@ThomasAndStereo Thomas my new video tjat came out yesterday overview Part 1 of yamaha As-1100 and at 31min in the video i mentioned your name i meant to say more but i wanged you to see something i use to own 😆 Really glad you done this overview ! I didn't know l-dac was smoother 😆
33.6 Kbps modem,..? The first I used was a 110 baud with an acoustic dialup phone handset connector for the rotary phone you used to make the connection, and the first I bought was a 300 baud Hayes for about $1,000 in 1981 dollars.
Aptx HD is it there? Stac ModiMagni ifi 3 models all are confusing for s starter like me ...sir?...whats the major difference between normal Sony or Yamaha stereo Amp...available ??
Would you consider making a video which asks your subscribers to tell their experiences in regards to purchasing the products reviewed on your channel?
Thomas & Stereo Well there's certainly many possible routes a video series could take with this premise. For example my next purchase will be an amp priced about $2000 Cdn. I'd be interested in your viewers experiences with amps you've reviewed and they've purchased based on your review. I've been a Yamaha guy for many years and I'm very comfortable with a Yamaha purchase but maybe Its time to switch.
great video sir! can you please do something more detailed where you compare aac vs aptx? and also chromecast vs airplay...i understand you are on android but i’m sure you can get hold of an ipad! i know, this sounds ambitious even to me 😁 thank you though 🤓
I think your neighbor is running their mower during this video .. Lol I have to pause it to be sure I didn’t have a crazy neighbor outside mowing at 9 pm
hi! Tomas, Buchardt has a new floor standing speaker(A700) any plan to review it. Though i owned Buchardt S300 and match up with Marantz PM6006 integrated Class AB amp. Sound is amazing. thanks
New to audiophile world here. Can you connect this to the iFi Zen Dac? If yes what type of cable needs to be use? I'm planning to pair both. Thank you, great review!
@@ThomasAndStereo That's what I thought, I've been finding the right cable online but couldn't find one. I've also messaged the seller and they say that RCA to RCA will do and work?
@@FrancisDiola No, because both RCA are output RCA. So, it will mean you will connect both unit to your integrated amp, so you will have 2 separate DACs. If that is what you want, sure you can use 2 DACs but that is now how I would spend my money. This is a solution for a specific problem. if you need a DAC with both Bluetooth and wired USB connection from the computer because you are using 2 different sources, then you would look for another solution.
@@ThomasAndStereo Thank you! You've been really helpful! I am planning my budget set-up and I have failed by purchasing this first. My plan is to stream using my phone to iFi Zen Blue and to another headphone amp to power my HD6XX. Do you have a recommendation, a budget amp that is compatible to iFi Zen Blue?
I’m still looking for a good DAC to accommodate my AppleTV 4K.Is there anything that accept HDMI and I won’t need to use my processor?. I do have a complete separate Pre and mono block Amp. This would allow me to get movies and TH-cam in high fidelity setup.
Hi Thomas. My Zen Blue’s manual says the LDAC was going to be a firmware update. Do I need to do anything in order to activate the LDAC codec capability of my Zen Blue or is this just a matter of whether your bluetooth transmitter like the IPhone or IPad has LDAC capability?
I think LDAC is only for Android. You will need to update the firmware manually, read the manual on how to do it. You set what codec you want to use on your phone, in your case, if you are using IPHONE, I don't remember it supporting LDAC.
@@ThomasAndStereo mega!!!! I love speakers which are unusual and therefore perform extraordinarly good for example Gemme Audio and their Vflex loading, Von Schweikert VR-1 and their 'pressure release' bass reflex kind of system, open baffle in Jamo R907 and so on. I am really curious of these Brodmanns - especially when you said that there is lots of bass hehe (I listen mostly to electronic music and low wow factor presentation and enormous dynamics/wall of sound).
Hi I just orderd the ifi Blue and I am wondering if I should order the upgraded power supply. I heard good things about it but just wondering if I should buy it
@@ThomasAndStereo wow, how do you find them comparing to all Focal Speakers models? Have you tried the PMC FACT series? The 5 series are above the entry level off DB1GOLD I have the PMC5. 23, which has larger drivers and very looooong deeeep cabinets, which I love cherish adore speakers with very deep cabinet. You got a good deal on it? Have you tried ATC speakers, they are like PMC and Focal.
Great review. For Spotify from a Pixel 2 XL would this offer any benefit over a Chromecast audio connected to my Cambridge CXA60 via toslink? I'm thinking probably not. Thanks.
Well spotify in high res I think is 320kps? Is the codec in chromecast bluetooth you are using support the max bit rate of your spotify? Depends what level of spotify you are using.
Thomas, thanks for the video. I'm intrigued. Some of these bluetooth gizmos only pair with one phone. I've got at least 2 people in the house that might want to use it. Is that a problem?
I had my phone and Tablet sync to it but I don't remember if I had to unpair one so the other one can pair. Can you send them an email? Mine is already all packed up and ready to mail back.
@@ThomasAndStereo On Amazon, I found this: The ZEN Blue remembers up to seven paired Bluetooth source devices, making it easy to switch from one device to another, with impressive range thanks to the latest Bluetooth 5 specification.
Hey what u think about the Cambridge Audio CXA81 is bluetooth inside is it a good receiver for a stereo setup with canton ergo 695 dc? Greetings at All audiofreaks All around the wold From germany! ✌🏻🤓
Seems to be ok Bluetooth: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting up to aptX HD (24bit 48kHz). Not version 5 or LDAC but usually once you hit aptX HD, it is pretty ok.
Computer and bluetooth receiver are not in same sound pressure level. I think computer sounded less louder than bluetooth. Probably for that reason bluetooth sounded slightly bassier than computer or maybe youtube compression adding muddiness in the bluetooth sound. LDAC uses 990 kbps and youtube uses less than 200 kbps bandwidth, because of that it would be difficult to judge the quality.
Very possible because I had to re-record the bluetooth part a few hours later than the computer part. Of course in my own testing, I was testing with FLAC files but I can't use those in the sound demo due to copyright issue. The sound demo is purely for entertaining purpose as I get request all the time to include some.
It's possible to use this dac with a bluetooth speaker like JBL Extreme 2 via 3.5 mm that exists in the back of the speaker with the correct cable to better sound quality?
@@hifiman4562 ok thanks. I was wondering if using a DAC like that (i.e. designed rather with headphones in mind) makes sense with standalone, full size gear. I am looking on amazon for it and reviews are rather amazing right? I wonder how it compares to iFi Zen Blue
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 keep in mind es100 has only 1 volt output, whereas the zen has 2-4 volts. Correct me if I am wrong. Your amp will be happier. But, the ES100 is portable as you know.
@@ThomasAndStereo i don't know what budget you're audience have. But i only want to spent between 300 and 1000 dollar on a preamp. I am eyeing the freya+ but am waiting for the new topping preamp.
@@richardblaauwgeers4349 I talk about all kind of budget that I find good. With topping, you will get a different sound than Freya + cause it does not use tubes. It will not have the holographic sound stage as grand as the Freya+ but you will get other things such as darker background and so forth. Did you see my video on the Freya first gen?
@@ThomasAndStereo yes, but you did not sell it to me, it felt like you gave it a 7 (out of 10) i am looking for an 8+. Also doubting about d90 and ares2
Anyone know if there's a USB bluetooth dongle out there that I could plug into a 1st gen i5 laptop that would work well with the Zen Blue? (I seem to have a laptop and monitor parked on my living room coffee table.) At the moment I am using the internal Intel wireless 7260 card and a Best Buy Rocketfish bluetooth receiver.
So Thomas I heard a great Comment 75% of CD quality THIS was something I could use. ...! 75% of CD quality is Great. Compliments of "Tee-Jay the Stereo Bargain File"
I have been repairing vintage Hi-Fi equipment as a hobby for a while now I have been using a Bluetooth. Hooked up to a Sansui amp with a equalizer an k l i p SCH speakers and until I modified the crossovers in the speakers I really didn't here the difference between the Bluetooth DAC and my Peachtree DAC but you can hear the difference the eyes do come in a little bit different and those are a little bit softer but that's only probably because I've done some modifications on the speakers towel klipsch speakers sometimes can be a little finicky what their base they have to be positioned a certain distance away from the wall if they're too close to the wall you don't get enough sleep too far away from the wall when you get to my age it's strange how they have to be set up but I got the perfect combination right now and I've got just enough where I can run the app perfectly flat on the treble and the bass and I get very good response from the speakers and now since I've upgraded and modified that the crossovers but if you listen and you sit in this sweet spot in the room and I don't care what kind of music you listen to classical jazz folk-rock whatever it is and you sit right there in a sweet spot you can tell the difference it depends on the speakers in the unit that she use I noticed a lot of audio files out there that believe they can hear every single thing different but when you've had system for a long time and you've done modifications to the system and then all the sudden things have brightened up and the systems we come alive again I know if you know what I mean I mean I've also done some modifications on the amp changed out the offense but some better ones in and sisters change them out practically built the whole entire amplifier did a few modifications so I get a little bit more wattage out but you can point you been living with something for a while and you've done some changes you can literally tell the difference and right now the way the system is set up I don't think anybody could offer me enough money me to part with it I don't know if you've ever had a system like that and I don't have a lot of money into the system that's what surprises me cuz I have a friend that has so much money into his this is system if I was to tell you the amount of money that this guy's got into his system you would say he's out of his mind and he is listen to my system and he likes mine but it in his
I grew up with 28.8k modem it was so kewl at the time. I'd finally get Tigerdirect or CDW to load and start drooling over Pentiums and Voodoo graphics cards then the phone would ring and internet gone....NO! 😬😫
Just make sure your phone supports LDAC to get the max benefit. There are also 3 settings for LDAC. On my Huawei P20 Pro phone, I had to go into developers menu to enable it else it just auto default to HWA.
PMC review : th-cam.com/video/InVwvqR-RSk/w-d-xo.html
Hi you are making good videos . Please make a video in marantz nr1200,naim nait 5si and rega brio. Or just i want to know about them as i want to buy one of them for focal aria 926 and focal chorus 706 both.please give a good suggestion THANKS
Great, I am using Huawei P30 as well
Thank you very much.
The Zen Blue is kickass if you have vintage equipment. It allows one to stream music and sounds fantastic.
3:17 Thomas putting on a big smile on his face. I've never seen him so happy like this :) I like you Thomas!
Thanks, I love food! I live to eat!
@@ThomasAndStereo eat first ,2 music, 3 wife 😇 normal behaviour
The jury wasn't really out on this question. Aptx-HD and LDAC are virtually indistinguishable from wired connections . For most folks BT 4.2 + AptX is indistinguishable from cables.
man, I am so out of touch!
You need to get a better system. It wasn't even close. The optical cable in this case was more detailed than the LDAC which sounds constricted and closed in by comparison. I could even hear it on cheap buds that came with my phone. I do use Bluetooth and it can sound quite good.
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt you couldn't notice any difference. You're imagining things
I love how you gave your recommendation within 20 seconds, made me stick around for the whole video
I think we are lucky that we have reached a point in technology that there is really no bad sounding audio gear out there any more, just different sounding ones, and it all comes down to preference.
Yes, we can get amazing sound now for such low price.
Great review and pretty much spot on! I was looking for a BT receiver for convenience to add to my main system and also ended up with the IFI Zen Blue. Before that, however, I tried the Arylic S50 Pro which touted and supported all the latest codecs and an ESS Sabre DAC/AKM ADC and it was terrible! Very harsh and fatiguing which was immediately returned. Then I went with the proven but latest firmware version of the Audioengine B1 which came in with a much better sound overall. However, the B1 exhibited the digital glare you mentioned with BT especially with solo piano tracks and certain strings so off it went back for a refund. The IFI Zen was the winner out of the three hands down. Natural and smooth across the frequency range. Completely acceptable when not critically listening and simply just enjoying hours of music. Same tracks into same setup without any glare whatsoever. Really quite an amazing device and price to value ratio. My only complaint and a minor one at that is the pairing button has to be pressed each first listen. Would be nice if it simply just connects automatically.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I've owned my Ifi Zen Blue DAC for 2 years and i love it. Very happy with the performance
I switched from the Zen DAC to Zen Blue mainly because I use multiple sources with Bluetooth and it's easier to switched between them with the Blue than with manually switching the wires on the DAC.
Thank you for your honesty here. I bought an Audioquest Beetle bluetooth DAC for kicks about a year ago for like $120. It works great for me and is nearly indistinguishable from CD hardwire play. It's convenient and affordable so I roll with it. Only downside is that I have to do a hard reset every so often to reconnect it to my phone as you mentioned in your video.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you do much for reviewing this and explaining LDAC ! I wasnt sure if to buy it
Glad it was helpful. There are many good reviews on it too.
It's good to see you being so open minded to new technology, even though audio through blue tooth is not everyone's cut of tea. But sometimes, it's all about enjoying music and having the convenience of listening to it. This is another great review, Thomas!
Thanks, yes I know as audiophile we want the best sound possible but I think we should also consider ease of use too.
Very rare to see a REL sub over in Canada. Clearly a man with exceptional taste!!
I call myself a music first audiophile. I typically use Spotify connect to my Pioneer N-70A for most of my listening. Sounds good to me. Sure flac or wav sounds better.... but..... it’s convenient and lets me discover new music I would never hear. Hopefully these convenience products will eventually sound just as good.
Totally agree!!! The Zen Blue is pretty awesome sounding.
@Nils Grønkjær Sorry, but that’s a pretty stupid comment.
@@tedtimmis8135 yes I agree
I use Spotify for music discovery, I also have tidal abd my whole collection is flac.
I listen to music, not gear.
I have this exact unit.it does everything I wanted to use it for. I play flac files from my BT enabled computer and/or external drive to my main music system.It performs tremendously. Whether I am using the downstairs or my upstairs speakers,it does the job effortlessly.I also have Sirius radio on my computer that I stream to my main system.Again,it's a winner.Best $150 that I have spent on my system in a long time.
Nice, I did not test its range though. Any good?
@@ThomasAndStereo Funny you should ask. I just set up my temporary sound system up in my garage last weekend. It's just a cheap 50 watt Lepy class d with a pair of CB 10 Energy speakers. I hooked the unit up to it just for the day.My computer is probably 40 to 50 feet away.That is going from my basement, up the stairs , through my foyer,out the entrance door to my garage, and across to the other end of a oversized 2 car garage.Worked like a charm.
,
,
@@ucantfixstupid7443 wow!
Brilliant video exactly the question I needed expert advice on.
Glad you enjoyed it
This is a good comparison, actually we are moving toward using better wireless technology for our listening experience, thanks for sharing.. I'm happy to set up LDAC with IFI Zen Blue for playing my lossless files in my bed room, hope my wife don't complaint a lot..
Thanks for another great video! 100% agree that ease of use with your system, encourages you to use it more and therefore get more enjoyment from music.
Absolutely!
Thank you for the review, and I hope lunch was good ;-) . Yours and some other reviews were why I bought a Zen Blu V2 (as the V1 was being discontinued). l've only used LDAC. The Zen's sound is very satisfying and operation is extremely convenient. I'm a novice to streaming. I think Zen Blu's ability to take in anything that can be played on a phone/tablet/PC/Mac is good
Follow-up a year later: I'm still very happy with the Zen Blu v.2. At first I was worried about the BluTooth only input. Now I'm happy for the other analog and digital outputs. The onboard DAC sounds fine to me. The rest of my system is slightly warm. In my situation, the next step up would be an outboard DAC before adding a wired or WiFi music path.
Thomas you are so right here. I was using a Rotel RA-1572 integrated amp that has a Bluetooth module built in and the apt x codec sounds pretty good. I was actually shocked because my expectations was extremely low. Blue tooth has come a long way. My desk Dac is the Audioquest dragonfly red usb Dac coming out of my laptop. These little devices are popping up everywhere by different manufacturers. Great review as always.
Thanks, yeah I am surprised how good bluetooth is now.
one of the best reviewers Thanks
Great video, thank you. I don't have the iFi Zen Blue Dac, but I do own the iFi Zen Dac/amp - and I love it. I see you have it paired with the bluetooth dac, and I'd like to know what your impressions of the Zen dac are.
I'm finding that 90% of my time listening to music, I connect via Bluetooth from my phone. In that respect, it's way more important to my needs to have the best sounding Bluetooth receiver.
Does this device improve phone to Bluetooth bookshelf speaker sound quality?
Thank you for the review it was very insightful
this is actually a product i purchased.this review is spot on this product is nice.i have a ton of decent media on a sd card.at first i didnt have the ldac high fidelity.then i got a sony walkman that has it.this product overall is very nice for the price
I use the Blueme HD by Auris. $150. After trying several Bluetooth solutions, this one sounds fine and I kept it because it never drops connection and pairs quickly with my iPhone.
Great video!!!
Oh, never heard of Auris, thanks, will keep them in mind.
For me LDAC is fantastic for headphones "on the go".
Which one should I choose to use as my streamer/pre-amp :)
Teac NT-505
Auralic Altair G1
NAD C658
Lumin D2
Primare CD15
(Other ideas are welcome)
I have had a Bluesound Node 2 and wanted a upgrade. The streamer/pre-amp will be connected to a Chord SPM 1000B power amplifier and Bowers&Wilkins 805D2 speakers.
The Lumin sound is supposed to be more 'analogue'. And not that expensive, price seems to vary alot. Im going for the U1 mini (will have onboard dac in new amp)
I only tried the Lumin D2, it rolls off the top end a bit the D2. The T2 on the other end has a very expressive top end.
@@ThomasAndStereo do stand alone streamers (sans dac) impart a sound signature? Ie U1
Thomas, I bought the regular Zen dac several months ago and attempted to replace it with a Chord Hugo, and guess what? Just for kicks I went back to try the Zen again, and I liked it better. I am selling the Hugo!
Cool, if you prefer the Zen DAC, then enjoy it!
Nice cinematography in this video mr Thomas
@Thomas: Can Zen Blue work as both DAC & Preamp so that I can connect its RCA out directly to Power-Amp. We can do volume control via phone right..?
I love your Videos. Keep up the Good work. Thanks.
"I will bet you 5 bucks but I won't bet you 50 bucks"
Statistically, this means "I won't bet at all, if I could"
The LDAC on the Zendac is much better then all the orhers. Really as good as kabel . thank you
Thanks Thomas for your frank review, i would like your opinion, during yours of listening to music, have you ever found the music a bit irritating to your ears, i am having this problem and just wanting to hear your take on it or anyone else out there, thanks and keep safe.
Yes, this is what I call listening fatigue. That is why choosing the right speaker is important. What do you have?
I had the same problem listening to music. Went through several different speakers (Klipsch, KEF, pinnacle and modern Marantz, Denon, and Onkyo home theater receivers and it wasn't until I decided to purchase a freshly serviced Vintage Marantz that I can now listen to music pretty much non-stop pretty much with any of my speakers.
Don't know how accurate the sound is, but it's clean and sounds far more pleasant to my ears. Added bonus 70s Marantz receivers are so sexy. Lol
Great video as usual Thomas. I think I'll become an audio reviewer so I can get to those hifi show's for the food.
Yup, the real reason why I started to youtube channel 🤣🤣
Your buddy at the next big thing. Its good you aint jealous of each other. He had Nelson Pass on. If you could ever talk to him or talk about any of his products, I'd appreciate it. Me & my friend bought 10 used Nakamichi stasis receivers that Nelson Pass designed the Stasis circuit for 2 years, but I believe Nakamichi made this same amp other years for some other years. I think they sold for $800 plus tax 20 years ago. What is neat I bought one dirt cheap on Ebay a few years ago, they are going up in price on ebay & getting harder to find. Anyway, I bought one used cheap on Ebay that was 20 years old & was still in the box never used. I bought a $4000 tube pre amp like that new in the box for $450. I have gotten other equipment like that. Rich people buy & dont use it. I find these receivers have a clear loud sound in the highs & bass. . He used this circuit in his own amp which is highly collectable.. You need to learn as much as you can on these amps. They are Class A designs at low volume, but are class A/B at higher volumes. I wish you could look at & talk about these desins to us. These receivers run cool. I love their sound. I like the Japanese versions better because you dont have to make the speaker wires tiny on the ends to hook up. Some of these receivers have great pre amp stages. All of them have 4 separate power reguator sections to cut down electrical interference. These are the best sounding receivers & I dont understand why I got them so cheap on Ebay. I guess people are dumb. I have a class A amp & pre amp that Nelson Pass let people copy the designs of. They are great products for the money
Do your Nakamichi receivets run hot? I have heard some of the stasis receivers run too hot to stack anything on top? Also which model is your favorite?
I have nothing to do so I watched it all :)
Love your channel. Thanks to you I’ve purchased the XTZ Edge and paired it with the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 and I’m very happy with the results. I’m testing DAC’s now and currently using a Topping D50s and I believe I’m experiencing some digital glare that you were talking about in this video but I’m not 100% sure. Could you elaborate or define digital glare? This would help me identify some of the harshness I hear at the top end when I’m pushing the volume. Also if you could recommend a DAC to go with my combo that would be fantastic. Cheers !
Compression due to digital volume control?
Yeah, pretty much that glare and uncomfortable harshness at the top end. Harshness can come from the speakers too but I am not talking about that, it is from the DAC and the one thing I noticed with the limited I gear that I have tested that measure well, they are so clear that the top end could be too much of a good thing. I don't know about the topping 50 as I never heard it but when I hear it, it is almost like ' a bit siblant', ' a bit like a high pitch constant frequency', 'a big glassy' and so forth.
I just ordered the "Virtual Copper" $80 BT adapter from Emotiva. Supposed to be pretty great. We shall see.
I reviewed the BTR1 also for 80 bucks it does a good job 😆
Also LDAC?
@@uhugvjkbkjh no the Emotiva only goes up to aptX i have a full review on me channel but for 80 bucks , The BTR1 still good enough for people who's phones don't have the Qualcomm aptX HD -L-dac transimmitter chip the new chip is the 5100
@@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120 tha ks Tjay. I have a samsung S8 which is LDAC compatible. Does it meet all those requirements.
@@uhugvjkbkjh here you go buddy , this will tell ya step by step How2 😆
www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/8725p1/the_galaxy_s8_now_supports_ldac_with_android_80/
Good food is a great bonus and the
Truth about Bluetooth is really a good point about the progress of technology 👍 Like always keep up the good objective work
Nice review Thomas. I find myself using WiFi and Bluetooth more and more- yikes! It's not that I want to, but there is so much music available through that means. On some streaming, I can't tell much difference in quality as compared to the same song from a CD. Still, I'll take a good CD every time given the choice. I just like the engagement of having that disc and a good CD player or transport. I appreciate vinyl, but just not enough to overtake my fondness of CDs. Anyway, regarding use of Bluetooth with class D amps, something I feel that is overlooked by the audiophile is use a higher end AV receiver for stereo. Yes, it's the devil, just like tone controls, but setup properly can yield some very impressive results that probably in a blind test would have people thinking they are listening to a system costing many thousands more. For three of my four systems, I use separates and AB amps; however, in one of my medium size living rooms, I'd been messing around with it for quite some time trying to decide if I wanted it to be another movie room or stereo listening setup. I decided to make it both, but only use a 2 channel setup. Well, the higher end Onkyo AV Dolby atmos receiver I'd been using was pretty good as a surround unit, but I did not like it's stereo, 2 channel modes compared to any of my other stereo gear. It sounded very two dimensional, but extremely clear and surprising good with bass even running a completely flat signal (nontoned). Seemed to be too bright also though I usually like bright. So I figured otherwise I really had almost everything I needed in one package: a clean and punchy amp section, HDMI connections, wifi, Bluetooth, all sorts of RCA and toslink connections (an FM tuner WOW- yes, still go there sometimes). So I can connect any of my components to it. OK, this is great, but that sound imagining just sucked in 2chan. Next move, pair with bass horns (via Altec A7) and DefTec bookshelf D11 to pick up everything over 500hz. Now this setup was totally jamming and totally clean at concert levels, yet very composed at low volumes. The phase separation between the bass horn and the bookshelf speakers (tasked as a midrange and tweeter in this case) created an amazing depth to the music and went from 2d to 3d experience having good instrument separation. Alas, something was still not quite as good as I wanted. Oh, those very expensive RCA cables I bought a long time ago and used only for a couple weeks because they made my components sound like broken glass (yes the cables made that much difference in the sound and was a huge waste of money)- until now! Hooked up an old CD player to the Onkyo with those cables and suddenly, incredible texture and detail! I am now loving this entire setup and it was cobbled together with component I already had. Drums, vocals, strings, piano, it's all awesome. Matching up components and yes, cables, is time well spent to get an excellent system. Sometimes your stuff is a lot better than you think, you just have to work getting the combination right.
Nice story, thanks for taking the time to write it. Always fun to hear about stories from others.
Could you comment on the Fiio BTA30 compared to the IFi Zen Blue as both support LDAC. In particular their internal Dac. I am leaning toward the Fiio as it is $100 less and both seem to be basically the same for what I am looking for. Thanks.
Hi, Thomas. As always, enjoy the video. I’m planning to get an external DAC. How do you connect this on the back of the receiver? Also, if my receiver has the Burr Brown 24 bit/192kHz , will this be an upgrade? If it is, what DAC do you recommend to upgrade from what I have? Thanks.
You should have some kind of RCA input at the back. Burr Brown or not does not matter. It all depends how it is implemented in your receiver so some are awesome and some are so so. So upgrade depends on how good your current AVR amp is but sadly I would not know cause I don't play with receivers.
Thom, not sure if you’ve heard of Curious Cables. Or Heard them. Check them out, they’re hand made in Australia and have earned high praise amongst many audiophiles with gear in high and low ranges. I just got one for my Chord Mojo and I figured i’d share as i think you should try one.
Yes a lot of people did recommend me that. I wish they would reach out and ask me but I am afraid to make a video on USB cables.
I don’t know what you typically use to transfer your music digitally whether it’s toslink, coaxial or USB. I’m not telling you to make a video on it. I’m telling you, you need to try it. I bought a Nordost blue heaven usb before it came in as it took over a month to arrive from Australia but it blew the Nordost out of the water. It’s a piece you deserve you have in your system and a piece you need to experience. Each cable in hand-made to order. Amazing depth and detail.
I’m very sorry if this has been asked already but I would like to be sure to fully understand what this device can do. Does it only stream an audio file to receiver or does it stream AND upgrade the sound quality of the original file? For exemple if using Spotify which doesn’t not support flac, will it stream the file and make it sound like Flac or not ? Thanks for any clarification
Hey Thomas! Thanks for the video! I had a quick question, does will this DAC support both functions of audio and mic in a bluetooth headset?
Sorry I don't know.
What devices are all of you using to get other codec other than sbc and apple’s aac? I can’t seem to get the iFi to change to anything - using aac because I use apple. Suggestions?? Thanks!
Hi that's a great review. I'm new to this so I just wanted to know if it's worth getting this dac as my speaker is pretty low end (edifier r1280db). It already has a Bluetooth receiver but it doesn't sound that great even when I'm playing flac files from my mobile that has aptxhd enabled. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks
thank you Thomas, nice vid...i own and reg use the ifi Zen Blue. my phone runs Android 10 and supports LDAC Bluetooth transmission, however i don't have the means to analyze the actual stream. One thing i'm not certain of, and maybe you have some insight, is whether the the optical or coax output achieves and/or preserves the original stream. most of the time i'm using the Zen Blue to decode to the RCA outputs as it sounds better than outputting the optical/digi stream to my amp's builtin dac. I haven't asked ifi, but wondered if you knew whether there were limitations with the optical output (hardware) that would reduce the pcm stream to, for example, 24/96, negating the benefits of streaming bt LDAC. Or does it even matter? hahaha
I think best just email them but I think 24/96 is already more than enough for resolution since CD is 16/44 and that is really good already. I think the sound quality difference you are experiencing is more the built in DAC. Usually when I listen, I actually listen at 16/44 on my main system.
What would be a good digital cable for this bluetooth reciever? I'm thinking about the audioquest cinamon or something similar in price range my chain is going to be the topping E30 the Cambridge AXA35 and the elac debut b6.2
Nice review Thomas 😆 I have actually enjoyed the ifi blue with Spotify , I use the digital output to the Aune X8 dac 'Audioquest cinnamon coax cable' .
And i must say for bluetooth its really good and i also use the 5v ifi i power supply of course 😆 Glad you got to use l-dac my phone will only 'transmit' AptX-HD codec , i am really wanting to use L-dac my next phone will have L-Dac,
I still can't get over how far B.T. has came along , but at the end of the day I love spinning the silver disk 😆
Also should be Reviewing the Yamaha AS-1100 very soon , I absouletly love it !So liquidey !! With that powerful top end with richness ohh my thats all i can say for now review hopefully tommorrow or nexted day
please watch 😆 i worked hard on this one Thomas and I paired 7 sets of my speakers to the Yammy,
But I also been working on a video just on amps also , and how they differ so much and how the ratings of an amp is only in Watts which is the Horse power of the amp , but what about the Torque power ? Whats torque power coming very soon as i can explain it with an electrical understanding basically the scale/weight of the sound that fullness is what i am calling the 'Torque' Any amp can have HP (Watts) but torque thats a different story ! 😆 Thanks for the review of the Zen-Blue !
One last thing
I'm really wanting a set of R3 or R5 KEFS so bad Thomas ! But my wallet says LS-50 or Focal 902 , I have never owned a focal speaker but prices on LS-50 is crazyness !
I think the LS50 is a good entry point for you to try something different. Man if you were close by, you could have taken all my stuff home to listen. Really glad you like the Yamaha and i get what you are saying about torque.
@@ThomasAndStereo I know you would Thomas 😆 And yeah i am really going to be pushing this 'Torque' power somehow someway differntly then just saying fullness or the Scale size or the amp has Muscle !
I Really appricate you Thomas and what you bring to the table of us audio enthuist , You have no idea how much my thinking process of audio changed by watching you channel 1 open mind 2.No best 3. Positive reviews only !
And yea the Yamaha Won't be for everone ! But it loves Metal dome tweeters and Horn loaded desighned speakers IMHO 😆 I think i found another Sansui G-8000 for cheap hopefully i Get the Sansui or something close for the comparrsion video New age Mid-Fi Yammy vs vintage HI-Fi both have weaknesses and strengths
@@ThomasAndStereo Thomas my new video tjat came out yesterday overview Part 1 of yamaha As-1100 and at 31min in the video i mentioned your name i meant to say more but i wanged you to see something i use to own 😆
Really glad you done this overview !
I didn't know l-dac was smoother 😆
@@tee-jaythestereo-bargainph2120 Checking it out.
@@ThomasAndStereo 😆
Ifi Ldac was much clearer bright than the other 2 being smooth mellow, hard to pinpoint instruments playing at the back.
A very reasonable and open minded approach. Thanks. Also, very informative. Will Chinese Buffets be a thing of the past after Covid?
All you can eat concept go away? Never!😂
@@ThomasAndStereo Good to hear. You looked so happy in that clip.
i have this. is coaxial or optical connection better on this for apple lossless music? or it doesn't matter because they are digital?
33.6 Kbps modem,..? The first I used was a 110 baud with an acoustic dialup phone handset connector for the rotary phone you used to make the connection, and the first I bought was a 300 baud Hayes for about $1,000 in 1981 dollars.
Aptx HD is it there? Stac ModiMagni ifi 3 models all are confusing for s starter like me ...sir?...whats the major difference between normal Sony or Yamaha stereo Amp...available ??
Very nice review
Would you consider making a video which asks your subscribers to tell their experiences in regards to purchasing the products reviewed on your channel?
Sure! What do you have in mind?
Thomas & Stereo Well there's certainly many possible routes a video series could take with this premise. For example my next purchase will be an amp priced about $2000 Cdn. I'd be interested in your viewers experiences with amps you've reviewed and they've purchased based on your review. I've been a Yamaha guy for many years and I'm very comfortable with a Yamaha purchase but maybe Its time to switch.
Have you look into the AS1200? I know it is integrated but they seem quite well received
great video sir! can you please do something more detailed where you compare aac vs aptx? and also chromecast vs airplay...i understand you are on android but i’m sure you can get hold of an ipad! i know, this sounds ambitious even to me 😁 thank you though 🤓
I think your neighbor is running their mower during this video .. Lol I have to pause it to be sure I didn’t have a crazy neighbor outside mowing at 9 pm
Yup, I posted a note in the video!
what are the best cables to use to hook up this to a intergraded amp? Coax or optic ? or RCA
hi! Tomas, Buchardt has a new floor standing speaker(A700) any plan to review it. Though i owned Buchardt S300 and match up with Marantz PM6006 integrated Class AB amp. Sound is amazing. thanks
Don't know if they will ask me. Email them if you are interested in them asking me. Thanks.
New to audiophile world here. Can you connect this to the iFi Zen Dac? If yes what type of cable needs to be use? I'm planning to pair both. Thank you, great review!
No you can't actually because IFI DAC only allows USB input and IFI Zen does not have any USB output.
@@ThomasAndStereo That's what I thought, I've been finding the right cable online but couldn't find one. I've also messaged the seller and they say that RCA to RCA will do and work?
@@FrancisDiola No, because both RCA are output RCA. So, it will mean you will connect both unit to your integrated amp, so you will have 2 separate DACs. If that is what you want, sure you can use 2 DACs but that is now how I would spend my money. This is a solution for a specific problem. if you need a DAC with both Bluetooth and wired USB connection from the computer because you are using 2 different sources, then you would look for another solution.
@@ThomasAndStereo Thank you! You've been really helpful! I am planning my budget set-up and I have failed by purchasing this first. My plan is to stream using my phone to iFi Zen Blue and to another headphone amp to power my HD6XX. Do you have a recommendation, a budget amp that is compatible to iFi Zen Blue?
@@FrancisDiola I see, my issue is I don't use headphones so I don't know any good headphones amp.
So to get the most out of the ifi zen series is to have 3 devices stack? The zen can, the zen dac (for cable to pc) and the zen blue (for bluetooth)?
No, you don't need all 3 from the same company. You can use DACs from other companies.
Thx this is an eyeopener.🙂
Hey Thomas, does this DAC improve sound quality of phone to Bluetooth connected active speakers?
Hmm, it depends how good your active speakers bluetooth and Dac is.
I’m still looking for a good DAC to accommodate my AppleTV 4K.Is there anything that accept HDMI and I won’t need to use my processor?. I do have a complete separate Pre and mono block Amp. This would allow me to get movies and TH-cam in high fidelity setup.
Sorry, I would not know.
Hi Thomas. My Zen Blue’s manual says the LDAC was going to be a firmware update. Do I need to do anything in order to activate the LDAC codec capability of my Zen Blue or is this just a matter of whether your bluetooth transmitter like the IPhone or IPad has LDAC capability?
I think LDAC is only for Android. You will need to update the firmware manually, read the manual on how to do it. You set what codec you want to use on your phone, in your case, if you are using IPHONE, I don't remember it supporting LDAC.
Anyone here has tried Tacima CS947 6-Way Mains Conditioner?
wow, are these speakers Brodmann from Austria with very unusual bass propagation tech? How do you find them Thomas?
Hmmm...its different.
@@ThomasAndStereo yeah, I would imagine so. Small bass drivers excite the large baffles right?
Yeah, lots of bass though
@@ThomasAndStereo mega!!!! I love speakers which are unusual and therefore perform extraordinarly good for example Gemme Audio and their Vflex loading, Von Schweikert VR-1 and their 'pressure release' bass reflex kind of system, open baffle in Jamo R907 and so on.
I am really curious of these Brodmanns - especially when you said that there is lots of bass hehe (I listen mostly to electronic music and low wow factor presentation and enormous dynamics/wall of sound).
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 yeah that is why I got it, really curious.
Hi I just orderd the ifi Blue and I am wondering if I should order the upgraded power supply. I heard good things about it but just wondering if I should buy it
Try it first without and see if it is good enough or not.
Can I go from this to a Schiit dac or should this stand alone?
Hey Thomas, did you buy the PMC DB1-GOLD?
Yup, I bought it off them for myself.
@@ThomasAndStereo wow, how do you find them comparing to all Focal Speakers models?
Have you tried the PMC FACT series?
The 5 series are above the entry level off DB1GOLD
I have the PMC5. 23, which has larger drivers and very looooong deeeep cabinets, which I love cherish adore speakers with very deep cabinet.
You got a good deal on it?
Have you tried ATC speakers, they are like PMC and Focal.
Great review. For Spotify from a Pixel 2 XL would this offer any benefit over a Chromecast audio connected to my Cambridge CXA60 via toslink? I'm thinking probably not. Thanks.
Well spotify in high res I think is 320kps? Is the codec in chromecast bluetooth you are using support the max bit rate of your spotify? Depends what level of spotify you are using.
@Nils Grønkjær I grew up in the 80's with cassettes for personal recordings. I can assure you Spotify is not bad.
Hi Thomas, What are the speakers on your desktop?
th-cam.com/video/InVwvqR-RSk/w-d-xo.html
PMC DB1 Gold
Hahah. I got free food. Most honest answer
Thomas, thanks for the video. I'm intrigued. Some of these bluetooth gizmos only pair with one phone. I've got at least 2 people in the house that might want to use it. Is that a problem?
I had my phone and Tablet sync to it but I don't remember if I had to unpair one so the other one can pair. Can you send them an email? Mine is already all packed up and ready to mail back.
@@ThomasAndStereo On Amazon, I found this: The ZEN Blue remembers up to seven paired Bluetooth source devices, making it easy to switch from one device to another, with impressive range thanks to the latest Bluetooth 5 specification.
Hey what u think about the Cambridge Audio CXA81 is bluetooth inside is it a good receiver for a stereo setup with canton ergo 695 dc? Greetings at All audiofreaks All around the wold From germany! ✌🏻🤓
Seems to be ok Bluetooth: 4.2 A2DP/AVRCP supporting up to aptX HD (24bit 48kHz). Not version 5 or LDAC but usually once you hit aptX HD, it is pretty ok.
Thanks man 👌 and with the ifi zen I can Upgrade! 😎
Haha..I personally would say spend your money elsewhere cause aptx HD should be good enough. Maybe a better DAC? A. Better speaker?
Computer and bluetooth receiver are not in same sound pressure level. I think computer sounded less louder than bluetooth. Probably for that reason bluetooth sounded slightly bassier than computer or maybe youtube compression adding muddiness in the bluetooth sound. LDAC uses 990 kbps and youtube uses less than 200 kbps bandwidth, because of that it would be difficult to judge the quality.
Very possible because I had to re-record the bluetooth part a few hours later than the computer part. Of course in my own testing, I was testing with FLAC files but I can't use those in the sound demo due to copyright issue. The sound demo is purely for entertaining purpose as I get request all the time to include some.
It's possible to use this dac with a bluetooth speaker like JBL Extreme 2 via 3.5 mm that exists in the back of the speaker with the correct cable to better sound quality?
Not sure it is worth it or if will give better sound.
@@ThomasAndStereo thanks
Can we use with wire too like Sony 🎧?
Can i connect this on mixer using 4.4mm to. trs input
May I know where to get the big black bass trap on the back.
It is custom built for a recording studio that I bought off them when they upgrade. Check out my video on how I treated my room.
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.
I don't think so.
@@ThomasAndStereo thanks for the fast reply
I have an Earstudio ES100 that receives LDAC from my LG V20 phone. Sounds wonderful. Cable makes no difference.
are you using it for 'normal' gear i.e. you run analog signal out of the Earstudio to you amplifier?
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 Yes, analog out, 3.5mm to rca adapter, straight to amp.
@@hifiman4562 ok thanks. I was wondering if using a DAC like that (i.e. designed rather with headphones in mind) makes sense with standalone, full size gear. I am looking on amazon for it and reviews are rather amazing right? I wonder how it compares to iFi Zen Blue
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 keep in mind es100 has only 1 volt output, whereas the zen has 2-4 volts. Correct me if I am wrong. Your amp will be happier. But, the ES100 is portable as you know.
How’s your new speakers going?
Its huh...interesting.
Thomas could you make a video about good preamps
The thing is I have to find good preamps and also the price range we are looking at.
@@ThomasAndStereo i don't know what budget you're audience have. But i only want to spent between 300 and 1000 dollar on a preamp. I am eyeing the freya+ but am waiting for the new topping preamp.
@@richardblaauwgeers4349 I talk about all kind of budget that I find good. With topping, you will get a different sound than Freya + cause it does not use tubes. It will not have the holographic sound stage as grand as the Freya+ but you will get other things such as darker background and so forth. Did you see my video on the Freya first gen?
@@ThomasAndStereo yes, but you did not sell it to me, it felt like you gave it a 7 (out of 10) i am looking for an 8+. Also doubting about d90 and ares2
@@richardblaauwgeers4349 I thought I gave it a 9/10 for the price!
“It was one of my best video” food and Hi-Fi hahahaha
Yeah, not just stereo stereo stereo... I should make videos on other things too!
Thomas & Stereo start with your fav introduce punters to dim sum and Chinese banquets
Can i listen to music on my true wireless earbuds using this to connect to my iphone or Samsung s8?
Sorry, I don't know, you will have to email them and ask them. I don't think so.
9:20 "A good system is one that you actually use."
Thanks!Can't acces to LDAC on my P20Pro... ;(
You need to go into the hidden menu and use LDAC instead of Huawei default one. I have a Huawei P20 Pro also.
@@ThomasAndStereo I did, i see the option, but can't click on it, it's grey...
HWA isn't better than LDAC?
Anyone know if there's a USB bluetooth dongle out there that I could plug into a 1st gen i5 laptop that would work well with the Zen Blue? (I seem to have a laptop and monitor parked on my living room coffee table.) At the moment I am using the internal Intel wireless 7260 card and a Best Buy Rocketfish bluetooth receiver.
Sorry, I don't know.
LDAC is the best codec for ifi blue
So Thomas I heard a great Comment 75% of CD quality THIS was something I could use. ...! 75% of CD quality is Great. Compliments of "Tee-Jay the Stereo Bargain File"
I used to have 9600 bps modem ;-)
I have been repairing vintage Hi-Fi equipment as a hobby for a while now I have been using a Bluetooth. Hooked up to a Sansui amp with a equalizer an k l i p SCH speakers and until I modified the crossovers in the speakers I really didn't here the difference between the Bluetooth DAC and my Peachtree DAC but you can hear the difference the eyes do come in a little bit different and those are a little bit softer but that's only probably because I've done some modifications on the speakers towel klipsch speakers sometimes can be a little finicky what their base they have to be positioned a certain distance away from the wall if they're too close to the wall you don't get enough sleep too far away from the wall when you get to my age it's strange how they have to be set up but I got the perfect combination right now and I've got just enough where I can run the app perfectly flat on the treble and the bass and I get very good response from the speakers and now since I've upgraded and modified that the crossovers but if you listen and you sit in this sweet spot in the room and I don't care what kind of music you listen to classical jazz folk-rock whatever it is and you sit right there in a sweet spot you can tell the difference it depends on the speakers in the unit that she use I noticed a lot of audio files out there that believe they can hear every single thing different but when you've had system for a long time and you've done modifications to the system and then all the sudden things have brightened up and the systems we come alive again I know if you know what I mean I mean I've also done some modifications on the amp changed out the offense but some better ones in and sisters change them out practically built the whole entire amplifier did a few modifications so I get a little bit more wattage out but you can point you been living with something for a while and you've done some changes you can literally tell the difference and right now the way the system is set up I don't think anybody could offer me enough money me to part with it I don't know if you've ever had a system like that and I don't have a lot of money into the system that's what surprises me cuz I have a friend that has so much money into his this is system if I was to tell you the amount of money that this guy's got into his system you would say he's out of his mind and he is listen to my system and he likes mine but it in his
That part with the Chinese buffet 😂😂
They make the best bread cake at the Niagara Falls mandarin chinese buffet.
@@ThomasAndStereo that's not really in my neighborhood but I'll remember it for when I visit Niagara Falls 😊
Sony
Why compromise
Like no other
Make and believe
Try the
SRSX88
SRSX99
Extended high definition
Super tweeter
I own the SX99
I grew up with 28.8k modem it was so kewl at the time. I'd finally get Tigerdirect or CDW to load and start drooling over Pentiums and Voodoo graphics cards then the phone would ring and internet gone....NO! 😬😫
Right, but I think you can do *70 and it will disable call waiting and will not disconnect you...man those were the times.
Which ESS Sabre chip is in the Zen Blue?
I can't find any info, you should email them.