Late to the party with my recent purchase of this device. Works great with an Anker portable charger and has excellent sound with a Moondrop Dawn…

For use exclusively with headphones (in my MacBook Air M2), is the Zen AIR Can less efficient than the Zen CAN ? For example, is the XSpace function of the AIR equivalent to the 3D function of the more expensive Zen CAN ? The problem with the AIR version is that it does not include the RCA cables or the electrical adapter block (the 2 are included in the Zen CAN box). My intention is to connect the Can or Can AIR in my Zen DAC Air.

If I use the ifi zen air dac and the zen air can, and I want to use the 5v dc connection, do I need to connect both the dac and the can? or just the air can?

Good video. Hope you will get more subcribers

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

The name of iFi Zen CAN does not appear in the list of products to update the firmware on the official iFi Audio website.

the 3D function at the front of the Zen CAN, and even the Xbass function, have virtually no effect on the sound of my headphones (my headphones are a 48-ohm Beyerdynamic DT-900 ProX). Especially the 3D function that produces no sound difference, whether it is on or off. This is my great disappointment. I specify that I connect the Zen CAN into the Zen DAC AIR by RCA cables. Can connecting the original Zen CAN to the AIR version of the Zen DAC create incompatibilities?

Hi I recently purchased this exact combo Air DAC + air CAN. Few questions. Do you use power match feature in Air DAC when connected with Air CAN? I guess this is no different from just simply increasing the GAIN in Air CAN. Also, I use 6.3 from Air CAN for my desk top speaker and 4.4 for my Head Phone. when both are connected, the Air Can releases sound to both the speaker and headphone. does this decrease the quality of the sound coming out compare to only connecting one to the amp?

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Alright, for the gain v power match. You are somewhat on the right track with your thoughts. However, if you are using both connected then I wouldn't mess with the power match on the DAC. Let your gain on the CAN do the work. Power match is something you would use when only using the DAC for your headphones.

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

For the 2nd question..I wouldn't use your speakers out of a 6.3 headphone output. Not sure how you are running that or what kind of speakers. You really want to run the speakers out of the back of the CAN and then set them to a different set of inputs. You get 3 input selection out of the front button of the CAN to assist with that.

@jackkim2522

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 Thanks for the answer. That is what I thought. I will just let DAC work as a DAC alone.

@paulwoaert

6 ай бұрын

How do you connect your headphones to the 4.4 socket of the Zen CAN Air? I mean: does your headset cable end with a 4.4 adapter ?

I'm using the air dac with dt880 250ohms and without the xbass there is no bass at all so I use it power matched and theres alot of distortion so Ill buy this so i can have my high volume without it distorting

@dvdr866

Жыл бұрын

I mean distortion with xbass and powermatch on at same time

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Yes the xbass on the Air DAC is just overdone. The CAN is where it's at! Good pair to match though with both.

Hello. If we use this iFi zen Air CAN, BUT without adding a DAC, with the hope of improving the sound of our headphones (in my case the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X), is it worth it? For example, increase the subbass. I read somewhere that this amplifier contained himself a DAC, is that true? Is it better to have the iFi Zen AIR Dac which sells for exactly the same price and which is him also made of plastic ? Does this amplifier iFi zen AirCAN convert digital to analog as do other iFi Zen models ? I specify that I only use my headphones with my MacBook Air M2 whose jack input is already designed to be compatible with high impedance headphones. Anyway, the DT 900 Pro X have an impedance of only 48 ohms.

@Skeeb23

7 ай бұрын

No, the CAN is an amp only. If you want a DAC as well, then you should go for the zen air DAC. It isn't as good of an amplifier though. For your use case of the Beyer's, you should be fine.

@paulwoaert

7 ай бұрын

The Air Dac is not sold with an electrical adapter, you have to power it via USB, is that right ? However, I think that it has a socket on the back so that it can be plugged into the mains (?). Is the situation different with the more expensive iFi Zen Dac 2, I mean : does the Zen Dac 2 include an adapter? Because my fear is that USB power will reduce the battery life of my M'acBook Air M2 more quickly. Any USB device reduces the battery of my MacBook even though it is a very recent model of Apple computer (I know this from experience). I plug in as few USB devices as possible, only occasionally (external ssd, ethernet port via usb-c, etc.). @@Skeeb23

Does the CAN only increase power or is it able to add bass, sub-base, etc.? In other words: can it improve the sound (for example make it less flat) or does him ONLY increase power ?

@Skeeb23

7 ай бұрын

Little of both. It's an amplifier so it will amplify the audio. It has an xbass button which also boosts the bass.

@paulwoaert

7 ай бұрын

But then what is the advantage for me to have a Dac Air if the CAN can both amplify better and at the same time can also add bass? In my MacBook Air M2 I have no volume or power problems when I use my DT 900 Pro X, the sound card is intended for very high-impedance headphones.@@Skeeb23

Just ordered one… forced into a bit of an unconventional “build” considering my iPhone is just about the only device I’m able to play high fidelity music from. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can pull this off! Great video!

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

It's a pretty good little amp for the price!

@SpookyRamen

Жыл бұрын

How was the amp?

i have the zen air dac and the zen air can cant seem to get them both to work on my PC

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Can you give me more information how you have them connected? I'll see if I can help

Hello, do you think this zen air can can drive Hifiman edition xs well? it is 18 ohms and has a sensitivity of 92 db.

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Drive it? Sure thing. Synergy is definitely a thing in my opinion when it comes to headphones and amps, so I can't speak to the pairing in detail. I was able to drive my Atrium and Aeon 2 Noire just fine on it.

@jerryzhang3686

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 ok thank you ! I will just buy my edition xs in peace now lol

Would this be a good match with ifi uno as the dac?

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

It could work, but you'd probably be better to go to the iFi Zen Air DAC for just 20.00 more, unless you want a more portable option like the Uno.

I found the Zen Air Can didn't pick up any hiss or EM noise with iems if you use a power bank. If you use the usb port on a pc to power the van, you'll get the hiss

@bentobox3140

9 ай бұрын

Also disappointed to know the switch to use the Zen DAC only as a DAC has been removed in the Zen Air DAC.

@parthrusia7039

8 ай бұрын

Can I use this amp with focusrite solo?

Do you think it would sound good if I pair this with my Sennheiser GSX 1000?

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

I know it can work since you can use the 3.5 input on the back to connect to the GSX1000. With that said, I have no idea on how the sound quality will be. What headphones are you using? What are you looking for in sound? Do you want the surround features of the GSX?

@ryanpan8302

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 i like the surround features of gsx, best implementation up to date. im using hd 6xx and 560s and dt 770pros

@user-mb8ep5eq5m

9 ай бұрын

​@@ryanpan8302is surround feature that good??

using both zen air dac and zen air can how can i connect pc speaker? do i need to connect on CAN output?

@BigPicSon

Жыл бұрын

had no problem when only using zen air dac as i connect dac rca ouput to speaker rca input

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

@@BigPicSon If you use both you really can't. The zen Air DAC is a simple one connection setup for either an amp OR speakers. You could get a cheap RCA switch box for less then $20 off of Amazon and then you could do something like that without needing to spend a lot more on the DAC if you like that setup.

HI! I'm curious what you would think would be the best combo for me at the moment. Just got a pair of Sundaras and would like to add either the ZEN Air CAN or ZEN Air DAC to run from my computer. I'm on a tight budget at the moment so I will only get one or the other. Which would you think would give the best experience? My concern is that is the DAC alone wouldn't have enough power, and the CAN alone (ran straight from the PC motherboard) would only give me more volume (and not the "quality").

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

Great question. If you're on a tight budget and can only do one, then you should probably get the DAC for now. I wouldn't recommend your motherboard as your DAC for all the interference and noise the inside of a PC can bring. Then later on you could always add on the CAN or even a different amp with more power. There's other options to look into also as an all in one unit such as the DAC. But between those two, I'd go DAC for now.

@gerrul

Жыл бұрын

​@@Skeeb23 Thanks for the answer! I think that would make more sense, yeah. Do you know of other DAC+AMP alternatives in this price range that could drive the Sundaras better? I found some great deals on the Fiio K3 or e10K, and ifi Uno, but I'm not sure if they outperform the Air DAC. I looked at a lot of comparisons between them and the conflicting opinions are making me cry. Schiit or JDS Labs stuff are a bit harder to find here in Europe

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

@@gerrul jds labs would be great but yes I've heard harder to come by. I have no experience with the Fiio but heard decent things. I own the Uno. It's pretty solid but I consider it more of a portable setup and not so much desktop. The iFi DAC will let you upgrade in the future...same as the jds labs or schiit.

@gerrul

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 Thanks for help mr Skeeb :D

@jozefpolowski703

11 ай бұрын

@@gerrul Did you consider Topping DX3 Pro+ or xDuoo XD 05 Plus? Both quite good devices.

Hello nice video! will the iFi ZEN Air DAC make my sennheiser hd 560s louder its currently connected to my pc it has a asus PRIME A320M-K motherboard and the sound is not loud enough for me i would like it a little bit louder

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

You do want the Zen air DAC right? I ask because this is the video on the CAN. The DAC will more then likely get them louder as it does have the Power Match button. The CAN will give you more power but you'd need to use your motherboard soundcard as the DAC.

@CallofComedy1

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 thank you for replying yeah i know i dont even know anymore i dont have anyone to ask lol is the fiio k3 a good option i dont know where to start

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

@@CallofComedy1 I haven't heard the k3, but I've heard others mention it's good too. Tbh, either will be better than onboard sound from my experience.

@CallofComedy1

Жыл бұрын

@@Skeeb23 the middle knob on the zen air dac is it for volume increase?

@CallofComedy1

Жыл бұрын

​@@Skeeb23 does the motherboard have any effect on the air dac in terms on quality?

If I'm on a very tight budget, would you recommend directly using the zen air CAN on my laptop to power my dt770 250ohms.

@Skeeb23

Жыл бұрын

You could, yes. They are 250 ohm so any amp with more power is good. Tight budget, then yeah I'd be fine recommending the CAN for that.

@sedraniM

Жыл бұрын

I'd recommend the Zen Dac Air. It also has an amp that is more than enough for the DT770 and has an excellent DAC!

@jaswanthkrishna1091

Жыл бұрын

@@sedraniM Thank you, that's what I went with, and pretty satisfied with the purchase.

@sedraniM

Жыл бұрын

@@jaswanthkrishna1091 Great to hear! :)

Which one is better? IFI ZEN AIR CAN or IFI UNO?

@kinkywinkyrinkydinky

Жыл бұрын

if you already have a DAC then go for the Zen Air Can

Question 1: How do you connect the Zen Air Can to the Zen Air DAC ? Question 2: if the 2 are connected to each other, where I need to connect my headphones : to the DAC or to the CAN ? Question 3: is there a real gain in adding Zen CAN to the ZEN DAC ?